THE WYE AND THE EXE. 475 



Worcestershire level by Evesham, and falls into the Severn at 

 Tewkesbury. 



The LEAM joins the Avon near LEAMINGTON. Both these rivers 

 abound in fish, and contain some very good trout. 



The Celt, the Stroud, the Cam, and the Little Avon, all fall into the 

 Severn ; the Stroud was formerly well stored with trout, but the fish 

 have been destroyed by the number of works for dyeing, &c. A few 

 miles from the town of Stroud there is a canal (the BERKELEY CANAL), 

 abounding with fine pike. The water is preserved, but permission to fish 

 is sometimes obtained from one of the proprietors on its banks. 



THE WYE, 



WHICH rises in Montgomeryshire, at a short distance from the source 

 of the Severn, is remarkable for the variety and beauty of its scenery. 

 For many miles it divides Radnorshire from the county of Brecknock, 

 after which it enters Herefordshire, near HAY; and then passing 

 HEREFORD, Ross, MONMOUTH, the romantic grounds of PIERCEFIELD, 

 TINTERN ABBEY, and CHEPSTOW (at all which places there is capital 

 fishing), falls into the Severn, below CHEPSTOW. Very fine salmon 

 are taken in the Wye ; and the whole course of this beautiful river, 

 through the counties of Brecknock and Radnor, will afford excel- 

 lent trout and grayling fishing. At HAY, the Swan Hotel, and at 

 BDILTH, the Lion Hotel, are good houses of entertainment, and 

 the fishing is capital. Gentlemen residing at Welfield Hotel, Builth, 

 will have permission to fish five miles of the best part of the Wye, 

 including several salmon pools. The season for fly-fishing commences 

 earlier in the Wye than in the neighbourhood of London. Whilst the 

 snow was falling here, April 18th, 1838, the following advertisement 

 appeared in the Times newspaper : " Good news for Anglers. So very 

 plentiful is fish in the river Wye, in the neighbourhood of Builth, that 

 Stephen Pritchard, the fishing-tackle maker there, caught, on Tuesday 

 last, in the course of four hours, no less than 143 grayling, trout, and 

 salmon-pink ; and in five hours, on the following day, 225 fish of the 

 same description." 



THE RIVER EXE 



RISES in Exmoor, in the west of Somersetshire, and running through 

 a beautiful valley for about 50 or 60 miles (including TIVERTON and 

 Exeter), falls into the sea at Exmouth. It is a rapid river, full of 

 currents and pools, and well stocked with trout (but they run very 

 small). As many as 100 have been taken in a day by one angler 

 alone, with the fly. There are three associations on the river. The 

 Tirerton Association has about 14 miles of water above and below the 



