460 
THE FISHING GAZETTE 
[June 17, 1893 
THE NEW FISHING STATIONS 
ON THE 
GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY. 
MILDENHALL ON THE LAKK. 
“ Right for Mildenhall, guard ? ” Yes, sir ; 
jump in, we’re just off.” i took my seat with¬ 
out delay, simultaneously the bell rang, and the 
Doncaster Express, punctual to the minute, 
steamed slowly out of Liverpool-street at 4.112 
p.m. on Monday afternoon. “ Please do the new 
fishing stations.” I was still looking at these 
very brief editorial instructions when the Lea 
hove in sight, and not long afterwards we ran 
through Broxbourne, where I noticed the water 
was absolutely crystal in colour. I wondered 
what colour it would be like at Mildenhall, and 
what kind of a place IVlildenhall itself was; 
whether the drought would have dried the river 
up there, or whether I should find it choked up 
with weeds. Luckily the Fishing Oazeite was at 
hand, and on referring to the map of the new 
stations there, I made up my mind that the Lark 
was a very decent little river, and looked just 
the place for some plumping roach and dace ! 
Now reading a par in the Gazette, now glancing 
through the window at the beautiful country, 
where the “ silvery streak ” was frequently in 
evidence, I noted the Lea and Stort, and, as we 
ran through Shelford, Great Chesterford, and 
Whittlesford, the pretty little Cam, famous for its 
specimen dace, caught the eye here and there. 
At Cambridge station I had the good fortune 
to meet a gentleman residing at Mildenhall, and 
he very kindly gave me the names of some of the 
prominent local anglers at the latter town, and 
other valuable information, so that when I 
arrived at my destination, about ten minutes to 
seven o’clock, 1 knew—^or fancied I did—where to 
just go and put in and take a fine trout! 
The distance from the station to the pretty 
little market-town of IMildonhall is accomplished 
in under five minutes. You turn round to the 
left, and directly afterwards a large flour mill 
and the River Lark, which you cross by the bridge, 
meet your gaze. I called the town “ little,” but 
it is the most extensive parish in Suffolk, and the 
wandering angler need have no fear of expiring 
from thirst, as there are, I believe, no fewer than 
forty-seven hotels and public-houses about this 
part. Mildenhall is sweetly clean ; Mill-street, 
i-he High-street of the town, is a perfect model of 
a street—there is not even a dog bone or a cab¬ 
bage stalk lying about, much less a heap of 
rubbish. The pavements are white, and so are 
the houses. And the people of Mildenhall are 
smart, too. They are not only smart in appear¬ 
ance, but in business transactions, and also in 
sports, and various other matters. They never 
say “ die ” at ^Mildenhall. The townspeople never, 
if possible, allow their prestige to suffer, conse¬ 
quently, whether it is over business or pleasure, 
the Mildenhalli.es contrive to very successfully 
hold their own. Even the members of the Fire 
Brigade have been known to respond to the 
*• call ” in five minutes, which is an example many 
other country Fire Brigades might very well 
emulate. St. Andrew’s Church, which stands at 
the top of Mill-street, is a handsome edifice, with 
a tower 120 feet high, and as I sit at tea in the 
White Hart Hotel, the church bells are merrily 
pealing forth. I think the sound of country 
church bells is deligbiful to the ear of a weary 
Londoner, and to-night Mildenhall Church btlls 
are indeed lovely to listen to. 
Tea over. I strolled down Mill-street and called 
on Mr. C. Brown, one of the local anglers, who, 
when he heard that I was the representative of the 
Fishing GnscGe,cordially greeted me and promised 
to do all in his power to assist me in my mission. 
There is no close season on the Lark, a fact which 
is very much regretted by Mr. Brown, and, 
indeed, by all true sportsmen. Mr. Brown, I 
should mention, is the collector of the Lark 
Angling Society, which has for its president Dr. 
Aldrich; the vice-president is .Mr. 11. Randall 
(who w'as fishing on the Broads when 1 was at 
.Mildenhall), whilst the secretarial duties are 
undertaken by J\lr. G. Betts. The society has 
done much, Mr. Brown explained to me, towards 
exterminating the poaching fraternity, and the 
society is now talking of appointing two water 
bailiffs to look after the river. They have only 
one difficulty to contend with in this direction, 
and that is lack of funds. With the object of 
removing it, however, the local angling society 
have approached the lord of the manor, and it is 
stated that he has expressed his willingness to 
hand his rights of fishing over to the club, who 
would then, so it has been suggested, issue 
annual tickets of 2s. or 2s. fid. each, whereby it is 
thought the necessary funds could be raised to 
pay the bailiff’s wages. 
