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 Ring- Givers, was published in 1958 and plenty more were to follow. His 1961 tale Sammy Going South was adapted for a feature film by Denis Cannan and paved the way for Canaway to co-write the 1965 film adaptation of The Ipcress File.
Of course, many of us know Canaway best for angling writing. Having written extensively for The Fishing Gazette, Canaway wrote two fishing books – A Snowden Stream and A Creel of Willow. The latter is set in the valley of the Withy, a few miles to the east of ‘The March’ (actually Cannock Chase). Canaway writes of his exploits fishing the tiny River Withy (actually the Blithe) from its source at Withyfield Reservoir (Blithfield Reservoir) to the point where it meets the river Adder (Trent). His descriptions of the characters he meets are fabulous – Fishpool sincerely hopes they were all real…