126 THE TROUT 



ceedings; but nevertheless it must have been an 

 arduous undertaking. 



What a difference there is nowadays ! The 9.15 

 A.M. train from Waterloo will take you to Stockbridge, 

 or anywhere in those parts, in time to allow you to 

 begin fishing by 12.30, or thereabouts, and to return 

 to London the same evening. 



Undoubtedly in 1800 there did not exist the same 

 conditions of hurry and ' rush ' which now seem to 

 pervade the country. It was probably as convenient 

 to put on one side a week in which to make a journey, 

 as it is now to arrange to run down to Derbyshire, 

 fish for two days, and return to London by the night 

 train, after fishing on the second day. 



Instead of only having time to fish for two days, 

 the angler of 80 or 90 years ago would have been 

 easily able to spare a week or a fortnight in which to 

 enjoy his favourite sport. At that period the affairs 

 of life were taken more quietly, and very likely were 

 conducted to their termination more thoroughly 

 and effectively than is now the case. These Long- 

 stock records go far to prove that in English waters 

 big trout of 5 Ibs. and upwards are somewhat rare fish. 



Occasionally one sees a paragraph in a newspaper 

 telling of the capture of some monster of 10 or 12 Ibs., 

 or of even a greater weight j but these are nearly 



