I've just been reading an old thread 'Redmire Pool - where the heck is it?' posted back in 2010 because I remember posting on the visit I made to the place. My sentiments haven't changed nor will they, and folk will always have, and are entitled to have, an opinion on the subject.
It is my opinion that only people of (around my age, and then by no means all) will appreciate what happened back in 1952 when Walker caught his fish and why trying to compare it with any other time span, is sort of pointless. Apart from all the factors around tackle, bait, clothing et al that have to be considered, I think it worth bearing in mind the period of which we are talking and what it took to not only fish Redmire, but what it took to even get there!
In 1952 (I was 9 years old) rationing was only just coming to an end, and even though it was some years after the end of WW2, money was very tight for many, and general living conditions not very good at all. Not for all, but for vast numbers in and around the big cities.
Imagine then, if you will, the scenario of planning a trip, or in Walkers case many trips from his home in Hitchin, Herts to Herefordshire, some 140 miles distant with not a motor way in sight, and in vehicles that were, at best unreliable.
Not for those pioneers the benefit of a nice, warm luxurious 4 x 4 or kitted out camper van for the journey, on a nice straight motorway, but via A-roads with a minimal number of petrol stations and not the vast array of food found in motorway service stations. Likely as not the car or van would be without a heater so it took great effort to make such a journey, and one most folk today would think twice about making just for a bit of fishing - let alone on a regular basis!!
Just give a bit of thought to available clothing, camping gear available at the time. For example, think about what folk used to climb Everest back then and compare what they use today....you get the idea..
Of course, it is easy to say ' you make do with what is available at the time' but I wonder how many anglers, if offered free fishing for a year at Redmire, would care to make the massive effort (with the gear of yesteryear).....Oh, and earn a living, and design the rods with which to fish the place, and keep a family happy as you disappear for days at a time, only to return home fishless. Not too many would be my guess!!
Oh, and this without the 'hotel' standard accommodation I see sitting on the banks of some fisheries these days!!
So, for those who are a little sniffy around what Walker (and many others) achieved at that time I would say; What have you accomplished to match it, which entitles you to offer an opinion???
I can think of a few on FM, but not too many, if what they write is anything to go by!
.....................and you can stick that in your pipe, and smoke it! (That's an age thing as well!!)
To Peter Jacobs: Re the 2010 thread; I'm still waiting to win the lottery, but should I ever manage it, our trip to Redmire is still on!!
mg:.
