There was a time – a dark, dark, time – when Fishpool was merely a leaf floating on the breeze and Mr Fallon, our hallowed master, was forced to conjure up Bits and Pieces for himself. One of the first entries in ‘Things we Like’ was The Domesday Book of Mammoth Pike – and Fishpool …
Formerly a teacher, Charles Rangeley-Wilson’s love of travel, fishing and writing inevitably converged with the publication in 2004 of Somewhere Else. He has since written extensively, and contributes to Gray’s Sporting Journal and is Angling Correspondent to The Field, though he is familiar to many as The Accidental Angler. Rangeley-Wilson is a keen conservationist, with …
Regular readers of Bits and Pieces may have noticed recent issues have been dotted with the dorsals of sharks. But having dabbled with great whites and six-gilleds, Fishpool feels it is about time to pay heed to the most extraordinary group of sharks in existence. The Pathetic Sharks (Carcharodon Patheticus). Readers of Viz magazine will …
Bream aren’t the most popular of freshwater fish. They are slimy, smelly and fight with the enthusiasm of Fishpool with a hangover. They pick up baits set cunningly for chub and barbel, and seem to take pleasure in keeping carpers awake all night. Yet Fishpool feels they deserve a bit more respect. In fact, so …
An accusation that has been quite reasonably aimed at Fishpool, is that he or she can, on occasion, be a little bit…pedantic. This is particularly true when watching a film or television programme. For example, even during that scene in episode three of This is England 90, Fishpool couldn’t help but notice that Milky was …
It is tough to get a fishing programme commissioned on terrestrial television – particularly the BBC. Just ask Hugh Miles, (see Bits and Pieces Issue 15), who, despite the millions who tuned in to watch A Passion for Angling, could not persuade the BBC to take a chance on a follow-up (Their loss was Channel …
The Grand Union really is the daddy of Britain’s canal network. Created to link London and Birmingham, its main body measures 137 miles and it has various arms linking it to towns that it does not visit for itself. As its name suggests, the Grand Union was not built as a single body but instead …
Anyone who watched (or read) Charles Rangeley-Wilson’s The Accidental Angler may have been inspired to look for fish in places where they really shouldn’t be. As Rangeley-Wilson demonstrated, even in a City such as London, there are small streams and waterways tucked and tidied away in spots where we simply walk past without knowing their …
Back near the beginning of all things, soon after the esteemed editor of Fallon’s angler, Garrett himself, realised the folly of tackling Bits and Pieces by himself, his saviour, Fishpool, highlighted the life of ‘BB’ – one of our most loved and lyrical angling writers. Of course, ‘BB’ was but a pen name for Denys …
It would be wrong for an Issue of Bits and Pieces to have featured The Pathetic Sharks without finding room for Viz magazine’s greatest ever fish. The tale of Billy Thompson is quite extraordinary. Born half man half fish, his life was without purpose until he was talent spotted while playing football in the local …
