THE PIKE FROM THE DITCH. 7 



possession of the place and occasionally resided 

 there. Many years before this the site is 

 reputed to have been occupied by a monastic 

 building connected with the Abbey of St. 

 Albans.* 



For a stream possessing such royal and 

 ecclesiastic traditions 'twould seem an in- 

 glorious end, this emptying of its waters into a 

 canal. Yet to the angler is it justified, for when, 

 distressed by autumn gale, the canal runs 

 turgid and bank -high, pike seek the shelter of 

 the backwater from the turmoil outside. 



The Ditch was ever a favourite Saturday 

 haunt of mine, and the memory of a previous 

 visit when it had given me a fish of 7 lb. r 

 followed, within a very few minutes, by one 

 of 6 lb., urged me to give it a further trial 

 to-day. The growth of weed that chokes its 

 bed during the summer months had dis- 

 appeared, victim to winter's frosts, and the 

 colour of the water was that beloved by the 

 angler. A faint breeze sent a shivering 

 * "The More," by Henry Mitchell. 



