Sandbagged!

Sandbagged!
Photograph by Steve Barnett

Sunday 29 January 2012

Who's that calls?

It's not all about the river.  When you work your way upstream towards Charles Cotton's Fishing House (The Temple) there are other excellences to which your attention may be peculiarly and forcibly directed.  Amongst these are the steps...



Not as Friendly as Piscator to Viator!
Beresford Hall was demolished by order of the local authority sometime in the 19th Century.  Today we cannot see where Charles Cotton lived.  But as anglers making our way along the private path, climbing the little hill up from Pike Pool, we are met by what is left of a very old flight of simple, stone steps set into the side of the hill.  Here we can know with certainty that these are the very steps that the Servant used to call Piscator and Viator to their mid-day meal.  These stones have had the feet of Charles Cotton and of Izaak Walton tread on them.  They are still there, forgotten by all except a few anglers.  Passing by these, one almost hears the call:  "Sir, will it please you to come to dinner?"



Next time we will take a peek at the Little Fishing House.  Unlike Beresford Hall it is still standing and still perfectly usable by today's Piscators and Viators...


Regular Rod

4 comments:

  1. How enchanting! Why are the steps so jaunty? Is that a yew tree? If so, would that have been old enough to have shaded the heads of our heroes as they went for their supper?

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    1. It's a pretty jaunty bit of hill, the steps are just where needed. I'll have to check the tree out next time I'm there and report back. If it is a yew it might just be old enough...

      Regular Rod

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    2. It must be magical to fish somewhere so historical, tricky to concentrate at times i bet, a place where every shadow could either be the ghost of a legend or a swaying tree...

      Bewitching images, thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!

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    3. Thank you Graham, I will be doing my best...

      Regular Rod

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