Seasonal greetings to you, I hope this is your first and it gives me great pleasure in inviting you to our Christmas members meeting, it will be held on: 21st November 1991 Ruislip Manor Sports & Social Club
Dip Tanks Due to the fish problems at Harefield No 2 dip tanks have been installed, please use then for your nets, and while there is still a chance of the disease spreading, however remote, please do not use keepnets or keepsacs until further notice.
Langley Park
The gates at the entrance to Langley Park will be shut at night to prevent unwanted visitors, but they will not be locked, if you wish to leave after they are shut please shut them after you.
The Society has been blamed for parking in George Green and obtaining access to the lake from the top end, causing obstructions. Although this is disputed, we would like to remind all members that they should use our car park located in the park, and please only park this side of the log.
Harefield No1
My bailiffs Stuart and Jim report that the lake is fishing well with My bailiffs Stuart and Jim report that the lake is fishing well with Bream and Tench being caught in October with some nice Roach. The Pike season being with us and the big fish have started to show again after a few quiet years, with fish to 23lb. Their protestations to you regarding the litter in No1 have been heeded and they report no major transgressions, please keep up the fine work.
Charity Match
In the last magazine I reported on the HAS v Half Moon annual charity match and the winning £60 that was forwarded to Alan for the Malcolm Sargeant Appeal, it gives me great pleasure in telling you that the winner of the match Chris Taylor donated his winning prize, £30, to the charity as well, thanks Chris.
Vince Sutton
It was my second Christmas at Wakehurst. As a bachelor, I was looking forward to it. Good company, good fare, right merry wassailing and my snug miniature cottage to sleep in o'night; these things were most comfortably assured.
One other thing gave me the confidence of the season. Parson Brown would be in charge of a village that looked like being most seasonably cut off, by the white weather remembered from my boyhood. Of all the good things about the village that has adopted me, Parson Brown seemed like an extra, a bonus. This great, bluff, holy and yet worldly wise man seemed to much for this village; yet I had heard that he had refused to leave.
On one occasion, I had dared to ask him why. He looked to me, with a kindly eye, saying, "Wakehurst as you will come to learn, quite soon is a special place. Old Herbert, or 'H.H.', as Major Prout called him, was another of my favourites. Prout's 'HH' joke slightly annoyed him, as he considered it an honour to have been christened Herbert, as well as having it as a family name. As for Mrs Herbert, I can only say that some sort of quality shone out from this classic old lady. I was to be very glad of their support over the next ten days.
Then the last road snowed up, and we were finally isolated. No one seemed to worry, for the local custom was to carry three weeks supplies in every home. Then I noticed some of my friends, including old Herbert and Mrs Herbert began to look faintly joyous and a little distracted at times. At first I put it down to the Christmas spirit. Then, as I went about my work, I noticed that Parson Brown was not as visible as usual. I discovered he was spending more time in the church than was usual, as he was a priest that was eager to involve the church in almost anything. Comfortably, I concluded that he had duties that I had never heard about.
Fortunately, I was with old Herbert when I saw the first one. We were passing the open church door, and was as though a shadow passed into the building. I looked at Herbert and he was looking at the doorway, smiling as he does when he sees the first swallow. I knew he had seen it, but there were icy fingers on my spine. Herbert chuckled. Don't you pay her no mind. She won't hurt you. Nor will any of 'em. I swung round and looked at Herbert. You mean - theres more! About 50 of 'em - all quite harmless, He was smiling as he said it.
Besides, you wouldn't want to stop 'em coming home for Christmas. They may be older than we are, but after all, we are all like children at Christmas. It was my first experience of the uncanny in Wakehurst and a gentle introduction to the Wakehurst way, of taking no notice of such things and getting on with daily life. Christmas preparations went ahead as usual. Parson Brown arranged with Mrs. Tranter, licensee of the polecat, that the bachelors' and spinsters' dinner would be served after the morning service. Parson Brown would be at the head of the table, and in festive mood. All was well.
