THE SOMERSETSHIRE STREAMS 139 



Drayton writes of — 



" The Beauteous Tone, 

 Crowned with embroider'd banks, and gorgeously array'd 

 With all the enamel'd flowers of many a goodly mead." 



The Chew unites with the (Bristol) Avon at 

 Keynsham. It rises at Chewton Mendip, and 

 runs a course of some twenty miles, pas- The 

 sing West Harptree, Chew Stoke, Chew Chew 

 Magna, and Pensford. It is a somewhat sluggish 

 and not a very clear stream, flowing through a level 

 valley during most of its course, though much of the 

 neighbouring country is broken and hilly. The 

 Chew is much overhung by trees in parts, and 

 some anglers prefer a bright minnow to the arti- 

 ficial fly, whilst dapping with the natural insect — 

 either May-fly or bluebottle — is also sometimes 

 practised. The trout are fairly plentiful, especially 

 in the upper reaches, and run from ^ lb. to 2 lbs., 

 averaging perhaps about f lb. The artificial flies 

 used are the May-fly, March brown, Wickham fancy, 

 alder and coachman. Besides trout, the stream 

 contains perch, roach, gudgeon and eels. The 

 stream is preserved, but leave may sometimes be 

 obtained, and Pensfold or Chew Stoke may be 

 made headquarters. At Chew Magna, where the 

 stream flows through the red sandstone, the Bristol 

 Waterworks Company have a reservoir which 

 contains some trout, and may be fished by daily 

 ticket. 



The Barle rises by Moles Chamber in the heart 

 of Exmoor Forest, flows past Simonsbath, Land- 

 acre Bridge, Withypool, Dulverton, and The 

 Brushford, and joins the Exe a little below Barle 

 Dulverton Station. Its entire length is in Somer- 

 setshire. The two best places — indeed, the only 



