I
Ian Cloke
Guest
Youngsters at a Westcountry school have taken up an unusual class - angling.
A group of seven- and eight-year-olds have been learning how to catch freshwater fish.
The pupils from Mount House School, which overlooks the market town of Tavistock, in South Devon, are hooked on this term's new activity.
They have so far had three two-hour lessons at the Milemead Fishery, near Tavistock, and have been delighted with their early successes.
At her first attempt Alice Woolcock, from Horrabridge, took the biggest bag - 13 fish weighing in at 1lb 13oz - and all of the youngsters hooked at least one fish.
Geoff Whaley, Mount House's head of design and technology, who arranged and accompanied the outings said: "Alice's catch on the first day gave a good start to the school's record books, and the children are all keen to beat their own 'personal best' catches, and to improve on the school records."
The children at the boarding school have a choice of club on a Saturday morning - either drama at the school or outdoor activities.
The outdoor club gives the children a range of experiences to choose from. They have already spent one morning this term on the beach exploring rock pools - but the fishing has been the most popular activity so far, according to Mr Whaley.
The school uses the canal water at Milemead, a stretch purpose-built for beginners which contains species including carp, tench, roach, rudd, bream and the inevitable eels.
The pupils were given lessons in fish recognition, fishing with a three-metre pole and handling and unhooking fish before baiting up with maggots or sweet corn to try for themselves.
The fish they hooked were all returned to the water.
As well as the canal stretch, Milemead has three lakes of about two acres each, two for coarse fishing and one for trout.
The schoolchildren are already looking forward to graduating from the beginners' stretch to the lakes, where they will have the chance to catch some bigger fish.
A group of seven- and eight-year-olds have been learning how to catch freshwater fish.
The pupils from Mount House School, which overlooks the market town of Tavistock, in South Devon, are hooked on this term's new activity.
They have so far had three two-hour lessons at the Milemead Fishery, near Tavistock, and have been delighted with their early successes.
At her first attempt Alice Woolcock, from Horrabridge, took the biggest bag - 13 fish weighing in at 1lb 13oz - and all of the youngsters hooked at least one fish.
Geoff Whaley, Mount House's head of design and technology, who arranged and accompanied the outings said: "Alice's catch on the first day gave a good start to the school's record books, and the children are all keen to beat their own 'personal best' catches, and to improve on the school records."
The children at the boarding school have a choice of club on a Saturday morning - either drama at the school or outdoor activities.
The outdoor club gives the children a range of experiences to choose from. They have already spent one morning this term on the beach exploring rock pools - but the fishing has been the most popular activity so far, according to Mr Whaley.
The school uses the canal water at Milemead, a stretch purpose-built for beginners which contains species including carp, tench, roach, rudd, bream and the inevitable eels.
The pupils were given lessons in fish recognition, fishing with a three-metre pole and handling and unhooking fish before baiting up with maggots or sweet corn to try for themselves.
The fish they hooked were all returned to the water.
As well as the canal stretch, Milemead has three lakes of about two acres each, two for coarse fishing and one for trout.
The schoolchildren are already looking forward to graduating from the beginners' stretch to the lakes, where they will have the chance to catch some bigger fish.