Archive for the tag 'Chalkstreams'

WTT x Sportfish: Making our rivers healthy again

As part of my busy and newly-expanded role with the Wild Trout Trust, where I’m now leading comms activity as well as continuing to develop urban river projects across the south of England, I’ve recently written a couple of articles for the Sportfish website… … describing how WTT’s river restoration projects are focused on improving […]

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Chalkstreams, River restoration, Wild Trout Trust, Writing Jul 28 2023

Filming on the Wandle

A couple of weekends back – before, during and after the Wandle Trust‘s usual monthly community river cleanup – film maker Jeremiah Quinn came down to the Wandle with his camera to capture some new angles on this little urban chalkstream’s story, and the qualities that have kept lots of us fishing and pulling out […]

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Chalkstreams, Coarse fish on the fly, Films, Fly-fishing, London, River restoration, Trout, Urban rivers, Wandle Sep 28 2016

Fallon’s Angler, issue 7: It’s chalk, Jacques, but not as we know it…

After taking a break for a few issues, I’m delighted to say that I’ve just had another article published in Fallon’s Angler… … this time revisiting (from a very different angle) a few days I spent exploring the chalkstreams of northern France last summer with Jeremy Lucas and a couple of pals from the South […]

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Chalkstreams, Fallon's Angler, Fly-fishing, France, Grayling, Trout, Writing Aug 24 2016

Early season: Rolling the dice

We all know early season fishing can be a gamble. And we all know gambling’s not for everyone. That early April morning, you could bet your shirt on what most people were thinking about their chances of decent fishing that day. Strong winds and heavy rain across the whole chalk country? No dice. They’d all be […]

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Chalkstreams, Fly-fishing, Tackle, Trout Apr 20 2016

French chalkstreams: Taking the urban angle

A few weeks ago I got back from a flying visit to the Pas de Calais with my fishing pals Jeremy Lucas, Keith Wallington and Jacques van Niekerk, and published a short account of part of our visit on my Urbantrout blog… Steep chalkstream headwaters with constant year-round flow can only mean one thing… historic […]

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Chalkstreams, Fly-fishing, France, Rewilding, Urban rivers, Writing Aug 09 2015

Urban river restoration: Interview for SCALE Magazine

It’s not every day you get interviewed on your home water for an international fishing ezine. So when Germany’s SCALE Magazine offered to send writer-translator Tankred Rinder (also editor of Forelle und Aesche) and photographer Veit Dresmann to south London as part of their round-the-UK road trip in September… … I jumped at the chance […]

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Chalkstreams, Fly-fishing, London, Pocket Guide to Balsam Bashing, River restoration, Trout, Trout in Dirty Places, Urban rivers, Wandle Dec 01 2014

Spawning time… and new beginnings!

As I’ve recently noted over on my Urbantrout blog, this is the time of year which can show even the best angler exactly what he’s been failing to catch all season… and early winter on the Wandle is no exception to this universal law. It’s a curious fact that since we saw that first pair […]

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Chalkstreams, Flyfishing.co.uk, Freelance copywriting, River restoration, Trout, Urban rivers, Urbantrout, Wandle, Writing Dec 13 2013

Discovering the Dour

In September I took a trip down to Dover and discovered another little urban chalkstream that’s spookily similar to the Wandle: Long before recorded history, the Dour was responsible for creating one of Britain’s earliest natural harbours, wearing a deep notch into the chalk cliffs and providing Neolithic boatmen with a safe landing-place in a […]

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Chalkstreams, Flyfishing.co.uk, Trout, Trout in Dirty Places, Urban rivers, Wandle, Writing Nov 02 2013

Spinners in south London

Can it really be 10 years since I wrote my first article for Flyfishing.co.uk? Well, yes, it probably can. Since 2003, Simon Lewin’s little Fish&Fly website has grown up into a truly international publishing brand that’s now known as MacNab Media. And while I’m still sometimes rocking that vintage LL Bean realtree fleece (possibly the […]

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Chalkstreams, Fly-fishing, Flyfishing.co.uk, London, Trout, Urban rivers, Wandle, Writing Aug 28 2013

Books etc

Between bursts of freelance copywriting and other life interruptions like running the launch of the new South East Rivers Trust, the last couple of months have had a kinda bookish flavour in and around south London… First there was the very enjoyable task of reading and reviewing a proof copy of my good pal Charles […]

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Chalkstreams, Environmental policy, Freelance copywriting, London, Trout in Dirty Places, Writing Mar 25 2013