First joined Ashfield Angling in its early days back in 2004 (my two favourite venues were C1 and Thrumpton; of course, back then it was pretty much guaranteed that you'd drop into a decent swim, and C1 very rarely had that many bivvies causing river "bedblocking" back then!!)
Over the years as the club acquired new river venues, of course I persevered, although due to rapidly expanding member numbers and the growing incidences of bivvy dominance, it seemed like I was fighting 'a losing battle'.
Thank God that the landowners, at Thrumpton, have continued to maintain the requirement for anglers to quit the venue by sunset (other than the recent new rule that allows overnights upstream above the weir).
Anyway, as my wife and I have recently committed to a complete change in our lives (last Christmas) by moving to Liverpool from Hinckley after 16 years (for family reasons; my one proviso was that I must be able to a gain reasonable access to a "proper" Barbel river and it now only takes me 45 minutes to get to some reasonable, and as yet, unpressured stretches of the brilliant Ribble
So, no! I don't for one minute miss those constant fruitless blanks on what is now a regularly overfished, pressured Trent.
