Editorial List

In 1961 with my late husband Gerald Fox-Edwards I bought a fishing pub. As a Londoner and an actress I knew positively nothing about fishing and little about hotel keeping. But Gerald’s health was worrying and his doctors advised country air. He was a passionate fisherman and his mecca was to own a fishing inn with a river at the bottom of the garden, so we bought The Arundell Arms in Devon.

For many in the wider community, angling is nothing more than a worm at one end and a fool at the other. In actual fact, angling drives a huge economy, which is very important for our region, particularly when it comes to attracting visitors. Some of the larger fisheries cater exclusively for holiday makers. Although the lakes are not available for locals to patronise, the anglers that fish them bring trade to our tackle shops, restaurants and pubs and enable us to enjoy the better service that is offered as a result of plentiful trade. 

SWRA is the voice of riparian owners and game angling in the South West. It is the umbrella of the individual river associations in the South West and a powerful lobbying body regularly consulted by the Environment Agency and Government. Its main aim is to see salmon and sea trout stocks and the sport of angling for them return to their former glory. As with many aspects of modern life, angling and our freedom to enjoy it have been threatened by an ever-growing bureaucracy. Our rivers are also subject to pressure from abstraction, pollution and public access.

 2012 – The year of family fishing fun…

The Environment Agency is once again running free introduction to fishing days. After the resounding success of last year’s events we are once again running some introduction to fishing days. The family days proved to be a bit hit during the Summer Holidays and we will be running more this year so the whole family can come and learn about fishing.