Having started out as a singles buyer for a Plymouth record shop in the early 1980’s, at the age of 23 Jeff Barrett was approached by Alan McGee to work alongside him at Creation Records. There, Jeff worked alongside bands such as Primal Scream and The Pastels, and tour managed The Jesus and Mary Chain …
Born in London, but raised in Buckinghamshire, Will Burns was part way through an English Degree when he decided to forgo education for a career as a rock star. His band, Treecreeper, released two albums, the second of which, entitled Juniper, features a fly-fisherman on the cover and is still available through Rough Trade records. …
Fishpool was in a glorious state of reminisce earlier in the week – and was suddenly struck by the mental image of a drumming great-white shark. For anyone else who may have forgotten, The Neptunes are a band from the future. Purveyors of ‘rock’ music, they are a five-piece, made up of teenagers Biff (guitars), …
Of all the fish that swim, the one that has surely got life sussed beyond all others is the slob trout. There are arguments as to his true origin, though it is widely believed that the slob trout is a brownie (Salmo trutta) who, having spawned, then drifts downstream until he finds the food-rich estuarine …
Every summer, a few thousand like-minded souls converge on the banks of the River Tiddy in East Cornwall, where they share the music, literature, comedy and the altogether laid back nature of the Port Eliot Festival. The 6,000 acre Port Eliot Estate is the ancestral seat of the Eliot family, whose present head Peregrine is the …
Founded in 1995, The Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT) is a charity and waterway society created to further the protection and enhancement of the rivers of south-west England. One of its most prominent initiatives was the Cornwall Rivers Project (CRP) – which, with £2.6m funding from the European Union and DEFRA, was aimed at managing the …
The rivers of Cornwall have long had an association with the Atlantic salmon. Spate rivers such as the Taw, Torridge and Camel have drawn anglers from all over the country, and despite the decline on salmon numbers, produce good fish every season. In south-east Cornwall another salmon river flows unnoticed by many. The Tiddy is …
A city steeped in naval history, more than a quarter of a million people live in and around Plymouth. Situated between the mouths of the rivers Plym and Tamar, Plymouth has an enduring association with the Sea. This is from where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for America in 1620, where many global trade links …
There has been a distinct Cornish edge to this week’s Bits and Pieces, and while considering the county, it is impossible not to give time to one of the greatest inventions the world has ever known… A true Cornish Pasty must be made with a minimum 12.5% beef content and 25% vegetable, which, in turn …
Fishpool read a fascinating book last year by forager extraordinaire John Wright. Entitled, The Naming of the Shrew, Wright leads us through the subject of taxonomy. Why and how things living were and still are classified. It was a mighty good read, and led Fishpool to ponder the naming of some of our oft-caught fish …
