Friday 16 December 2022

What are the 3 reasons you love fly fishing?

 

Greetings!

 

I’ve been watching two policy changes of the Sunak government with particular interest: onshore wind turbines and housing planning quotas which, the way I see it, offers the River Test the hope of both a win and a loss.

 

Back in 2015 I joined the fight against eight wind turbines that were to be built at the junction of the A34/A303 near Sutton Scotney, close to the head of the River Dever, one of the main tributaries of the River Test. Now, I’m not sure whether we would have ultimately won our campaign, but the Cameron government came to our aid with a national moratorium on the building of further onshore wind turbines. Now, from a river point of view there is little you can say against wind turbines but from the aesthetic you most certainly can.

 

The glory of England is the sum of its parts. We try not to despoil the great buildings, towns and skylines of Britain with what the future King Charles once described as carbuncles. Our planning system gives protection to not only individual Listed Buildings but also the neighbouring land and buildings that might be considered within the curtilage of a Listed property. To my mind the natural landscape deserves the same protection, but plenty disagree choosing energy production above beauty and heritage.

 

EDF wind farm

 

I am certain that the application for those eight turbines will be revived. Last time around each turbine was to be the same height as London’s Telecom Tower; this time around, such is the progress in turbine technology, they will be bigger still – it is no exaggeration to say they will cast a shadow across the Dever itself. Whether any application will be successful is hard to say – the Sunak proposals as contained in the press release from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities 6/December are a bit woolly,

 

“Planning permission is dependent on a project being able to demonstrate local support and satisfactorily address any impacts identified by the local community.”

 

Double speak alert. Should we assume that means majority, or even overwhelming, local support? What is meant by the word satisfactorily?

 

A little more reassuring is the further statement,

 

“The Government will make sure strong environmental protections first brought in by the Government in 2015 remain, so that valued landscapes such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Green Belt are protected.”

 

The consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework will be concluded by the end of April 2023 so we’ll have a better idea of what is in store for the British landscape and the Test valley in particular.

 

So, if that was the potential loss, what might be the win? Well, just across the River Dever from the proposed site of the Sutton Scotney wind farm is the proposal for the Micheldever Station development. Us locals sometimes have a little chortle at the branding; the current Micheldever village has a station that is little more of a halt, a 13th century church, one pub, the source of the Dever and a population of just 800. The proposed Micheldever development will have a population of 19,500 in 8,300 new homes built on what is currently open countryside, subsuming Micheldever and the surrounding villages into a suburban landscape.

 

 

Now I could recite in detail how disastrous a development on this scale, located right at the head of the Test valley catchment, could be for the most famous chalkstream of them all. But let’s suffice with the headlines: the loss of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat. Urban run-off. Sewage pollution. Massive water abstraction in a region that relies entirely on the aquifers for water provision. Noise, air, traffic and light pollution on a scale not seen since the new towns of the 1950’s. The demise of yet more rural communities.

 

To be fair Winchester City Council the local authority, are, or were until the latest government announcement, on the horns of a planning dilemma. Do they build, over the next 20 years, the 14,000 dwellings as required by Government for the Winchester area by way of piecemeal developments elsewhere or go for the Big Bang with the Micheldever new town?

 

The Micheldever proposal is nothing new. For the 30 years I have been involved with the Bullington Manor Estate, which neighbours Micheldever, this development has reared its ugly head on many occasions as the ownership has passed through the hands of various speculative developers with proposals as large as 12,000 homes down to a rather more ‘modest’ 5,000. Each time the proposal has been defeated but there is big money at stake. The current developers, the O’Flynn Group, paid £45m for the land and are backed by Irish billionaire and racehorse magnate (he owned the late Galileo, father of Frankel), John Magnier.

 

The current consultation closed earlier this week. The Dever Society, who have headed the opposition to this application, won an important battle last year that forced Winchester City Council to think again about giving the go ahead to a new settlement, as the Micheldever proposal is quaintly styled in government planning-speak. It seems that Winchester will favour a development strategy that rejects new settlements and prioritises the use of brownfield land for development, which Micheldever is certainly not.

 

The hope must be that the Sunak policy, where national housing targets remain but there will be new flexibilities to reflect local circumstances, will finally give cause to see off the Micheldever plans, if not forever, but at least for many years to come and that other equally hard pressed chalkstream catchments are saved from the insidious creep of over-development.

 

 

What are the 3 reasons you love fly fishing?

 

Along with a fellow marketeer at one of the large fly fishing retailers I am compiling the definitive list of the reasons why people just love fly fishing. So, the question is, what are the three reasons you love fly fishing?

 

Though it is an interesting question to ask in itself we do have a serious purpose to our research the results of which will be used to spread the word about fly fishing across the many and various media channels. However, we are not going to keep the results to ourselves but share them across the industry. One of the great challenges of marketing fly fishing is why. Why do we do it? Why do we love it? What draws us back to the water time and time again?

 

So, please do email me the reasons you love fly fishing. Three reasons will be perfect but if you have more, or less, all contributions, brief or long, will be gratefully received.

 

I’ll assume that in writing you’ll be giving permission for your words to be freely used elsewhere but rest assured all content will be reproduced anonymously. simon@fishingbreaks.co.uk

 

 

CHALK draws over a thousand viewers

 

Over a thousand of you settled in to watch CHALK on Sunday – thank you to FishingTV who made it possible and those of you who wrote to say how much you enjoyed the movie.

 

If you want to watch it again, or for the first time, visit FishingTV or Smart TV apps including Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung TV, LG, Panasonic, Sony, Phillips and Comcast in the USA.

