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Hiroshima Diary (Avon T-259, 1955)

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Its that time of year when the ewes leave the Lower Park, where they have been over-wintering, and head for the lambing meadows closer to Phil's house. I always enjoy helping Phil move them and with Kevin and I bringing up the rear we ambled along behind the rotund old girls as they followed Phil up the aptly named Shepherds Hill. None of the chaos and rushing about when moving the lambs, these ladies are not to be hurried, the more gentle the walk the better for all involved. Paul has kindly sent through a video clip showing the release of his fish. Many thanks Paul and congratulations on a super fish.

The wildfowl were also enjoying the late flood with four visiting Garganey joining with the Gadwall on the South Marsh. A couple of shots of our stunning chub, with a tale to tell. The first is a very wet Steve Kenchington, the second a dry David Redfearn. I do have a shot of David looking considerably wetter, having been unceremoniously dumped in the river when the bank gave away beneath his feet. Fortunately for David, fishing mate Kenny was on hand to assist in regaining terra firma. The recent rain and extremely high river have given rise to some stretches of extremely unstable bank and the utmost caution must be taken when getting near the edge. Below a couple of photos recently taken by Dave Charles, as he sat waiting for events to develop. I'll finish with just a couple of reminders to the syndicate. During this dry weather would members please keep speed on the dusty gravel roads about the Estate to an absolute minimum. Its no fun living next to one of these roads when an over excited member, rushing to get to the river, creates their own personal sand storm to drift over adjoining house and garden..... and washing! So if you don't want the lady of the house on your case, take a little care please.

An unidentified Amanita that will hopefully reappear next Autumn.

I don't like clearing pools too late in the day as it risks rubbish disturbing the rods. I had dealt with one or two other issues about the place, giving me an hour or two to spare, which I decided to spend laying the hedge around the Fools Corner car park. After a couple of hours, brooding about a lost fish yesterday and with my hands suffering from a new assortment of hawthorn and bramble thorns, I was quite relieved when the mobile rang with David Windsor in need of help with a fish-on. To add to his difficulties, with a good fish in fast water, his four piece rod had snapped just below the third joint. With four or five feet of rod spooking the fish as it shot up and down the line, I was relieved to see it roll gently into the net at the first attempt. The last three warm decades have been devastating for our ancient oaks. Just a word of warning as Summer gets hotter and in full swing, don't stand under them, particularly on sunny days when they may just decide to drop a ton of limb on you. This is a really good photograph to illustrate my point for several reasons. Firstly a great shot of a beautiful twenty seven plus pike, now that is pretty obvious, stunning fish. A further aspect being a lovely shot of captor Terry, which is quite a rare thing. I have known Terry for years and I believe this to be the only shot of him I have, I may have more of him in the earlier years on the diary but nowhere near to capturing such a scene. There is a reason for the photo in that whilst Terry accurately weighs and mat shots his fish, he is not interested in personal appearances. Fortunately for us, on this occasion his daughter accompanied him and did the honours with the camera, which I'm sure you'll agree, she did a great job.

Still with us but he's changed lakes. He's now crunching crays and rudd over the bank in Kings-Vincent. The extreme nature of the flooded ground this Summer has concentrated the minds of several groups on the issues they see as contributing to this soggy, sorry state. The fact the Hampshire Avon is classified as a heavily modified river has added a further complication. The artificial nature of the Avon has in many instances created the environment and habitat that safeguard many of the rivers most desirable assets. Assetts such as the water meadows themselves that provide habitat for breeding waders. The braided channels that flood and drain the meadows, provide homes to vast numbers of cyprinid and salmonid juveniles. The biodiversity this has given rise to makes the Hampshire Avon one of, if not the most important fishery in the country. Certainly aspects of the fishery are deemed the very pinnacle of the sport. At this point I should say and I'm sure it won't come as much of a surprise to most regular readers, I was very much against the privatisation of the water companies. Once market forces and the over riding concern becomes the pursuit of profit, the environment goes out the window. Plenty of sound bites and lip service yet the top priority remains the share dividend.Southern Marsh and Common Spotted Orchids growing beside the lakes. There were over one hundred and seventy Common Spotted in this one fifty meter length of margins The fly responsible, classic Avon colours, barbless, straight eyed circle. David also had the fish he landed last season on the same set-up. Here's an odd sort of thing! Yesterday I was bemoaning the plight of our waders, having been displaced by the floods. Today the other side of the coin. Out on the flooded meadows we have swans, coots and grebe all sitting on nests that within a week or two will be left high and dry in the middle of a field. Being left high and dry probably means they will be lost s they will become all too easily predated by our resident fox population. I could shut the gates and retain the flood for a longer period but that would be at the expense of our tenants and the wild flowers in the hay meadows. The retention of wet meadows and floodwater will be an important topic of conversation in the future, as our climate becomes more and more eratic. We're running out of options here! If we can't dredge or cut the aquatic weed and the desirable artificial nature of the Hampshire Avon requires a percentage of impounded reaches, what option are left?

I can't say I was overly upset at the prospect of a days heavy rain preventing further clearing. After three days swinging a chainsaw my aches and pains were beginning to tell and besides, we always need rain for the river. With my planned day cancelled I took the opportunity to visit some of the areas I have been neglecting of late. The problem with such a day is that I always end up adding to an already lengthy job list as I find tasks in need of urgent attention. I spent the morning burning up the risings from my recent hedge laying, much to the interest of the local steers. I know it was a frosty morning but this lot stood directly in the sparks and smoke, far closer to the fire than I could have managed. They were not the only interested party as this Kestrel spent ten minutes watching me from the top of a nearby ash. I imagine he was hoping for a vole to make a run for it as I moved the brash about. Unfofrtunately there was no free meal for him today. I put the shot of the basking carp up as I found a couple of dozen of them enjoying the warmth of the sun in a sheltered bay as I did one of my rounds at lunchtime today. I didn't have anything for them to eat but I don't think food was upper most in their minds, they were simply enjoying the sunshine. The last year or two has seen my disillusion grow to the point of disgust, reinforced by the shenanigans of our political elite. You don't need me to list the goings on that have been so depressing. You all know, or have experience of the self interest and greed that has made headlines in recent years. To tar all at Westminster with the same brush may be a little unfair but the picture that such goings on paint contains little positive news to dispel the image. Who does the independent assessment? In the case of the Avon Valley the obvious answer is the GCWT, who have been studying breeding waders in the valley for decades. Working under contract from NE most farmers would trust the well known staff of the Trust to complete their surveys fairly. If they don't want the task the wildlife trusts, not quite so well known and expert in the habits of the Avon Valley, they are trained ecologists. I put similar shots up a fortnight ago. The water level remains virtually unchanged yet it appears drier, simply because the vegetation has grown and masked the flood. There is a Great White Egret in both shots, two of several that remain in the valley.That's hot off the keyboard, without me having proof read it, so it may contain a few fliers. Bear with me, I'll have a look through it later.

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