APPENDIX 175 



Some interesting notes concerning this pretty and little- 

 known tributary of the Anton appeared in Major Turle's 

 " Reminiscences of an Angler " in the Fishing The 

 Gazette in January, 1893. He described the Pillhill 

 Pillhill as being nearly as long as the Anton Brook 

 itself, but much less in size. " It was but a poor little 

 stream until the Marquess of Winchester undertook the 

 regeneration of it where it flows through his property at 

 Amport, and, by dint of digging, delving, damming, 

 creating artificial falls, widening, and improving in every 

 way, made insignificant Pill Brook into a fishable stream 

 containing trout upwards of a pound in weight. It is worth 

 the while of any one contemplating the formation of a 

 trout stream to pay Pill Brook a visit at Amport in order 

 to see what can be done for a mere rivulet by means of 

 patience, perseverance, and .... money." A stretch 

 of this little stream is in the hands of Mr. Henry 

 Hammans, of Clatford Lodge, who some years ago stocked 

 it with trout. Unfortunately the fish were killed through 

 a horrible volume of mud which was allowed to come 

 down from above. There are, however, still some fish in 

 Mr. Hammans's grounds, and there is a pond which 

 Mr. Francis Francis many years ago caused to be made 

 with the idea of trying to hatch and rear trout there. It 

 is altogether a charming spot, of which I shall never 

 entertain any but agreeable memories. 



Some fair bags have been made from time to time on 

 the Pillhill. A friend wrote to me in 1896, telling me he 

 had killed in eight days thirty- five trout, weighing 30 lbs. 



Jesse, that delightful naturalist and wTiter on country 

 life, angled occasionally in the Test, and has something 

 to say of the difficulty of hooking trout in the r^^^ ^^^^ 

 stream. So far back as 1836 he found that he 

 could not take trout with an artificial fly in bright sun- 

 shine — though these were the days when Colonel Hawker, 

 higher up stream, was doing so well— and he was driven 

 to try the blowline and a natural fly. *' At particular 

 seasons," he declares, " it requires a master of the rod to 

 have a chance of taking any good-sized fish, and, speak- 

 ing generally, a bungler had better try his luck in any 

 other stream." He recommended four artificial flies for 



