When I was just starting out on my angling life adventure,at about 9 years old, my father managed to get a job at a newly built factory, which was in a converted mill, in the deepest countryside.
He had quite a responsible position, and one day he was checking out the companies perimiters, and found a pristine Dam, a good 3/4 mile from the premises, which belonged to the company.
Nobody knew it was there, but he had the authority, so he allowed me to explore and fish it...it was a young boys dream come true, about 3 acres, overgrown, limited access, even the few locals didnt know its existence.
I fished that dam, exclusivley to myself, until I was 25 years old. I knew the carp on first name terms. It had everything you could want, the quiet of the countryside, teeming wildlife, birds, foxes, no specimen fish but Commons and Mirrors to about 15 lbs. Bream, Roach, Brown Trout, Tench, Perch, Gudgeon, all the usual stuff.
I learnt my angling skills as nature intended us to. Time progressed as it will, my father retired, I got married. Fishing had to go on the back burner for a couple of years and somehow I never got around to returning to "my Dam" for about 8 years.
When I did, I got the shock of my life...the company had been taken over, New Management....new evelopement. On my return visit, a road had been pushed through the wood, the bankside vegetation had been severely cut back, even to the extent of making "pathways" for the shipping back of poles. There were fishing platforms made from palletts every 15 feet around the place, the Reeds had been raked back by about 40 feet and removed.....the carp could not be seen, nor any other fish...
There were discarded beer tins thrown around, together with any amount of other rubbish, some of the banks had collapsed where thoughtless people had dug swims into them, in all it was a nightmare come true.
On reflection I suppose that I was the luckiest kid on the block for 16 years, but that Dam, which had the potential for great things, had been truly destroyed..it had never seen a Pellet, Boilie, PVA bag, Roach Pole, Bite alarm, Bivvie, etc, etc. The only baits I used were humble maggots, Casters, Bread, (Slugs, which the carp loved,)and worms.
Lesson Learnt... Never go Back.
Sorry I went on a bit, but some things you cannot forget, or forgive.