 

 

 

2023 bookings go live Boxing Day

 

The on-line booking system will go live across all our fishing on Boxing Day for 2023 day rods, courses, private tuition, family days and fishing cottages.

 

You can check by date on the Check a Date page, browse all the fishing on the All Fishing page, compare and research at Compare the Beats, check out Courses, Family Days and Fishing Cottages.

 

A couple of notes. Sadly, we have lost two long serving soldiers: Wherwell Priory was sold in the summer and the new owner is taking it private – lucky fellow! Upper Clatford has also been sold but once the legalities, which includes probate, are complete we are hopeful it will return to the fold but likely not until 2024. On a couple of others, we are still betwixt and between with the diaries so you may have to write in to request dates.

 

The office will be closed 23/December-2/January inclusive but I’ll be answering emails most days.

 

 

Last call for Christmas orders

 

It seems all our Royal Mail vouchers are getting through, albeit sometimes much delayed. My promise is that any vouchers ordered over the weekend we’ll have in the post on Monday. Likewise, if you order today, it will go out tonight.

 

However, if you’d like, by way of belts and braces, to be sure to have something to give on the day ask us to email you a copy or ask us to email the recipient on Christmas Day.

 

Order gift vouchers online, by email or call 01264 781988. We are open 9am-5pm today and Monday-Thursday next week.

 

 

 

Quiz

The normal random collection of questions inspired by the date, events or topics in the Newsletter.

 

It is just for fun with answers at the bottom of the page.

 

1) What was the nationality of the first car to make an automobile journey in Britain which took place in 1895? A) British, B) French, C) German or D) USA.

 

2) Which tea party took place on this day in 1773?

 

3) Regardless of the result on Sunday how many national teams have won the football World Cup which began in 1930? A) Five, B) Six or C) Eight.

 

 

 

Have a good weekend.



 

Best wishes,

 

 

Simon Cooper simon@fishingbreaks.co.uk

Founder & Managing Directorwww.fishingbreaks.co.uk

 

 

 

Quiz answers:

 

1)     French. Micheldever Station was the starting point for the first automobile journey in Britain. The vehicle, a Panhard-Levassor (later Citroen/Renault), had been ordered from France by the Hon Evelyn Ellis. It was transported across the channel by ferry and then to Micheldever Station by train. Ellis received delivery on the platform and drove the vehicle to Datchet.

2)     Boston tea party incident - Sons of Liberty protesters throw tea shipments into Boston harbour in protest against British imposed Tea Act.

3)     Eight. Brazil (5 times winners). Germany and Italy (4). Argentina, France, and Uruguay (2). England and Spain (1).

Friday 9 December 2022

It is beginning to look a bit like Christmas .....

 

Greetings!

 

It is beginning to look a bit like, with all the various strikes in prospect, the hardest part of Christmas will not be choosing the right gift but actually getting it delivered! I cannot promise at Fishing Breaks we have a silver bullet, but we do have a few tricks up our sleeve to ease the difficulties.

 

Firstly, and most obviously, the earlier you order the better and we’ll promise to do everything humanly possible to ensure your order is dispatched the same working day be it a book, voucher, or flies.

 

However, if you fancy a trip out to Stockbridge, with a slight five-minute detour to Nether Wallop, you are very welcome to visit us here at The Mill for Click & Collect. Just send us a follow up email after your order indicating day and time. We are open 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday until 22/December.

 

We do also have some solutions that circumvent the Post Office altogether:

 

Self-Print Voucher: order your voucher on-line and self-print.

 

Voucher by Email: order your voucher on-line and select email delivery direct to the recipient. Don’t forget you can tell us to post-date delivery for a birthday, special occasion, or Christmas Day itself.

 

Voucher by Post: if your voucher hasn’t arrived by 22/December, our final day in the office, let us know and we’ll email you a version to give on the day.

 

All vouchers are valid for two years and redemption can be done as early as 26/December when the 2023 on-line diaries go live for booking.

 

Vouchers for all ages and experience

 

I like to think at Fishing Breaks we always take great care to match expectation to reality. However, that is not always easy for the voucher buyer so I assure you that when it comes to redemption, we will be flexible. So, don’t worry if your voucher is not a perfect match – we’ll transfer the value across to what the voucher holder prefers.

 

For the Expert

Choose between a Day on the River Test or the Your Choice option, the latter effectively a gift card that may be diced and sliced by the recipient at will.

 

For the Improver

The One Day Chalkstream Course or Weekend Chalkstream School is ideal for someone who already enjoys fly fishing but wants to brush up or learn new skills in the company of a small group guided by an expert instructor.

 

For the Novice

There is nowhere better than Nether Wallop Mill to catch your first trout be it on a Foundation Course or with Private Tuition.

 

For the Family

Plant the seed for a pastime that will last a lifetime with either a Family Day or an Adult & Child visit to our well-stocked trout lake at Nether Wallop Mill.

 

Stocking Filler

It is a basic rule of fly fishing that you can never have too many flies! Buy individual packs, a selection or the amazing Hatch Calendar Selection.

 

Essential Holiday Reading

My Life of a Chalkstream is no longer available in hardback from the shops but I have copies for sale along with The Otters' Tale and Frankel, all of which may be signed or inscribed with a message.

 

As ever, you may buy on-line via the dedicated Gift Voucher section of the web site, drop us an email with your questions or call Sarah and Jamie on 01264 781988.

 

Happy shopping!



 

Best wishes,

 

 

Simon Cooper simon@fishingbreaks.co.uk

Founder & Managing Directorwww.fishingbreaks.co.uk