Avon Diary 2020

Dace on the pin

(All photographs on this site will enlarge if left clicked)

A photo or two from the valley on a unseasonally mild first day of December, which is now doing its best to change, as I write this it's now just before midnight and it is freezing hard outside. The first shot of the day shows the Ellingham oxbow looking, if not feeling, wintery with the leaves now fallen the trees looked stark with bullmace standing dried and withered in the margins. With clouds of midges hatching in sheltered spots it was almost Spring like. Having said that it was similar to December the first last year, which was also very mild, unfortunately we were underwater for the remainder of the winter so lets hope we don't get a repeat of the floods that made fishing so difficult. A nice shot of a good chub coming to the net, with several rods enjoying good bags in recent days. Finally just a shot of a lone Alder that looked striking in today's light as I visited a more remote part of the Estate. The tree is actually stand right on the river bank that is hiding between the tree and the low margin of reeds on the far bank.

The perfect perch slack and the perfect perch. A pleasant way to spend a couple of hours on a cold late Autumn morning, look closely and you will spot the float. I have a new mobile that has more gadgets that you can shake a stick at, unfortunately it doesn't help the photography!

Many happy returns Mum, you're an absolute star.

The Red Bridge.

I parked at Hayricks and decided to walk the block, for want of a better description, to check up on how our recent changes were progressing. Starting at the Red Bridge on the Harbridge Stream, I headed down the Harbridge Stream through the gate on our newly positioned fence line. The new alignment and removal of two more fences was in an effort to make the meadows more attractive to our waders. If the number of swans and geese that are using the newly enlarged meadow are any indication the bird world certainly looks on our changes favourably. I only hope the Lapwing and Redshank have a similar appreciation of our efforts. Back on the left bank of the Harbridge Stream I continued downstream, leaving the slower reed fringed first hundred meters the shallows begin fifty meters upstream of the cattle crossing. Historically salmon used to cut on these gravels a sight I have never witnessed during my thirty years on the Estate. We now run the Harbridge a little quicker than in recent years in the hope salmon and seatrout may once more utilise any suitable habitat. The problem with running the stream a little quicker is the risk it poses to the surrounding hay meadows and species such as roach and perch that prefer a slower environment. The higher flow rates will encourage a different weed regime that will hopefully prove less inclined to block the channel during the summer and cause flooding. We will need to do some work on the stream to afford the fish shelter from the constant higher flow, low profile tree planting or woody debris to create pools and sanctuaries. Work for a future date I'm afraid as we have plenty to keep us busy elsewhere for the next year or two. After a further one hundred and fifty meters the shallows once more give way to a deeper steadier section running for a further couple of hundred meters before passing under the old footbridge to the confluence with the main river at Gypsy Pool. Currently the foot path through the wood beside Gypsy is unusable, as we have yet to replace the bridge over the Slepe Brook that joins the main river just fifty meters downstream of the Harbridge confluence. Just where the stream joins Gypsy has produced some wonderful fish perhaps topped by a wonderful pike of 33.05 and several seven plus chub and fourteen plus barbel, certainly fish to fire up the imagination. Huge chub also enjoy the food supply the stream produces with good fish to be found throughout the length of the stream. Roach similarly used to be found in the Harbridge in large numbers and whilst the odd fish is still caught the roach fishing is a shadow of years gone by. Fingers crossed those remnant populations find future conditions to their liking, as those in the main channel appear to be doing as pleasingly their numbers seem to be increasing steadily. Many years ago when I first became involved with the estate we electro fished the stream that even produced good sized barbel under a tight bend within a hundred meters of the road. Going to show you never quite know what you may find in such streams.

Slower sections just downstream of the Red Bridge before shallowing up for the cattle crossing and down to the confluence.

Splashes for the breeding waders.

From the confluence heading east, upstream beside the main river that traverses the valley in this shallow section, the channel changing from the east to the west side of the valley. The several hundred meters of shallows are vitally important spawning areas for barbel, chub and salmon. Onward, passing one of the wader scrapes we put in a couple of years ago that has weathered in nicely and looking well. Its sole inhabitant today was a Green Sand Piper that departed with its usual double whistle of complaint. After some three hundred meters we reach the shallows where the small stream that created Harbridge Island rejoins the main river. This is the point where the cattle always cross the main river, this year proving the height of the water makes no difference with the entire herd crossing at peak flow at their leisure, without being pushed. No one even in the vicinity to insist. The cows had to swim, the calves instinctively staying protected from the flow in the downstream lea of the mothers. Like a scene from the Serengeti, without the crocs.

Natural Crack Willow self layering.

Just beside the main river crossing stand several old and gnarled willows that have fallen and regrown over many hundreds of years. These wonderful trees are the favoured shading spot for the cattle through the heat of the summer days. These trees are best left to their own devices as they are extremely difficult to manage. The very nature of the collapse and regrowth has formed their unique character in much the same way as the huge Robinia in the Park. There is always going to be a broken untidy element to them that is worth maintaining.

The willow in the second shot is also a result of Nature being left to do its own thing. This is the stream that forms the west side of Harbridge Island and as I said in my walk of a fortnight or so ago is what a valley chalk stream would look like if left to nature. Masses of braided channels choked with willow and alder.

Harbridge Corner.

A hundred meters beside the island to the inception of the island stream that peels away from the tail of Harbridge Corner. This pool has everything with a huge lily filled eddy, gravel shallows top and bottom, deep glides and holes and a similarly varied fish population. The favourite of many members, classic Avon wonderland, wonderful fish in a perfect setting. The pool where a salmon of enormous size was found dead in the shallows, weighed at forty nine pounds when put on the scales. The story behind that salmon is worthy of recording having been told to me by one of my predecessors Edward Wallis-Tarry.

Edward told of an elderly rod who whilst fishing late in the season at Woodside, the pool a couple of hundred yards upstream of Harbridge Corner, had hooked an enormous salmon. This leviathan sulked and cruised about the pool for two hours before our rod began to feel somewhat the worse for wear. Being on his own and fearing the onset of a heart attack, he felt he had no alternative but to tie his rod to a bankside tree, the stump of which remains beside the pool to this day. The fish behaved and stayed in its lie seemingly none the worse for its previous couple of hours exertions. Our rod having recovered his breath and recognising his predicament, felt his only option was to slowly walk the mile plus back to the phone box by the Old Beams and call Edward for assistance. The advantage of mobile phones clearly illustrated here! Duly galvanised into action Edward joined the rod at Ibsley Bridge and they both made their way back down to Woodside. Amazingly, when you consider that a further hour had now passed, the adversary was still sulking mid river. Battle recommenced, they had agreed that the rod would continue to play the fish and if he should begin to feel unwell again Edward would take over. Steady side pressure got the creature moving again and the slow progression around the pool in front of the hatches on the far bank continued. A further twenty minutes and as readers will have dreaded, the awful inevitability of these tales came to pass and the hook hold failed, the fish vanished back into the depths, never having been sighted during the entire duration of their attachment.

The postscript to this sad tale was written a couple of days later when on the gravel at the tail of Harbridge Corner lay a huge dead fish. Edward, with the assistance of two rods, dragged the beast ashore and on weighing and examination the position of an obviously deep hook hold was apparent. They took some snaps, one of which was the dog-eared, much viewed photograph Edward produced from his wallet as he relayed the tale to me whilst we leant on the parapet of Ibsley Bridge. The ugliest and most massive cock salmon I have ever seen. If landed a certain fishery record and if taken when fresh, earlier in the season, possibly an Avon record, as it were it was left to the foxes and crows, a very sad end for such a fish.

The hatches, in front of which much of the above tale took place. The middle of the pool under the high bank where shoals of chub and barbel play a regular part in fishery life. Finally looking upstream from the tail of Harbridge Corner with Harbridge Lodge in the distance.

The actual Harbridge Bend where the river does an abrupt about turn.

Around the bend? to Lower Cabbage the scene of some super catches of chub, barbel, bream, perch and pike in recent years. This area has also seen fairly consistent catches of roach over the period of the syndicate, mostly small with few over a pound, although Darrel's 2.09 was landed not so far from here. Dave playing a good chub to add to half a dozen roach caught earlier.

The tail of Tizzard's with Andy trotting down by the gate, in front of Harbridge Church tower. The tail of Ibsley pool looking spot on at a perfect height for salmon.

Looking upstream from the head of Ibsley Pool to Hoodies and the weirpool.

I have a further salmon tale that began in Hoodies and involved the long gone old phone box that used to be over at the Old Beams car park. It all started on a Saturday morning just after 8 o'clock with the mobile ringing where upon answering, a rod informed me he was in the Old Beams public phone box and into a salmon. The two bits of information didn't make a great deal of sense and my puzzled response was clarified when it was explained the fish had been hooked in Hoodies and had run down stream, through a snag and was now laying in Tizzards 150 meters below, with the line still through the snag in Hoodies. Our man not having a mobile had, as in my earlier tale, tied his rod to the willow that stands on the bank at Hoodies and walked back across the road to the phonebox to give me a call.
Wow, I hopped in the car and was soon on the bank at Hoodies, with the rod, trying to decide on a plan of action. I must admit it looked pretty hopeless as the fish was so far downstream of us and with the line snagged mid river not a chance of walking it back upstream. The fish was laying close to the far bank in Tizzards almost where the river bends around on itself to be opposite us across the field. A couple of options in that if I were able to drive around to the bridge and come down the right bank I might just be able to snag up the line between snag and fish cut it off whilst the rod came around to me with the now free rod and line. Simply tie it back on and continue the fight from the opposite bank. Sounds simple but it all depended on me being able to find the line that was laying along the bed of the river and the fish not moving during all the messing about. Alternatively and the option that we followed was to try once more to free the snagged line. Well, we pulled and tugged and levered and twisted and suddenly, ping, the line shot free and whipped up into the air, clear of the water right down to the fish. Upon feeling the change of pressure the fish did just what we didn't want it to do and darted around the corner to the tail of Tizzards. The line pinging and bouncing up on to the opposite bank down at the corner before clearing and going directly across the field opposite to the now resting fish at the tail of the pool.

Now we were well and truly b........d. We could cut off and whilst I held the line take the rod around over the bridge and tie it on again on the opposite bank. The chances of the fish behaving whilst we did that didn't look very likely as the lie obviously wasn't very comfortable in the slack water and the fish was restless, repositioning itself every few minutes. The alternative, I could take the rod and wade the tail of Ibsley Pool, as can be seen in the photo above, whilst the rod/fisherman walked around over the bridge to take the rod from me on the right bank. I had a wading staff and it looked possible so that was it, dump the valuables on the bank and off I set. The first three quarters was fine, the last quarter a bit iffy as that was where the flow was concentrated. Despite a few scary bits I was across long before the rod got around to join me, giving me time to wind down to the fish and hand the rod over and be in position to do the honours with the net. A fish of seventeen or eighteen pounds that became one of the first fish to go into the Wessex Salmon hatchery broodfish retention scheme we were running a the time. A great finish but I hasten to add, not one I would care to repeat today so don't phone me in the unlikely event of a repeat hook-up.

A diagram to clarify the chaos. The rod in red from hooked to final position on the left bank. the route of the fish in blue and the line crossing the field opposite in red.

The classic weirpool looking a great deal more fishable after our recent clearing work. This pool has always produced good catches but not as reliably as one might think. This weirpool and the second one by the pink cottage do not give up their secrets easily. Somewhere in the early years of this diary is yet a further salmon escapade with the redoubtable Fred Whitlock, Pete Reading and myself as we deal with Fred's salmon that had decided to head downstream from the Bridge Pool through the hatch gates.

The famous Ibsley Bridge Pool. This pool could have an entire book written about the adventures associated with it. Huge salmon, barbel, roach and pike with the added interest of tragedies, mysteries, divers, swimmers, various livestock encounters and even fateful car crashes. It has a further healthy scattering of salmonid tales to rival any so far related but perhaps best saved for another rainy day.

On leaving the Bridge Pool I followed the road back across the valley to the Harbridge Stream where I was to continue my walk down the stream to where I had started several hours earlier. From the road you get a true perspective of the changes we have made in opening up the meadows to the south. The uninterrupted view of over one thousand meters and more importantly the lack of fences and vegetation limiting the predator ambush sites for the benefit of the waders. It all looked better than I could ever have wished to achieve when we embarked on the project earlier in the year. Next Spring will be the litmus test when the waders return and nest sites are chosen. We were hoping to divert the footpath that crosses through the very middle of this wonderful habitat but that project has run aground in the tiresome bureaucracy and dogma of Hampshire County Council and their ignorance of the valley environment. We live in hope that the diversion may one day be successful but unfortunately that is out of our hands for the time being.

Mike returning what was a very large dace, to go with several chub between four and six pounds. To avoid parking in the passing bay by the bridge and putting a style in the new fence that would be just too great a temptation for the poaching fraternity I would ask members to either park on the Ilex Drive just beyond the gate or walk up from the car park on Fools Corner. Always a pleasant way to spend an hour or two, investigating the pools and undercut corners of this lovely stream. Maggot, flake or lobs you just never know what might be hiding in the untapped waters.

The top section of the Harbridge, between the road bridge and the footbridge, is a series of bends pools and riffles, with the deeper water and glides starting just upstream of the Red Bridge.

Looking upstream at the phragmites lined runs.

.......which brings us back to the beginning at the Red Bridge. Total distance, between two and a half to three miles, duration between two hours and a lifetime!

I must try and spend a little time exploring some of the more remote sections of woodland we have dotted about the Estate. Many pockets of this woodland are in areas that make access difficult, or even impossible, the result they have been left to their own natural devices. I'm not sure of the exact extent of much of this habitat, I would imagine fifty or sixty acres hasn't seen the hand of man for many, many decades. The home to a vast catalogue of unrecorded woodland creatures, plants and fungi. Or perhaps I should just leave them in their undisturbed and unrecorded state, small islands of mystery in this over classified, data collated and indexed world we inhabit?

