Hiroshima Diary (Avon T-259, 1955)

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I could put up a shot of another flooded field but I'm sure you'll see plenty of them over the next few days. This is the water height gauge at Ibsley Bridge showing 21.75, a small rise on yesterday and its still rising. It still has a long way to go if we are to see levels of previous years when the Harbridge road, which is currently dry, was impassible for six weeks. To reach those record levels we need a further 300ml rise. I hope we don't see a repeat of these super high levels this year as it will certainly make the start of the salmon season difficult and for a poor end to the river coarse.

It came as quite a surprise to me the number of different fungi the group found in just a couple of hours. The link below will open a list that Mark has kindly produced showing the number and variety. He also tells me there were one or two more they have been unable to ID successfully. Its amazing that the weird and wonderful world of fungi can be found right under our nose. A flavour of the variation can be seen in the photos below that Mark also very kindly sent through, for which I thank him once more. One or two of the delightful little hatchpools associated with the gates on the Woodside and Ellingham. The margins of the streams were full of fry that for most part looked like minnows but there were also good numbers of dace and chublets, plus pleasing numbers of C1 roach that seem to have survived the winter floods. Unfortunatey it doesn't look like the large ash tree in the middle shot will be with us for much longer. The last year or two has seen my disillusion grow to the point of disgust, reinforced by the shenanigans of our political elite. You don't need me to list the goings on that have been so depressing. You all know, or have experience of the self interest and greed that has made headlines in recent years. To tar all at Westminster with the same brush may be a little unfair but the picture that such goings on paint contains little positive news to dispel the image. I'll finish with just a couple of reminders to the syndicate. During this dry weather would members please keep speed on the dusty gravel roads about the Estate to an absolute minimum. Its no fun living next to one of these roads when an over excited member, rushing to get to the river, creates their own personal sand storm to drift over adjoining house and garden..... and washing! So if you don't want the lady of the house on your case, take a little care please. Pete has also landed three or four kelt, which added to the numbers recorded throughout the beats it hopefully indicates the redds were well occupied this year. I have included this photo as it is a really good example of how bright and well mended Avon Kelt can appear. Thanks again for sending through the photos and the report Pete, it is very much appreciated.

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This is a really good photograph to illustrate my point for several reasons. Firstly a great shot of a beautiful twenty seven plus pike, now that is pretty obvious, stunning fish. A further aspect being a lovely shot of captor Terry, which is quite a rare thing. I have known Terry for years and I believe this to be the only shot of him I have, I may have more of him in the earlier years on the diary but nowhere near to capturing such a scene. There is a reason for the photo in that whilst Terry accurately weighs and mat shots his fish, he is not interested in personal appearances. Fortunately for us, on this occasion his daughter accompanied him and did the honours with the camera, which I'm sure you'll agree, she did a great job.

We seem to be struggling on the salmon front for the last few weeks. Why this should be, when we are enjoying good flows and almost at the peak of the season, I have no idea. Are they running and passing straight through us, into the higher river? Is there an element such as; temperature, air pressure, water quality, a factor lost on us but not on the salmon? Or are they simply not here because the last Spring tides of April failed to encourage any fish to enter the river? Whatever the reason I hope they soon get it out of their system and return to normal patterns of migration and numbers we might expect.

The last three warm decades have been devastating for our ancient oaks. Just a word of warning as Summer gets hotter and in full swing, don't stand under them, particularly on sunny days when they may just decide to drop a ton of limb on you. If we take the natural gradient of the Avon in the lower valley is, for sake of argument, one in a thousand, the upstream impact is easy to work out. The complication arises when perched channels, with much shallower gradients are involved. Perched channels are a fact of life on the Avon. The nature of water meadows and mills requires an artificial head of water to achieve the objective of controlled flooding and water energy. With us on the Estate there are several KMs of perched channels. Each channel if not maintained will attempt to revert to the natural course of the river in the lowest point in the valley. Usually across someone’s hay field! I'm sure many on the syndicate who knew Charlie Orchard will be sad to hear, after a short illness, he has sadly passed away. Almost a fixture in the "Aquarium" and the tail of "Tizards" I will miss our regular chats when our paths crossed. As I will miss his little blue Honda parked at the bridge. Rest assured he will still be a part of the the Ibsley at

I put similar shots up a fortnight ago. The water level remains virtually unchanged yet it appears drier, simply because the vegetation has grown and masked the flood. There is a Great White Egret in both shots, two of several that remain in the valley. I could have written this next piece yesterday in that "Mr Consistent" Stephen Hutchinson, landed a fresh 2SW fish of thirteen pounds today. Well fished Stephen. I also believe Gary had a fresh eighteen pound fish from Bisterne today, well done Gary, well fished. There have also been several fish seen and lost today, so there are fish in the river. Now there's an odd thing? The other day, at the height of the flood water, I received a phone call asking if I had the hatches at Ibsley open on flood settings as the caller was getting flooded at Fordingbridge. I have to admit to being a little surprised to be asked such a question when considering that Ibsley is at least five thousand meters downstream of Fordingbridge town centre. Added to which there is an extremely large set of hatches between Ibsley and Fordingbridge! Given the average gradient of the Avon is about 1:1000, I would have had to have a head of water at over five meters at Ibsley to overwhelm and impound the intervening hatches and impact on the town. Several syndicate members have asked in recent days if I knew of any intention to have a memorial for Chris Ball. I also know that many friends of Chris, other than syndicate members, have expressed a similar desire. Like father, like son, a great shot of Harry with a lovely bream, dad Nigel's favourite fish. You have to say these river bream are wonderful looking fish, almost slime free and a gorgeous deep bronze. Well done Harry, great shot Nigel, thanks for sending it through.

Whilst this cold snap will make barbel very difficult to find I'm sure we will see some specimen chub in the last few days. I haven't heard of an eight this season so if you know different, or manage to find one this week, I would very much like to hear about your success. The saving grace, in my personal case, is that during my fifty plus years of association with this river I must have ingested or absorbed gallons of Avon Water. I can only hope my gut has developed the self preservation measures that are comparable to a reversed osmosis system with an in-line nano-filter! A spot of advice, should you ever find yourself with occasion to be wading about out in the middle of a flooded valley. Importantly, always, always, have a wading staff with you. Two or three hundred meters from the nearest feature, that is above the surface, it is very easy to become disorientated. A stout staff allows you the opportunity to take a rest and get your bearings. The water may only be a couple of feet deep but it is flowing rapidly so keep an eye upstream to avoid being swept off your feet by passing flotsam. Out in that vast sweep of water there are many ditches and channels that have to be avoided, which is were your staff once more becomes vital. Don't take a step unless you have tested the ground where you intend to put your foot.