” You would issue the tickets to London 
anglers, of course, Mr. Brown ? ” I said. 
“ Certainly, and only too glad to see our 
London friends.” 
“ We want to protect and improve our fishing 
so that people will be glad to come down and fish. 
That is our idea—nothing else.” 
“Well, tell us,” I think I can hear the London 
club angler say, “ about the fishing, and where we 
shall be likely to get a good take.” 
About four years ago the River Lark was cleared 
out, and its appearance has since greatly im¬ 
proved at the hands of the Eastern Counties 
Navigation and Transport Company. New 
staunches or locks have been constructed, and 
the river dredged. To allow of the latter work 
being carried out, portions of the river were run 
off at various intervals, and naturally the opera¬ 
tion resulted in a good many fish being lost. But 
the river is to-day well stocked with roach and 
dace, whilst it is also making itself a name for 
trout. The Marquis of Bristol has a trout 
stream near Tuddenham, and when the 
floods were on a good many fish, it is 
believed, got into the main river at “ Seven- 
trees,” where the stream joins the Lark. 
Within the past fortnight several nice trout 
have been caught, up to iljlb., and there is no 
doubt there will be some first-class sport with the 
trout in this river before long. I myself, on Tues¬ 
day, fishing a spot I shall tell ydu of further on, 
caught two small trout on my roach and dace tackle, 
and, in the mill dam near by, lurks a 61b. fish. 
The visiting angler will find a very deep swim 
for roach and dace at the mill staunch at Milden¬ 
hall, whilst at the end of the mill-stream, in a 
very sharp run of water, necessitating a heavy 
float, it is worth while trying for dace and chub. 
Anglers cannot miss the spot as the mill-stream 
and the staunch are opposite a boat-house. Mr. 
W. S. Owers, the mill-owner and captain of 
the Fire Brigade, is a very popular man in the 
town, and would, I am sure, only be too glad to 
give permission to fish the mill dam. On the 
other side of the road is “Palmer's Hole,” and 
there, on Tuesday morning, I saw some good 
half-pound roach and very fine dace priming. 
“Palmer’s Hole” faces the wharf and gasworks 
and several streams run into it, so that the water 
is generally lively, and looks just the place for 
jack in the winter. The hole is about twenty 
feet deep, and several years ago a number of 
elephants, belonging to a circus on a visit to the 
town, got into the river here and had a good 
bath. Re-crossing the road we see the Boat¬ 
house swim (as I shall call it) again, cross a 
temporary bridge over the river, and find that we 
are on the towing-path. The river is rather shallow 
here, but having come to a chalk quarry and a 
cottage we find deeper water. At Isleham, which 
is about five miles from Mildenhall, there is 
some capital perch fishing, which should well 
repay a visit. This is down the river, where 
deeper water exists, but going up stream on the 
towing-path side, by way of the wharf, one or 
two swims are to be obtained. But just now the 
river is very low, weedy, and bright. In fact, it 
is terribly weedy, and the only places worth 
fishing at the present time are the staunches, 
where a good depth of water is to be obtained. 
Walking in the direction of Icklingham, on 
Monday evening, I saw many shoals of roach, 
and I should recommend anglers to give Barton 
Staunch and Barton Mills a trial. Jacktree 
Staunch is next reached along the bank. Locally, 
this has a great reputation for fine roach, which 
run from .Jib. to 1Gb., and pounders are frequently 
taken, especially during September and October. 
Then we have 'J’emple Staunch and Bridge, 
another very good spot. At Icklingham, which 
is about four miles from Mildenhall, the dace run 
tine, and on the day of my visit I took twelve in 
as many swims, fishing in"an eddy at the staunch, 
where it is .between three and four feet deep, 
The backwater from Icklingham Mill runs into 
the main river hero, and th« mill pool itself 
looks a very nice place for dace, roach, chub, 
and trout. This is the haunt of the 61b. trout I 
have already referred to, and I can imagine the 
pretty dance he must have given his would-be 
clerical captor round the pool. I caught my 
two trout at the staunch here, the bait they 
took being a caddis-bait, or case-worm, as the 
local anglers term it. Altogether I took during 
my peregrinations up and down the river twenty 
dace, six roach, and two trout, iu spite of the gin- 
bright water. 
