SURREY, MIDDLESEX, AND SUSSEX STREAMS 6i 



reaches they run decidedly small, but at Frensham 

 and Elstead two and three pounders may be taken. 

 Mr. Combe, of Pierpoint, has devoted a good deal of 

 trouble to the trouting in the Wey. He has had 

 many pike netted between Frensham and Elstead, 

 and the fishing in this part of the stream has much 

 improved, despite the presence of the otter. As 

 reeards the Alton branch, there are but few trout 

 below Farnham. Above that town there are a 

 fair number of trout, if they do not run very large. 

 The whole of this branch is preserved, but the 

 otter has worked havoc in the lower stretches. 

 The May-fly comes on in large quantities, and the 

 alder and the willow fly are abundant. A fly called 

 Mellersh's fancy is recommended by some local 

 anglers for the Wey. " The stream," a Godalming 

 angler writes to me, " contains in parts many perch, 

 and some chub, pike, dace, and eels. It flow^s for the 

 most part through water meadows, and there are 

 very pretty little streams and pools in the upper 

 stretches ; but from Godalming downward it is 

 sluggish and uninteresting from a trout angler's 

 point of view." 



The Mole has been a theme for not a few well- 

 known English authors, and the beauty of some of 

 its scenery in the neighbourhood of The 

 Dorking, Bletchworth, and Mickleham 



Mole 



once described by Sir James Mackintosh as "the 

 happy valley " — is undeniable. From Leatherhead 

 to Stoke d'Abernon, too, the stream is very pretty, 

 flowing-, as one of its most ardent admirers has 

 pleasantly expressed it, — 



" Through quiet meadows, rich 

 In yellow cowslips and the tall foxglove 

 With its deep purple bells." 



