Sorry to labour the point but I still don't know HOW this tiny little water(fairly)deep in the Herefordshire countryside came to the notice of Walker & Co in the first place.......lets face it,its not exactly easy to find is it?
Also,we are talking about the early 50's when telephones did not exist in everyones home so communication was not as it is today.....not to mention the journey to and from the place-must've been a nightmare-no motorways and cars not exactly reliable,all of which would've put most people off...
No,its not THAT important-I'm just interested and maybe others are as well...so for the sake of angling history does anyone actually know??
The Carp Catchers Club was already in existence before Bob Richards caught his record. At the time it consisted of Walker, BB, John Norman, Maurice Ingham and Harry Grief. They'd got together at the start of the 1951 season, and began circulating a rotary letter between one another. The news of Bob's big fish was soon known to them; in fact Bob wrote to BB telling him of the 31 pounder as soon as he returned from Bernithan, BB wrote immediately to **** and **** wrote to Bob instructing him to send the fish to him for stuffing (and seeking information on the water, the owner, fishing prospects etc). By the time the angling papers announced the catch the fish was in Walker's possession, and this meant he was able to quickly confirm the claimed weight as accurate, despite several letters sent to the papers claiming it couldn't possibly be that big.
**** soon contacted the lake's owner, only to find out the estate was to be sold. By the time June 1952 came Bob Richards was a CCC member, as was his friend Jack Smith, who helped Walker track down the new tenant, Mr McLean. Walker obtained permission from McLean for Peter Thomas and himself to fish at the end of June, and Pete landed a 28lb 10oz mirror.
All this is available in books and much of it is now on the internet. You've just got to read 'em, though it's best to cross-reference with any other sources you can find, as accounts do vary. Don't take what I've just written as gospel; I'm writing from memory. I think it's pretty much true though.
Walker would have ended up being just as influential without catching Ravioli; whilst it's possible he may not have been asked to write his monthly column when the Angling Times came about in 1953 if he hadn't been the record carp holder, AT founder Bernard Venables was also a CCC member so he'd have known about Walker's wide ranging knowledge. Even without the AT, his extensive writings would have found an outlet - he also wrote for the Fishing Gazette, Creel, Fishing, Trout and Salmon and Angling, plus lots of books. For instance Rod Building For Amateurs and Stillwater Angling were both published before the advent of Angling Times.