All was almost well. I could not quite get used to the increasingly recurring feeling that I had just seen someone move, out of the corner of my eye, as I went about my daily work.
On Christmas eve, in the polecat Herbert was in his usual place on the settle. I sat down beside him, taking a draught of mild. I was becoming increasingly nervous. Herbert of course, had noticed. "By the way, he said, in the casual tone he reserved for really important matters. At the morning service, the missus and I think it will be just as well if you sit between us. It's your first time, you see. This was a bit awkward, as I had not intended to go, but, feeling thoroughly out of my depth, I agreed, with thanks.
The Christmas morning service was well attended. In spite of the fact that this year, there could be no visitors from outside, the pews were more than half full. The building was festive with decoration. I sat between Herbert and Mrs Herbert, as arranged.
Then, in glorious atmosphere of the organ music, the other began to arrive. A shadow here, a shadow there, they were indistinct to my eyes, but Herbert and Mrs Herbert nodded and smiled to those that sat on either side of us. I sat, just about able to stay, knowing that there had been empty seats behind us. I wondered at the calm of the Herberts, and wondered if the shades around us were some kin to the good old couple.
The service commenced and went on in the way of reverent celebration. I had almost relaxed, when Parson Brown faced us, as if for an announcement. 'Brethren and sisters in Christ. Herbert signed to me to keep quiet and listen. I reflected that I was in no state to interrupt anything. Then it started, the most wonderful music I shall ever hear. It seemed choral, and yet not choral. It had in it the old mouth-music of the western ways, and yet it was formal any joyous and reverent. I may not live long enough to hear such music again, but I knew that I would never be the same again.
The service was over. We rose and left, Herbert and Mrs Herbert nodding and smiling at certain shadows near the door. I was no longer in fear, but I was awed, intoxicated with music. Herbert and Mrs Herbert each slipped an arm through mine and led me over to the inn. We raised a glass to the only village where one can always go home for Christmas.
Recounted to Frank Webb by B.Warrener
As you know, for many years, Langley Lake has been home to a pair of Cygnus olor (mute swans to you). During this time these majestic creatures have successfully reared many broods of young without hindrance or harm from we anglers. Indeed, I would venture to say that the success of these birds and the other varieties of waterfowl that inhabit the lake can be attributed to the fact that a caring angling club maintains the lake as a fishery hence providing the ideal habitat for other flora and fauna. I'll explain - Anglers = fish = clean water = productive habitat = food = wildfowl and other higher animals etc.
Unfortunately, this sequence is broken at Langley in that the wildfowl, particular the swans, are becoming dependent on unnatural food sources. I think you know what I mean.
This has lead to the birds dependence to high degree, on artificially introduced food. The birds expecting to be fed every time they see a human approaching including anglers. The birds don't know that it is not the intention of the angler to feed them nonetheless they have been conditioned to expect food in the form of bread, biscuits etc. and therefore naturally consider anglers bait to fall into the same category. If the unnatural food is therefore not forthcoming from the expected breadbag then they will home in on groundbait, boilies, even the plop of the lowly quill float is enough to arouse interest with the resultant foraging and upending sometimes with traumatic results not just for the swan but for the angler too.
When fishing Langley, therefore, the golden rule is vigilance with a capital V. Be ever watchful for swans approaching baited areas and remove all baited hooks and lines from such areas when they arrive in the swim. Don't take any chances!! When the birds come close in they can often be moved on by sinister hissing noises or dubious comments about their parentage spoken through gritted teeth. Failing that they don't take too kindly to being splashed with water or even less with mud. This perhaps sounds unkind, but, it does them no harm at all and they quickly clear off to preen themselves clean and dry again. Fish hooks and line are infinitely more dangerous.
We have given up a lot in withdrawing night fishing on the public bank - for the swans benefit - and the benefit of their ardent admirers. It seems we must give just a little more to ensure the well being of these creatures and, just as important, to insure our fishing. Until such time as these birds are allowed to forage naturally, for natural food, there will always be a danger of conflict - we should seek to avoid this and hope that others who profess to have the birds interest at heart do likewise.
