On 25th March, Sandy and I travelled over to Clacton in Essex to record the next instalment of the Recollections series that we are producing for Angling Heritage to preserve the life stories of some of the great anglers over the last few years. It was a long way to travel but worthwhile to record two outstanding angling greats on the following day.
Bob Buteux is a quiet man who keeps in the background but is undoubtedly one of the great chub anglers of the 20th century, but Bob is so much more, being an all-rounder who has fished with and is respected by most of the household names of the recent past. Bob has become an angling author in the last decade writing several books and it was a real pleasure to be able to meet him at his house as the base for our recording session. We must also thank his wife, Margaret who let us take over the house for a whole day whilst supplying a stream of refreshments making her the hardest worker.
Sharing the experience with Bob was his long time friend and angling buddy Len Arbery. Len has also written books on angling including tench and carp fishing but is probably best known for his work in opening up the access to (and writing about) Redmire Pool, the historic carp water to a wider range of people, and also his work developing winter barbel fishing. Len was also accompanied by his patient wife June who added moral support.
These two great were interviewed by the friend Tony Meers who had travelled up from Kent to help steer the conversation.
One last participant who shouldn't be forgotten is John McCombie, our sound recordist who set out from the West Country at 5am and recorded the interview all day, finishing after 5pm before travelling home; an 18 hour day.
It was a long session but full of history and tales, both historic and amusing.
If you are interested in a copy, you can view the options and costs on the Angling Heritage website
www.anglingheritage.org