Richard Walker

[terry m]

I’m not one to eulogise **** Walker too much, but he was very influential in changing what angling was into what angling is today. His many articles and books over 30+odd years informed, advised, were thought provoking and if nothing else just plain interesting and enchanting to read. However, he did claim in an article written in 1983 that he had ‘long since abandoned false modesty’ by listing some of his ideas and developments, amongst which were –

• He wrote the first ever book on stillwater fishing
• Designed and built the first ever carp rod (although you will know of this) at first in cane, then fibre-glass, and then carbon
• He designed the first ever net to hold a 50 lbs carp
• The first bite-alarm
• Arlesey bomb (as mentioned already)
• A combination of paste and crust (my friend Frank uses this today probably because he was mentored by Walker) to produce a slow sinking bait
• Vanes like dart flights for pike float tops (don’t suppose many use them now except carpers)
• A rod rest that stopped the line from being trapped under the rod
• He pointed out that FS reels needed a rotating pick-up roller when NOT ONE was in production
• He campaigned for years for knotless keepnets (now standard by law)
• Invented the single and double grinner knots
• Who went racing off to Hardys to see how carbon fibre could be used in rods
• Who was the first angler in the world to catch a trout on a carbon rod
• Who discovered that nylon line was not ‘rot proof’ as makers claimed but suffered from oxidation
• With the aid of an expert devised a liquid to impregnate dry flies that didn’t alter their colour
• Who kept insisting year on year that legering was a valuable method for matchmen
• Who advocated a streamlined float with central tube for pike to act as a slider instead of a cork bung with slit and peg
• Who popularised the use of betalights in floats and other indicators (Peter Wheat was first, but his efforts failed as they were too weak)

For these any many other developments and inventions sparked off by his thoughts, **** Walker is still this country’s greatest angler. A good book is on sale now on Ebay.

Call him what you will, his legacy is the diverse sport we all enjoy today.

I was not aware that his influences were so widespread.

I would find it hard to berate the guy in the face of this list, although, as others have said, appreciating someones' contribution does not necessarily mean that they need to be revered.

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

You have to understand how the mind of a scientist works. A scientists believes nothing, unless he has it on the dissecting table of his lab.---------- Post added at 12:48 ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 ----------

I'd say they doubt even that Ron - they need to doubt everything to advance science

 

[dangermouse]

Stuffed and mounted above his mantlepiece, placed in a tank at a zoo, whatever - no one else can target the fish!

Perhaps selfish and hypocritical is nearer the truth?

I think that to some degree you`re imposing today`s values on yesterday`s fishermen, and you just can`t do that. Don`t get me wrong, it`s perfectly natural to do it, (bad historians do it all the time - just read something by a marxist historian and you`ll see what I mean) but you have to take into account the morals/accepted practices of the period of time you`re examining.

 

[dezza]

Perhaps selfish and hypocritical is nearer the truth?

Comments like that are extremely unfair and obviously come from someone who has little experience of what it was like in the early 50s.

Shame on you!

There is one thing Walker was not and that was selfish. He was the most generous person I have ever met

 

[cg74]

Yeah, yeah Ron, shame on me, but when was DW's infamous quote first made; "take only memories" ?

 

[dezza]

Yeah, yeah Ron, shame on me, but when was DW's infamous quote first made; "take only memories" ?

How on earth did you get the notion that Walker concocted the "Take only memories...." saying?

The original, I believe was: "Take only photographs and leave only footprints". I first saw this at the entrance of Mala Mala Game reserve located in Eastern Mpumalanga many years ago. Since then I have seen this quoted in a couple of American fishing and wild life books.

Who wrote it I do not know, but it certainly wasn't Walker

Walker was a pioneer in angling photography. It was he who wrote in 1950 that a selection of photographs of your best captures is preferable to glass cases full of their stuffed skins!

Although a skilled taxidermist, he gave up stuffing his own fish ca 1953.

 

[Philip]

Walker's greatest legacy in my opinion is that as an intellectual, he dragged coarse angling by the scruff of the neck out of the image of the flat cap, creel and tap room, into a whole new world where he advanced the status of the sport tremendously.

...& so started the whole specimen circus you always complain about Ron ?

Ok lets be fair...RW has to be in any UK anglers top 10 surely ? ...his contribution to the sport was massive.

...But I think personal glory& claiming a record played a much bigger part in his decision to stick the fish in a zoo than proving any scientist wrong.. Besides would people really have doubted it as much as everyone claims ? No one seemed to doubt so many of his other catches, so why would anyone doubt him catching a 41 and a half pound carp when the record was already 32+ ? ...

 

[smithdave]

C'mon Colin, put the incorrect quote up again.
Go on, I know you want to.
If you do, I'll buy you a pint, then you wash down that footmg:

 

[Chevin]

"Small chalet" you say: http://www.fishingmagic.com/fmimages/news/rcousehut.jpg
I guess you never quantified "small" but to me it looks like a rather large blot on the landscape. I have no anger towards DW or the "louts" that burnt the bungalow down but are you sure it wasn't a poorly extinguished fag butt, perhaps the 'great' mans? In fact maybe whoever/whatever caused the fire did the landscape a service?