A good day, in that for the most part I was lost in my own thoughts as I strimmed various bits and pieces about the fishery. The first stop was the island at Mockbeggar that I had to finish off. Still a little tree work to do on the island but the strimming is now complete. A late lunch to strim a little of the Back Bank down to the Oaks, on Meadow Lake. An interrupted lunch as a call from one of the members to inform me we had poachers at Ibsley, for which we are most grateful. Kevin arrived to lend a hand to send them on their way. Unfortunately my shakes combined with stuck, half digested lunchtime sandwich meant I cocked up the photo of their car so they got away without a visit from the police. Never mind hopefully they will reflect on their actions and stay away, I won't hold my breath. Finally the left side of the track down to Pile pool, which is all starting to come together and look ready for the winter floods should they arrive.

WeBS day and an early start was required to be on the ground before first light. Dispite high numbers of Heron and Cormorant the valley was in fact quite empty of the normal winter visitors we might expect to be with us. Plenty of geese and swans but the duck were almost totally absent. Geese and Swans along with the Cormorants and heron are resident or relatively local birds. We have experienced several mild winters in recent years that have failed to require the normal Eastern European and Scandinavian birds to migrate to over winter in the valley. Is this a sign of things as we feel the impact of climate change? Will our local bird populations thrive or will we see a rebalance of nature as new species move in to exploit the milder wetter valley. This subject will come up again in an entry I am currently writing about the changes on the fishery in recent years, plenty of food for thought.

Busiest part of the day as the Heron and Cormorant arrive at the local trout farm at first light. These birds dispurse through out the valley as soon as they are disturbed by workers or walkers.

Even Alan's cow doesn't know quite what to make of that one! The splashes out in the meadows might expect to be covered in wigeon morning and evening before retreating to the lakes to sit out the day

After counting in the valley was wrapped up I had to count one of the lakes that involved a walk up the Ellingham Carrier. Never one to miss an opportunity I took a spinning rod and a couple of spoons that I had changed the hooks from trebles to circles in the hope of testing my new found belief in circle hooks. The carrier has always been a reliable place to find a few pike and today was no exception. Three takes on the spoon and two good hook-ups. Both fish landed were once more lightly hooked in the scissors. The spoon is looking a little battered from various pikey encounters, you may also have noticed the extra split ring on the hook, just to increase the articulation that seems to be crucial with circles. Getting there almost made up for the lack of birds when I did the count.

I just had to put these two shots up of fish caught last week. Seeing both these fish gave me a great deal of pleasure for completely different reasons. The first is Mick Cutler with the "Lin" or "Three quarter Linear" her full title, at 42.06 a weight I didn't think she was going to reach this year. She is one of our older ladies and had been well down in weight at the start of the season and I feared she was going back. She then proceeded to come out virtually on a weekly basis, which again I associate with older fish going back. Well I'm delighted to say she fooled me as she has recovered her weight and is looking in great condition as can be seen in that great pic of Mick cuddling her and just look at the size of that paddle! Congratulations Mick and many thanks for the photo.
The fabulous common was captured by Steve Swift and it is the first time I have seen this fish go over forty pounds and she is looking absolutely immaculate. Great catch Steve, not a fish we see that often on the bank, a super result. Once more congratulations to Steve on his remarkable catch and for the photo. I also owe Steve a very big thank you indeed for his full season report and photographs of his Mockbeggar year. Lovely stuff Steve, that is exactly what Somerley is all about, it is a real pleasure and a privilage to be allowed to share your season.

A quick note to the stillwater syndicate members in that for the duration of the lock-down we have dispensed with guest tickets. Apart from the added risk of transmission the lakes have been very busy in recent days and I need to ensure members have precedence. With several members furloughed, making extra use of the lakes, this also comes at a time when we have closed Mockbeggar placing increased pressure on Meadow. Hopefully the lockdown will be over before too long and furlough will be an unpleasant distant memory.

I will put a note on the diary in the event of any change or we will send around an email. Currently, whilst popular, the added pressure on the river is for the greater part from members. Should this change we may extend the ban to include the river, again we will let members know should we introduce a similar guest ticket ban on the river.

An update on the high water after the weekend's rain shows it to be gradually dropping back. The bird world is enjoying the shallow pools and there was even a rambler out on the valley footpath.

Interesting implications

I'm still cleaning up around the fishery, whenever I can find the time to fit it in of course. With the river out in the meadows I have concentrated what time I have on the lakes. Mockbeggar is now long closed yet the work of cleaning up has to continue, requiring lots of strimming and time to think. Whilst out there today it occurred to me that I had not put up a great deal of news about how the lake fished this season. I'm afraid I can't put together a complete review at the moment so please enjoy a shot of Chris with a classic Mockbeggar common, one of several, scale perfect, astonishingly well proportioned, truly wild fish, a lovely way to round off the season. Thanks for the report and the pix Chris, much appreciated.

"A great flood is coming", I can't for the life of me remember who said that! I just hope he's got it wrong this time around.

Nature's Autumn palette.

The perfect Autumn swim, unfortunately the leaves where not restricted to the bank and the overnight rain had flushed thousands into the river making fishing all but impossible. The Autumn view across Mockbeggar is one I will never tire of, making daily security visits a real pleasure.

A great deal of noise is currently being generated around the water companies and their failure to respect our rivers. Particular emphasis being directed toward chalk streams that suffer the double whammy of aquifer abstraction and discharge.

I know I keep banging on about sustainable environmental funding but I make no apology for doing so. I believe without guaranteed, ring-fenced funding we will continue in our current downward spiral.

Abstraction and discharge conservation levy removes the sycophantic grovelling for funding as fund raisers have the indignity of going cap in hand to the major polluter to deal with the issue impacting our rivers. You need to invest in a long handled spoon if you intend to sup with the devil. A ring fenced conservation levy is the only logical answer if we are to take the protection of our environment seriously, there just has to be a change of emphasis.

Add to the abstraction and discharge levies there has to be an agricultural chemical conservation levy. This also has to be ring fenced and allocated by an independent panel of experts that are elected by those that own, manage and work and are impacted by events in the natural world. A committee along the lines of the NERC board, with a little more accountability and transparency. Change in farming throughout the catchment and across the entire length and breadth of the land is in need of a desperate overhaul. ELMs is definitely an encouraging step but not sufficiently radical to protect our downland, vales and valleys. Lets see an end to ploughed downland depleting the fragile soil, requiring artificial fertilizers and pesticides to produce and all eventually ending up in the river. An end to ploughing in the floodplain with the associated loss of soil into the rivers. Lets stop vilifying the cattle and sheep producers, there are grasslands such as the downs and floodplain that are best suited to their production. Stocking rates that have been hiked in an effort to maximise returns will require closer examination. The destruction of much of our natural world can be laid at the feet of the agricultural sector certainly time to see a complete change of direction. If landowners and farmers wish to continue in their destructive ways all subsidies to that farm or landowner to cease. Not just the areas adversely impacting the environment.

The government has abandoned any genuine attempt to honour its responsibilities toward the environment. More than happy to pass the buck to the wildlife trusts and the voluntary sector, supposedly working in partnership with the remnants of the regulators. The problem with the wildlife and voluntary sector is, as I have said, funding is not guaranteed or sustainable. The reality of the Covid 19 shut down has seen the fund raising capabilities of the charities involved severely curtailed.

Some of the environmental and carbon off setting schemes leave a considerable amount to be desired. Especially when the offsets and compensatory packages are decided by the local authorities, with for the most part no say or right of appeal. Not the best way for any environmental charity involved to enhance it reputation.

I'm sure many readers will have read Hudson's “A Shepherds Life” where he describes the link between the remotest parts of the Plain, through the villages spread along the five tributaries of the Hampshire Avon, that all arrive at Salisbury. At least close to Salisbury, that he so eloquently describes as the beating heart of the community. Somewhere in the intervening years the countryside and the towns have lost that vital connection and with it the understanding and tolerance of each element of our society. The disappearance of the cattle markets from the centre of the cities and towns severed the link between town and country. With our disconnected lifestyle we fail to understand or appreciate the ties we have to the wider community that surrounds us. The polystyrene and cling film wrapped chicken breasts or pork chops we all too frequently take as the norm illustrate this all too clearly. No connection with rearing, feeding, selling, slaughtering and butchering is of concern, or in many instances even enters the mind.

The flush loo and the safe potable water that we all take as a given, come at a cost. If our loo isn't working or the taps fail to flow it is quite rightly a major problem. Just who is picking up the bill or the cost of all that endless supply of water? It is not I assure you the water companies, or us as society in general.

Water companies are in it to make money for their shareholders that is their sole raison d'etre. It is not the government in any shape or form. When the water companies were hived off from the Water Authorities the government saw that as the end of their responsibilities. They produced Ofwat to look after the consumers interests and the then NRA to safeguard the rivers. The NRA subsequently to become the EA were doing a reasonable job especially when the WFD came into being as their road map. They were doing sufficiently well for the government to consider them a pain, jamming the cogs of their privatising mantra. I agree that the EA were not perfect but they were the best we had and any necessary changes could be brought about without the total destruction of the agency we see today. As the end users we should bear that cost. I'm no Luddite, recognising you cannot halt progress and stop time. At the end of the day the end user we should have control or at least input in just how the clean water and waste disposal are provided. Whether we like it or not we should also ensure the environment doesn't bear the cost of our flowing pipework.

These days as we travel abroad, or at least as we used to travel abroad pre-Covid, to areas of the world that have not undergone our “Westernisation” or abandonment of the importance of the rural economy we see these links remain intact. Markets thrive and communities remain intrinsically linked. Is this simply a romantic view and those in these apparently ideal communities long to be rid of the hard slog and chapped hands, to find a job filling forms, tapping a keyboard or delivering parcels. Working seven days a week from dawn to dusk, all too often for small returns or an unsympathetic employer, holds little attraction for many. Even if it is for their own benefit it still holds little attraction on a freezing cold wet morning. Hence of course the exodus, across the globe, from the countryside into the cities to find their coffee shop, nine to five existence. The subsequent later generation movement back to the countryside as a dormer or retirement location doesn't reflect or overly benefit the rural community. Often adding to the dissatisfaction of the rural young as they have the inequality of life thrust in their face.

With the ever growing population and the demand for more housing placing even greater strain on the utilities the future looks far from straight forward. This is where we come back to my opening statement about the recent recognition of the plight of our rivers brought about by the demands of society. Perhaps we should take a new look at our own valley to see if we can devise any means to reduce the risk we pose to this undoubtedly precious environment.

Is it time we took a completely new look at the valley environment, instead of trying to preserve it in a predetermined moment in history, bring it into the 21 century. There is no one in this land more protective of the Avon Valley than myself, yet I see perhaps more clearly than most the problems our current objectives create. To try and freeze time for the waders, whilst admirable is not sustainable without subsidies. The archaeological value of the water meadows, whilst recognised, is almost impossible to protect due to the massive cost of the labour involved.

The old weir and spillway at the bottom of the Estate where the main river has been diverted through Ringwood.

We are trying to preserve an environment devised by a bloke with a shovel, horse and cart and a donkey hammer at his disposal, who set about changing the face of the Avon Valley in the late 17th century. Perhaps those far sighted 17th century engineers offer a potential solution that can meet the demands of both worlds. Surely if we are serious about creating and safeguarding the future of our environment and meet the ever increasing needs of society we need some radical thinking once again. Just what existed in the valley before our shovel toting ancestors got going is open for debate. Was it a pastoral landscape grazing where they could between the braided channels or was there already an artificially created environment? Did Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe exist as we wish to see them in our current management regime? Or was it a far marshier, with islands and meadows grazed when the water height permitted access to the domestic livestock? We don't even know what fish were in our rivers and what elements of this fishy population were harvested. We do know that rod and line fishing for salmon came into being in about 1870. Prior to that pike were the species recorded in the diaries. Netting stations for eels and salmon, probably all species, existed in earlier times but we have little idea of the conditions they operated under.

With our STWs failing to ensure the integrity of their discharge perhaps we should see that all of society's waste water that enters the valley is filtered through a vast network or matrix of natural ecological filters such as reed beds and percolating inclined planes. When I say vast, perhaps 50% of the existing water and floated meadows, plus some of the surrounding higher meadows, bunded to intercept screened flood water and provide natural drainage. Certainly tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousand of square meters of filter associated with each STW discharge. They may have to extend some of the pipe network to reach the filters but that's a relatively simple task. If these systems were engineered along the same design as water meadows where water in and water out can be separated by the lateral design it stands to also have enormous environmental benefit.

A survey I did twenty years ago of one of the Estate water meadows. The area covered is about twenty acres and gives a good idea of the number of laterals involved. Ignore the blue line that's me thinking out loud. The colours would be better reversed to show coloured unfiltered water entering the system and cleaned water leaving.

Not only in filtering our waste water but providing enormous reedbed habitat and still have maintained water meadows for the waders. Thousands of meters of channel for fish, mammals, birds, amphibians and insects that inhabit such habitat. It would once more be a vibrant working landscape, not simply a subsidy sink. Working for the benefit of society, as opposed to frozen in time and slowly falling into disrepair and dereliction.

Landowners and farmers would have to be compensated possibly under ELMs or by direct payment from dischargers. There would have to be a regular maintenance team to keep the carriers and drains in working order. It would cost millions to landscape and level the valley's new role along these lines but hey, the Water Companies aren't short of a bob or two!

That gives plenty of scope for discussion and consideration, perhaps if not quite as I suggest we may see some serious consideration of the future of our countryside.

A couple of shots of the Back Lagoon to lighten the mood.

My long held view .........and still we are asked to have faith in this government protecting the environment? Until we bring in sustainable funding streams the environment will always play second fiddle. Or more likely fifth or sixth fiddle with this current regime.

Natural England Lack of funding

The slack behind the island, the confluence of the sidestream or the inviting eddy.

