Nether Wallop Mill Friday April 7th 2017
As you may have heard I was a guest on the Radio 4 Saturday Live show hosted by the Rev. Richard Coles. Frankly, as my first time live on national radio, I was fully expecting to be scared out of my wits but it is a huge tribute to the production team at Broadcasting House that I felt nothing of the sort.
 |
 |
|
Presenters: Laura & Richard. Guests: Lady
Carnarvon, Daniel O'Donnell, me & Samantha Renke.
|
In that old saw of the media
world it truly did feel like a fireside chat, albeit shoehorned into an airless
fifth storey recording studio somewhere along a multitude of labyrinthine
corridors. Believe me if you are a keen watcher of the BBC sitcom W1A they
truly do pick out the nicest parts of the building for the show.
But for all the
architectural shortcomings they do try to look after staff and guests. Clearly
when they remodelled the building a few years back someone on the design team
had heard about the food and drink stations pioneered by Google. Sadly I don't
think anyone troubled to get on a plane to check them out before including them
in the final brief for the BBC. Now I have actually been to Google City in Palo
Alto. The food stations are a thing of great wonder. Think Whole Foods
dissected down to its finest elements by a committee of the über cool. Then
throw huge amounts of money at it. Well, you get the idea.
However, whether something
was lost in translation or it was simply a budget thing, don't worry about your
licence fee being misspent on frivolities. The version our national broadcaster
prefers would fit well in the worst of a 1970's motorway service station.
Fortunately fellow guest Lady Carnarvon had liberated some biscuits from the
Highclere Castle gift shop.
Sustained more by adrenaline
than the aristocratic fare my ninety minutes of fame sped by, so after the
signing of the guest book and good byes I headed out of Broadcasting House
chatting to the true talent of the show, the world renowned Irish singer Daniel
O'Donnell.
As the two of us pushed
through the revolving doors onto the plaza beyond I spied a large group
gathered outside the coffee shop. Odd, I thought, why such a queue for coffee?
Then suddenly one of the gathering saw the two of us, broke away and headed
towards us at speed brandishing a pen. But he wasn't alone for long as the rest
of the posse followed fast in his wake. Is this the fame? I thought. One radio
show is all it takes. But the cries of Daniel! Daniel! spoke of a greater
truth as the autograph hunters elbowed me aside.
Daniel gave me one of those
'what can you do' shrugs by way of farewell before engaging with each and every
one of his fans as I slunk away towards Oxford Circus to hail a cab. As I gave
the driver my destination I fully expected him to look at me with stunned
admiration, blurting out, 'Blimey guvnor, haven't I just heard you on the BBC?'
but no such luck. Fame is fleeting but at least I bettered Mr Warhol's
fifteen minute predication.
If you would like to hear
the show on BBC iPlayer here is the link.
CHALK -
THE MOVIE
|
 |
|
Marina Gibson
|
Many of
you raved about the chalkstream films made by the young, talented filmmakers
Leo Cinicolo and Chris Cooper that I showcased via the Newsletters last year.
Well, I
am delighted to say that Leo and Chris are trying to raise funds to make a
feature length movie. I have a small involvement in that I will be writing the
script but they, plus the poster girl of fly fishing, Marina Gibson, will be
the stars.
If you'd
like to be part of the project you can take a stake in the action via
Kickstarter. There are all sorts of awards as part of your involvement
including a day on the River Itchen with Marina herself.
Here is
the link to Kickstarter
PS Chris Cooper is no relation to me!
Chris & Leo tell you
about Chalk - The Movie
|
BLUE WHITE XJ
Blue White XJ is not the next model from Jaguar
- it is the tag on a twenty three year old osprey who I saw last week.
Ospreys, extinct in the UK at the start of the 20th century,
have staged a remarkable comeback since the 1950's and here in the south we see
them around this time of year as they return from overwintering in west Africa
en-route for Wales and Scotland.
We know a bit about BWXJ because he was tagged as a young chick in
Aberdeenshire; quite where he currently goes for the summer nobody is exactly
sure but we do know he spends the winter in Senegal.
What we also know for sure is that for each of the past six years he has
paused his migration for 3-4 days at Wimborne St Giles in Dorset. It is
tempting to think that on his landfall after traversing the English Channel he
is drawn by the sleepy charm of this olde worlde English village. However, I
suspect the fish farm on the edge of the village, that supplies many of my
brown trout, is a more likely draw.
So, I'm sorry to report that some of the fish intended for you later this
season won't even make it to the river. But I have a feeling that you, like me
and all of us that day who looked in wonder as he swooped down to deftly snag a
fish from a rearing pond, won't mind too much.
EASTER FISHING
It is Easter next week; it seems to have crept up out of the blue. I
sneaked out on the opening day earlier in the week with four fish in an hour to
a variety of dries: Cul de Canard, Klinkhammer and an Adams. Make whatever
entomological deductions from that you wish, but I think the fish were just
glad to see me!
Over the
coming Easter weekend and the week following I am surprised to see that fully
15 of our beats, covering 11 rivers are open. They are, in no particular order
by county:
Hampshire: Exton
Manor Farm (Meon), Avington, Shawford Park & Qing Ya Xi (Itchen).
Broadlands (Test)
Berkshire: Donnington
Grove (Lambourn)
Derbyshire: Cottons
(Dove). Haddon Hall (Wye & Lathkill)
Dorset: Ilsington
& Wrackleford (Frome). Deans Court (Allen)
Gloucestershire: Coln St
Aldwyns (Coln)
Wiltshire: Avon
Springs & Upavon (Avon). Fisherton de la Mere (Wylye)
Yorkshire: Mulberry
Whin (Driffield Beck)
If you wish to check a date, best to use this link.
Here at Nether Wallop Mill we have slots
available for tuition, courses and family days on April 15, 18, 19 &
20. Details here .....
River Meon
- Wednesday
THE CHALKSTREAMS 2027 - 10
years post-Brexit
|
 |
|
Ecdyonurus helveticus
|
I know I promised to bring you Chalkstreams 2027 in this issue but
it will now be held over to next time.
However,
I have good news from a regular client in Switzerland who wants me to assure
you all that fish do rise also outside the EU, even to such non-EU-species
as Ecdyonurus helveticus which was discovered by our very own
Reverend Eaton who completed his monograph of all the world's known Ephemeroptera species in
1888.
I am sure David Davis will be factoring this into his negotiating
strategy.
MONTHLY RIVER REPORTS &
HATCH UPDATES
Starting next week I am
going to be putting out a once-a-month newsletter special edition with news
from the rivers, hatch updates and general fishing advice.
It is very much work a work in progress so I fully expect the
style and content to evolve over time. That being the case I'd really welcome
any comments you have. I'm sure I'll be missing stuff I should be telling you
or stating too much of the obvious.
Your help, advice and feedback will be much appreciated.
QUIZ
Three random teasers to test your brain. No theme this week. It is
just for fun and the answers are at the bottom of the page
1)
Who said
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely"?
2)
Who were
the six original signatories to the Treaty of Rome, the forerunner to the EU?
3)
When was
the French baguette loaf invented? a) 1519 b) 1719 c) 1919
Have a good weekend.
Best
wishes,
Simon
Cooper simon@fishingbreaks.co.uk
Founder
& Managing Director
Quiz answers:
1)
Lord Acton in a letter written in 1887, a paragraph of which
reads: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Great men are almost always bad men."
2)
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
3)
1919, after a change to the laws regulating bakery working hours
required a fast baked loaf.
No comments:
Post a Comment