YORKSHIRE RIVERS. 133 



Another Yorkshire river which has suffered greatly from 

 the pollution of mine water is the Nidd. Flowing as it 

 does through the delightful scenery of Nidderdale, past 

 Pateley Bridge, Dacre Banks, Darley, Ripley, Knares- 

 borough, etc., the whole route is marked by objects of 

 interest, and the most tempting looking water, from an 

 angler's point of view ; unfortunately, however, in the upper 

 portions, the fishing deteriorates year by year, in fact gray- 

 ling, which used to be plentiful, are now extinct. An 

 angling club at Knaresborough preserves a portion of the 

 stream, but their efforts, I fear, will be of little avail until 

 the evil referred to can be abated. 



I have now briefly passed under review those of the 

 Yorkshire rivers which are likely to prove worthy of a visit 

 from the tourist angler ; true, I have passed by the Aire, 

 that tiny, sparkling stream which flows close to the quaint 

 old town of Skipton, and which in its journey past Keighley, 

 Bingley, Shipley, etc., gathers strength and filth until it 

 finally reflects the glare of the furnaces of Leeds upon its 

 inky surface ; I have done so because the upper waters are 

 strictly preserved, and consequently of no interest to my 

 readers ; the lower waters are obviously the same. 



In conclusion, let me express the hope that some day, 

 even though the event may occur 



" In summers which we may not see," 



the inhabitants of large manufacturing towns such as Leeds, 

 Halifax, Sheffield, &c., may be able once more to cast their 

 lines in the now unfishable rivers Caider, Don, and Aire 

 (in its lower portions), no doubt a great deal might be done 

 to purify the filth that is now the means of converting these 

 rivers into vast sewers, in fact I am acquainted with men, 

 now living, who used to fish fly in the evenings for dace on 

 a length of the Aire close to Leeds, where now the water 

 is simply liquid mud. There is no doubt also but that the 



