Really ?

Are you sure ?

Having received the two following comments in quick succession, I thought I would set out how things occurred, and nearly did.
But first of all I would ask these two individuals, if they are still members, or know the former Hon Secretary, have you asked him for his views of the position the Society was in during his short term in office..
Failing that let me know who you are and maybe I'll give you the facts privately and  personally.

Your statement is not really true as your 'coup' comment named several ex committee members and made derogatory remarks about them. To my knowledge none of those named have attacked you Fred and therefore you had no reason to attack them. Furthermore several of those mentioned served the BS for 10yrs+ and actually did an awful lot of hard work for the membership. Perhaps you should have remembered that before publicly slating them! on Confidence broken part 2

Anonymous

on 30/01/13

I have to say, whoever you are, your knowledge is incomplete, at least two of them certainly did. 
One on the BS forum and on a little used blog of his, and another set up an email in my name and wrote to people, but he was soon found out.
I would also ask how do you know, or who told you they did an awful lot of hard work ?

Fred, am I right in saying that all of the people you name who alledgedly tried to de-throne Mr Pope then left the BS Committee shortly after he refused to step aside? Is it just coincidence then that the BS has steadily declined since then in terms of member numbers, loss of fisheries, less magazines, no junior days etc etc.? Perhaps you under estimate the work they did put in! FM onThe Story

Publish | Delete | Spam

Anonymous

on 30/01/13

No allegedly about it. He didn't refuse to step down, he noted  he was still wanted on the committee, the vote showed him that.

 The trouble was that all "the work they did put in" was only showing on the surface, there is evidence that numbers appeared to be in decline since 2002 at the latest, and I can tell you how if you have the common decency to declare your interest. I'm not certain if 2002 has any significance, I'll check that out though.

I can tell you at the very least, without going into detail here, that there were serious member management problems when I joined the committee in 2008.

So an awful lot of "hard work" wasn't as effective as we were all lead to believe!

Today with the current committee, there are no problems with management, just problems to overcome with the individual members and potential new members priorities with their finances.


Up date

2002 the year the Society started up it's own Forum....... now I wonder?

He doesn't like it up him part 3

Censored

It seems a certain little person has gone to the trouble of complaining about one of my Blog entries, and
He doesn't like it up him (part 1) has been removed by Google.
Well I won't be censored by anybody, but the only trouble is, it appears at the moment that I have no way of discussing, or appealing that removal with Google.
They just deleted it!
Well nearly, I have the 22 comments still on this file.
 If anybody by any chance copied that blog entry and wouldn't mind sending me a copy it can be sent to me anonymously on the comments below. I would like a copy in order that I can reissue it. That'll save me a total re-write.
It also appears that I have no way of appealing about the contents of that other blog. So it may be that in order for me to have my say I should switch to Wordpress too.
I'm looking into both at this time, anybody who knows how to go about that, you can send a comment anonymously if you like also.
It also looks like I may have to go down the route of harassment instead so I'm taking advice on that from the police tomorrow in Grimsby.
Anybody who has seen his blog since it's inception will no doubt see I have a case.

He's now threatening to get the Blog entry about the attempted coupe removed, he may well succeed I don't know, if Google just remove stuff when just anybody complains, then people like him block any truths and make up their own version.

You only have to see what he's written on his blog in the comments under my name to see what he's like.
You may also like to make am assessment of his character, and why he is so interested in the Barbel Society and Steve Pope, bearing in mind he's not been a member for some years.
On the otherhand is may be a littlemans obsession, especially if he can get others to do his deeds for him for favours.
We shall see

In the meantime just a taster of one of the 22 comments

T'old Rumpelstiltskin comparing cock sizes again. How typical of the little runt. Trouble is his gob (or should I say fingertips) are much bigger than his bollocks

Barbel Tales

Book release


I put a lot of work into this to set it up before handing it over. It will be worth it.

My order is in.





http://www.barbelsociety.co.uk/BarbelTales.htm

Confidence broken part 2

Lee Fletcher

Following friendly contact from Lee Fletcher in respect of my previous blog of yesterday, I have decided to remove the entry and leave it in the background just in case the situation changes.