On such a mild morning a couple of hours with the pike rods seemed like a good idea. The recent day or two of frosts have had little real effect and the floods of last week have failed to get rid of the weed. Despite the problems of weed it was good to be out and a couple of Jacks provided some excitement and splashy scraps before they reached the net. I was continuing to experiment with my circle hook fishing and one advantage was the ability to trot the stream with nose hooked deadbaits. A new experience for me in trotting a deadbait through some of the slower runs. I'm sure with a little refinement it will provide a really productive way to find pike. Fingers crossed next time produces that matriarch we all know to be there somewhere!

A size 4/0 pinched barb, circle hook, working as it should with a clean hook hold in the scissors. Only a Jack but they all help build confidence in the method.

The flock in the Park below the House, the ewes have all had their Brazilians and judging by the odd coloured backend the rams are busy doing their job.

One down, just the Gangster and the Clown to go!

Wessex Water, it just beggars belief, the hypocricy and green wash as they suck out the life from the aquifers and replace the flow with sewage. When is a government going to develop the balls to sort this mess out, or at least put a levy on abstraction and discharge ring fenced for the environment. Well done to the Rivers Trust in making this information available in the public domain. If you look at our headwaters above Salisbury there are four or five monitored sites that discharge less than, or equal to, 8760 hours a year. That's a relief I thought they may have been at it all the time!

Sewage discharges into our rivers

I gave the Old Man of Gorley a haircut last week, which judging by the expression on his face he was none to chuffed about. Since I did this the meadow has become too wet to travel over with the vehicles so I will have to stack his hair and fix it so it doesn't get washed into the hatches if the river floods as last year. The second shot shows one of the willows on the Ellingham Carrier that I gave a short back and sides last autumn.

This is the next stage in the life of that huge London Plane that fell across the weir pool at Ibsley. In previous entries on here you will have seen us cut it off and winch it back across the pool. It has now reached Kingley of "Wildwood Tables" yard where he is running it through his mill. The first shot shows the stick loaded on the bed with the first couple of slabs removed. The second, the beautiful colour of the timber and the third a closer look at the amazing figure that the wood produces, known in the cabinet makers trade as lacewood. Once slabbed there remains a long and difficult way to go as Plane is a notoriously difficult timber to season properly. Kingsley will be stacking and turning at regular intervals for the next year or two before he knows if he will eventually arrive at stable timber for his tables.

We know where that willow that was sat on the shallows above Botney ended up; Blocking the hatches at Ibsley. After four or five hours of hand sawing and heaving I have cleared three of the four gates, the fourth will need mechanical assistance I fear. The problem with that is we can't get to the hatches with a machine. We used to use the Turfer winch and take the cable back across the river to a large willow that we used as an anchor. Unfortunately on the last occasion we pulled the willow over, resulting in the loss of our anchor. Prior to that we had shut the A338 on a Sunday morning and with our 120 foot steel cable and a block and tackle, hauled large trees up onto the road. Whilst the local Bobbies were brilliant and held the traffic for the five or ten minutes it took us to deal with the trees, they got a bollocking from their hierarchy on the last occasion so we no longer have that option. I think the only route left to me now is to reinforce the track from the bridge to the hatches so I can get the machine down there by that means. That's not a ten minute job so will have to wait until I feel more inclined to sort it out.

After our recent high winds and floods I spent several hours today unblocking hatch gates and working out how to remove several trees that had succumbed to the blow. Today involved walking a couple of miles of the river to assess the damage and see where and where we couldn't get tractors and heavy machinery to help remove some of the larger trees. It didn't take long to realise that any further work on the river bank and meadows with machinery would have to wait until next Spring, the ground was in most areas completely waterlogged. Where gates were blocked and likely to cause flooding I'm afraid it is going to be a hard slog of sawing and levering out sufficient to clear the gates for the coming months. As I went about my business my thoughts naturally enough dwelt on the coming weeks of lock down and the problems faced by so many, across the entire world, in finding the most basic needs to keep body and soul together.

My role in this second period of lock down is if anything easier than the first, earlier in the year, when the meadows were drying and required for grazing. At that time blocked hatches or fallen trees could cause serious problems preventing access to the chip piles deemed essential to keep the power stations burning, livestock grazing and tractors getting onto the land to bag and remove the silage later in the summer. This time around the meadows will not be required for several months, the remaining chip piles are on higher ground and most of the livestock has already been removed. The hundred and fifty head of stock remaining are on what little dry ground remains and easily removed should the river rise rapidly and inundate the meadows.

One significant difference this time around is that angling is being permitted to continue, travel for recreation is deemed desirable for for the mental health of our society. It was the social well being element of our pastime that I considered to a greater extent than almost anything else during my travels about the river today. I soon came to realise that in my role it has become second nature for me to build in this well being or therapeutic element with almost everything I do about the fishery. At Somerley we endeavour to make any trip to either the river or the lakes a total experience, not an isolated pursuit of fish or particular fish. This I realise is slightly at odds with much of the angling world that is continually seeking to catch the biggest and the best, certainly bigger than their buddies! Fair enough, if that's what floats your boat so be it but its only a fraction of what's actually surrounding you to be enjoyed and experienced. Don't get me wrong its always nice to catch a specimen and we are fortunate in being blessed with perhaps more than our fair share at Somerley but don't let it become an obsession and blind you to the beauty and wonder of your surroundings. Perhaps in the coming weeks the most important part of fishery life is time. Time to take a step back from the horrors of Covid and its dreadful consequences that surround us on all sides. Time to take a break and just let the fishery recharge your batteries. We are remarkably fortunate in having access to paradise, make sure you fully appreciate and enjoy what you have available and spare a thought for those not in so fortunate a position.

You may have been eagerly anticipating your visit for days, weeks or even months. Packing the car the night before, rising long before light to get on the bank and pack every second you can into your visit. The real magic starts as you padlock the gates behind you at the lakes or the security gates swing shut behind you at Ellingham or Harbridge. You are then almost in sight of your goal and can actually smell the presence of the water, some even say they can smell or at least sense the fish when they are feeding!

The open bank at Blashford Pool.

As my walk today covered a couple of miles around Ellingham and Blashford I will run through my thoughts involved with managing that section. At some future date I'll do a similar walk around the lakes and the remaining seven or eight miles of river bank if I get the opportunity. I parked today at the lakes and walked out across the Woodside carrier and water meadow to Blashford Pool. A section of exposed bank that has classic views up and down the meadows. Down to Ringwood in the south with the misty silhouette of St Peter and St Paul's church outlined on the horizon, away to the north Ellingham Drive my intended destination, pinpointed by the occasional passage of a car. The marginal growth has yet to be cut in readiness for next seasons salmon rods. The sections of bank I trim are those that cover the known lies and taking spots, always a useful indicator for new rods confronted with eleven miles of bank. The meadow is spongy underfoot and the cattle must have been out here recently as the going is pretty uneven requiring concentration to avoid a muddy fall. Once beside the river the water is bank high and the pool looks well in its full winter condition. Salmon to over forty pounds have been taken from this pool in years gone by and every time you cast a fly the thought one just might have returned this year is at the back of your mind. This time of year the meadows do not have their wild flowers and the buzz of insects and hunting Hobbies are missing. Our ever present Mute Swans and a pair of Goosander are the only inhabitants today. At least the only visible inhabitants. Beneath that rushing surface probably lie huge barbel and chub, the target of most who visit at this time of year. Knowing just where they are likely to be tucked in their sheltered hideaway is not for the beginner, the Avon is not an easy river at the best of times but in such high water it is a daunting prospect. If you were to brave the elements a seventeen pound barbel or a seven pound chub are a real possibility yet be prepared to spend many blank hours or land lesser fish before Lady Luck may smile and show you such a fish. A fish of a lifetime, a fish of dreams.

Leaving Blashford Pool behind and heading upstream to Blashford Island. To reach the island we have to cross the muddy, weed choked ditch that we hope to clean out in the near future to provide vital Summer breeding wader and fish spawning and juvenile habitat. This is a project in conjunction with the Wessex Rivers Trust to reinstate several of the old carriers to act as predator and feeding sites for the Lapwing and Redshank chicks that have struggled to maintain their numbers in recent years. The sound of the Lapwing chastising passing Crows and the piping of Redshank the backdrop to many visits in search of the salmon that wait in this section below the shallows at the head of the island.

Trotting flake for the chub.

In complete contrast to the open bank at Blashford the tree and phragmites lined bank at Sydney Pool affords shelter from the prevailing south west wind. I always try to ensure only one bank of any section of river is fishable to avoid having the distraction of anglers on the opposite side of the river, breaking into your reveries when absorbed in your quest. The tree cover also provides vital shelter and cover for the fish population, the birds and the mammals that share our valley. Water rail, Sedge, Cettis and Reed warblers all add to the soundtrack of summer. The screech of the Rail and the Cettis harsh song about all that remains at present the warblers long since left for warmer climes on the continent and Africa. The only angler I met today was seeking a chub or two, trotting flake in the true Avon winter fashion. I think the frosts of the last couple of nights may well have spoilt his chances today but as the morning sunshine warmed the air as pleasant an area to blank and soak up the world around you as any. The margins on the pool have already been cleaned up leaving several wind blown sections of willow to be cleared once I can get down there carrying a chainsaw and fuel.

The tail of Coomber heading down to Mackenzies. A series of runs, glides and slacks providing perfect swims for all those huge fish that plague the imagination when you aren't able to get down to the river! Thirty plus pike, double figure bream and even that most magical of all Avon fish a two pound plus roach. When you do get here and await that long dreamt of lump to take your proferred bait keep an eye on the phragmites beds behind you in the ox bow fry sanctuary we created a decade or so back. As I passed by two Water Rails with dangling legs and much screeching clumsily crossed the open water and crash landed in the reeds. Hard to imagine such a awkward looking flier may have recently joined us from Scandinavia or eastern Europe. They may of course have been our local birds although I did see at least half a dozen yesterday that means they either had a good breeding season locally or our winter visitors are already here. The next few winter months may see Bittern and Marsh Harrier visit our reed beds it will depend on the weather being to their liking and Europe experiencing more traditional cold than in recent winters.
Upstream of Coomber we find the shallows where Danny landed the first Springer last season and where I have a pic of an old magazine cover with Bernard Venables, of Mr Crabtree fame a then syndicate member, with Reg Righyni with a salmon slung between them on an old stick. A much lower river than that in which Danny had his Springer I might add. On we go and bear left at the pipe and enter Park Pool with the House and stables as a backdrop across the Park. Deep holes, willow root masses, perfect glides, massive back water and gravel runs, classic Avon and at times holding several species that would make any angling lifetime complete. To just cast into that pool and let your imagination run riot is almost spoilt when a fish joins in!

Mr Crabtree and his guest for the day.

I cut the corner at Park Pool, bringing me alongside the long run that I have just extended by clearing the scrub and brambles that covered the strip of land between the track and the reveted bank. Covered in an entry on the 2nd of November. Pile is classic salmon country being a firm favourite with the rods and a regular contributor in the returns. Whilst a great salmon pool it also produces its fair share of barbel and even the odd perch in the deep hole by the gate. As you arrive at the gate just behind you the Ellingham Carrier is entering a small hatch pool that doubles up as a cattle ford. The crossing cattle keep the gravel polished, which in turn always proves popular with the juvenile dace, chub and roach that live in the stream. Look closely and you may also spot numbers of juvenile barbel and one or two salmon parr camouflaged on the gravel tail.

Ron's seat marks the end of Pile Pool and we walk to the drive alongside another of our phragmites beds, home of warblers and buntings throughout the Spring and Summer. Cross the Drive and turn left to follow the path between the conveyor and the Ellingham oxbow. Now a mature habitat attracting rail and wildfowl along with our sheltering juvenile fish. It looks as if I have a day or two cutting out the willow regrowth ahead of me to avoid it taking over the desirable fenland habitat we are keen to encourage.

Over the footbridge at the outlet of the oxbow and onto Ellingham Island where we arrive back at the main river at the tail of Broadmead Pool, fifty or sixty meters upstream of Ellingham Bridge. Another classic super pool that produces all the Avon species at regular intervals, you just never know what may be lurking beneath your feet. Paul Greenacres massive salmon of a couple of seasons ago and all the other species to specimen size have been out in recent years. Several of the ancient oaks that stand on the island are slowly being eroded into the river where their fallen frames and root mass have helped create the depth and variation of the bed. Along with my predessors predilection for dumping massive lumps of concrete in the river where ever he could in a mistaken effort to create croys akin to a rock and gravel west coast or Scottish river. Unfortunately the Avon being aluvial in its nature it simply nipped around the back and collapsed the lot into the river where it is now being slowly encorporated into the bed and covered with sediment and weed.

Through the gate at the closed end of the oxbow and around to the large pool opposite the Lodge below the tail of Dog Kennel. Another favourite with the coarse rods that has not produced this year as it has done in the past. I suppose that's a relative statement as it has produced chub to six plus, two plus perch and good barbel certainly to thirteen pounds. Having said that I can almost guarantee one of the members will email to say that they have landed specimens that dwarf those mentoned.

Looking upstream from Gypsy.

Looking downstream from the Reeds to Gypsy Hole.

That massive poplar at Dog kennel still manages to hang on despite the precarious angling of lean it has now adopted. When it eventually goes, it undoubtedly will at some point in the future, it will reach well out into the field on the left bank. If the meadows are dry enough to support the tractors and digger its removal will hopefully be relatively simple. Snatch on the steel cables, cut off the root mass always assuming we can reach it and simply pull it across the river. Cut it up and transport it to the chip piles. If the meadows are wet or flooded we will have to wait until the water drops and the ground dries out. This is where we may potentially have a problem with the full flow of the main river pushing and scouring around and under the fallen giant. Eroded banks, new gravel bars and scoured holes will result, so lets keep our fingsers crossed and hope for dry weather when it eventually falls.

