Good afternoon members,
"Old Photo's are far more evocative than present day (photographs), guess it's the association with youth...?" A sentiment probably shared by many anglers, advanced in years, when they come face to face with faded black and white stills, a snapshot from their past that inevitably evokes memories of "Day's Gone By", good or bad! The above comment arose out of a discussion on the content of the late John Darling's vintage book the "Sea Angling Guide to Britain and Ireland", delivered to my home and relates to a post on page 3 of the "Vintage Angling Books" forum.
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John's well researched and conveniently laid out book is as relevant today as when it was published in 1982, a useful companion for those anglers who like to travel in search of the best of sea angling, and is available at almost a third of the price of the original, as per the inside cover, at £8.50 per copy. Maybe some of the routes would have been modernised, motorways introduced etc, but the coastline would remain virtually the same. As a guide, I paid £0.01p (that's not an error!) for the book which was in immaculate condition, plus £2.80 p & p, a total outlay of £2.81. Available through Amazon and E-bay. The story goes that the late Ian Gillespie was originally commissioned to produce this guide, but tragically died and John Darling was asked to carry on the work.
John enjoyed his times in Wales and particularly south Wales, which he saw as a gold mine of valuable content for articles and books as is the case with the guide. Included in the Guide are three prominent photographs with a Welsh association.
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This photograph was taken at my ex factory unit where I ran my rod building business in Bridgend, and shows John explaining the properties of the various rods waiting distribution to Tackle shops in Wales and beyond, to Mike Miles, proprietor of Angling Supplies, Penarth Road, Cardiff and his son Mike Miles.
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Paul Thomas, the then owner of the Fishing Boat "Bulldog" had invited John (Darling ) to join him and a couple of other anglers on a shark hunt out of Swansea. Collected from my house in early morning by Don Cartwright they made haste to Swansea docks, embarked and were on their way out to sea. Apparently, the conditions were very good, warm air temperature and calm seas, and soon Porbeagle Sharks were coming aboard with a frequency. The story goes that there was a lull in the proceedings followed by an almighty bite on Pauls rod which ended with a Welsh Record Blue shark being boated. There was concern on board that the shark was bleeding profusely, with the real risk of a substantial loss of weight. The captured fish was estimated at about 13 0 lbs and the current record at the time was not a lot more, so the First Aid Kit was raided and a significant number of elastoplasts plasters were applied to the wounds to slow or stop the flow of blood. This tactic proved successful and eventually the fish was awarded the Welsh record (131 1/2 lbs.) at the time. John wrote up the full story and it was published in the November 1981 issue of Sea Angling monthly
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Of the three photographs published, this was the most unexpected and depicts myself fishing one of Johns highly productive marks, with the White Cliffs as a backdrop and the English Channel at the fore. For identity purposes, I am the angler second in from the rhs, with the beard, bobble hat and pale blue smock. John had proved the value of this mark on many occasions with umpteen double figure bass to its credit. Despite the fact that John had supplied quality, home picked Soft Edible and Velvet Swimmers, no bass came to the hook on this trip.
Hope you enjoy these reflections on the past!
Best regards,
Ticker (Derek)
"Old Photo's are far more evocative than present day (photographs), guess it's the association with youth...?" A sentiment probably shared by many anglers, advanced in years, when they come face to face with faded black and white stills, a snapshot from their past that inevitably evokes memories of "Day's Gone By", good or bad! The above comment arose out of a discussion on the content of the late John Darling's vintage book the "Sea Angling Guide to Britain and Ireland", delivered to my home and relates to a post on page 3 of the "Vintage Angling Books" forum.
John's well researched and conveniently laid out book is as relevant today as when it was published in 1982, a useful companion for those anglers who like to travel in search of the best of sea angling, and is available at almost a third of the price of the original, as per the inside cover, at £8.50 per copy. Maybe some of the routes would have been modernised, motorways introduced etc, but the coastline would remain virtually the same. As a guide, I paid £0.01p (that's not an error!) for the book which was in immaculate condition, plus £2.80 p & p, a total outlay of £2.81. Available through Amazon and E-bay. The story goes that the late Ian Gillespie was originally commissioned to produce this guide, but tragically died and John Darling was asked to carry on the work.
John enjoyed his times in Wales and particularly south Wales, which he saw as a gold mine of valuable content for articles and books as is the case with the guide. Included in the Guide are three prominent photographs with a Welsh association.
This photograph was taken at my ex factory unit where I ran my rod building business in Bridgend, and shows John explaining the properties of the various rods waiting distribution to Tackle shops in Wales and beyond, to Mike Miles, proprietor of Angling Supplies, Penarth Road, Cardiff and his son Mike Miles.
Paul Thomas, the then owner of the Fishing Boat "Bulldog" had invited John (Darling ) to join him and a couple of other anglers on a shark hunt out of Swansea. Collected from my house in early morning by Don Cartwright they made haste to Swansea docks, embarked and were on their way out to sea. Apparently, the conditions were very good, warm air temperature and calm seas, and soon Porbeagle Sharks were coming aboard with a frequency. The story goes that there was a lull in the proceedings followed by an almighty bite on Pauls rod which ended with a Welsh Record Blue shark being boated. There was concern on board that the shark was bleeding profusely, with the real risk of a substantial loss of weight. The captured fish was estimated at about 13 0 lbs and the current record at the time was not a lot more, so the First Aid Kit was raided and a significant number of elastoplasts plasters were applied to the wounds to slow or stop the flow of blood. This tactic proved successful and eventually the fish was awarded the Welsh record (131 1/2 lbs.) at the time. John wrote up the full story and it was published in the November 1981 issue of Sea Angling monthly
Of the three photographs published, this was the most unexpected and depicts myself fishing one of Johns highly productive marks, with the White Cliffs as a backdrop and the English Channel at the fore. For identity purposes, I am the angler second in from the rhs, with the beard, bobble hat and pale blue smock. John had proved the value of this mark on many occasions with umpteen double figure bass to its credit. Despite the fact that John had supplied quality, home picked Soft Edible and Velvet Swimmers, no bass came to the hook on this trip.
Hope you enjoy these reflections on the past!
Best regards,
Ticker (Derek)
