Born in Altrincham, Cheshire in 1925, William Hamilton Canaway schooled locally and having attended University in Bangor, North Wales, served in the latter stages of Second World War. Canaway was an avid writer, and having returned to Education after his Military Service, then decided to focus full time upon his pen. His first novel, The …
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s second largest city, is famed for its Steel manufacture, its sports teams – The Steelers, The Pirates and The Penguins – and for bringing us such famous names as Gene Kelly, Dean Martin and ron P. swegman. Ron’s literary career began during his time at Penn State University where he wrote for and …
When we consider British migratory fish, many of us will think of salmon and sea trout. There are eels too, of course, and also lamprey, but two species that are often altogether overlooked are the shad. The allis shad (Alosa alosa) and twaite shad (Alosa fallax) are both members of the herring family and are …
Before anyone leaps up and thumbs back through their leatherbound Bits and Pieces archives (that is what everyone does with these words each week – isn’t it?), Fishpool is well aware that the barbel (barbus barbus) featured in Issue 14. Sometimes though, rules are made to be broken – and besides, in the world of …
A point Fishpool has already laboured in this Issue, is that we live in a world where too many species are in decline or endangered – often at the hand of Man. So let us celebrate a success story of the past twenty years. The red kite (milvus milvus) was once widespread in Britain, and …
Anyone yet to enjoy the splendours of the River Wye and its awesome barbel and who might be pondering a visit, could do worse than looking up Angling Dreams. Founded by Adam Fisher, who has spent most of his life living on or near the river, Angling Dreams offer the chance to fish some of the …
It could be argued that the Wye currently offers better fishing than any other river in the British Isles. Measuring 134 miles, the Wye is the fifth longest river in the UK, and flows from its source at Plynlimon, high in the Cambrian Mountains, through towns such as Builth Wells, Rhayader, Ross, Hay and Monnow …
Formed in the 1940’s and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, in 1953, Blithfield Reservoir covers nearly 800 acres and nestles neatly into the Staffordshire landscape. It was built as a source of freshwater, but also offers opportunities for anglers, walkers and birders. Some of the shoreline and surrounding woodland are only accessible …
In the summer of 2014, broadcaster Claire Balding was recording part of her Ramblings series for Radio 4 when she was stopped, rather abruptly, in her tracks. ‘Gosh,’ she was heard to say, ‘We’ve walked out on to the road and turned left, and sitting in the middle of the road ahead of us was …
In a country so closely associated with modern technology, it may be a surprise to some that one of the most popular fishing methods in Japan, is also one of the most straightforward. Meaning ‘from heaven’ or ‘from the skies’, Tenkara is a method of fly fishing in which the angler forgoes a reel to …