Under the powerlines and Gypsy Hole appears on the corner where the Slepe Brook and the Harbridge Stream both join the main river just fifty meters apart. The Slepe still has a seatrout run in it lower reaches and each year we see one or two cutting in the orange stained water that comes from the gravel strata that follows its course. Each summer one or two trout can be seen resting on the gravels at the tail of Gypsy waiting for the autumn floods to allow them entry to the system. Gypsy has always been a good pool for those seeking our pike with fish over thirty pounds being taken in the not too distant past. The presence of the Harbridge Stream with the shoals of fish migrating in and out of the main river as conditions dictate creates the perfect ambush site for the pike to lay in wait. The mile or so of the Harbridge Stream is sadly neglected these days as the distraction of our main river specimens wins the day. There are some wonderful holes, corners, pools and glides throughout its length well worth a visit with light gear and a mobile approach. Back to Gypsy and all the other usual candidates at various times, particularly favoured by the chub guys with a brace of sevens gracing the bank last season. The river that just keeps on giving!

Along the high bank above Gypsy to the "Reeds" a pool I cut out in an effort to catch the summer seatrout. A plan the river foiled when the shallows upstream I used to be able to wade became overly deep and certainly too treacherous to fish at night. You could wade down to the head of the pool but had to return the way you came against the flow when finished. Not a recommended practice. Especially as the extra depth attracted the barbel and salmon more easily fished for from the bank. Rob Smyth had a lovely fish of twenty two pounds on the fly a couple of seasons back, certainly a fish Rob will remember for a long, long time. So I imagine will Ronnie who was fishing with Rob and on hand to do the honours with the net.

Above the "Reeds" as I mentioned previously, we have several hundred meters of shallows as the river makes a valley traverse as it changes from the east to the west side.

It forms a large island with an untended channel as many of the braided streams would have looked in pre-history. Between the fallen willows, dense clumps of willowherb and reeds sparkling patches of gravel with resident trout. Always a stream worth visiting just to see where we would have been if our heavily modified river had been left to its own devices. Back to the main channel shallows where the salmon cut their redds and the fry and parr begin their lives between the stones. Barbel and chub spawn at the end of May or early June and occasionally the amazing Sea Lamprey can be seen building their redd as they drags large stones clear of their chosen site. Grayling and wild browns are to be found here, not huge fish but gems everyone of them. As with the tail of Gypsy you can usually find the odd sea trout waiting patiently for the autumn rains.

The top of the shallows run into the tail of Harbridge Corner. As can be seen in the shot below a tight meandering bend that will at some distant point in the future create another oxbow, not I hasten to add during my time. This lovely pool has it all including one of the more interesting lily filled slacks on the fishery that has thrown up several good river carp to well over twenty. That almost completed my walk, just the couple of hundred meters of further shallows running up to the hatches at Woodside. There the Woodisde Carrier leaves the river and flows the complete length of my walk to where I crossed it at the beginning just below the lakes. We have an enormous amount of work planned for the Woodside Carrier in the next couple of years that I will no doubt include on the diary. That about wraps up our walk which covered about two miles of our river bank. With eleven miles of main river availabe hopefully I will find the time to take a look at some of those other miles over the coming months.

The view of Harbridge Corner from Riverbank Covert.

After the coldest night of the autumn todate the Dockens remains high with plenty of water to allow the seatrout to run well up into the the headwaters, through Woodford Bottom and beyond Holly Hatch, to cut this year. The frost hadn't managed to get to the fly agarics under the protective canopy of the Monterey Pine, with a shot of a Sparrow Hawk warming himself in the early morning sunshine to finish.

Sunset across Meadow Lake this evening, looks like a further cold night ahead.

It would now seem that everyone has had their ten-penneth and common sense has prevailed and we are back to Woody's and Boris's original stance of travelling for recreation and well-being in isolation is fine.

To ensure there is clarification for syndicate members please take onboard the following comments.

Visits to the fisheries will be for angling only no; casual, social or pre-baiting non-fishing visits. The only reason to be on the bank is for the purposes of fishing.

Ensure you adhere to all the advice regarding social distancing and use sanitiser gels wherever possible, padlocks etc

The maximum of two guests on the fishery at any one time will remain only where guests are from the same family bubble as the member and having first cleared availability with the office.

Well done Woody, spot-on!

Some readers will recognise the pool in the two shots above, although it has been cleaned up. The first photo is taken from Ron's seat, looking downstream towards Park Pool, the second just beyond the gate looking back up to the seat.

The old concrete wall is a little unstable at present but we will try and get some back-fill in behind the blocks to firm up the bank. Early in the season, before the weed gets up in June, this has the potential to be quite an interesting piece of water. The old shot of Dennis Herring, in the Lodge, with the thirty seven pounder came from here. Some syndicate members may have heard me recount the tale of the fish that was lost by a rod who hooked it whilst fishing from the short section of bank that was previously open by Ron's seat. Worth retelling, although four or five years ago, I remember it as if it were yesterday.
The rod in question, having spent five minutes tackling up as he sat on the bench, decided to have a cast in the twenty meters of open bank alongside. The river was running high and with no real expectation of a take, sod's law at its best, decided otherwise. I was coming through the Park when I had a call from a slightly panic stricken rod informing me he was into a fish. I was on site within three or four minutes and it was obvious, by the lazy behaviour of what ever he had on, it was a good fish. Luckily it was sulking in mid river and reluctant to leave its lie, giving time to assess the situation. What was immediately obvious was that we were not going to be able to follow this fish if it decided to head off downstream due to the brambles and scrub immediately downstream of us. With that, you may have guessed, the fish did a leisurely turn and headed off downstream. Nothing for it, take the pressure off it, just let it run and see where it would stop. If it got well below the gate I may be able to get hold of the line to cut it and retie it to continue the fight in open country. It stopped one hundred meters downstream by the gate, in the deep hole, where it sulked for five minutes and gave no chance of hooking up the line. Having thought about its situation it started back upstream to pass us mid stream and settle back into its lie. In the next half an hour this performance was repeated twice more and on its arrival the third time the fish came through the lie and came under our bank, immediately below us in eight feet of water alongside the concrete wall. Thinking this may give me an opportunity of netting it I picked up the rod's net, which was a 30" Guy and scrabbled down the concrete blocks where they had become undermined and had collapsed into the river. Perched on my slightly exposed position I suggested the rod lift his rod to see if the fish would rise in the water. Well, it did and it was blatantly obvious a 30" net was not going to get that bugger in it, it looked like a canoe as it came into view! I considered jamming the net over its head and jumping on it. The thought of wrestling with and trying to hang onto the fish, in ten feet of cold, turbulent Avon with definitely no way out for at least a hundred meters, persuaded me otherwise and the fish sank back down to once more head off down stream. Back down to the gate, by the rails in the photo, where it did its usual sulk before heading back up to rejoin us. Sadly on this occasion as it came alongside us once more the fly lost its hold and all went slack.
I'm still unsure whether I was cross that the rod had cast from such a restricted position, or thankful he had, as it gave me a close encounter with probably the largest Springer I have ever seen hooked on the Avon.

Its those weeping willows beside Kings-Vincents again, where I've promised myself a session with the pin and quill float after the tench next summer. I put it up just as a introduction to our fishing during the coming shutdown. Woody has been in touch and he seems to think its okay to continue to enjoy our therapeutic pastime. This would seem to sit well with Boris's travel to recreation. I would rather take Woody's word for it than Bozo's but both can't be wrong, can they? I live in hope! Should things change I will post again!

A section on day flying moths compiled by Jacky Adams is now incorporated in the Mockbeggar Butterfly transect report that will download from the link below.

Mockbeggar Butterfly Transect Report 2020

The report above has been compiled by the New Forest Butterfly Transect Group to whom I am extremely grateful.

The green road over at the lakes looking clipped and tidy. This winter we have topped the meadows and surrounding grassland as we will not be overwinter grazing this year to avoid a repeat of last years sward difficulties. Despite not grazing we still need to get the brambles under control hence the topping and fingers crossed we do not see the extremes of wet and drought we experienced last Spring.

Last weekend walk on the beach in search of treasure!

Bonsai colour to finish.

The river is back up and the spillway is running once more. Despite the added height the colour remains reasonable and conditions look pretty good to allow the recent perfect conditions for the barbel to continue. Once the colour drops out a little we should see the true winter Avon I so love. Hopefully the weed will have been flushed away and the water will take on the cold green of the trotting season. The extra push on the main channel will see the eddies and slacks also come into their own. The one in the second photo is a classic "Mr Crabtree" eddy that always holds the chance of a bag of perch or a sheltering pike.

Just how long the autumn colour in the ash woods will be a feature of our countryside remains to be seen. Sadly the number of trees falling victim to the die back visible this summer has increased dramatically. It does mean we will be out felling infected trees where they pose a risk in the coming months. Just as with our Covid pandemic we can only keep our fingers firmly crossed a resistence will be developed in the future. The middle shot is looking out across the recently cleared island to the forest scarp. the final shot shows the Dockens water in flood once more. This will be flushing the summer accumulation of rubbish and silt from the channel and scouring in readiness for the arrival of the sea trout in the next week or two.

Still flat out clearing banks whilst the decent weather lasts. The section of bank in the photo was missed last year as the water level rose and prevented clearing so it was good to get that one under the belt first off. I managed a further wasps nest today combining for a fine leish in the last week or two. Whilst not sure three wasps nests can be described as a leish, whatever I call them the end result remains pretty constant with a further cluster of direct hits. With the visor down and the ear protectors on, add the noise of the strimmer engine and its not until they start stinging that the realisation I've hit another nest sinks in. The first sting takes a second or two to register but the pinging off the visor soon get the message through, giving rise to a string of expletives and necessitating an immediate dash for cover trying to get the buggers out from under my shirt as I go. I can also assure you that despite several dozen stings this summer, they still hurt and you do not get used to them!
The shots of the hogs is to remind members that the pannage season has been extended this autumn due to the weight of this years acorn crop. Whilst on your travels about the forest keep an eye open for the marauding mobs, often numbering several dozen, particularly the black ones are hard to spot in poor light.
The fishing continues to amaze with the Avon producing some staggering fish. How this will end I have no idea but I can say with certainty the Avon has never produced such fish in all its recorded history. That not only relates to barbel and chub, which are most definitely the stars of the show, perch, roach and pike are also cropping up in numbers and size throughout the system. Fingers very firmly crossed we get to enjoy a full salmon season next year to give us a measure of how our salmon are doing.

Darryl playing a low double mirror on the pin.

The last of the islands cleared. I feel I am making progress when I get to this stage, I am always keen to get the islands done as early as possible to avoid the water rising and preventing clearing. One or two low lying sections of bank stiil remain to be done, hopefully in the next week or two. If I miss a year through high water the regrowth is considerably more difficult to clear with a second years growth on it. Our islands appear to have the ability to change size. When you look from the bank, before taking the boat out, they look like an hours work cutting knee high regrowth. After two or three hours strimming and two tanks of fuel, you are only half way through and the willow and alder is up to your chin they seem to have magically grown!

Well done Salmon & Trout Conservation, bit like pushing a large boulder uphill!

Pesticides In Rivers

Well done Kenny, who looks justifiably delighted with yet another 7+ chub. After finding 7+ fish for several friends, see previous diary entries, it took what I'm sure to Kenny felt like an eternity to find that magical fish himself. After having achieved that elusive number some time ago he now seems to catch them on a regular basis! There's nothing predictable in angling, which I suppose is one of its attractions. This latest specimen was taken on the float, which is about as good as it gets when taking such a fish. Stunning fish Kenny congratulations and many thanks for the photos.

The link below is to one of my favourite websites.

Dam Removal Europe

Its interesting to see how the UK compares with some of the continental countries that are involved in the scheme. It is particularly difficult on the Avon that depends on the heavily modified system to support the protected valley meadows. The removal of the structure is only the most basic means to remove the barrier. An efficient cyprinid friendly fish pass that works at all states of flow would achieve the same ends. SW region would appear to be about the least active in the UK, perhaps the water company that keeps the tidal limit shut down might like to fund one or two such projects on the river?

I enjoyed a glorious morning clearing beside the lakes and Dom Longley enjoyed a couple of hours beside the river this evening for a brace of these beauties. All in all a pretty good day all round.
Thanks for the report and pix Dom, very much appreciated.

The first shot is of the watermeadows at Ibsley where the Stork has been feeding for the past three days. If you look closely you can see the Stork feeding just to the right of the cattle. News got out that he was close to the road and on the Sunday it was busy with twitchers looking to extend their list with a plastic Stork. Plastic being a birding reference to an introduced bird. I don't think he was spotted up at Ibsley on Sunday and from what I can make out he has left the Estate and heading for warmer climes, possibly the Stork seen high in the thermals over Rodden in Dorset Sunday lunchtime.
I believe it was Tom Williams who once said if you want to get rid of birds let the twitchers know where they are! The middle shot shows the meadows first thing Sunday with people well off the footpath and dogs running off the lead, little wonder he cleared off. Unfortunately, they weren't the worse we had over the weekend, canoes, and two lots of cyclists, one of whom I think was dressed as Spiderman in a lycra suit with lots of bits and bobs strapped to it, following the river on a mountain bike.
Not everything is leaving, a Great White Egret arrived at the lakes today, sheltering from the south west rain on the side of one of the islands, alas too distant to see if it was the regular winter visitor.

Misty, chilly mornings down at the lakes and a tinge of autumn colour arriving in the canopy of the tall London planes and Horse chestnuts beside the weirpool. The White Stork is becoming more adventurous spending the last few days, since the recent floods, out in the water meadows. He seems to appreciate our efforts in enhancing the wader friendly habitat finding lots to keep him occupied out in the splashes and hollows. Interestingly the photo of him in flight clearly shows he has several secondary feathers missing from his right wing. A little late in the year to be moulting, perhaps a powerline collision or TV aerial, based on his preference for roosting on chimney pots. Pleasingly it doesn't seem to adversely affect his flight as he managed to traverse the valley during the recent very windy conditions without apparent difficulty. Whether he feels sufficiently mended to continue his southward migration remains to be seen.
The bird world is quite busy with two of our Goshawk providing frequent sightings, a Hobby spotted yesterday chasing dragonflies at Ellingham, spotted again today trying for the passing Martins. The Buzzards are enjoying the sunshine with seven or eight soaring over the Park, with several small flocks of Crossbills moving through the larch woods and of course our visiting Stork stomping about the meadows.

