I think Bernard Venables liked to write in a flowery style in order to describe idyllic days on the river bank.  The drawback is that his writing sometimes was a bit overblown.  Yet at least his articles are descriptive and you get an idea of what fishing is about. 

 Compare his work with the style with current angling articles - many of them are just a factual account of tactics and tackle and baits, with a liberal use of cliches.    

Venables, nevertheless, played an important part in promoting angling in the 50s and 60s.

But I'll admit that I never liked Fishing with Mr Crabtree !

Walker and a few others did it for me. As regards descriptive writing, Denys Watkins Pitchford (BB) was the man for that. BB was far far superior to anything that Venables ever put together, not only that, BB won a Carnegie Medal for his writing.

Confessions of a Carp Fisher is one of the greatest classics of English angling literature, none of Venables boring books come anywhere close.

Venables was terribly overblown Keith. Some of his stuff was total boredom as it droned on.

His criticism of Richard Walker in his autobiography was absolute bowlocks. When I first read it I couldn't believe what I was reading.

The book didn't get purchased.

                 Hugh Tempest Sheringham.

       Now there was a writer, wasn't it Walker himself suggested that the Carp Catchers should be called the Sheringham Club. Yes, Sheringham alongside B.B. at least they are on my bookshelves.

Actually mate it was the National Association of Specimen Groups that Walker suggested be called "The Sheringham Society".

And yes, I agree, Sheringham was a great writer. Venables would have never been able to lick his boots.

Even our other great hero - JW Martin was greater than Venables.  

I have read lots of books by BB in my life.

"Confessions of a Carp Fisher", "Be Quiet and Go A-Angling", "Fishermans Bedside Book", "A Shooting Man's Bedside Book", "Wood Pool", "The Big 'Un", "Wild Lone", "Manka The Sky Gypsy", "The Little Grey Men", "Down the Bright Stream", "Brendon Chase", "The Wayfaring Tree", and also quite a few others.

I rate BB with JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis as a great writer of fantasy.

Someone should do a movie of Down the Bright Stream and The Little Grey Men.

"Jackson??"  

I wont disagree with you about BB Ron, he's my favorite of all, I have many of his books, in fact its about time I read some again, not done so for a lot of years.

They did do a TV series of the little Grey men in the early 80's, I think, maybe late 70's.

Ron,

You said Venables made you tiresome, and you would turn the page.

Funny that as i get tiresome when i hear walkers name.

Little grey men  and down the bright stream-wish I'd nicked them from the library, clasic chidrens books. I have a copy of "meeting Hill, BBs' fairy book, such illustrations.

"I know a good place" is as an inspiring book as you'll ever get to read.

David Carl Forbes, brilliant illustrator, kept his books from the 60's and 70's, the images stayed in my head (I was a bit of an illustrator at one point) and I recently picked up a book from 64 by Trevor Housby fully illustrated. If Swordsy is looking in, we discussed this chap before - found any yet?

Venables is of its time, charming, but a voice from an England that may never have existed (or did it?).

Walker - my 1977 copy of Stillwater Angling gets read about 6 times a year, awesome. I', 43 by the way. Let's not lose touch with these invaluable sources from the 'golden age'.

Love to hear from you Paul.

DC Forbes and a guy called Keith Linsell were superb artists.

The 50s and 60s were the second golden age of angling. The first was the period 1850 to 1913. 

In my humble opinion the best angling writers were not necessarily particularly good anglers.I've read a lot of the classics and some were damned fine reads but equally some bored the pants off me...primarily because they were poorly written albeit by very good anglers.

Neither Sheringham nor BB were particularly great anglers but they could write.Falkus could both write and fish but there's something about his books I just dont like.He was a difficult bloke and that comes across.

Yatesy [again in my opinion] has come nearest.Casting at The Sun was brilliant but do any of the modern writers rank with HT et al ?

My favourites and not in order because I cannot choose

A Man may Fish : Kingsmill Moore

Fishing the Wilder Shores : Spencer

A Summer on the Test/Where The Bright Waters Meet : Hills /Plunket-Greene

Casting at The Sun :Yates

Confessions of a Carp Fisher : BB

Somewhere Down the Crazy River : Boote

These are the ones I've read over and over.A lot of the others I'm afraid I read because I felt I ought too but like some of the places I've fished having been there once I have no desire to go back.

Hats off to people like Medlar who have reprinted some classics which I would never otherwise have got a chance to read.

Skippy

Nice thread, I remember a lot of those names, quite a few of them appeared numerous times in a magazine called I think Improve your coarse fishing back in I guess the late 70s or 80s...I seem to remember it was  next to impossible to find a copy without a picture of Trevor Housby cradling some sort of huge fish from a Tench to a Marlin.  

David C forbes was another one whose name you came across time and time again, I think (….think) he wrote a great little book called “fishing for Londoners” which served me well as a kid and put me on the track to fishing around the capital

 As for the others Walker was a dude for sure for all the things he wrote and fish he caught but I always preferred to read Fred J Taylors accounts of fishing with him rather than Walkers direct accounts themselves.

Carp World ran a fantastic seris a few years ago by Fred J called "Days with Dick" ...really good and gave some unusual insights into what Walker was like as a person - not all of it complimentary either....a really good read if anyone wants to try and get back copies.