A lost and found Poem

[Mark Swaby]

Some years ago on the Colne Forum an angler wrote a poem about Denham on the river Colne,the stretch i caught my first barbel from and grew up fishing over 40 years ago.A small stretch between a weir and the A40 which was at the time the best Colne stretch for large Barbel.I recently came across this Poem in a box of papers, i must have copied it down at the time and on reading it again thought it special enough that everyone should get a chance to see it.Thanks again to the poet who wrote it,hopefully he is still reading our Forums.

THE STRETCH

Between the foam and the arterial hum,
You can join a club and its free for some,
A confluence that remains unseen,
The Adams mill of our urban stream,
You and i have both been there,
And seen the Gold in their verdant lair,
And offered sweets with little fuss,
Sat trembling beside the scirpus,
But no longer do i feel desire,
I saw the splash that drenched my fire,
Romantic mysteries all discharged,
By a Sherlock Holmes in camoflage.​

<edit - that better Mark? - paul4>

 

[Mark Swaby]

starts at the title The stretch


<edit - sorted - paul4 >

 

[John Cook]

Nice words Mark i fished that stretch for quite a while what is it like now?

 

[Mark Swaby]

Very few fish left sadly like most rivers down south,very hard fishing with a few fish

 

[John Cook]

That poor Colne so much poaching going on......

 

[Richard Longmuir]

Just wish I could understand it

 

[Mark Swaby]

Cheers Paul,spot on, Richard i must admit to looking up scirpus when i first read it.The author who wrote this really knew this 1/2 mile,small river, club section.It includes 3 free fishing swims,the foam from the weir,the noise of the A40/m40,the confluence, is the river Misbourne impossible to see from the fishing side and scirpus which lines the banks.Times have changed and so has the river,this stems back to when it was at its very best,its very sadly missed by all who fished it in its prime.