On Saturday the 27th October Lis and I went to Denton Gravesend went to the 40th City of London Fishery Research Experiment Organised by the City of London Corporation,
the Thames Angling Preservation Society and the Environment Agency.Additional funding is provided by the Fishmongers’Company and the Port of London Authority.
Yet again it was very jolly event not spoiled by torrential rain !! As usual the lunch was most enjoyable. The following text is abstracted and added to from the brochure provided for the day.
The City of London is involved via its Port of London Health Authority and the base for the experiment and the lunch is its Denton office .
the City of London became interested in 1971 and after the GLC withdrew , the first
joint experiment was arranged in 1973. It became an annual event which is now in its 40th year.
At the 1966 experiment, stewards were instructed to register fish that were caught before returning them to the river. This practice has now been adopted at similar events all around the country.
The Thames Angling Preservation Society also pioneered the zoning and points system used in the competition today. Judging is based on the greatest variety of fi sh caught and a scoring
system is used which was originally devised by Dr Wheeler of the Natural History Museum. The system rates fish according to scarcity and significance in the context of a cleaner river.
The results of the 40 Fishing Experiments have demonstrated that the River Thames has recovered since the 1950’s & 1960’s when a person was placed in quarantine if they fell into the
water! Over the years, Dick Hodges and Reg Butcher of the Thames Angling Preservation Society have been key figures in organising the annual competition and their hard work and enthusiasm
continues to be greatly appreciated by all who take part. Reg has a long history with the river, having begun working on barges as a teenager. In 1966 he caught the first cod in the Thames for 100
years, from Gravesend Promenade. He also featured in a 1970 film about the Thames.
I became involved again in 2006 when I joined the board of the PLA and by 2007 we , the Water Conservators, had introduced the Biodiversity Prize ,one of our miniature tankards , for the catch which best demonstrates the continuing improvement and conservation of the River - we thought that this captured the original spirit of the competition .
Eight teams compete for the Lady Howard Trophy which is awarded to the team with the highest
number of points.
Th e teams were:
Charles Stanley Angling Team
CoL Invitation Angling Team
Essex County Angling Team
Kent Angling Team
PLA Angling Team
Porth Health & Environmental Services Committee Team
Public Services Team .... winner presented by the present Lady Howard , former Lady Mayoress of London and daughter in law of the previous Lady Howard
Thamesiders Angling Team
Fishmongers’ Cup
Anglers compete individually for the Fishmongers’ Cup which is presented to the angler who has caught the largest and/or best fish during the competition ..... winner Rick Hodson of the PLA team with a whopping 9 lb cod ! presented by a representative from the Fishmongers
Bio-diversity Award
Th e Worshipful Company of Water Conservators present an award for the catch which most demonstrates continuing healthiness and improvement of the River Thames .... winner Phil Baxter of the PLA team prize presented by Peter Matthews Master Water Conservator
The following teams competed:
City of London School
City of London School for Girls
Gravesend Grammar School ... winner presented by Peter Matthews
Best individual catch by an adult won Paul Longmuir – Public Services Team
Best individual catch by school team – Matthew Perry – Gravesend Grammar
The event was rounded off with a vote of thanks from the Captain of the Essex County team
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