A Visit to Troutbridge 153 



ings are exactly the same as they were when 

 I first knew them, and thought they must 

 be some of the finest in the country. Trout- 

 bridge lies in a very green and * deeply 

 meadowed ' corner of Chalkshire, and its 

 stream, the Clear, is of pure spring water. 

 The Clear runs right through the town. 

 Many of the cottages have their pleasant 

 gardens adjoining it, and one may occasion- 

 ally see, attached to a fruit-tree or bush, a 

 tell-tale line swaying backwards and forwards 

 in the current. 



Over the red brick town bridge, when the 

 fly is fairly up, you will usually see three or 

 four of the inhabitants leaning and pointing 

 out to one another, with an eagerness rare 

 in the very easy-going men and women of 

 Troutbridge and its district, the heavy fish 

 which feed noisily at that point, and are not 

 in the least shy of an audience. Sometimes 

 an angler will stop and drift his artificial 

 may-fly down to one of these trout, and when 

 one is hooked what a commotion both above 

 and beneath the bridge takes place ! 