It is a lovely drive to Icklingham, and on 
Tuesday morning I thoroughly enjoyed it. Any 
angler who walks it must keep an eye open for 
the five cross roads. However, he ought not to 
lose himself as there is a sign-post at the spot, 
and, if the visitor observes the way it points, he 
will eventually find himself at the Red Lion, when 
he will no doubt be ijuite ready for refreshments. 
It is a charming walk, a lovely drive, from 
Mildenhall to Icklingham. The district is well 
wooded, and the fragrance from the pines is 
simplydelicious,andquite unlike the odours round 
about Fleet-street. On our way to Icklingham 
we came across an immense rabbit warren, which 
must be a very profitable concern, judging from 
the fact that it fetches £T000 a year Irom a certain 
gentleman who supplies the London markets 
with rabbits. In the evening thousands of 
rabbits can be seen squatting about the warren 
from the roadside. The game about here is 
strictly preserved, and in the district, I believe, 
2000 pheasants were once shot in a single 
day. As we drive along, a cock pheasant stalks 
majestically across the road, never offering to get 
up, and partridges are equally as tame. Then we 
note a pretty little squirrel, with his bushy tail 
waving to and fro in the pleasant breeze, as he 
bounds along and looks shyly at ns in the dog¬ 
cart. Round about here is a fine country, and 
those anglers in search of a pleasant holiday 
could not do better than give Mildenhall a turn. 
Now as to the train service between Liverpool- 
street and Mildenhall. First and foremost there 
are no Sunday trains to Mildenhall, but anglers 
will he enabled to go down on Saturday afternoon 
at 4.32, and come back to town on Monday by 
the train leaving Mildenhall at 6.6 p.m., reaching 
Liverpool-street at 9 45 p.m. There is a long wait 
by this train at Cambiilge, but, if so disposed, the 
traveller can see what the tovvn is like during the 
hour or so that elapses before the London express 
arrives. The train service is as follows :— 
Leave. Arrive. Leave. Arrive. 
Liverpool St. Mildenhall. Mildenhall. Liverpool St. 
A.M. 
AM. 
A.M. 
A.M. 
5.55 
10.23 
7.43 
10.15 
P.M. 
P.M. 
11 0 
Change 1.18 
9.43 
12.35 
P.M. 
Cambridge 
*11.55 
Change 2.52 
4.32 
6.48 
P.M. 
Cambridge 
3.28 
6 . 8 
6. 6 
9.45 
* Thursdays excepted. 
With regard to accommodation for visitors 
there is any amount in Mildenhall. There are two 
capital commercial hotels, the Bell, Mr. John 
Booty, and the White Hart, Mr. William Willson. 
Capital accommodation I am told is to be found 
at various other inns, &c., and I am sure club 
anglers would be made very comfortable at a very 
reasonable charge at the Queen’s Arms, in West- 
street, and beds can also be engaged at a coffee 
and dining rooms at the top of Mill-street. 
Just now the Lark is running exceptionally 
low and bright, but if anglers think of visiting 
it they cannot do better than fish at the various 
spots I have inlica ed. If any anglers would 
like to be shown over the river they should write 
to Mr. West, fisherman, Mildenhall, who knows 
every inch of the water, how to fish it, and 
where the fish are. The most killing bait seems 
to be the caddis-bait, which can bo found in any 
little ditch or in the river itself. Gentles should 
aUo be tried, whilst a bkckbeetle is also reckoned 
a killing lure. ()a Tuesday I saw one of the 
local anglers catch some dace with that bait, and 
lie said he found it took well with that fish and 
chub and roach. By the bye, I saw a nice lot of 
chub on the shallows at the “ Boathouse Swim,” 
but I was unable to touch one of them. Some of 
the fish were 3-pounders, and last week—so I 
was told—a I^lb. chuli was captured in the 
vicinity. The roach take wheat well in August 
and September, and in the winter months the 
red worm is mostly used, Goosfii^ufM,. 