John Miles
If you ever get into any trouble on the lakes with swans please call your fishery manager and swan lifeline rescue and speak to Ed Parfitt on 0753 857841, which is a 24hr a day service. I have spoken to swan lifeline, who will be sending me information of their organisation which I will publish in future issues. I also intend to recommend to the Committee that we have them as a guest speaker at a future HAS members meeting. It is also proposed that members on the Committee undertake practical and awareness training in swan care. ED.
Approximately 250 miles south West of Dieppe, there is a town in Normandy called Vezines. Many years ago a small river called the Selvne ran by the town and in 1963 a dam was built, creating a lake of 1/4 of a mile wide and about 10 miles long, depth.... somewhere between one and one hundred feet and in one particular area there are Carp, big Carp. At the end of May 1990, we were on our first Carp fishing trip to France. London to Newhaven, Newhaven to Dieppe and from Dieppe, south west to Normandy, 4 hours later we were passing through the town of St Hillare. Once we got our gite set up with all the necessary items; Beer, Wine, and shandy for Monsieur Head, we had a look round and the first place we came across was the aqua park at les biards, this place looked lovely, the owner was a fisherman, and whats more important the fisherman was a bar owner. The lake looked good, we plumbed it, or rather the wee man and me plumbed it, the others stayed in the bar, the wee man being Nigsy (wanna bet, i'm on me toes). The depth seemed O.K. 2-20 feet about 4-5 rod lengths out with a deep channel in the middle, but we saw no fish.
In the meantime the other lads; Hawsy, Monsieur Head and Glutton Sutton were talking to the bar owner, he spent a lot of time talking about lake cassien, boilies, monkey climbers, and trying to get us to hire a boat. We had the distinct impression we were being conned, he said that this section of the lake held large Carp, but there were none to be seen. Despite all our doubts, we decided to give it a go the next day.
It just looked fishy, despite the fact that we has seen nothing since our arrival at dawn (the lake is state controlled, so no night fishing) we spent the whole day at the lake fishing an area we thought would hold fish, on a bend in the lake with a large shallow area, gradually getting deeper, and dropping off sharply the right, despite spending more than 12 hours at the waters edge, we did not see a single Carp. The only movement were small fish on the surface. The next move was to find another part of the lake where there were Carp. The next stop was the barrage de Vezins, we parked the cars and the first thing we saw were fish, large fish moving on the surface, by this time it was getting dark and we couldn't tell what the fish were, so we opted for a good look round at first light. Back at the gite, we had ourselves some dinner and a few beers, and started to prepare some bait. We had with us 20,000 boilies bought from Mick Richardson of supremo baits. They were fish meal salmon flavour. We had also taken 50kg of chick peas, bought from pulses and grains in Park Royal, NW10, at £24, very cheap, to use simply soak overnight, and boil the next day for 20 minutes. In keeping with this strategy we put the chick peas into soak, the next morning we found the peas all over the kitchen floor, some dipstick (no names, Nigsy) filled the bucket up to the top, they expand you know.
So after an hour or so of clearing up we made our way to the dammed end of the lake and probably the deepest part. Two rod lengths out we plumbed depths of 60 feet plus. We decided to fish boilies over a bed of chick peas. All except Dave that is, who decided there was no Carp around and was going to fish for Bream, size ten hook and 5lb line, of course sods law applied, and Dave hooked a Carp. There was no bleep, just a continuous tone for about ten seconds until Dave struck, the rod hooped oven and the reel screamed as the fish tore off towards the centre of the lake 40 seconds later the line parted, sick. Hundreds of pounds spent on bait and Dave hooks the Carp on sweetcorn. Vince decided to switch to the same bait, and two or three hours later he hooked another fish, 8lb line, anti tangle tube, dacron hooklength size 4 hook, 2-3 inch air with 7-10 grains of corn popped up with a piece of form. The bite was a screamer, line peeling off the spool, the rod took a good set, the fish powered off slowly and deep, then line went tight, a grating of line on the rocks and again the line parted, there was no more action for the rest of the day. The only other events of the day both included Nigsy, who caught 5 roach and a Bream, and dropped his optonics in the lake.
