FOND MEMORIES OF JOHN CADD

I WAS saddened to read of the death of John Cadd in a recent issue of Angling Times. When I began to take my fishing seriously I spent many hours fishing with John and saw lots of his catches.

Many a night we spent in the Isis public house at Iffley, on the outskirts of Oxford, playing bar billiards and chatting about fishing over a pint or two!

I then began match fishing with the Isis Oxford team, a group of very good anglers who had many successes.

John continued specimen fishing but always asked how Isis was doing when we met, usually on the banks of the Thames. When he moved to

Dorset I lost touch, but I’m sure he had many successful catches. So rest in peace John, I’m sure your spirit wanders along the banks of the Thames, Avon and Stour. Stephen Pipkin, Oxford

WE CAN’T LET THIS HAPPEN

WHILE on a early morning chubbing session on the River Don in Doncaster city centre I was privileged to see an otter.

As many in my age group and beyond will remember, the Don, along with other old industrial rivers around the country, was nothing but a flowing sewer, totally void of any living creature.

However, over several decades of hard work the Don now resembles nothing to suggest its murky past.

Now we read, hear and see that the very companies and organisations who are supposed to be the guardians of our country’s waterways are hell-bent on reversing all the hard work of their predecessors by turning our waterways back into open sewers once again.The few fines the courts hand out don’t seem to deter them, so maybe it’s time for the courts to consider imposing custodial sentences. I’m sure these would serve as a greater deterrent than the simple signing of yet another cheque. Paul Bailey, email