Not forgetting of course our resident Gleany flocks. For reasons I can't quite explain I like Gleanies, possibly because they are good at their job in raising the alarm with a right old din whenever anything or anybody they don't recognise upsets them. Despite their guard dog talents they just have to be the most stupid bird on the planet without the slightest grain of road sense, they quite happily block the track until you wind down the window and shout at them!

The Avon Valley Path disappearing beneath the flood. Just passable in wellies at the moment but once its over the boards on the footbridge it will require thigh waders. If it reaches the lower rail on the bridge, as it did last year, you will need chest waders and a wading stick.

The water is out in the fields a fortnight earlier than last autumn, I just hope it doesn't stay out their as long as last winter!

The view from the top of Home Wood over to the Forest, where the dark clouds could be seen depositing their precious cargo. The effect on the Forest streams as the Dockens Water rapidly coloured up and covered the forest fords in its rush down to us in the valley. Soon over spilling into the fields, changing the face of the valley overnight turning firm meadows into sponges that threaten to catch anyone daring to drive on them.

The fruiting masses of honey fungus following the root system of one of our ancient horse chestnuts that sadly will eventually succumb to the attention.

The river remains low and clear at the moment, with the weather forecast for the next day or two this may well be about to change. Despite the current low levels it hasn't stopped the autumnal die-back of the summer weed growth. Large rafts of uprooted and broken weed are creating large floating masses that cover the entire width of the channel. As these gradually become too heavy to stay anchored to the bank they break free and drift downstream, blocking hatches and filling the water with suspended rubbish. Depending on the amount of rain we get over the next few weeks fishing can be a frustrating game as weed picks up lines and masks bait. Fingers crossed we see a more angler friendly winter this year with the rain being sufficient to clean up the gravels and flush the rubbish out of the system, it can then settle back and allow us dry access to the banks please.
I stopped for five minutes at lunchtime to see if I could discover just what our visiting Stork was finding to eat. On almost every other step he fixes his beady eye on something in the grass and stoops to pick it up and swallow in one movement. During the time I watched he probably found in the order of twenty items of food, of those five or six were earth worms and a couple looked like snails, the rest he gulped down before I could spot what they were. I originally thought the only thing that he could be eating at such a frequency must have been Crane Flies as they are everywhere at the moment. I was surprised he didn't appear to pick up any insects during the time I watched.

The autumn colour is spreading over the Guelder Rose that stands beside an old oak bridge over the Dockens Water.

In light of the staggering form the river is currently in I thought I would put these two super fish up for everyones enjoyment. First is Phil Martyn with his 17.05, with Steve Derby's 17.02. What more can I add, they are simply stunning and their quality speaks for itself. I have already congratulated both Phil and Steve on their achievements but in the case of such fish further congratulations are not out of place and thanks for the reports and photos.

Back to the more mundane in that a tackle bag containing drop shot gear has been found on the bank. Anyone missing one give me a call and I'll reunite you.

For the stillwater members a shot of this years young stock being released by Arron of Coarse Fish UK. Two of the mirrors and one of the slings containing several hundred tench and crucians.

Mark seems to be the name in favour today with, Mark Collins landing a 30+ off the top and Mark Woodage, landing a 6.11 chub over on the river. Cracking looking common and very special off the top, well done Mark, congrats. The chub has not been Mark's only recent success with a 16.08 barbel landed last week. Surely only the Avon can provide such magic? Great result Mark, fish of a lifetime. The middle river has been fishing as well as I have ever known it for chub and barbel with chub to 7.13 and barbel to 17.05 in the past week. I've lost count of the sixteen plus barbel, somewhere in the region of nine wouldn't be far from the mark, off those at least three or four have been seventeen plus!

We still have a Stork, doing what Stork do, standing on one leg atop a chimney. Thanks to Nick for letting me know he was up there and Lord N who provided the snap of him as he went up to roost in the failing light this evening.

Cleaning up continues apace with strimming this morning and pollarding this afternoon. A close encounter that could have ended up a great deal worse than it did. I got away with just slicing the bottom off this nest that was suspended in the reed bed I was clearing, necessitating a hasty retreat. A far better outcome than last weeks when I managed a direct hit with a resultant very pissed off swarm of wasps chasing me off the island I was working on and landing five direct hits. As for the pollarding, its amazing how much bigger a pollard looks when you are up in the bowl as opposed to looking from the ground. What looked like a few broom handle thick limbs turn into a forest of fence stakes!

..............and we still have a Stork, he was on the golf course this morning, playing in the rough. I can say "he" as it has been confirmed he is a Knepp Estate released bird originally being brought over as a rehabilitated juvenile from Poland in 2018.

We still have a Stork so I thought I would put up a photo taken in better light. Beautiful bird, how good it would be if they establish in the area. I think we would benefit from the Eagles establishing first, to eat their way through the geese, hopefully the two can coexist!

The State of English rivers.

Depressing news but hardly a surprise

Whilst the autumn clean-up around the fishery got underway today it was in fact more like mid summer. I spent the best part of the day strimming the islands around the lakes. The butterflies were out in good numbers enjoying the Indian Summer and there were at least half a dozen Chiff chaff feeding on midges in one large clump of brambles. One of the birds was ringed possibly by Brenda or Kevin, unfortunately my camera wasn't up to the task of recording the number. I had more success reading the leg ring on the Stork that Phil spotted feeding in the Top Park this evening. I spent ten minutes watching it feeding on some obvious delicacy to be found in the grass were it was still engaged on its dinner when I left it to head home to mine. I imagine its a bird from the reintroduction programme that is running over at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, at least we know where GB35 was this evening.

Young Elian showing me how its done when it comes to catching Avon perch. Well done Elian and thanks for the great photos Colin. Martin also managed half a dozen yesterday as well, whilst I blanked in finest fashion earlier in the week. One or two members tried to text me today that unfortunately went unanswered as I was twenty miles out in the channel, out of signal range. What was I doing out there? Blanking whilst shark fishing! Seems to be a pattern developing in my fishing in recent visits. Having said that we did manage several decent tope that kept the interest up during the waiting time.

Nice to see a dozen Woodlark in the short grass beside the lake today. Whilst they were a trusting little flock they wouldn't let me get close enough to get a decent photo.

It would seem we are not the only species that gets all puffed up and adopts ludicrous posturing as a bargaining ploy about an invisible line on the water. This is the boundary between the two Mute families at Coomber. The two cobs side up to each other and swim back and forth on the imaginary line for about five minutes each day, before returning to the everyday business of getting on with living and rearing the kids.

Just a few of the one hundred plus flock of Egyptian Geese that are currently up on the marsh. Interestingly the hollow in the dead oak was the nest site of the first pair in the area over a decade ago. When they moved in they ousted the resident Barn Owl, which is a pretty poor exchange.

Sewage discharge into rivers

Thanks for sending through the link Mike. I have signed it although in reality it varies very little from the law as it currently stands. Any means to apply more pressure on the government must be worth exploring. What we are missing is a regulator with the balls to lean on the government and sort out the purely profit driven water companies.

A new habit I have never witnessed before as our local hornets were sap sucking on Lilac. A frequent habit on ash trees in the spring that results in ring-barking and dead trees, a similar end result on the lilac.

At what point we call it a day and declare this oak beyond saving. Despite our recent efforts this tree is continuing to die back and will give cause for safety concerns in the not too distant future. One other sign of its condition is the recent appearance of a fine Hen of the Woods, the sulphite bracket fungus. A sure sign that the heart wood of this tree is being slowly broken down. This particular Hen provides a further example of the attitude of some in our society when it comes to respecting the environment. Despite clear advice from the NPA to view and not destroy the fungi within the New Forest SSSI half of this one has been taken. Obviously a very limited intellect that feels respect of others and the law of the land doesn't apply to them, I've seen all too many of them this summer!

Some of our flock enjoying a bath in today's sunshine.

The shot below is Danny with the first off the river back on the 7th of March, which seems an absolute age ago. What can best be described as another difficult season is now behind us. We started during the floods, with water out in the fields, lost the best weeks of the season to the wretched virus and finished with high water temperatures and low flows, giving rise to a disappointing number of dead fish. Had we not suffered the enforced lay-off the counter figures would suggest we would now be celebrating the end of a very successful season. Alas we will never know what might have been and we must be content with the hand that was dealt us. Several rods enjoyed a good season despite the difficulties, Danny not only landed the first but also grassed a further brace, all falling to the fly, David Lambert also managed three on the fly. Top rod however goes to Stephen Hutchinson with a very creditable six fish, a good return in a normal length season, exceptional in the season past. When we have had time to consider the past season I will circulate a piece to the syndicate with thoughts on the season ahead.

Danny's classic Springer, first of the season, out in the fields!
Certainly the first time I have seen a salmon released thirty meters from the river!

You can tell its a Bank Holiday weekend!

Bank holiday visitors.

Bank Holiday Blues!

There are now numerous videos similar to the one above illustrating the consequences of Mute Swan disturbance on the Avon. I recently spotted one on national TV, filmed at Fordingbridge, with a Swan killing another adult swan that had been chased into its territory. My attempts at video, whilst quite extensive, suffers from my apparent DT's, not I hasten to add actual DT's but seem to manifest themselves in a similar fashion. The sound also requires a little improvement, despite which I have a growing collection of videos that look as if taken on horseback!

I said to the lads in today's photos I would put up a link that would show the Defra view on navigation as advised to the minister at the time. See below. They did say they had an email from the EA telling them they could canoe on the Avon. I have asked for a copy, always assuming it wasn't just a porky, that might well prove interesting if they send it through!

The two links below will appear as downloads in your download box, hopefully!

Defra opinion

Letter to then minister

Defra are responsible for all the redaction etc. not me.

As can be seen, in the eyes of the law, as advised to the minister at the time, Navigation on non-tidal rivers above the tidal limit is quite clear.

It only exists where it can be shown to have been subject to;

Immemorial usage

Which the good Rev Caffyn and others have tried and failed to establish on the Hampshire Avon.

By Act of Parliament

– of which there is not.

Or by expressed grant or dedication by the owner of the soil

Such as Fordingbridge TC who permit paddling on their couple of hundred meters in the recreation ground. Also the reason Natural England will only prosecute the riparian owners in the case of the disturbance or destruction of a SSSI/PAC/ESA/Ramsar/SWALK and uncle Tom Cobbly and all, site in the case of the River Avon and its associated flood plain. Navigation on the Avon requires a consent from NE who will only grant consent to the riparian owner, hence it is the owner that falls foul of the law in NE's view. That seems to be working well???

Perhaps a little more background to our problems might help. We have in the order of twenty two pairs of breeding Mute Swans on the Estate, each with their own territory, spaced about every three or four hundred meters. Add to these over a hundred non-breeders we are not overly short of swans, even before the winter flocks gather. All is well until established pairs interact. Aggressive cobs will not tolerate interlopers, with the worse case individuals that includes ducks, geese and almost anything else they can get hold of. Pairs and cygnets being herded downstream by boat traffic soon meet their neighbours and all hell breaks loose. Once the boats have passed the birds are all mixed up and in the wrong territories resulting in the all too familiar dead cygnet syndrome.

Apart from the obvious impact on swans there are more subtle impacts that most would be totally unaware. For years we have had eight or nine pairs of Great crested Grebe nesting on the Estate's length of river. Strangely the numbers of successful broods fluctuated considerably from year to year. We were slightly bemused why such variations should occur when food and water height seemed to remain pretty much constant. As I'm sure most will be aware they are for the most part fish eaters and the Avon abounds with small fish. Other fish eating birds flourished, Goosander, Kingfisher, Cormorant etc. As GCG nests float, or are anchored to vegetation, summer floods risked flushing them away but the frequency of floods didn't coincide with the dips in nesting success.

Exposed Great Crested Grebe nest.

The penny only dropped when many years ago a renown wildlife cameraman making a film on the Estate filmed the GCG nest being predated by a Moorhen. This opportunistic practice has been witnessed several times since pointing to the cause of our population fluctuations. GCG when nesting usually choose a nest site that is often very open and exposed. To compensate for this visibility the adults are extremely attentive to the nest. Meaning an adult will be on the nest virtually continuously, If not actually on the nest very close by in sight of her eggs. Even when on these brief nearby feeding breaks she will meticulously cover her eggs with weed and sticks to hide them from predators such as Crows and Gulls. Unfortunately the evolution of the GCG nesting strategy had not developed sufficiently to deal with disturbance by boats and Moorhen.

When scared from the nest the sensitive birds, in a similar fashion to our Swans, move downstream ahead of the boats. Not having had time to conceal her eggs that now sit in all their glory exposed to the world. The adults move ahead of the boats until side channels or wide reaches allow them to get back past the boats and head back upstream to their nests. This may take many minutes leaving the exposed eggs fully on view. This is where the problem of Moorhen predation rears its ugly head. The defence strategy of the Moorhen when disturbed by a boat is to simply hide in the marginal reedbeds. As Moorhen are far more populous on the Avon than Grebe there is almost certainly a pair within a few meters of every GCG nest. The boats pass, the Moorhen re-appear from their reedbed hide outs next to the nest and in the meantime the protective GCG are still heading downstream ahead of the boats. The rest as they say is history!

Back to our navigation problems and the other reason we are so protective of the river. Unlike many rivers where there is a right of navigation, such as the Thames, Wye etc established under one of the three aforementioned means, we do not receive government funding for repairs to banks and controls. The Hampshire Avon is classed as a heavily modified river, repair of banks, in perched channels such as the Avon's, can run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Revetment materials may run into thousands of tons, transporting that material to site, construction machinery etc all cost money. Controls are weirs hatches etc and rust and collapse requiring renewal. The only financial income available to the Estate to pay for these works is that raised through its fishery income. Fisheries are dependent on exclusivity so I'm sure you can work out the equation for yourselves. No fishery, no income, no repairs, its that simple.