I am still upset with Lee, and have told him so.
In my view to pass on information to an individual,whom he knew to be antagonistic towards me,was a breach of trust of the highest order, especially as all our contacts have been, as could be seen by the email exchange, very friendly.
I have no wish and I'm sure he doesn't want to endanger further any friendship we may have, and no doubt we will have that fishing trip one day!

The Story

The Story....so far

Having suffered a deluge of emails from R**** over the last couple of days, including the one put on in part in my previous blog, I’ve been thinking about what I  believe to be the antithesis of today’s world really is. responding to his comments on his blog only get's all my words removed and replaced by his sick ramblings.

The likes of little R**** is what we now seem to expect will happen if we ever have the temerity to have thoughts that don’t fit in the mould of their type. 

They are the type who infest today’s world of the internet, with their faux disgust at all things and anybody with success. I won’t give examples because you’ve all seen it the hoards that flock around the exclamations of the Daily Mail showing their mock disgust.

Not happy with their size or maybe their life, this type of individual will go out of his way to bully cajole harangue or nag away at decent folk until they capitulate, fall in with the gang, or just go away and let them get on with their bully boy/school playground tactics.

I’ve never made this public, but I will now .

As an ex  Barbel Society committee member (out of my own choice) I had a certain loyalty to my colleagues  and one thing I pride myself with is loyalty.

I don’t have to agree without question, but I must accept the majority line.

To a certain extent that even happened with R**** when I was a member of Hazelford Piscatorials with our little stretch of the middle Trent. I backed him with his tactics about protecting the fishery against those who had a grudge against the take over of the management of the water from the owning club.

What I didn’t accept, because I didn’t personally know an individual, was the constant dig by him and others who were ex committee members of the Barbel Society and certain members of the then existing Barbel Society committee. I had to find out myself.

Anyway in August 2008, having volunteered to join the committee shortly before to become editor of Barbel Fisher I attended my first committee meeting and met a number of committee members in the pub car park beforehand . 

Talk was a foot of an organised coupe d'etat to remove Steve Pope from his post as Chairman.

Those attending this pre-meeting meeting were, Mike Osborne, who became the “elected” spokesperson, Mike Berridge (a gobby foul mouthed Yorkshire man)  Mark Fox (a Jack the lad Essex boy) and John Smith(an ineffective individual, mate of Foxy). My memory fails me but I think Steve Richardson was there too.

The plot was laid and Mike O was put up as the front man, all I knew was they wanted Steve Pope out.

I had only met Steve in passing at the annual conference, and had a few telephone calls with him, since taking on the job. 

So at this time had no real personal view about him, he seemed to come across ok to me.

So there we all were sat around the tables in the pub meeting room, and Mike O gingerly put forward the proposal. 

There were a few points given by some and to his credit Steve who was obviously put on the spot, defended himself,and his thoughts of the Society and those around very capably.

It came to the vote, I abstained because in my view he showed his passion and not what people on the internet had inferred a dictatorial approach.

 This bloke wasn’t the dictator  he was made out to be by those who didn’t get their own way, he was however passionate about the Barbel Society and wasn’t going to let the likes of Foxy, who was lined up for the job in the car park, take over and potentially seriously damage the Society.

So Steve stayed on board, democracy worked, and those that started the insurrection, went off with their tails between their legs.

Then the fun started, and I have no doubt in my mind it was because Mike Berridge reported back, and probably always did from the meetings to R****, who at this time wasn’t even a member of the Barbel Society.

I was called all sorts of names, from traitor etc, etc, by some of R****’s opo's in the HPS, one of whom, the most vociferous  was the  fat follower and roccarselicker Chris Pearson.

So it carried on with HPS fully aware that all R**** wanted from me was another ally on the committee to knock Steve off the chair. It wasn’t ever said directly by him but it was obvious to me he was feeding the cattle amongst his “friends”

I told Rocca I wouldn’t be renewing my ticket for HPS and told the plotters many of them ex BS members, what I thought of them. I was barred from the HPS website well before my membership ended in March 2010, they didn’t like anybody speaking against  their aims.

And so it carried on and still does, none of the individuals, well Mike Osborne did, had anything to offer the Barbel Society, they wanted their own little club for the boys, and no doubt because of each of their temperament would have given R**** his little empire, if it lasted that long.