After that we decided to walk to the village for a beer. We walked into the bar and there in front of us was a big black dog, normally nothing stands in the way of Nigsy and his beer, and I didn't want to see the poor boy break down in tears "walk straight towards it" I said "don't let it see your afraid" just as it left the ground, aiming it's pearly whites at my nether regions , Nigsy grabbed my arm and jumped behind me (coward) I kicked the dog, the only two things I saw that week move faster than Vinces bait were Nigsy and that dog, but what really made me mad was the fact that the bar was closed. So back to the fishing, being unable to fish at night we baited up for the next day. Chick peas were left in the margins, and on our return they were gone, a promising sight.
Dave, Nigsy and Keith had gone home to attend a wedding of Dave the nose, so it was left to me and Vince to put one on the bank. We'd worked out, that if we hooked a fish we would need to be on the rod in a second, keep it high to prevent the line snagging. Vince decided to fish in a pair of shorts, so if he hooked one he would wade into the lake as far as he could holding the rod high and hopefully the fish out of the snags. I fished a high bank for similar reasons. At about 4 in the afternoon Vince had another screaming run, on the rod and in the lake up to his chest in seconds, shouting at me to get the net, the rod bent, the fish taking line, and again going down deep. More grating and pinging before again the line went slack, we were getting desperate. We had the bait, we were hooking fish, but could not land them. Nothing, it was 8 O'clock and getting dark, we had only rented the gite for a week and we were going home tomorrow. It's to late now, but what we should have done was fish a totally different rig, a dacronhook length, a light lead link, a heavy leader and a poly ball to keep the line off the bottom, never mind, we had a good weeks holiday, good food, fine wines and beer, and friendly people.
By Steve Jenner
Herbert Hoover
Phil Cassidy
It is generally well known that on September 12th and 16th Rowley was, once again, dealt a devastating blow in the form of further pollution. Once again all the hard work, hopes and dreams have been dashed - back to square one. What follows is an account of the sequence of events which culminated in the loss of approximately 824 lbs of quality Tench, Carp, Pike, Bream and Perch plus a substantial number of small fish of all species. Thursday 12th September Alarm bells raised by Steve Jenner who noticed a large number of small fish in distress. NRA Thames Region were quickly on site with aerating equipment which was kept running all day and all night until it was removed on Friday 13 (lucky for some!!?) when dissolved oxygen levels were considered to be acceptable.
Sunday 15th September
Phone call from Ray Rogers - Rowley Bailiff to say a number of Carp were on the top. These fish did not appear to be in distress but in view of the situation a watchful eye was needed.
Monday 16th September
Bucks Council, after consultation with myself and NRA Thames Region, agreed to open the sluices at Black Park Lake to push some good quality water into Rowley. This started at approximately 6.30pm and ran all night. Things looked ok when I left the lake at 6.45pm.
Tuesday 17th September Stopped off to check on things on the way to work- didn't get there 9.00am - lot of small fish on top. Bream and Carp up in the silt trap desperate to get to clean water coming in. Dozen or so dead Pike. 6-8 dead Bream to 3lb, lots of smalls, odd Tench and a Common Carp approximately 12lbs. Nursed a large Mirror (15lb) for about an hour in the silt trap - fish revived well but was found dead 3 days later. NRA pollution officer on site - dissolved oxygen good at inlet; bloody awful at outlet. NRA Thames Region set up aerating equipment at approximately 5.30pm - this to be kept running as long as required. By this time the flow from Black Park had been stopped due to concern over water levels. In order for the aerating equipment to be kept running a watch was set up whereby NRA minded the machine during the day and HAS representatives took the night shift. Due to the high value of this kit the NRA would not leave it unattended - so if we wanted it to stay we had to mind it - first watch to me. Flow from Black Park restarted 6pm, green dye noticed at lake inlet from dye tests undertaken on Thursday 12th at Rowley Farm.