I have always said to the BCU and many other paddlers, if they are prepared to pay for the maintenance of the river to the same extent as the angling community please come and see us. We would be more than happy to discuss options. To give an indication of the scale of the investment you will be looking to meet the anglers rental and amenity contribution that runs to well over a million pounds annually just on the Avon. Over and above the quarter of a million plus pounds Avon anglers contribute in Environment Agency rod licence money each year, which we have no say or benefit from its expenditure.

So lads if you bothered to look up this link as I suggested and have bothered to read all this through to the end, that's why I appear as a miserable old git.

I always claim I was a light hearted jovial fellow, full of the joys of Spring, with a constant welcoming smile, until I ran into those that would abuse the Avon Valley! I don't only refer to canoes in that, there are far worse contenders for the crown of least caring. Stand up those that would discharge raw sewage, farm effluent and suck the life blood from the aquifers. Along with those that would sit by and watch such abuse take place, you know who you are!

…......and I haven't checked that lot for typo's etc so please don't write to tell me you've spotted any!

Just to round off the day one of the other advantages of a fig tree. The rain has spoilt the figs, losing flavour and texture. I have as much jam, preserved in syrup and fig chutney as can be humanly eaten yet the tree keeps producing. The wasps and birds are having a field day and today at least four beautiful freshly emerged Red Admirals arrived to join the feast.

After yesterday afternoon's torrential downpours the river came rocketing up and the forest streams spewed colour into the system. Several salmon could be seen leaping in the pools as the excitement of the Autumn rains began stirring deep in their fishy psyche.

The rise in water has stopped any hope of further work on the meadows for a few days at least. Pleasingly we had finished the pollarding and tidying up with this years looking stark and bare last years are already looking better.

Anne's outdoor beefsteaks are looking well, just a few more days of sunshine should see them fully ripen.

Nice one Woody, they are just cracking looking fish. Thanks for the photo.

A couple of shots from around the lakes showing the late grebe brood and the plentiful supply of mushrooms currently to be found in the meadows.

Whilst fencing alongside the Ibsley Bridge to Harbridge road a 40m length of the old raised walkway was found to be remaining intact. This is the walkway that allowed the residents of both villages to cross the valley at times of high flood water, such as we experienced last winter. Its a great pity the walkway was allowed to fall into disrepair.

Finally a couple of shots of today's deminishing butterfly numbers with a Large White on a teasel and a Small Copper on water mint. The water mint is the only significant nectar flow available at the present time concentrating what few butterflies that remain onto the lakeside clumps.

Floods to drought and back to floods. Whilst we were expecting and hoping for the autumn rains to arrive at some point, we weren't expecting it to drive us off the meadows almost overnight. Thankfully the first cut silage is safely off and the grass is now growing in overdrive in readiness for second cut or rich grazing. Unfortunately we had the chipper out on the meadow with its three associated tractors and heavy trailers requiring a quick exit to higher ground. We now have to wait to see if we get a dry spell to get us back on to finish the tidying up and fencing. We had completed the pollarding and the greater part of the coppicing, which is far more than I could have expected so a success whatever happens in the weeks ahead.

It seems we are now the des res for the local gull populations with thousands of Lesser Black Backs now taking over the islands on one of the new lakes. As someone who is no fan of inland seagulls, other than following a springtime plough, this lot are just rubbing salt in the wound! The sooner these White Tailed Eagles get here the better.

One of two Paddle-boarders about to duck under the radial gates on the Ringwood hatches. Despite no control in the fast flume both made it safely through and agreed to leave the river once the situation had been explained to them. Interested to see the EA Deputy Director of Navigation is out promoting paddle-boarding and kayaking in the hope of filling the coffers of the regulators quoting the rod licence as an example of value for money. It would seem to be in stark contrast to the deafening silence we hear from the EA about similar activities on the non-navigable Hampshire Avon. Let me assure all paddle-boarders, kayak and canoer users, you will get absolutely sod all for any money they manage to prise out of you. It would be nice to see the EA undertaking some educational programmes to bring the GBP up to speed on the reasons behind the non-navigational status of the heavily modified and conservation designated Avon. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at anything I hear about the EA these days. Bevan, the Head of the EA, is stamping about town making speeches promoting the lowering of standards of assessment on our rivers now they are no longer bound by the WFD. At the time of the vote to leave the EU I asked what route of independent appeal we will have once that of the European Commission is no longer available to us. I still await an answer. Add the thousands of tons of untreated human sewage they licence to be pumped into our rivers every year, whilst the they wash their hands of any meaningful regulation. Always assuming they are not washing their hands in the polluted river! They should hang their heads in shame. One other aspect of the WFD that might prove interesting is the removal of the obligation to establish the conservation levels of each salmon river. Will this mean we will no longer see hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money flushed down the river through the fish counters that are designed to tell us what we already know.

Kevin has been out topping the sedge and soft rush about the water meadows, much to the amusement of the young stock that came to investigate.

Water meadow oaks never deprived of water like their gravel plateau neighbours.

Despite the unlimted supply of water there is a threat to the water meadow oaks from prolonged emersion of their roots that has killed two or three in recent years. The two spiny oaks on the edge of the meadow, just onto the plateau, are just the tip of the iceberg. There are several dozen such trees dotted about the Estate, even after our recent efforts to clear the felled and dying in the Park. I'm not exactly sure how many of these massive oaks we have about the Estate, certainly several hundred, possibly into the thousands. Unfortunately many are of a similar age and the stress of the last three warm decades is taking an increasing toll. I should add the flock of Heron in the first photo that might look a little odd, are simply sun bathing. There were between forty and fifty of them feeding in the marsh earlier in the day, which probably made it a bad day for the frog population!

Worth another photo, the nectar rich margins on the water meadows. There were over two hundred and fifty, Green Veined Whites, plus lots of other bits and bobs making the most of the rich feeding.

The Tree Menders dead wooding one of the senior citizens of the oak world. Where these massive oaks pose a potential threat to road users we have to reduce the height and remove any wood that might fall.

Today's crop of figs and the attempts at preserving them by bottling in syrup and drying out in the oven.

Just a little tidying up and we will have completed the pollarding of the crack willows. Somewhat of a shock to the system at the moments but next year will see more regrowth and have new crowns. These Crack Willows are unique trees probably planted at the time of the water meadow development in the early 1700's. The large horizontal trunks that can be seen in the photos are the original trunks that have fallen and naturally layered to produce a ring of second generation trees. When we clean up the pollards in the next week or so we will ensure the ancient originals are protected as they are such a rare and valuable habitat. The thinking behind this pollard work and the nearby coppicing, is to lower the canopy to give nesting waders greater confidence on the nearby meadows. Lapwing prefer the open landscape where they can see approaching predators enabling them to drive off the threat with the familiar calling and dive bombing that is often the soundtrack to a Spring day in the Meadows.

Realising the error of their ways.

Starting the day with a more pleasant task in that I have just sent off my butterfly transect record for the week to Bob and Jean, our tireless coordinators. The butterfly above is not a particularly good photo of a Small Heath, which is not a particularly rare butterfly in the great scheme of things. It is however a scarce visitor to my transect, yet there were at least six on site, four of which were actually on the recording route. They were as fresh as daisies and looking like a very recent emergence. Its been a difficult year for the butterflies around the lakes due to the hot weather baking the ground into a solid mass preventing any nectar flow. The appearance of half a dozen of these delicate creatures is possibly the butterfly highlight of my year.

I bet regular readers can guess how my sunny weekend has progressed so far? Correct, got it in one, canoes, campers, poachers, swimmers, trespassers and picnickers. We are not alone in this total disregard and disrespect of the countryside and the English common law that is supposed to protect it. From Salisbury to the sea and across the length and breadth of the land, the public feel they have a right to totally ignore the rights of others and the law of the land. Just where this is heading I have no idea, hence my reference to 4 non blondes, what's going on, the other day. Perhaps a more acceptable simile than rats in a box!

Who is to blame? The transgressors? Who in many instances are just totally ignorant of the law, or those that encourage the use of the countryside as an urban playground. My vote is firmly for the those in the local authorities, national park authorities and the tourist industry guilty of the second offence. It is these august bodies that promote the use of the countryside as a theme park, conveniently washing their hands of the resultant chaos and destruction of the environment. It is essential that those encouraged to visit the countryside are educated in the ways of us simple country folk. To encourage the continued uncontrolled use and misuse of the countryside is no longer acceptable. Completely incompetent regulatory authorities conveniently ignoring the realities of the monster they have created is also no longer acceptable.

Where do we go from here? If we are to continue down this route and expect the rural community to absorb the cost its asking a great deal. In the eyes of the law the onus of responsibility is on the individual and ignorance of those laws and responsibilities is not a valid defence. Perhaps there in lays the key, there has to be a change of emphasis within our education system that equips society for everyday realities it will have to deal with. Social responsibilities and personal responsibility should become part of the everyday curriculum from day one. It will fall to this younger, educated generation to spread the word to the older generation that are currently showing a total disregard for the rights of others. As a test of my thinking a simple straw poll asking what rights are attached to a public footpath might prove interesting.

How many would be able to answer, it allows the right to pass and repass over the registered route of the path without deviation or undue delay.

It is the responsibility of the individual to ensure they are aware of the registered route, either through reference to the definitive map or more usefully the OS mapping. It is not the responsibility of the landowner to place signs at ten meter intervals to defend against the “I didn't see any signs mister” all too common response. "Undue delay" is to afford time to rest and catch ones breath not, picnicking, poaching, swimming, bike riding, shagging, boating, dog walking, crapping or the many other activities we deal with on a daily basis.

It sounds all so simple, unfortunately that is unlikely to be the case. Whilst it is a positive idea worthy of consideration to equip the younger generation with a respect for their environment and other people, vested interest and political posturing will probably win out.

…....and I still have tomorrow to look forward to!

Classic, early morning call.

Pleasant enough young guys, simply didn't have a clue. In the last 24 hours I've had; poachers, swimmers, plenty of picnickers, dogs off the lead, canoes and two car loads of idiots, all in a line, peeing over the approach rails on the bridge! All in a days work, accepting of course, I don't work at weekends!

This is the huge London Plane that fell across the weirpool leaving us with a headache to clear. The first job was to cut it off the root plate and remove the top. The second was to winch it across the river and get it up on the opposite bank. Unfortunately I failed to get a shot of the winching as I was preoccupied at the time! It's fate remains to be determined but chip or dunnage would seem a crime for such a wonderful stick.

I may not have taken any photos to record the clearing of five tons of the London Plane stick, thankfully Kevin had the presence of mind to record our efforts.

Winching the London Plane

A harebell, an unexpected turn up on the acidic gravel escarpment alongside the marsh at Hucklesbrook today. As far as I can remember the first I have seen on the Estate. Seed I imagine arriving, via the winter floods, from the chalk downland up on the plain where they are common.

Should any syndicate members come across this prone figure during their travels, fear not, its only Manny trying to avoid scaring his intended subject whilst filming for his latest creation. Some of his recent results can be seen in the still he kindly sent over for our enjoyment. Thanks also to Pete Reading for letting us muscle in on his swim and saving the day. Not that it upset Pete's plans as I believe he had three to low double after we left him in peace.

I took the opportunity of the few hours of sunshine this morning to look for a few more locations for Manny to capture the shots he needs for his latest project. The water clarity is excellent at the moment and chub of all shapes and sizes can be found quite easily. The shoals of larger chub seem to be spread throughout the Estate about every two or three hundred meters. The smaller fish, to a pound or so, are just about everwhere you look. Barbel are now showing a lot better than they were a week or two ago with small groups about three or four hundred meters apart. Shoals of juvenile barbel can be found on the streamier sections with the larger fish in the deeper runs. There were five barbel in the last shot, including a couple of good doubles but not much use for filming as they were mid river, well out of camera reach. Pike, perch, salmon, seatrout and roach are proving more difficult as they do not respond very well to freebies and tend to move about at random. I've found several good perch so perhaps they will be the next target species Manny should try for, time will tell.

If ever you get the opportunity to plant just one tree in your garden I can strongly recommend a Brown Turkey Fig. Our tree is about fifteen years old and coming into its prime, producing a huge crop of sweet juicy fruit. The hot summers of the last year or two have added to the sweetness and flavour and they are a revelation, bearing no resemblance to the potato like fruit so often passed off as figs in our supermarkets. Our tree has a further advantage in that it makes the perfect shady spot to enjoy Sunday morning breakfast.

To round off the weekend, Dave playing the last of four or five carp, to low twenties, he landed in his afternoon session on Kings-Vincent.

This week I spent a day rushing about like a demented badger digging latrine pits across the length and breadth of the Estate. In actual fact they weren't latrine pits but soil sample holes to ensure we have a baseline soil record for the conservation efforts on the estate. Once the sample had been collected the half dozen excavated holes at each site were filled in and the sod tapped back in position, no sign of my activity remained.

That strangely leads nicely into my next beef with the GBP or the NPA! The continual promotion of the New Forest as a recreational playground has worked wonders, we are inundated with the public in all their various colours and hues. Apart from my usual gripe about having to go to work at the pace of some inconsiderate group of MAMIL's, or more likely GOGIL's, wheezing along a single lane road oblivious to the mayhem following behind; continuing to drive many in the forest working community nuts. We now have a new problem the invading hoards have deemed to provide us with. If you encourage tens of thousands of people to spend a day in the forest there is an inevitable consequence when nature calls. The problem is the people doing the encouraging don't see an issue here. That's because its not their gates, hedges, woods and trees that are being crapped behind and becoming open latrines. I was going to put a series of photographs up at this point to illustrate the problem but my mother reads this blog. Suffice to say we have to watch where we tread, the upside here is that the deposit is usually surrounded by a mass of tissue paper. More material in support of the Non-blondes me thinks!

Thankfully a visit to the northern end of the estate at lunchtime today was a far more pleasurable experience. The difference between the valley meadows and the land on the higher gravel terraces is marked. Hardly a flower left in the terrace meadows, all burnt to a frazzle for the third year in succession. Yet the floated meadows in the valley that have been grazed have a wealth of flowers and nectar flow of wonderful proportion.

