158 ANGLING 



named, it is patent that Blakey had had a very varied 

 experience of fishing, since he refers to the many pleasant 

 piscatory rambles he has enjoyed in that gentleman's 

 company. He had already -written his first work, on 

 rod-fishing in all its branches, and these guide-books 

 were designed with the intention of informing anglers 

 of that day where they could find accessible districts. 



It may be taken for granted that there is little salmon 

 or trout fishing in these days free to the public. The 

 waters are either in private hands or preserved and 

 controlled by local angling associations. From the 

 latter the stranger has generally the opportunity of 

 purchasing the privilege of fishing by daUy, weekly, or 

 monthly tickets at reasonable prices. The references 

 to the streams as Blakey knew them are exceedingly 

 interesting, as enabling the reader to make comparisons, 

 and be acquainted with conditions that have changed. 



The section which deals with the Thames may be 

 instanced as, in broad features, an exception to the rule 

 of vital change. On the other hand, the angling in the 

 docks, upon which Blakey writes so cheerfully, is a thing 

 of the past, thanks to the pollutions which a few years 

 ago threatened to ruin the river. There has been vast 

 improvement in recent years, but there is no longer 

 angling at Battersea Bridge and Putney. Most of the 

 professional fishermen associated by Blakey with the 

 various stations on Thames -side have gone to their 

 last account, but it will be interesting to observe that 

 their successors continue in the calling. Certain sub- 

 scription waters near the metropolis are gone for ever ; 

 rows of houses cover their sites. The private fisheries 

 near Shepherd's Bush, for example, are now forgotten, 

 and are not even a memory in the district. The Sluice 

 House, near the Stoke ISTewington reservoirs, is another 

 notable example. The "Kingsbury Fishery " at Hendon, 

 however, is little changed save in name. The Lea, 

 strange to say, in its upper portions, which are now 

 strictly preserved, has become what Blakey says it was 

 not, namely, of repute as a trout-stream. 



In his "general cast" Blakey mentions the most 



