YORKSHIRE RIVERS. 133 
Another Yorkshire river which has suffered greatly from 
the pollution of mine water is the Nidd. Flowing as it 
does through the delightful scenery of Nidderdale, past 
Pateley Bridge, Dacre Banks, Darlev, Ripley, Knares- 
borough, etc., the whole route is marked by objects of 
interest, and the most tempting looking water, from an 
angler’s point of view ; unfortunately, however, in the upper 
portions, the fishing deteriorates year by year, in fact gray- 
ling, which used to be plentiful, are now extinct. An 
angling club at Knaresborough preserves a portion of the 
stream, but their efforts, I fear, will be of little avail until 
the evil referred to can be abated. 
I have now briefly passed under review those of the 
Yorkshire rivers which are likely to prove worthy of a visit 
from the tourist angler; true, I have passed by the Aire, 
that tiny, sparkling stream which flows close to the quaint 
old town of Skipton, and which in its journey past Keighley, 
Bingley, Shipley, etc., gathers strength and filth until it 
finally reflects the glare of the furnaces of Leeds upon its 
inky surface ; I have done so because the upper waters are 
strictly preserved, and consequently of no interest to my 
readers ; the lower waters are obviously the same. 
In conclusion, let me express the hope that some day, 
even though the event may occur 
“In summers which we may not see,” 
the inhabitants of large manufacturing towns such as Leeds, 
Halifax, Sheffield, &c., may be able once more to cast their 
lines in the now unfishable rivers Caider, Don, and Aire 
(in its lower portions), no doubt a great deal might be done 
to purify the filth that is now the means of converting these 
rivers into vast sewers, in fact I am acquainted with men, 
now living, who used to fish fly in the evenings for dace on 
a length of the Aire close to Leeds, where now the water 
is simply liquid mud. There is no doubt also but that the 