So there you have it R**** shows himself publicly to be a tiny man with a napolionic power complex, who attacks  individuals on a personal  basis when it must be obvious to him he is not going to get his way.

In short he has nothing to offer, never has he offered any  alternative.
Like many of the loud shouters, he must not be allowed to ever get his way, whatever that is!!

Itchy feet

It's all David Attenbourough's fault

I've been watching Africa on the tele; and it 's made me look out the photo's of our holiday in Kenya in  March 2001 for my 52nd birthday and retirement.
The Boss keeps asking "what shall be do when you really retire next year and get your extra pension"
I think I've made a decision, another safari holiday, but probably because of the things going on in the north of Africa, somewhere down south perhaps Namibia and maybe even some fishing.

Fishing

I was all ready to have a session on the chub mid-week on the upper Witham, but Bay Leaf advised the banks, which are steep in places were quite dangerous being almost solid ice. So with my hatred of river dipping at the best of times,, I decided to delay my trip. I suppose I could have gone down to the tidal, but the appeal of the big river is not what it was!
The snow is coming down again as I write,so maybe when we have a thaw I'll give it a go.

Cousin Joyce

Plenty of good news this week, Joyce has come out of the coma and is awake for a few hours a day.
She is speaking and smiling just a bit, and is able to almost support herself when walking with the physio. 
I can imagine the stress the family has been through since before Christmas, but they've always had hope and faith that she would recover, these latest improvements have given them something else to be positive about. 
She's doing so well that she is now transferred to the local hospital.
Get well soon Joyce.

Oh dear!

Silly games
I suppose I should have thought about it, but when you are doing somebody  a favour and try to sell their fishing gear, in this case an old friend who can no longer fish because of severe arthritis in his hands, you don't really think about the tossers of this world who would put a spoiler in.
I gave my eBay details on this Blog in the hope of increasing the interest in his stuff.
Anyway, an item of tackle put on eBay gets a number of bids  and finally an offer from  a first timer with zero feedback.
He wins and I send the Paypal invoice and get no response. The address is in Doncaster, Yorkshire(doubt mounting) which turns out to be a cancer charity office, and also a fake mobile telephone number, tells me it's that little man, or one of his sycophants  playing childish games.
I did have 100% positive feedback, but now have a negative on it.
No real hassle to me, because I sold the item to the second bidder for the same money anyway but what a low down piece of work this individual is, and one or two of you wonder why I sometimes bring these people to your attention on this blog, which gets read  2000 times a month.
Now you know why, the more who know their little games the better, they will get their comeuppance.
No doubt when eBay have done their work I'll get the negative removed, who knows I may even get an IP address to publicise!
We shall see.

Fishing
Had another afternoon on the upper Witham on Wednesday, there was still a bit of colour in the water, but unlike my earlier trip last week I couldn't buy a bite, met Bay Leaf and had a chat about the prospects of this little river. There may be a surprise barbel or two, chub up and around the 6lb mark and some decent roach.
I'll stick with the chub for the moment, or until March 14th anyway.

Fishery update
You may recall I mentioned in an earlier blog that I was somewhat disturbed that a large angling club had been outbid by a ten man syndicate run by a man who's name I now have.
They couldn't possibly manage the location, and  I now learn the individual is somewhat low on funds.
Shades of insider dealing were at the forefront of my mind, when I found out who the "landlord" was and particularly without me mentioning the fishery, a certain little Yorkshireman made comment on here.

Things are progressing.

A positive note
My cousin Joyce has been moved from the ICU to a ward, she hasn't yet regained full consciousness, but there are signs of coming out of the coma and giving reactions to stimuli.


AiM Shares update
So far so good, my two for one offer holding came in today, on paper giving me a good 4 figure profit.
My cancer research company hasn't yet issued the good news about a deal that should should have come to fruition at the end of 2012. They are positive that once the I's and T's have been crossed a very good deal is on for shareholders.As it stands, on paper I have 50% growth in value.
My other 3 shares are ticking over.

Lazy sunday

A book review:

The invoice from Medlar Press is dated 27^th September 2011, the book A Train to Catch, today the 6^th January 2012!