So how do you equate me calling DW a hypocrite to it making me envious?
I've shown evidence of his hypocracy, or is building a chalet/hut/bungalow/shed not leaving more than your footprint? What of taking away only memories, is removing a fish not going beyond a memory?

Care to show me how I'm envious?

The hut, as it was called, was built on farm land where buildings were a normal course of events. When talking about leaving only foot prints, he was talking about waterside behaviour. In those days, anglers were quick to level any bank side vegetation that might get in their way. That even included large tree branches. ****, along with others tried to educate anglers and make them realise the value of everything one found at the water’s edge. To be critical of him building a small hut on a farmers land could well be somewhat critical of your self. Presumably you live in a house which is more than a foot print on the face of the earth. I don’t know where you live, but I would imagine that your suburb or town is a much greater blot on the landscape than was ****’s hut. The fire there was not the result of one of his cigarette ends or any one else’s. It was a fire that was deliberately lit by some of those who are never happy unless they are destroying the enjoyment of others.

The perennial bleating of the anti-Walker brigade always includes the fact that **** sent his carp to London Zoo. At the time of its capture a well known academic was saying that carp could not achieve the size **** was mentioning. Also at the time, the body of a fish had to be produced if a record was claimed. Generally that meant that the fish was killed. After he had landed the fish **** resolved that it would not be killed, but that it would be produced in order for it to be claimed as a record. **** offered it to London Zoo, it was accepted and two issues were settled. One, it was proof that carp did grow that big, and two his fish was accepted as a record. Those two issues caused a sudden interest in carp fishing and many anglers benefited from what had become fact and **** continued to help them improve their fishing, he made carp fishing possible to many who thought that carp could not be caught and it caused anglers to look at waters more closely which resulted in it being discovered that there were more carp waters than had been thought.

My accusation of envy stems from the fact that people like yourself who complain about **** removing the fish from Redmire do so because they accuse him of taking that action because he didn’t want anyone else to catch the fish and so break his record. That of course is rubbish because **** knew the water held bigger carp and he frequently took friends to fish with him at the water, any one of whom could have caught a bigger carp than his.

I feel that if you are really so concerned about the natural life on this planet, you might take a stand against angling for a start, because whatever we do, waterside life and even fish are going to be adversely affected in some way.

 

[dezza]

Very well written mate.

And for those who do not know, "Chevin" married Fred J Taylor's daughter - Valerie and is one of, if not the most qualified person to talk and write about Richard Walker and his life.

I really wish at times the anti-Walker brigade would stop their perpetual bleating which is based on ignorance, and rather read up a bit about our greatest freshwater angler.

 

[dangermouse]

..., so why would anyone doubt him catching a 41 and a half pound carp when the record was already 32+ ? ...

Clarissa was 44lbs . . .

 

[Chevin]

Clarissa was 44lbs . . .:wh mg:

Actually, **** only ever claimed the weight of 41lbs 4ozs for the carp. The fish was weighed on it's arrival at London Zoo and found to weigh 44lbs. At first **** thought that the sack in which he had kept it had also been weighed, but it was established that the weight of the fish was 44lbs.

---------- Post added at 09:47 ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 ----------

I never read anythign by DW - maybe I should but I dislike the "How to" type of book - did he write the anacodatal style?

Hi Mate. Try "Drop me a Line" and "Walker's Pitch" they are along the lines you may like.

 

[laguna]

And for those who do not know, "Chevin" married Fred J Taylor's daughter - Valerie and is one of, if not the most qualified person to talk and write about Richard Walker and his life.

Just curious Ron (Chevin?) ... nosey ****** that I am!

The possible connection (if any) between Valerie and Fred's now famous attempted emigration to Australia?

 

[Chevin]

Just curious Ron (Chevin?) ... nosey ****** that I am!

The possible connection (if any) between Valerie and Fred's now famous attempted emigration to Australia?

Yes, obviously Valerie's parents were my in-laws. Fred missed his UK environment and eventually returned to the UK. It was a difficult time for all of us.

 

[laguna]

Actually, **** only ever claimed the weight of 41lbs 4ozs for the carp. The fish was weighed on it's arrival at London Zoo and found to weigh 44lbs. At first **** thought that the sack in which he had kept it had also been weighed, but it was established that the weight of the fish was 44lbs.

Thanks for the clarification Chevin. I always thought that was a misprint (lost to the Chinese whisper or something) but then anything reported as being weighed in at over 30 in those days was well... mind blowingly unbelievable, unfathomable, incomprehensible.. thanks to **** for his magnanimous contributions to the angling fraternity.

 

[The bad one]

I really wish at times the anti-Walker brigade would stop their perpetual bleating which is based on ignorance, and rather read up a bit about our greatest freshwater angler.

Would you include Eric in this category Ron?
You heard the story as well as I did from him

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

Actually, **** only ever claimed the weight of 41lbs 4ozs for the carp. The fish was weighed on it's arrival at London Zoo and found to weigh 44lbs. At first **** thought that the sack in which he had kept it had also been weighed, but it was established that the weight of the fish was 44lbs.