The wader scrapes have remained damp despite this summer's erratic weather, the Lapwing and Redshank having now flown, job done. Acres of water mint providing a huge nectar flow attracting large numbers of pollinators. Add in Hemp agrimony, fleabane and creeping meadow thistle and its a veritable banquet. This couldn't be more clearly illustrated by the numbers of Small tortoiseshells, I counted twenty three in a very casual count. Over the lakes on the dry gravel plateau, not a sign of one. There were good numbers of Peacocks, Red Admiral, Green veined whites etc but it was the number of tortoiseshells that was particularly noticeable and a pleasure to see.

Here's a well captured fish, taken by John Slader on the fly. A common of 25.08 on a fly tied by fellow member, fly tier extraordinaire, Chris Sandford. Super looking fish and Chris was on hand to see his fly in action, a very special capture, dare I say a joint venture. Great result, many thanks for the photo and the report John, very much appreciated.

A harvester cutting the tops off the pollards, splitter cracking the oversize timber and the chipper turning the winter windblown trees into wood chip for the biomass power stations. Add, soil screening, park drainage, black bagging, gravel extraction, timber extraction, fencing plus mowing and grading, there is quite a lot going on at the moment. Into this we bring the short window between the end of nesting and the beginning of the autumn rains when we are able to work on the water meadows to ensure they remain productive for both agriculture and wildlife. Drains and channels require manitenance involving cleaning, clearing and in one or two instances reopening of completely silted channels. We have about a dozen machines and tractors soon to become available for such work at a cost of many thousands of pounds a week. Any hold ups, meaning the risk of early rain stopping the work and causing the loss of yet another year, following the disaster of last year, is something we most definitely do not wish to see.

I failed to mention in the last entry that whilst up on the North Marsh the other evening there was a fine Mayfly hatch, for July! Whilst not the heaviest hatch in the world always a delight to see the dancing males over the riverside vegetation, especially on such a still and pleasant evening. The Lower Avon has always experienced a long drawn out hatch, often at its heaviest in June and July. The fish are quick to respond wit wild trout, dace, chub and grayling enjoying the bonus, alas the non-indigenous Black-headed gull population were also present up to their usual tricks. One disadvantage of a more extended hatch with lower daily numbers is the predation impact risks being far higher. Historically the mass hatches of the Test were able to sate the appetite of even the most determined onslaught, leaving ample to sustain the population. Hopefully our sister river continues to enjoy such hatches and doesn't have the added complication of gull colonies imposed upon them.

I have a request for syndicate members in that we are currently assisting in the production of a film about the Avon. To that end, whilst we are enjoying good water visibility, may I ask any members who can point us in the direction of possible filming locations, on the near bank where access for the filming equipment is relatively easy, drop me a text or email. It will have a far wider content than fish but they will play their part in the story. Thanks to Dr Manuel Hinge for the juvenile dace and chub still.

A perfect summer day in the water meadows, Robert raking his hay with four in hand, alongside the river producing some wonderful fishing. Its good to see the progress our changes to the management of the meadows is making, I have never seen the meadow by the bridge looking so well. Perhaps I should add that most of the dust is rising from the silt deposited during last years flood and not the hay. In an effort to produce the clear skyline the waders prefer we are also about to coppice and pollard the willow beside the weirpool, a job that has been on the to do list for over a decade!

A great many of the changes we are making on the meadows is in an effort to improve the habitat for the breeding waders that back in the late 80's were an important factor in the SSSI notification of the meadows. The wet start to the year seems to have suited the Lapwing as we had good breeding numbers back in the Spring. It was pleasing on my wandering this evening to find over forty enjoying the rich feeding up on the marsh meadows, many this years juveniles. I put up the photo of the Mullein, which I strimmed around this morning whilst summer path clearing, as an example of the selective nature of our clearing. Mullein is an important food plant for one of Butterfly Conservation's priority moths in the shape of the Striped Lychnis. Not as yet recorded with us but we leave the mullein in hope of them arriving one day.

A Mandarin Duck in eclipse, surrounded by the windblown willow down, one of several dotted about the Estate. I'm not sure how successful they have been this year, with only one or two broods on the usual lake. I believe the grey squirrels have taken over the majority of their nest holes leaving them a little short of suitable accommodation. Having said that there are certainly more pairs spread out across the Estate. The size of the Estate makes accurately assessing their numbers extremely difficult.

We're still tidying up the windblown, dangerous and dead trees about the Estate and this ancient douglas was a sad casualty that was suffering from butt rot. As was who ever left the loo in such a state the other day over the lakes!

I have been out giving the banks a tidy up and clearing around some of the eight signs we have at Ibsley in an effort to educate the ignorant. Its been a bad week for those that deliberately ignore our efforts and with a sunny weekend ahead I fear it is likely to get significantly worse. I think 4 Non Blondes summed up the way I feel at the moment in asking "Whats going on" in "What's Up" The total abandonment of the rural community by the government is beyond comprehension, unless of course you also are being hung out to dry. Its very difficult to explain to some office bound mandarin in his or her Ivory Tower the consequences ignoring the constant and increasing tide of trespass, theft, poaching and fly-tipping we are exposed to. I can't believe its a deliberate attempt by the legislators to open up the privately owned areas of the countryside to the general population. The alternatives are they are as ignorant of the consequences as those involved in the crimes on the ground. Not that many are ignorant of their crimes, they simply don't give a toss, knowing the likelihood of getting caught or being thrown off is minimal and worth the risk. Also the third alternative when it comes to the legislators, they simply do not give a toss and have no interest in protecting the countryside with one or two simple changes to the existing legislation to give it some teeth. Overnight staying on private land needs to become a criminal offence, as does trespass on any designated conservation area. Job done, much of rural crime would disappear overnight from our area.
Sorry, got a little distracted there for a moment! Back to Mark along with a great deal of the farming community out black bagging the silage, which will occupy their time for several weeks to come. The final shot the broken and dangerous barrel posts at Ibsley Bridge, not that they are barrel posts.I will have to discover who owns them and needs to smarten the barrier up to make it safe. I imagine they are the responsibility of County being safety barriers associated with the bridge. If so I don't imagine they'll be rushing out here to do anything about them in teh near future. With County or NFDC in mind what is a pity is that they removed the old raised walk-way that ran from the bottom of the slope west of Ibsley Bridge to Harbridge. If it was still in existence the six months of floods that made the valley footpath unusable would not have been an issue.

I found the remains of a dead salmon in the long grass and brambles just short of the parking at Ibsley Bridge. Just how it managed to get itself in such an odd location can only be speculated upon. Possibly a disturbed poacher throwing it into the brambles if they had panicked by my arrival on the scene?

"Odd Fish" The first shows Charlie holding a five and a half pound chub, which is considerably darker than most of our fish which are normally silver flanked. Possibly been spending a great deal of time on the shallows where exposure to the sun may have added extra colour. The middle shot shows Charlie weighing a chub and after all the decades he has fished still getting that thrill that makes us all go fishing. I just love that shot. On the right a lovely shot of Andy with an almost chocolate coloured 36+ common. Where's that one been hiding? Possibly some deep and murky hole under the trees. Thanks for the shots Andy, I'm sure Terry was smiling down on you with that one.

I spent the morning strimming, which as many of you know I always enjoy. The pleasure of a finished task, looking back on a few hours hard graft at a clean and tidy bank, without being bothered by my phone is my idea of a good day. I always have been easily pleased! Unfortunately some of my other tasks did not fall in the pleasurable category. The first shows the continued decline of our ash trees as some of my favourite young trees succumb to the latest wretched plague to devastate our trees. In the next few years we will be planting tens of thousands of trees at Somerley but with the future of our woodlands never having looked so bleak deciding just what to put in is a real problem. We've lost the English Common Elms and if you look in the back ground of that shot you will see imported elms that we have to plant in an effort to sustain eco-systems that are dependent on them. Almost all of our native trees appear to be under stress from various fungi and pests, trying to second guess what will survive for the next two or three hundred years is a daunting exercise.
The middle shot shows a couple of poachers spinning the main river. A problem that has gone off the scale in recent times. Just where we are heading with this is an equally daunting exercise. The EA will not come out to multiple offenders or the travelling community. I'm still awaiting sight of their actual internal policy that states that criminal activity they have a statutory duty to control can be ignored. Its especially galling when we pay them twenty odd million a year to safeguard our fisheries. I think there's a fraud somewhere here, taking money under false pretences!! The other key element of course is the lack of Estate staff to deal with a removal" with the minimum of required force". The rural economy and rivers in particular are struggling by on a very reduced labour force. The history of river keeper cuts coincides with the establishment of the NRA/EA which was the body many mistakenly believed would manage and police the river in their stead. Whether this is the fault of the government through lack of funding. Inadequate legislation, written and designed by office bound people who have never had to deal with the Great British Public on the ground. Opportunistic cost cutting by riparian owners or cynical middle management in the agencies, you take your pick. Who or whoever might be responsible the failure to Maintain, Improve and Develop fisheries it is more evident now a days than at any time in the history of our rivers. The police who are so under funded all they can do is simply offer a numbers game in the hope of some internal funding round will smile on them. I've been there, trying to report anything through 101 is a complete waste of time from our perspective in dealing with the criminal activity on the ground today not a realistic option. The rural community has been abandoned to get on with it and the agencies wonder why many in the community consider them worse than useless but an actual fund absorbing liability. Where does this leave us? Joe Bloggs here turns out on his own, day and night, to approach god only knows who, up to god only knows what, on a 24/7 basis. Never let it be said I don't meet interesting people in my job!
The final shot was the icing on the cake today. In actual fact it was the shit on the floor. Just what went on here defies all logic, whether someone was taken short or the local hooligans thought it would be funny, there is simply no excuse for leaving the loo in the state it was reported to me today. I favour the local hooligan explanation because if I thought it were a member all I can say is you are definitely in the wrong syndicate! Lets hope for a better day tomorrow.

This evening baling and wrapping got underway that will leave a clean field the Lapwing will pick over tomorrow.

The valley was in a strange mood as after three months of virtual silence the tractors arrived to continue with clearing the docks and mowing the silage, bringing an unacustomed sound track to the meadows. As the sun broke through and the temperature crept higher the cattle decided the shade on the other side of the river, away from the flies, was more to their liking. The scene was almost timeless, on such sunny days cattle had probably crossed the river at this point for centuries.

Not so sure this is a good idea!

As I stood watching the cattle fording the river and the timeless nature of the scene I wondered just what the scene would have looked like in times of our prehistory? A time before man's intervention in clearing and grazing in the lush river valleys. The valley would have been the centre of man's summer livestock grazing as the pastoral lifestyle enveloped the world. The surrounding Barton, Bagshot and Bracklesham gravel beds provided poor grazing in comparison, much of the plateau being lowland heath. The pastoral lifestyle occupied the valley for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of the Dutch engineers in the late seventeenth century who created the valley as we see it today. The intensity of the grazing remains unknown. What percentage of the marshy land between the braided channels was usable or simply left as willow car, we can only guess at. What we do know is the valley now deemed so environmentally desirable is an artificial, man made environment and certainly none the poorer for it.

The current unwelcome Zeitgeist of “rewilding” is certainly not a practice I would like to see adopted in this unique valley we manage. We could fence off large tracts and introduce various bugs, birds and beasts but it is totally meaningless. Releasing butterflies, beavers, bison and tick infested deer, the tick infested bit is just my take on deer, into small enclosed islands without the apex predators that control their numbers is nothing short of playing games with nature and irresponsible. Fine if you wish to produce a zoo in which man controls the numbers and environment but useless in setting back the clock. I suppose populations could be allowed to breed uncontrolled and let starvation limit the damage, I'm not sure the GBP would be too keen on that and continue to "pay to view"!

As I watched the cattle in what is considered to be one of the richest environments in the country I let my mind wander to other scenes I enjoy being part of. The Somerset levels, the fens of East Anglia, parts of the New Forest, even our local disused gravel pits. There's a definite theme developing here! I enjoy the results of man's intervention! Is that through familiarity or is there an underlying, subconscious nostalgia for the efforts of my forebears? Of course I enjoy the mountains, moorlands and remote coastlines of the world but perhaps not so much for their wildlife but their drama and isolation. The raw unmanaged nature of such places is a result of them in many instances being simply uninhabitable. Trying to turn our benign, downlands and lowlands into such wild places is nonsensical. Land in highly populated areas simply has to be managed. The priorities that management takes is the key element. Perhaps the pendulum has swung too far in favour of intensive farming and hopefully under ELM's this can be corrected. I doubt that will be the case if the NFU are involved but the opportunity will be there to give greater protection to our lowland species.

Our landscape is a patchwork of contradictions, don't use peat in the garden yet much of the superb environment of the Somerset levels was created through its extraction. Much of the remaining surrounding land resulted from efforts to drain and control the water levels. Chuck out the locals and let nature claim it back? It would save all that fuss every time the Parrot floods the place. I'm not sure that will make you very popular in the levels! The Fens, again an attempt to control the water levels and farm the land. Let the Wash back in, remove the sea defences, blow up Denver sluice gates and fill in the Relief Channel. Or continue to manage elements of the Fens as they were designed to be used at the time of their construction, Wickham, Waveney etc. I suppose It's hypocritical of me to say there is no place for rewilding on a realistic scale. I have long supported the idea of throwing the GBP, the dormer home population and much of the commoning out of large areas of the New Forest and letting nature do its thing. As they have done in large areas of Costa Rica. There again I would release bears, lynx and wolves in there, to ginger the place up a little so perhaps that is unlikely to happen!