Wednesday 18th September
Spent the night baby sitting for NRA kit. Flow from Black Park still going when I left at 9.30am. Aerator to be kept running all day. Two dead Carp found in silt trap. Many small fish on top in distress first thing in the morning when dissolved oxygen levels are at their lowest. Discussed possibility of surveying the suspect leaking culvert up at the farm, either manually or by remote camera, with Bucks Council. Ray Rogers to baby sit tonight.
Thursday 19th September On site at 6.30am not as many fish in distress as yesterday at this time. Some Tench and small Carp in the margins - groggy but not distressed. Waded amongst 7-8 Carp on the shallows up to 14lb ish. These fish were also ok but slow to spook presumably due to their ordeal. Flow from Black Park now permanently stopped due to drop in lake level. Silt trap once again discoloured and evil smelling. Grey mucus growing on the bottom of the silt trap and in some marginal areas of the shallows. Removed large number of Tench, Pike and Bream plus a few Carp to 15lb. Yesterday NRA took away further casualties for incineration. Still some dead out in lake - unable to reach without the boat. NRA on site all day removing dead fish. Set up a meeting with the farmer, council and NRA to discuss the problem. Les Skidmore to baby-sit tonight.
Friday 20th September
Spent all day at Lake. Removed more dead. At the meeting it was decided to dam the stream and pump foul water up into far slurry tank and to pump foul water from silt trap into the surrounding woods. NRA carried out further dye tests, farmer flushed out drains yesterday with high pressure hoses in case a blockage was causing the problem. Steve Curtis to baby sit.
Saturday 21st September
On site 8.00am. Installed pump in silt trap to pump foul water out. Lowered lake level by approximately two inches. No sign of green dye from tests. Removed further dead. Aerator running all day and all tonight.
Sunday 22nd December
On site 8.00am to top up generator with diesel. Ran all day and all night.
Monday 23rd September
Checked aerator first thing. Left 8.45am when NRA Thames Region arrived to take aerating gear away as D.O. levels now reasonable, no more losses. Fish losses over the period amounted to approximately:- 76 Tench Between 2 & 5lb 95 Pike Between 1 & 5lb 16 Carp Between 4 & 15lb 50 Bream Between 1 + & 3lb 6 Perch Between 1 & 2+lb 4 Roach Approximately 1lb each Plus numerous small Roach, Perch and Bream. The 250 Crucians stocked in October 1989 appear to have survived - no dead found. At the time of writing (29 October 1991) the NRA have conducted further intensive dye tests with positive results and are liaising with Bucks Council with the view to solving the problem once and for all. It is very difficult to express my feelings over this incident suffice to say I am extremely disappointed, angry and corny, though it sounds, I feel I have lost an old friend - once again. One does not fish a lake for nearly twenty years, manage it for eleven and spend countless hours just wandering around enjoying the place without some sense of loss. I hope we are lucky in securing a further long lease on the lake so that the wheels of recovery can once again be set in motion and we are able to restore this lovely place to its former glory. I would like to thank the baby sitters for giving up their valuable time (and fishing time at that) and the boys from NRA Thames Region for their assistance and support. Here at last is one small corner of the NRA that has got its act together.
The Future The legal wheels are still turning with regard to our original claim and details are currently being collated with regard to this latest incident. It is hoped that we should see a settlement in the near future. We are top of the NRA's short list for fish stocks and hopefully something will be forthcoming soon. Just as soon as we are confident that the problems at Rowley Farm have been dealt with we shall be looking towards restocking. In the meantime, all is not lost, some fish have survived and I would ask that you continue to fish the place, report all catches and thereby help in assessing the remaining fish population. Should you also see or smell anything odd about the place or notice any green dye in the water please let me know without delay. In the meantime, wherever you go, good fishing.
John Miles - 29th November 1991