---------- Post added at 09:47 ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 ----------



Hi Mate. Try "Drop me a Line" and "Walker's Pitch" they are along the lines you may like.

Thank I'll look therm out

 

[dnahacker]

In addition to the above, Walker's greatest legacy in my opinion is that as an intellectual, he dragged coarse angling by the scruff of the neck out of the image of the flat cap, creel and tap room, into a whole new world where he advanced the status of the sport tremendously.

i couldnt agree less, as someone who is an all rounder but by far and a way majority game angler i can tell you that the "working class" image of coarse angling is alive and kicking and boy dont lots of anglers work hard at perpetuating the stereotypes.... how many game anglers do you see with a can of Stella in their hand... it might just be a local phenomonon but bivvy divvy mentality is rife, beer bling and GTi's

Now dont get me wrong, there is NOTHING wrong with a "tap room mentality", i was dragged up in working class west yorkshire, my easly working life was as a machinist in a foundry... You can take the boy and all that, however, to venerate Walker for intellectualising coarse fishing is just bollox.

 

[dezza]

Clarissa was 44lbs . . .
__________________

The weighing of that fish at the time of capture was fraught with difficulties. Walker had a 0-32lb dial scale. I remember those scales quite well, they were used a lot on farms to weigh out sacks of potatoes and I think they were made by Salter.

Obviously they knew that Clarissa had beaten Bob Richards existing record of 31 1/4 lbs by a fair margin when it took the balance right down to its limit. So Walker went up to the farmhouse and managed to borrow another scale. They strung the two scales together in parallel and added the two figures together which gave them a total weight of plus or minus 42 lbs. When Clarissa arrived at the zoo it was weighed on a very accurate scale which was tested by the weights and measures people. The fish weighed 44 lbs, a weight Walker initially wouldn't accept.

Now the negative rumours that went around about Walker's fish.

All sorts of people began a campaign against this fish which was aimed to discredit Walker and Pete Thomas. The stories were many and now is not the time to mention them, suffice to say that I was privvy to certain of these stories and for a time I might have believed them.

But I did spend time investigating these rumours and found not one iota of evidence in their favour.

As far as I'm concerned, the matter died over 10 years ago.

---------- Post added at 02:01 ---------- Previous post was at 01:52 ----------

You can take the boy and all that, however, to venerate Walker for intellectualising coarse fishing is just bollox.

Of course he raised the image of the coarse angler, and by doing so I don't mean that he turned coarse anglers into snobs. But the coarse angling revolution that he started was real and organisations such as the National Association of Specimen Groups, and the big fish movement as a whole, had its roots in the writings and doings of Richard Walker.

There are two members of this forum who can vouch for this, Nick(The Monk) Melling and Phil (The Bad One) Hackett.

Our previous web Editor, Graham Marsden was also very involved with a specimen group and the big fish movement.

 

[dnahacker]

The weighing of that fish at the time of capture was fraught with difficulties. Walker had a 0-32lb dial scale. I remember those scales quite well, they were used a lot on farms to weigh out sacks of potatoes and I think they were made by Salter.

Obviously they knew that Clarissa had beaten Bob Richards existing record of 31 1/4 lbs by a fair margin when it took the balance right down to its limit. So Walker went up to the farmhouse and managed to borrow another scale. They strung the two scales together in parallel and added the two figures together which gave them a total weight of plus or minus 42 lbs. When Clarissa arrived at the zoo it was weighed on a very accurate scale which was tested by the weights and measures people. The fish weighed 44 lbs, a weight Walker initially wouldn't accept.

Now the negative rumours that went around about Walker's fish.

All sorts of people began a campaign against this fish which was aimed to discredit Walker and Pete Thomas. The stories were many and now is not the time to mention them, suffice to say that I was privvy to certain of these stories and for a time I might have believed them.

But I did spend time investigating these rumours and found not one iota of evidence in their favour.

As far as I'm concerned, the matter died over 10 years ago.

---------- Post added at 02:01 ---------- Previous post was at 01:52 ----------



Of course he raised the image of the coarse angler, and by doing so I don't mean that he turned coarse anglers into snobs. But the coarse angling revolution that he started was real and organisations such as the National Association of Specimen Groups, and the big fish movement as a whole, had its roots in the writings and doings of Richard Walker.

There are two members of this forum who can vouch for this, Nick(The Monk) Melling and Phil (The Bad One) Hackett.

Our previous web Editor, Graham Marsden was also very involved with a specimen group and the big fish movement.

You are making assumptions about the value i, (and others) put on catching big fish and specimen hunting, from a personal perspective fishing isnt about catching the biggest or the most fish, it is about interaction with the environment, relaxing, emptying out the head for a few hours. For example i spent a day trotting on the Dorset stour on sunday, i had chub to 5lb and on a regular basis, however the 12 oz roach i caught made my day... i have not caught a roach in running water since the early 1990s.

whats with the ***** names ... the hat... the bad one.... get a grip