130 THE TROUT ARE RISING 
about £1. I did not incur great expense for 
licences, The Severn licence costs two shillings, 
and the possession of this document entitles you 
to fish not only the great river but also its 
tributaries. Taking out a Severn licence in the 
early summer, for fishing the Tern round about 
the old home in Shropshire for a few days, I put 
the licence away, thinking it would not be my 
fortune to need it again. But then I had a few 
days with the trout at Craven Arms, where runs the 
Onny. This is a tributary of the Teme, which in 
turn is a tributary of the Severn. So the licence 
served. It made me feel thrifty. Then, after 
visiting in turn the Manifold, in Derbyshire, the 
Border and Westmorland, I came back to the 
Tern, and once more the Severn licence came 
in. The long journeys seemed almost justified 
because of the saving on the licence! Then 
came my October visit to Tenbury, for grayling ; 
another trip to Craven Arms, for grayling this 
time ; a journey to Cound in late November— 
the Severn licence albeit getting a bit tattered 
franked me everywhere. A fragrant memory, by 
the way, is the last trip, brightened by the 
prospect of a chance grayling on the fords; by 
the anticipation of seeing old friends ; by the lure 
of the cloud-effects in the Severn valley, which 
in winter seem to me more wonderful at Cound, 
with its wealth of woodland and fresh fields, than 
in any place I know, unless it be Richmond Park 
on a grey wintry afternoon with just an occasional 
glimpse of sun. Also I wanted to see once more 
