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Birmingham Anglers' Association

Last time I went fishing with my Dad was in a lake at Hewell Grange which was a Correction Centre for wayward youths.
(Was this BAA waters ?) I remember sitting, freezing, and listening to the Drill Pigs, behind the wall, yelling at the inmates.
 
I remember fishing with my Dad the BAA waters at Netherseal on the river Mease. Used to get some great chub out of there.
 
My Dad, his Dad and brothers were all BAA members and as kids they and my Grandad used to fish at the 'Pool' in fox Hollies Park which was just a few minutes walk from home.
When I was younger we were always off somewhere fishing, aunts and cousins in tow, regardless of the weather. In my early teens the most frequently fished place was on the Avon near Alcester town - knew it well as I used to get bored and go on long walkabouts! (still have some old cine film of him fishing too). Dad was also a member of the Birmingham Co-op fishing club and also recall that he was in a works fishing Club with HDA/Alcan.

I thought I'd escaped it all but when I met my wife I learned that her Dad was Secretary of the BAA, always out fishing and also made /repaired rods in his spare time for a tackle shop near where the Post Office is on Shirley Road - was it called Roys? I think he also got quick fixes from the Pool too. My wife and I both have childhood memories of hemp seed boiling on the stove, prepared secret bait concoctions of bread, spam and maggots - each mix uniquely prepared for canal or river fishing.

My last day fishing was in the late 70s at Earlswood lakes - cold and raining - I packed up and left my mate fishing while I sat in the car with a flask of hot soup!
I guess I was a great disappointment to my Dad as I never really took to fishing - I just couldn't bear to eat anything after touching maggots ;-(

Below is a picture of my Dad and Grandad ( the two shortest back center , Dad wearing beret, grandad on his right) on a Co-op fishing club trip ( early 60s I think).
Co-op Fishing Club.JPG
 
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Ah yes the smell of boiling hemp and tares! I remember going into a supermarket and piling the whole shelf full of tins of luncheon meat into the trolley.

Now off to catch the Barbel!
 
Not BAA, but of interest to all those old Birmingham anglers out there. Many would have fished Edgbaston Resr. I remember over 40 years ago, on summer nights, shooting over to get a couple of hours fishing. But has anyone had a day like this?

Here is a 36 minute very recent film by Cadence Fishing UK, superb quality...

 
Barbel were introduced into the River Severn in the late 50's, but it wasn't until the 70's that they started to become the predominate fish on the middle reaches of the Severn. At that time I was the secretary of our local fishing club and although we fished many BAA waters the Severn at Ribbersford just down from Bewdley was our favourite spot.

Not being much of a fisherman myself my favourite spot was in the Woodman that fronted the local caravan park. I heard that the pub was washed away in a flash flood that occurred about 10 or 15 years back.

Here are a couple of images taken inside the Woodman on the opening night of the season in the early 70's whilst waiting for midnight and the season to start. Looking at these photos it makes me sad to realise that all but one of those lads and those that are not in the photo (except myself taking the photo) are no longer with us.
 

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If you enjoyed the video in post 52 above, then here is another this time it is BAA.

Filmed in January 2018 and on the Droitwich canal at Hanbury. Another amazing bag from a canal!
 
Hello :) My dad was John Harding (aka Jack) and his father, my grandad (though I never knew him) was Albert Harding, who was a big cheese in the BAA apparently! He ran a tackle shop on the Warwick Road. After my dad passed away a couple of years ago I scanned some slides in which seem to show a fishing outing. If anyone can name the people in the pictures, let me know - I would be really interested to hear about anything related to the shop or the family. Dad was never into angling, he hated it - he ended up teaching fencing instead.20140808174901_10.jpg20140808174901_09.jpg20140808180346_01.jpg
 
Hello :) My dad was John Harding (aka Jack) and his father, my grandad (though I never knew him) was Albert Harding, who was a big cheese in the BAA apparently! He ran a tackle shop on the Warwick Road. After my dad passed away a couple of years ago I scanned some slides in which seem to show a fishing outing. If anyone can name the people in the pictures, let me know - I would be really interested to hear about anything related to the shop or the family. Dad was never into angling, he hated it - he ended up teaching fencing instead.View attachment 128743View attachment 128742View attachment 128744

April 1949 from the Sports Argus...

0DAB6F09-9F80-40DC-8599-E44B26DF7DE0.jpeg


FDAEA256-2DC7-492B-875E-B55C7330A782.jpeg
 
Thank you! I reckon that's Albert, 2nd from left in my big photo, but I suspect those were taken earlier than '49 - hard to say really as I know so little about them. I used to have a photo of Albert behind the counter in the shop, but I've no idea where that's got to.

The bus they were in is rather lovely too.
 
Does anyone remember a peg on the River Severn that was called Cromwell’s Hole. I seem to remember it was on BAA Water.

This peg is on the BAA water at Arley and is notorious for being a "bottomless" hole on a fast mainly shallow stretch. It is also a terrible place to draw in any fishing match as it produces very few fish. One story is that it was created by a German aerial bomb in the second world although that may be just a story. When I was a kid I drew it this peg out of the draw bag for my dads mate, he was not best pleased.
 
Yes I recall this peg being discussed but luckily never drew it, if my memory serves me correctly it was just a few pegs up from the car park.
 
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