HISTORIC VENUES
From one of Britain’s best match venues to a fishless wasteland, Holme Pierrepont had a rise and fall like no other
Holme Pierrepont
WHEN anglers talk about the iconic rowing lake at Holme Pierrepont, just outside Nottingham, words are generally spoken in a reminiscent yet slightly mournful tone.
Often mispronounced ‘Pierrepoint’, as locals are keen to remind you, the venue was opened in 1973 by then Prime Minister, Ted Heath.
At 2,000m long, with even depths, an access road around it and a uniform concrete construction, it was ideal for big fishing events. Although it’s unlikely that this crossed the designer’s mind, the venue went on to become one of the most famous waters in the country and hosted what has been described as the ‘greatest day in British match fishing history’ – the 1994 World Championships.
Rising to stardom
In 1976, Holme Pierrepont hosted its first large fishing contest, the Gladding Masters. In short, the match was a disaster. All that could be caught were pike, and some of the country’s greatest anglers, including Billy Lane and Ian Heaps, ended up casting out big bunches of worms and reeling them in, with the hope of inducing a take.
A few years later, though, in the early 1980s, the fishing was sensational. A pipe connected the rowing lake to the nearby River Trent, and it’s believed roach and bream entered through this.
In winter, even chub could be caught on the waggler where the pipe flowed in, and the quality of the fishing now echoed across the nation.
Large matches were held regularly, with legendary organiser Steve Toone hosting 60-peg Monday night contests. Bob Nudd would travel all the way from Essex to fish these.
Ivan Marks and fellow Leicester anglers were other famous names who travelled to enjoy the sport – it was that good.
Double-figure bags of roach would often see competitors finish nowhere, and the match record is believed to have been set by the late Jan Porter, with more than 80lb of bream.
On the weekends there’d be even larger events, with 100-peg contests commonplace, not to mention a number of European Supercups and other highprofile events of the day.
It’s no surprise, then, that the 1994 World Championships was held at the venue, but come the event the fishing had taken a dramatic downturn.
Total collapse
The fishing started to decline in 1986, when the Water Sports
Centre built a slalom course. In doing so, they blocked the pipe that allowed water to flow in and out of the lake.
This pipe ensured that the water was coloured and gave it a bit of movement, so when everything came to a stop, the lake became very clear.
As we know, silverfish don’t like to feed in clear water, which made the fishing more difficult, but it wasn’t until cormorants moved in that the stocks began to decline.
Not long before the date of the match, a huge number of these birds descended on the waterway. Dick Clegg OBE, England manager at the time, recalls counting 104 of them at one point. With clear, shallow water, you can imagine the damage they did.
Organisers tried adding dye to the water and getting a man to drive round in a boat to stir the bottom up, but the cormorants couldn’t be deterred.
Come the World Champs, England won gold in front of a home crowd filled with thousands of spectators, and Bob Nudd also took home the individual gold medal.
The fishing was incredibly poor, though, and Bob won his section on day one with just four fish.
On the second day things were a little better, with Bob again winning his section, this time with a couple of pounds.
Dick Clegg described the win as his team’s most important result of all, not only because it was on home soil, but because it could be the last World Champs held on an English water.
Holme Pierrepont today
After the 1994 World Champs, the venue, unsurprisingly, fell out of favour with match anglers, and today, no fishing is allowed on there at all.
The water is so clear that it’s choked with weed, and large bales of hay can be seen in the margins. It gets so bad at times that the rowing course officials have to cut it, to stop rowers’ oars getting tangled up.
But anglers visiting the nearby River Trent will often have a walk around Holme Pierrepont, remembering the vast crowds, and the times when the world’s greatest anglers graced its concrete banks.
Rumour has it that not so long ago, big bream and perch were caught there, but today the stocks are totally unknown.
It could be solid with fish, and there’s little doubt that if the rowing course could be brought back to its former glory, it’d yet again make one hell of a venue.