With the arrival of July we are now permitted, under the SSSI regulations, to cut our grass and clean up the meadows. The wet weather of recent days has prevented the grass being cut and bagged but it has allowed the docks to be topped and cleaned. The docks resulted from the record period of flooding the meadows experienced last winter. As the water receded the first plants that gains a foothold are the docks with the result that most of the hay and silage cut has been spoilt this year. After a year or two of cutting and grazing the grass will again restablish, until the next flood! If you look back in the diary to the 27th March you will see a view across the same meadow as shown in the first shot above. It has also enabled us to get on with the removal of three further fences in an effort to improve the water meadows for the breeding waders. I walked the North Marsh at Hucklesbrook this evening and was delighted to see a flock of over 30 Lapwing feeding alongside the stock. I was also pleased to see a Great Crested Grebe on teh river with two juveniles on its back. For reasons unknown the Grebe have not done very well on either the river or the lakes this year so late juveniles are very welcome. Green Sandpiper, at least three Mandarin and over fifty non breeding Mute Swans made the riverside walk a pleasant way to spend an hour.

Thanks to Kenny and Dominic for the pix of seven pound chub they had landed this week. There was also a third landed on Tuesday making quite a remarkable few days for summer chub. Fingers crossed for an angler friendly winter this season so we can at least get to the river without risk of drowning. I bumped into Mike Windows at Ellingham today as he was arriving to spend a few hours trotting. Mike told me he was enjoying some delightful fishing with masses of dace and chub with a few roach and grayling to add a little variety. Many of the dace are true "Avon herrings" providing great fun with traditional Avon trotting tactics, make the most of them.

All agree the fish Kelly is holding in the shot above is a next generation fish from Meadow Lake, which is more than can be said for the two I put up yesterday. It seems I need to pay more attention to what I put up on the diary as both these fish have been in Meadow for several years and I have even put pix of them up on here in the past! Kelly caught the fish in the shot a year ago at 17 or 18 pounds so hopefully a low twenty by now. Thankfully still have two records as Julian sent me a second capture shot of a next generation fish and when I have half a dozen I will put them up on here to form a gallery to be added to.

It would seem I am destine not to get my tench and to add insult to injury when I visited the lakes at lunchtime I found them spawning where I had been fishing early this morning. I think I'll do some eel fishing, at least they don't spawn in freshwater!
If I can't offer a shot of my success with the tench the two carp above, caught by new member Ben Halski, are two of the next generation of mirrors in Meadow. Whilst I believe one or two had been caught previously this is the first time I have seen photos of any of them on the bank in the four years they have been with us. At twenty six plus and twenty three plus and both having spawned out completely they will be several pounds heavier come the autumn. Chosen as longer, slower growing fish these two bode well for the future and there should be several more similar fish to be discovered. Should you have caught or do so in the future I would appreciate any photos you may have for my records. This also applies to King-Vincent where there are several dozen younger year classes. Thanks for the photos Ben and well done on the captures.

Still clearing the fallen giants as this massive beech had to be winched off the hill and still the tench are managing to avoid me.

Yesterday whilst doing my rounds of the lakes I stopped to speak to a carp angler who complained that having landed seven or eight tench he had to wind his tackle in last night as he was being driven mad by them taking his bait. Now that is the sort of bother I could well do with, particularly as I have yet to land a tench this season. Just goes to prove one mans meat and all that, the prospect of a tench or two had me out of bed before five o'clock and heading for the lakes. Feeder rods carefully positioned now all I had to do was lay back and wait for these nuisance tench to show up. I was using a Robin Red groundbait base, with soft pellet and mini boilies on the hook. The first hour was a little bright and flat calm but by six thirty the breeze had got up with a reasonable cloud cover to further improve my chances. No shortage of fish both big and small but no tench, so it looks as if I will have to try again to get my first tench of the year.

Thousands of rudd in the margins that responded on mass to the odd bits of groundbait I threw them. A good size slab but unfortunately no tench. The Robin Red groundbait worked really well, it attracted Robins!

Our wonderful water industry

In this day and age you just wouldn't believe its possible, or would you!

Paul is getting back in the swing of things with a brace today, the largest at fifteen pounds was a classic deep bodied Avon fish.

Geese crossing! Its now reached the stage where we have to wait for them to cross the track. I did a rough count as they wobbled across the track and made it one hundred and twenty. If you times that by all the lakes in Ringwood and every four or five miles of river bank it amounts to an awful lot of geese. We need more Eagles!

I see trouble ahead! The sudden fruiting of these bracket fungi for the first fifteen feet of this massive Horse chestnut signals the beginning of the end. Standing over one hundred feet immediately next to the river will produce a headache or two when it comes to removing it.

Due to the arrival of the Great British Public on the beaches the gulls have abandoned the coast and moved onto our new islands and who can blame them.

I don't think anyone has fished this run as yet this season, its just crying out for some serious attention. The only sign of life I could see during the heat of the day was one of the Goosander broods that has made it almost through to maturity.

Life on the fishery continues apace as the geese invade us during their annual moult. All these birds have dropped their primary feathers are unable to fly. They spend the day destroying the reedbeds and crapping all over the banks. I was concerned that the damage to the reedbeds was due to breeding birds and juveniles it wasn't until this lot reappeared that I realised who the real culprits were. The middle shot is another of James with a 30+ common, one of a brace he had the morning after the forty. I believe he also had several other fish that I will find out about when I catch up with him on his next visit. Great session James, really well done and thanks for the pix. Finally the recent rain and current sunshine has seen the pollinators struggling back into life. From a few dozen back into the hundreds now the summer browns have emerged. Fingers crossed the weather settles into a more benign pattern in the months ahead.

Could I ask the salmon rods to check the Knappmill website to monitor the water temperature. I imagine it will top the 19 degree cut-off point tomorrow morning bringing salmon fishing to a close for the immediate future. Steven Hutchinson salmon of yesterday may be the last for some time. In the case of Steven's latest capture it was his sixth of the season, if I remeber correctly from sixteen visits, so he is definitely getting something right. Well done Stephen, great result and thanks for the reports.

John Slader has been out and about around the lakes with his videao camera and caught some lovely images of our carp and also a record of Tony's recent capture of the Red-eared Slider Terrapin. Some lovely footage that can be viewed on the link below. Thanks for the video John really good stuff.

Tony's tortoise

........ and on the domestic front, the front garden planted for pollinators, remains steadfastly devoid of them! Hopefully the change in weather will encourage the emergence of the next generation of our common or garden varieties in the next week or two. On the wild side things are definitely looking up with the recent rain providing a nectar flow on the bramble and white clover, found all around the lakes, which the Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites are making the most of in good numbers. The shot of the back garden records the disappearance of my large pond, now filled with thirty odd tons of soil and reseeded. The small, brown patches of missed seed in the foreground are where our House Sparrow population thought it was provided as their dust bath.

James Channel behind one of our old girls, the three quarter Lin at 40.04, congratulations James, cracking fish and thanks for the photos. She is looking well for the time of year, fingers crossed she has a good summer to see her safely into next winter. The Lin was the second of the old girls out this week with one of the other showing at thirty four pounds, well down in weight but hopefully with spawning behind her and ready to enjoy a good summer.

It was a good day on the fishery with James landing his super carp, Peter Littleworth landing a brace of salmon, also losing a whacker and Tony Crisp landing a.............tortoise, well actually a terrapin, on a chickpea! A fine specimen by all accounts, it took two hands to return it. Well done James and Peter, I'm not so sure about Tony!

A shot of one of Peter's brace in the shape of a fifteen pound fish, as he sinks slowly into the river beside the collapsing bank.

One of those really good days around the fishery with all sorts of exciting fish and fishing going on. One of my great pleasures of fishery life is to be involved with the capture of some very special fish. Some of the most special fish I see are the ones that open the captors Somerley account and a classic example came today with a call from David Redfern to let me know he had landed his first Somerley salmon. When I arrived at the bridge the fish was still resting in the net, where it had so expertly been enveloped by David's wife Margaret who thankfully was on hand to do the honours. David was still over the moon with his success as he carefully rested the fish before release as Margaret took more photos to record the moment for posterity. Perhaps one of my favourite shots is that of David filling the returns book back at the lodge, it's the first time I have seen such a photograph and it completes the day just perfectly. Congratulations David and thanks for the call, a privilege to share your special day and thanks also to Margaret for a great record of the day's events.

Not only salmon are showing the opening week of the river coarse season has seen some amazing bags of chub with bags into double figures with clean fish weighing in as high as six plus. there have also been one or two fine barbel with the pick of the bunch as far as I am aware being Bob Edwatds fish of 12.13. Certainly a great fish, considering she has just under gone the rigors of spawning looking perfect, just lovely to see. Thanks for the report and the photo Bob very much appreciated. The last shot is one I took of Jeff Hardyman, who was with us as a guest for the day, playing an eel. Jeff was targeting the tench, off which he had landed a seven and a half pound specimen earlier however during the day he had lost two or three mystery fish. From his description of events I had a suspicion they may have been eels and whilst we were discussing the days events this one turned up to prove the point. I have been threatening to have a go at the eels in the lakes for several years as I know there are some exceptional specimens present, perhaps this will be the year!

Glorious weather this afternoon as the rain came down by the bucket full. A couple of days like this, repeated once a fortnight, may see us through the summer. Naturally I chose the height of the storm to get the boat out to remove some nylon that had been giving rise to problems when playing fish. We need the rain so badly that the soaking I received seemed small payment for the good it will undoubtedly do.

Some of the Guinea Fowl out on the lawns by our workshops, where they are hopefully doing what they are noted for in clearing the area of ticks. They say they will clear an area of its tick population within days, which makes them a great favourite of mine having collected several ticks in my miles of walking lake and riverbanks yesterday. After yesterday's busy start to the river coarse season, today there were more salmon anglers out than coarse rods. I did hear of one further double figure barbel but that was the only coarse report I received. I did hear from, Mr Consistent, Stephen Hutchinson, that he had landed his fifth of the season thankfully adding to the steadily growing seasons total. There have been a few fish landed this week and one or two legendary monsters toying with baits in the bright conditions. Whilst all the salmon of late have been on the spinner or shrimp I thought I would take the fly rod out this evening to enjoy the cool of the evening.

I walked up to the shallows at Ellingham where Simon was enjoying the evening rise in pursuit of brownies and the odd grayling on the shallows. After a brief chat I walked downstream to the "Reeds" where I was soon enjoying my efforts at finding a monster. Six or seven casts and the phoned chimed up to announce that another group of travellers had moved in across the road at Ellingham, I think that must be about the sixth or seventh lot in recent weeks. Not our land on his occasion but I wouldn't take bets on them not moving our way when they move in a day or two. Where ever they were their presence was enough to ruin any chance of an enjoyable evening so I called it an evening and headed home. I feel I should contact the local MP's to see if they have any land we could recommend to our travelling friends. Our political leaders obviously don't have a problem with these itinerant mobs so perhaps they would welcome a travellers site as neighbours close to home. Make sure you've remembered to buy a rod licence as I'm sure the EA will be out checking rod licences and waste carrier permits tomorrow as they always do, not.

We are now up and running on the river coarse season with Meadow and Kings-Vincents similarly open for business. Both have started well with some great catches from the river, where the chub and barbel seem to have successfully completed their spawning. Several good bags of chub with fish to well over six pounds and barbel into double figures. It wasn't as easy as such catches might make it appear, the bright conditions made fish a little spooky but where they felt confident they certainly got their heads down. The photo is Nick Papps with a fine six plus, nice one Nick and thanks for the report. The second shot is across Canada Bay to where Frank can be seen on New Point. Fish to high twenties but again it wasn't all plain sailing due to the bright conditions. Interestingly Meadow Lake is full of weed, which will make presentation difficult and locating the tench tricky but should be good for the fish in the long term.

Early evening.

Having spent most of yesterday and this morning over the lakes strimming what did Anne and I do this afternoon? We went for a walk around the lakes! Daft as it may sound even after fort years involvement with the lakes I still find the place magical. Be it the mysteries of the lakes themselves or the surrounding meadows and woodlands, set aside for the wildlife, it remains a continual source of pleasure. I have to admit that whilst walking around on my day off I can't help making mental lists of work to be attended to and there is always a great deal waiting to be done.
I put photos of the two trees above on the diary not too long ago but they remain a constant reminder to me of my allotted span. I believe I bought the seed from Chiltern Seeds and stuck them in pots at home beside the greenhouse probably in the early 80's. Now both well over fifty feet they are just setting out on their time on earth. All being well five hundred, or even a thousand years hence will see them watching our strange goings-on.

The Starling roost is building in numbers, now in the low thousands. Such numbers of mostly young Starlings is attracting the attention of the estate raptor population, today I have seen; Gos, Peregrine, Sparrow Hawk, Buzzard, Hen Harrier and Marsh Harrier. I don't know where our Kestrels were? Keeping their heads down for fear of running into one of their hungrier cousins! Possibly points to the reason I don't think we have breeding Hobby with us this year, sesearch is telling us Hobby and Goshawk do not make good neighbours. I'm not sure they are all feeding on the Starlings, certainly the Marsh Harrier and the Peregrine had them under close scrutiny as they arrived at the roost site.

A further shot or two of the Back Lagoon as we tidy and clear the paths in readiness for the off next week. If I may just the seasonal reminder to syndicate members to please only fish from the defined swims and don't get in the reed beds risking the destruction of the many nesting birds that are currently using them.

I am currently as busy as I have ever been during the many years I have been on the estate. Amid this non-stop schedule I am busy trying to get the river ready for the coarse season and Meadow and Kings-Vincents ready for the off next week. I fear there will remain a great deal of work that will continue after the seasons start so please bear with us as we try to catch up.
The male Banded Demoiselle are about the valley in clouds, emerging from the tall stands of vegetation as we disturb them in passing. The less colourful dark green female, without the wing bands, far more discreet, less inclined to leave the cover of the reeds and rushes. Always worth a photo to display the beauty of Nature and brighten the day.
The beetle is probably one of the Acabus species, the result of the masses of larvae out on the floods at the end of February, now dotted about the meadows one or two to the square meter.

I managed to get out to record a Woodcock count yesterday evening, on one of my more remote sites. I quite enjoy the mile or so walk out there, not so keen on the mosquitos that bite through my gloves or the walk back to the car in the pitch dark but always an interesting evening.

7th June