A-Z Challenge 2018 - British Rivers; 'C' Chater, Camel

There were two rivers in the village in which I was born - both will feature in this Challenge.

If you walked down Bull Lane in the Rutland village of Ketton, to get to Algate, the path took you across a footbridge over the River Chater. 

River Chater at Ketton from the Sinc Bridge looking north

I must confess that I never knew the bridge had that name, but as children we used to paddle in that stretch of water. I was more familiar with the river upstream beyond the bridge over Church Road.

River Chater Bridge

That footbridge was not there when I was a boy. Further upstream was another footbridge reached by a path over the road from the Railway Inn beyond the church you can see in the background. It was from that bridge and the banks of the Chater that I fished for dace and caught minnows in a jam jar baited with bread.

From age 11 my route to school took me left over the bridge and along the road as it swung up to the railway station where I took a train each day down the line to Stamford. From the station there we crossed this bridge - 

Town Bridge over the River Welland

I always thought that the river on the left was the Chater and the one from the right (just visible) is the Welland. The land in between is Stamford Meadows which used to be the place where a Roman ford crossed the river.

When we go to Cornwall to see our grandsons we always finish up having coffee at 'Down by the Ferry' in Padstow. From there a favourite walk is along the estuary of the River Camel.

Although the Camel rises on Bodmin Moor it's the Camel Trail along the estuary that we know best, from that is this bridge - 

To where it meets the sea at Padstow Bay

Buster loved it too.

And even my wife went swimming on one occasion.

The only shot I'm allowed to show

We waited all day here but the camels never showed up!

Photo attributions:

• River Chater from the Sinc Bridge: June 1999 ex geograph.org.uk by Humphrey Bolton - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence
• River Chater Bridge: 27 April 2007 ex geograph.org.uk by Graham Horn - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence
• Bridge over River Welland: ex wikipedia Commons - CC BY-SA 3.0 licence
• Sketch Map of River Camel & its tributaries: 25 February 2010 by Andy F - CC BY 3.0 licence

Gone fishin again - Sepia Saturday

Back in November 2011 I went fishing on Sepia Saturday here.

Alan's prompt this week shows three miners on a fishing trip, but by the look of them they are relaxing, telling fisherman's tales.

I first when fishing when I was a young boy, a minor in fact. However it wasn't as long ago as this.

Children fishing for minnows with net
1882 - Van Ingen and Snyder

Our technique was to use a jam jar on a length of string; the bait was small pieces of bread inside the jar. The skill was to cast the jar into the river without losing the bread. It wasn't very long before fish would enter the jar after a feast but then you had to pull the jar out of the water quickly with the fish inside.

The most common fish we caught this way were small minnows and sticklebacks like these - 

Minnow
(3 March 2008 - Freddy Kreugar)

Stickleback
(Ellen Edmondson & Hugh Chrisp)

If we were lucky we would lift a stone and find a Miller's Thumb.

Bullhead of Miller's Thumb
(June 2009 - Hans Hillewaert - CC BY-SA 4.0)

These were good at camouflaging themselves in their surroundings. One would fit easily it the palm of your hand.

The river did not have to be very deep for these activities, although we rarely waded like this.

Children search for minnows
(Ronald Laubertson - US Fish and Wildlife Service)

We never used a net and girls were not allowed.

In previous posts I have mentioned that I was born in the village of Ketton, in Rutland - England's smallest county. 

River Chater at Ketton, where I used to fish
(June 1959 - By Humphrey Bolton - CC BY-SA 2.0)

River Chater Bridge, Ketton
(April 2007 - By Graham Horn - CC BY-SA 2.0)

The stone bridge was built in the 17th century and restored in 1849. The footbridge did not exist when I live there back in the 1940s. The Chater here was too fast flowing for fishing with jam jars to be successful.

Later I took to fishing with rod and line in the River Welland which was on the outskirts of the village. The Chater joins the Welland at Stamford c. four miles down stream. However my interest in fishing faded as I became too involved with sport - and discovered girls!

The last two weeks we have been staying with our daughter in Michigan and it was in lake in her property that, as I'm sure I have told you before that I caught my largest fish.

Bob's catfish in 2006

No, I'm not pulling its tail to make it longer.

I have not been able to get away from fish this week. This one was the most colourful I've seen.

Aquarium in a Chrysler service centre, Lake Orion

And just to prevent me bragging about the size of my catfish I was taken to Oxford Township's Library to see this monster.

I think he was looking for the exit!

His companions in the tank were more like the roach I used to catch in the River Welland.

My fisherman's tale is almost done so I'll leave you to search out others at Sepia-Saturday-253.

Me? I'm hooked by Louis and Bing.