theartist
Well-known member
I walked to the post office this morning the usual route that takes me past two rivers and a stretch of canal, sounds wonderful but on reaching the first river - The Bulbourne I'm greeted with the usual sight of discarded take away rubbish. Monday mornings are always bad but in truth it's there most days as there is a fast food establishment across the road, nearly all the items of litter have a big letter M on them and they're everywhere, not nice but a heron was a welcome addition and was oblivious to any waste advertisement.
No angler worth his salt would cross a river without peering into to depths, when I say depths I mean the hole that is over a foot deep where the water cascades under a bridge, this is deep for the Bulbourne and sometimes I used to see a kid fishing off the bridge. The river is a clear chalk stream this time of morning and will be canal coloured within a few hours, due to the canal of course. The Boxmoor trust claim there are Graylings(sic) in the river but they have banned fishing on their moor plus they pluralise fish names so i'd not be so sure. I stared at the minnow for a few minutes looking for something different on the bottom but it was all minnow. A look the other side saw dozens of laughing gas canisters, strewn across the river bed like little dace, the water was also frightfully low as the rain has missed this area completely for the last month or so. They are building flats on one side as they are everywhere down the canal too, there wasn't a dace in sight, but a few small chublets offered hope.
On I walked to the Gade where it runs alongside a busy road, one of the busiest routes into town, here I've been watching a pair of swans build a nest over the last few months. Swans aren't the brightest of birds and these two are no exception building their nest right next to the road near a pedestrian crossing. It's an impressive structure of old rushes but not so are the empty beer bottles that have been thrown it's way, the irony is the spoilt kids would have already discarded their half full milkshakes from the takeaway by this point. On the flip side someone with good intentions had also throw lots of bread too, probably 'Mad bird lady' as every town has got one. Not good seeing all that bread there and hopefully the swan will have taken on enough water, or the rats will have it first perhaps. From the swans nest I cross in to a park where the council pick up the litter, health and safety dictates they don't near the rushes by the river to clear it there. I could scream.
On the way back I re-pass the swan's nest of bottles and bread, the highest point for miles it seems, standing out like a volcano with a pure white cloud on top, all this as the traffic goes by to work. I also look again into the mighty depths below the bridge this time wondering if there's stone loach under the rocks amongst the gas canisters, I hope so and will try and catch one for the mini species challenge one day, maybe.
Back in the litter meadow I'm greeted by a positive sight, a fellow with a litter picker and bag and a brief chat established that he's doing it off his own bat. Next time I may team up with him and return the litter to it's rightful home, perhaps on the counter in clear bags, recycling right? I stopped short of saying he stood out like a beacon of hope instead I just thanked him for what he was doing, little things help and least he knows that sort of thing is appreciated, top bloke.
It's a shame this scenario could be repeated in many a town in the UK so I'm looking forward to the river season and fishing somewhere green and beautiful and leaving it the way I found it.
No angler worth his salt would cross a river without peering into to depths, when I say depths I mean the hole that is over a foot deep where the water cascades under a bridge, this is deep for the Bulbourne and sometimes I used to see a kid fishing off the bridge. The river is a clear chalk stream this time of morning and will be canal coloured within a few hours, due to the canal of course. The Boxmoor trust claim there are Graylings(sic) in the river but they have banned fishing on their moor plus they pluralise fish names so i'd not be so sure. I stared at the minnow for a few minutes looking for something different on the bottom but it was all minnow. A look the other side saw dozens of laughing gas canisters, strewn across the river bed like little dace, the water was also frightfully low as the rain has missed this area completely for the last month or so. They are building flats on one side as they are everywhere down the canal too, there wasn't a dace in sight, but a few small chublets offered hope.
On I walked to the Gade where it runs alongside a busy road, one of the busiest routes into town, here I've been watching a pair of swans build a nest over the last few months. Swans aren't the brightest of birds and these two are no exception building their nest right next to the road near a pedestrian crossing. It's an impressive structure of old rushes but not so are the empty beer bottles that have been thrown it's way, the irony is the spoilt kids would have already discarded their half full milkshakes from the takeaway by this point. On the flip side someone with good intentions had also throw lots of bread too, probably 'Mad bird lady' as every town has got one. Not good seeing all that bread there and hopefully the swan will have taken on enough water, or the rats will have it first perhaps. From the swans nest I cross in to a park where the council pick up the litter, health and safety dictates they don't near the rushes by the river to clear it there. I could scream.
On the way back I re-pass the swan's nest of bottles and bread, the highest point for miles it seems, standing out like a volcano with a pure white cloud on top, all this as the traffic goes by to work. I also look again into the mighty depths below the bridge this time wondering if there's stone loach under the rocks amongst the gas canisters, I hope so and will try and catch one for the mini species challenge one day, maybe.
Back in the litter meadow I'm greeted by a positive sight, a fellow with a litter picker and bag and a brief chat established that he's doing it off his own bat. Next time I may team up with him and return the litter to it's rightful home, perhaps on the counter in clear bags, recycling right? I stopped short of saying he stood out like a beacon of hope instead I just thanked him for what he was doing, little things help and least he knows that sort of thing is appreciated, top bloke.
It's a shame this scenario could be repeated in many a town in the UK so I'm looking forward to the river season and fishing somewhere green and beautiful and leaving it the way I found it.
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