Never go back

Having to take my Mother in Law to hospital yesterday I decided while I was in the area to take a walk round one of my old fishing venues Hainault Forest Lake.
I remembered it as being clear water plenty of weeds and some big carp, pike and Tench fishing. What I was met with was a lake full of muddy water, rowing boats, and 100’s of Canada geese. The fishing is now being restricted to about 50 yards of bank on tickets that have to be bought in advance.
I wont be in any hurry to go back, serves me right for trying to relive the past.

Some thing are best left in the past, I had a look round a water that was the scene of the start of lots of local kids fishing many years ago, all it did was leave me with a feeling of melancholy, the pool looked mostly the same but there was nobody fishing no kids no excitement at catching a 4 inch roach, your right never go back.

One of my regular fishing haunts when a youngster was the Longwater at Hampton Court.

It was laid out by William III and in my early days was lined with some of the most magnificent ancient Oak Trees that you could ever wish to see.

In those days you could catch some excellent Roach and Tench from the still water on all types of natural baits.

To get there I'd take the (steam) train from my grandparents local station to Wimbledon, and change there for the Hampton Court service, then the long walk over the bridge, always stopping to stare in to the Thames, and then through the palace and gardens to the water.

Many a time I would be so engrossed in my fishing that I never noticed the sheep who would sneak up behind you and try to munch your lunchtime sandwiches . . . . usually successfully too.

A few years ago I decdied to go back and take a look at the venue that had served me so well in those early years, so while my Norwegian friend was wandering around the Palace, I wandered off to the lake.

imagine my surprise to see those lovely old Oak trees all replaced by new and much younger specimens, thanks apparently to the (non-existent hurricane of '87 - thanks a bunch Mr Fish!)

The entire atmosphere of the place was just so different it almost brought me to tears t be honest.

I wandered back to meet my friend and she and I then went for a nice lunch at a pub' right opposite the gates of the palace.

So, in that case, at least, it was a disappointment to "go back"

Don't get your Hampton Court - good advice for life (still, might be some way to the Prince Albert Angling Club membership if you do, I guess).

That little maggot's not working as a bait

I've been back to my "first" fishing pond - so much smaller than I remember it - or I've got bigger

steve2 said:

Having to take my Mother in Law to hospital yesterday I decided while I was in the area to take a walk round one of my old fishing venues Hainault Forest Lake.
I remembered it as being clear water plenty of weeds and some big carp, pike and Tench fishing. What I was met with was a lake full of muddy water, rowing boats, and 100’s of Canada geese. The fishing is now being restricted to about 50 yards of bank on tickets that have to be bought in advance.
I wont be in any hurry to go back, serves me right for trying to relive the past.

Click to expand...

This was also a haunt of mine as a youngster. We used to cycle from Dageham to night fish. One night there was shouting and screaming and cackling coming from around the lake ALL NIGHT.

It put the willies up us. In the morning the police arrived and so did an ambulance. I presume the bloke they took away was an escapee from a local mental hospital.

You can never go back, it's bound to be a disappointment.

How many household names were frequent fishermen at Hainault Forest ?

Bob

Yes, have had a similar experience when I wandered around a place where I used to spend an inordinate amount of time at as a kid.

Rose coloured glasses and all that...

The worst disappointment was finding that one of my old haunts had been encircled by a new housing estate, then electrofished for the "safety" of the neighbourfood kids that were having a whale of a time fishing it for free. Sad, that.

Actually I have just remembered I went to an old haunt that has IMPROVED

There are those on here who will know what was called The Chase at Dagenham, run by the White Heart Angling Club.

I haunted the place as a kid. I swam in it, fished it and skated on it during that 63 winter. I lived right next to it.

It was a bare gravel banked worked out pit. The banks were a rubbish fest.
On opening day after school you had to walk right round to find a space between other anglers to fish.

50 years on I had a walk round with my 90+year old father not so long ago(he used to swim in it as a lad!)
The banks have been greened. There is a visitor centre. I didn't see much rubbish. The water looked a good colour with weed beds.
The lake is now called BarDag and is a credit to the club running it.

Theres quite a few places i fished heavily in the 70s or early 80s as a kid/young adult that are unrecognisable today. The main loss has been Tench waters that are now muddy puddles or have had angling banned.

Peter mentioned the Long Water at Hampton Court in an earlier post and i remember that well with the avenues of lime trees down each side. Never actually caught anything of any note in there though - used to fish the other smaller ponds in that park but fishing was banned on those in 1981.

Not all places are trashed though. The famous river fisheries like the Royalty, Throop and others have produced the goods year after year for decades. Maybe lakes are more vulnerable to change?. Having said that, a couple of years back i fished an old estate lake in Beds that was famous for tench in the 1960s and although stocks were now much lower, it still held some monsters (i had fish to just over 9IB) and best of all was only lightly fished. In some places there may be cycles and its about being back at the best part of a cycle that matters - if a water can ever get back to its glory days.

The gravel pit where I started fishing is now not just encircled by a housing estate - it is a housing estate.