welcome

A Train to Catch began as a conversation with Jon Ward-Allen, during a coffee break at a carp fishing show two years ago. I was deeply immersed in barbel fishing history at the time, putting the finishing touches to my first book for Medlar, A Can of Worms. Jon suggested that I might like to retrace the steps of some of the Victorian anglers who had used their Anglers Privilege Tickets to travel along the Thames - and to Scotland, Cornwall and elsewhere – in search of fish. I liked the idea very much, but was too stricken with barbel mania to pursue it.

Now, with A Can of Worms gathering dust on the remainder shelves, we have decided to follow it up. Furthermore, Jon suggested I ‘blog’ the evolution of this new book, offering glimpses of the journeys made, the fish caught and a few of the juicier anecdotes this sort of adventure inevitably throws up.

The trips won’t be completed as a single event; the Victorians wouldn’t have done it like that, and I simply can’t afford to; the need to teach History to the ASBO generation of Swindon in term-time is paramount if the mortgage is to be paid, and penury avoided. It should also be pointed out that none of these trips will be of the big ticket ‘destination’ variety. No Alaska, no Kola Peninsula, no Cauvery Mahseer – it’s my view that, tempting as these places are, a lifetime’s worth of fishing adventures can be had within these islands.

I’ve made five excursions so far – to the Royalty Fishery at Christchurch, the Derbyshire Wye, Blenheim Palace Lake, Lake Vyrnwy and the River Thames. I’ve tried, whenever possible, to travel by train, but have so far also relied briefly upon buses, shank’s pony and a Fiat that couldn’t tackle steep hills. Accounts of these will appear shortly.

Tomorrow, I shall travel to Looe (by train, of course) in search of shark. Later in the year, there will be bass, pike, mullet, salmon and Windermere char. All triumphs and disasters will be recorded here – so do log on from time to time, and feel free to comment as caustically as you wish!

Welcome to A Train to Catch. I hope you enjoy the ride.

JB