Memories

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Tizer
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Re: Memories

Post by Tizer »

Used to fish the Lea at Tottenham,where I grew up,went back a few years ago,felt like crying,see tents and make shift selters on the bank,spoke to the old boy that lived in Tottenham lock house,he told me that the EES used to throw barbed wire over the posts on the ressies so that the sheep got tangled up in it and then they could kill them,he told me they even rowed across the lea and had some of his pet geese.

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Dallan47
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Re: Memories

Post by Dallan47 »

In the 60's I lived in Wendover and the Wendover Arm was overgrown even the tow paths were unkempt.I found a wider basin down by Halton bridge and fiushed there.Not sure if it was allowed but did not care then.Caught mostly Pike,Roach and Tench.Great memories.

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Clivey
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Re: Memories

Post by Clivey »

I was a nipper 7/8 ? when i got my dad to take me town the cut at Northolt, he worked on the Industrial estate at Rowdell Rd where the cut through was to the canal. We used to ride down there after school with the rod tied to bike crossbar with my mates. i remember the canal was quite polluted back then in the mid seventies/eighties, lots of dead fish on the top sometimes and may fish flukes/lice on the others that we did catch. We had mostly gudgeon but some good roach there too and on odd occassions someone had a tench or a small carp. Cant remember many perch for some reason but do remember ruffe and humongous sticklebacks ! Used to get the odd eel at night and also crayfish even back then !

Other good spots were the 'golden hills' on the Northolt/Southall border or the Black Horse in Greenford where a hot water pipe flowing out from Lyons Maid factory usually meant you catch even in mid winter.

When we got a bit older we used to venture out a bit further to Iver/Hayes/Langley on the canal, sometimes biking up to Hayes station the putting our bikes and gear on the guards coach, compared to Northolt the canal looked magical almost, with reeds, lily beds backing onto fields, Some huge perch, tench and bream were caught with quality roach, tench and even crucians now and again.

Met loads of interesting characters but never had a bad experience, my sister and dad still live down there so when i go back i have a look now and again and the amount of boats now compared to before in Northolt is phenomenal, doubled up against the banks in some places. The water quality is much better though.

Denham and Harefield were other favourites esp around the old Fisheries Inn Pub (now the Koi Carp) and by the Horse and Barge. Aaah the memories !

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Mitch300
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Re: Memories

Post by Mitch300 »

The Slough arm of the Grand Union always makes me think of those endless school holidays in the summer. I was smashed up by what was probably the first tench I ever hooked, near the road bridge at Langley one morning in June 1973, when the place was packed with anglers. In the following years, I fished it between Iver and West Drayton, catching crucians, roach and the occasional tench. To get there, we cycled down Thorney Lane to the bridge. If you went west towards Langley, there was a danger of being overwhelmed by that great smell of Brut from the Faberge plant on the Ridgewell trading estate, so we always went east, along a rutted lane, past a fenced scrapyard with large alsations, then down to the towpath. The swims with the thickest lily pads were just before the aqueduct over the Colne, from which you could see an old iron bridge over the canal where the leather-jacketed kids would gather to smoke. If you looked beyond the far bank, you could see down towards Farlow's pit. Judging from previous posts, and considering the small number of anglers you saw on this stretch, it seems as though most of them must have been future TFF members---if only I had known at the time!

In those summers of the mid-70s, we would get up at dawn to fish the gravel pits for the big-uns, but spend the occasional afternoon or evening on the canal just for the pleasure of it---no particularly big fish, but the fun of watching a dotted float disappear and swinging in a roach or crucian on the Milbro Solite (which wasn't), while listening to the test match on the radio earpiece, with a bottle of pop, a cheese and Branston pickle sandwich, and a pocketful of custard creams taken from the biscuit tin.

G. B.

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Clivey
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Re: Memories

Post by Clivey »

Mitch we must have passed eachother numerous times on the bank no doubt ! Happy memories like you say.
regards
Clivey

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