THE KENT STREAMS 51 



Stanhope preserves, Otford, Shoreham, Eynesford, 

 LuUingstone Castle (Sir William Hart-Dyke's 

 water), Farningham, Horton Kirby and Dartford, 

 above which town there is an association of owners 

 of angling. A few sea trout, it is believed, are 

 still to be found from time to time at Dartford 

 Creek, and the river trout will, despite pollution, 

 occasionally venture below the town. Some years 

 ago the powder mills by polluting the water 

 destroyed thousands of trout ; and a lawsuit which 

 went against the lessees of the mills, was the result. 

 Now once more there is a fair stock of good fish 

 a little above the town of Dartford. There are 

 several angling clubs on the Darenth, notably one 

 at Horton Kirby a little below the pretty town of 

 Farningham, and, owing to the nearness of London, 

 rods do not often go begging for long. Big bags 

 of trout have been often made by Darenth anglers. 

 I have before me particulars of one, perhaps the 

 record for the stream, of twenty-five brace of trout, 

 weighing just over fifty pounds. They were taken 

 on a stormy day towards the end of April. I have 

 also seen one or two large bags made in the 

 Lullingstone Castle water. The average size of 

 trout killed in Darenth is represented to me as 

 three-quarters of a pound, but from my own 

 experience and observation I should say that it is 

 somewhat smaller than this. In some parts of the 

 stream fish are very plentiful, and there the average 

 would be something under three-quarters of a 

 pound. Still deep pools, muddy bottoms, alternating 

 with streamy runs over gravel — such is the general 

 character of the stream. Here and there the banks 

 are well lined with willows and overgrown with a 

 tangle of vegetation, so that casting is far from 