 I requested of The Boss that perhaps we had times in the day when the distractions of Radio 4 Extra were given a rest, and to stop me having an excuse of not reading my books. 

An excuse that has festered, in my head only, for considerable  time, when my reading has been reduced to holidays and very early mornings when the Barbel Fisher was close to the point of going to the printer and my sleepless nights of worrying if I had enough content.

So at around 11am the digital radio on the TV was switched off, and I started on Jon Berry’s book bought solely on the basis of enjoying his previous books;

A Can of Worms and Beneath the Black Water.The former becoming, in my view, the very best reference point for anything barbel. The later for being one of the few books that I’ve read once, and then picked it up straight away to read again.

The book is primarily trying to retrace train journeys carried out in the late 1800’s to the 1960’s to fish away from city/industrial squalor, to the countryside, the subtitle being, A return ticket to the golden age of fishing.

Jon takes us, giving a little history on the way, to Derbyshire and the trout streams, the mountains streams of Wales, the seaside towns of Looe, Southsea and Whitby, the Thames, the Hampshire Avon Royalty, the Norfolk Broads , Lake Windemere and the Scottish Highlands.

He fishes, he sometimes catches, but all in all reminds us of what used to be before Doctor Beeching short-sightedly, in my view, shut railway lines and closed vast areas of the country from the pleasures of rail journeys for our leisure in favour of the motor car. 

So it was 4pm when I started this review,  it follows intermittent  breaks for me to prepare the vegetables,  make the batter puds, cook the rib of beef Sunday lunch, and drink bottles of London Pride and Pedigree and assist The Boss drink a bottle of Hermitage, some of the remains of our Christmas stock. 

Having just finished the book I may well pick it up again, but I hear Johnnie Walker with the Sounds of the 70’s on in the background, so it probably won’t be today.

So in short, a very good read of 187 pages and highly recommended.

Today

At last

After weeks of intending to go fishing and finding excuses not to, today was the day I did it.

I have to say part of my reason, well most of it, was to have some time to myself to think over what occurred in the last year or so, since my Mum,died and today being the anniversary of my Dad's death in 2004.
Just before Christmas also we got some bad news concerning my cousin Joyce, the eldest of my Aunt Maggie's children, she had a brain bleed and is still not yet regained consciousness since the 20th December.

3rd May 1947 my Mum and Dads wedding. Joyce is the little'un at the front with Maggie holding her shoulder. They are the only two left from that photo.

So my day by the river, well afternoon, an hours drive to the Upper Witham found me on the bank at around noon. I walked upstream to "Ben's Weir" and chose a swim just below it. The intention to give it an hour and move down stream.The river was shifting through, with a nice colour and was back within the banks, as can be seen.

At around the hour, just as I was fiddling with my bag and putting the bait away for the move, I had a take on Stilton, having failed to encourage a bite on worm and flake, and missed it. So I decided to stay put in the hope that my crumb had encouraged fish into the swim.

Back out again and within minutes another big tug which I connected with and produced a chub of exactly 4lb which I returned and got back to the job. A couple more tugs and switches of bait found me moving down stream 

My walk took me not to the next swim, but down to the other end of the fishery looking for a likely spot not needing me to be resting in sludgy mud and with good access to land any fish I may be fortunate to attract.

I decided to back track, a swim by the foot bridge looked good, it was opposite some willows that had been hacked away by the EA, but the duck feeders were on the bridge so I dropped below the next bend.

upstream

downstream 

I tried all the baits again and got a few tugs on the flake but no connections, so straight on to Stilton which produced an almost immediate take. 

I had the fish on but the hook slipped, by this time I was fishing  in the downstream swim under the tree and decided to stay put until sunset, the off time.

Once again readying myself for the home journey, another take and this time another chub of 4lb12ozs graced my net.

All in all I was pretty happy with my afternoon fishing, getting used to a lighter set up from the Trent, and use of a quiver tip.

. I felt very change of direction the chub were giving, unlike when I've accidentally caught them on my Trent barbel kit.

My day was made even better on returning home to find a message to say that Joyce, although still in a coma had squeezed her daughters hand , the first sign of direct movement since her admission and operations to remove the pressure then the main 4 hour plus operation within the brain.

So all in all, plenty of time to think and to enjoy a day by the river and some positive news.