So Fred Blake believes I can add something to this debate on the lesser known anglers of times past. OK, challenge accepted but I hope you realise I?m missing Emmerdale to pen this contribution.
Some of these guys I?ve never heard of ? Shepherson, Leary, Manns and Cutler ? but the remainder I know of well, albeit through their writing (with a few exceptions). There must be quite a few guys like me who are approaching retirement and who have collected and kept hundreds of magazines from the sixties through to the eighties. The writers then were different in many ways from today?s authors. But I suppose that?s a reflection of the times, they being times of innovation, necessity and the absence of big carp on demand.
Not only did I collect the magazines but I also catalogued many of them (yes I am a sad old bugger), but it does mean I can rattle off a load of angling writers that have probably now turned up their toes: Chris Binyon (fantastically funny stories), Stewart Allum (mostly chub), Barry Brill (fishing in Ireland), John carding (southern match circuit), Terry Housego, Bill Lovett (carp), Brian morland (Countryman?s diary) John Sidley (giant eels to the exclusion of all else) and Bill Winship (pike) to name a few.
Incidentally I?ve just picked up a pile of ?Fishing? mags that were to hand and there is Ronald Clay himself penning a piece in the August 1967 edition (yours for 2/6d) about the variability of a pike?s fight.
Anyhow back to the question posed by Ron:
Bill Keal was an editor on the Times (not the Angling Times). He lived in north London, not far from the famous Cheshunt reservoir, which now sadly is filled in, and built upon. He and Jack Hilton were fairly close neighbours and the pair really were innovative fishermen. Bill moved to Woolhampton and sadly was killed in the small hours after returning home from Fleet Street. I remember going to a party at his house and all the ?names? were there: Fred Wagstaff, Bob Reynolds, David Carl Forbes, Phil England, Des Soper and many other good but unknown anglers. One of Bill?s unfulfilled ambitions was to float down the great central/eastern European rivers in a tractor inner-tube, fishing plug and natural baits for giant pike and catfish. Now that would have been something.
I bumped into Ray Mumford a few times around the Walton and Kingston stretches of the Thames. He was in fact known familiarly as the ?Kingston Pixie?. He was much maligned by the angling press, quite undeservedly as it was he who pioneered pole fishing, organised the first international matches and was a specimen hunter of great ability until he turned to match fishing. He also came second in one of the very early Pike Championships at Thorpe Park (I was six pegs away from him) with a bag of five moderately sized fish. He also wrote a short article published in Creel on skimming slivers of potato across the river to get under overhanging branches
Cyril Inwood, although remembered for his pioneering tactics on the newly opened large reservoirs, was not so well known for his large bags of tench, mainly taken by mass feeding maggots, when everyone else was using lobs, corn and bread. I believe he frequently fished with Bob Church.
Well that?s a lot from me but I?ll finish off by pointing out that the oldies still produce the goods. From those heady days we still have of course Graham but also Barrie Rickards, Mike Winter, Jim Gibbinson, Dave Steuart and John Bailey plus many more.
And then the bailif tried to charge him. 