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Moving house for a barbel?

Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor

Senior Member
The birds have flown the nest,..parents have passed on,..the wife is keen and I can take early retirement.
Having spent the past 37 years driving 100 miles to my favourite rivers [ Hamp Avon and Dorset Stour ] I am seriously considering moving to Dorset / Hampshire borders to be able to fish them on a regular basis.
I have a few casual friends in the area but will miss many of my lifelong mates.
Have any of you taken the plunge or thought about it?
Any regrets?
dt.
 
I remember once reading a newspaper article about (I think) George Best by the great Hugh Macilvaney and he spoke of the excitment of approaching the ground - probably Old Trafford - with a spring in his step, because he knew that in an hour’s time he would be watching Georgie play. It could have been Ryan Giggs, whatever. That’s the same feeling I get when I see the big wind Turbine on the M4 at junction 11 of the M4 as I approach the Kennet and the same feeling I get when on a few occaisions I’ve turned the key of the School gates at Throop and seen that straight tree lined avenue down to the river. If you can move closer to it, then I would. I think about it all the time.

Thought provoking post. Good on yer Dave. But what about the pond?

Cheers Nick
 
I would absolutely take the plunge Dave. I live very close to the Kennet and I never take for granted the fact that I can be fairly spontaneous when it comes to getting to the river- within 15 minutes if an opportunity arises! Definitely useful during the winter and you are looking for the right weather conditions.

It would be a new adventure too and with more time on your hands you would make new friends pretty quickly and you wouldn't be so far away from your existing mates that you couldn't visit them (and vice versa) fairly regularly. Beautiful countryside and some very pretty places to live I imagine on those borders.

I think I would be very excited at the prospect of living a stones throw from my favourite fishing haunts and being able to fish and explore them more regularly.

As Nick says, good thought provoking thread.
 
It is a difficult one, you know grass is always greener, or in this case water is more bountiful, perhaps? I have spent more of my life in the Southern Counties, what with the RAF in Wiltshire and then work in Southampton Bournemouth, and I can say I still think of these places as being home of sorts, and wouldn't hesitate in moving back. But back then the Stour and Hampshire Avon were at their peaks as far as sport, but have suffered of late, so apart from the area being a wonderful area to retire the fishing has suffered.

And there is the Upper Avon and I guess if I could chose one place to live, it would be Hungerford or Marlborough areas, however the cost of a house there would be beyond me, so I might look at Southampton or Bournemouth, and you know what they say Southampton for the Continent and Bournemouth for the in-continent :)... but with the Stour and Avon on your doorstep you would be well placed.

Of course Swindon would serve you well for the Kennet, but Swindon suffers from an image problem, but it is where the missus and I first dipped into the property market all those years ago, and it is not that bad really, and of course you have the Magic Roundabouts to keep you guessing :)

Oh! and there's the Itchen decisions decisions :confused:
 
I Live 340 yards form the river medway and a particularly good stretch for Carp.

I've never fished it in my life. It backs onto a council estate, its the main scenic route into town and is often patrolled by many a dog walker yobbo immigrant etc etc but during the day its quite pleasant, the fishable bank is the other side of the river, the side i live on is private grounds and boatyard etc etc. Should it be fishable from this side then i probably would fish it a lot. Instead of fishing 340 yards away i also travel all the way to dorset to fish the stour and avon and nearly moved there about 8 years ago but didnt want to risk not having the work so didnt do it in the end, but come retirement i think i would definitely move.
 
I had a similar idea when i retired 4 yrs ago. However the financial crisis curtailed the housing market.
Then last july we sold the house in essex and lived in rented accommodation in the ross-on-wye area. It tends to focus the mind more when you're homeless.!!
We eventually bought a house in Worcester and haven't looked back.
A five minute walk to the Severn, 10 minute bike ride to the Teme and the Wye and Warks Avon are only half an hour away.
I must say i'm in fishing heaven.
Don't neglect to keep earning brownie points with your wife and i think you'll be fine. Just wish i'd have done it 4yrs years back.
 
Lewis Anderson said:
It backs onto a council estate, its the main scenic route into town and is often patrolled by many a dog walker yobbo immigrant etc etc
Click to expand...

What a lovely post, Lewis; positively brimming with tolerance and humanity. :rolleyes:

In answer to Dave's lovely predicament; yes, I'd move at the drop of a hat....family and job permitting. :)
 
This is something I have been thinking about for the last 18 months since I retired. I currently live in Ashford, Middx and regularly drive the 30 to 40 miles to the Kennet between junctions 11 and 14 on the M4.

The problem is I just can't work out where I want to move to. I don't want to be in a city, whilst on the other hand I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere and of course there must be a tackle shop within reasonable distance. I've been so lucky in that respect, in that I have always had a tackle shop within 100 yards on my homes for the past 30 years.

If anyone would care to suggest somewhere I should consider, I'd be happy to hear your suggestions, probably PM would be best.
 
Dave

I am one of the lucky ones, four and a half years ago my wife and myself were able to take voluntary redundancy and move down to Dorset mortgage free. It has enabled me to retire early, my wife is younger than me and has carried on working.
I had been travelling to Dorset to fish the Avon and Stour for 40 years so it was like winning the pools moving down here.
We chose to live in Ferndown which is between the stour and avon, both within 15 minutes drive. I already knew a lot of anglers down here and shortly after moving down joined the committee of Ringwood and district anglers association as their Avon manager .
What a wonderful life especially at this time of year organising and carrying out work on the rivers seeing them spring back to life after the floods.

Take the plunge, you won't regret it the only problem is deciding which stretch of river to fish with so much on offer.

If I can be of any help with information let me know, the only regret is that I wasn't able to do it years ago.
 
I'm pleased with the response so far guys, keep them coming as I know some on this forum have taken the plunge.
Fair point about the decline of the Stour and Avon Neil.
Although I have been a CAC member for years I'm nothing more than a tourist to those parts. I agree that neither river is what it was when I first ventured down there,..but the same could be said for my local rivers which I have been very involved with over the past years. I just get a real buzz when walking the banks of the Avon which has been a very lucky river for me over the years.
I have also thrown my hat into the ring for a syndicate on the Avon which would be difficult to justify without being able to fish it on a regular basis.
I hasten to add that this would not be my prime motive for upping sticks though.

Nick,..the ponds are giving me a lot of soul searching at the moment.
You can't just put big carp in the back of the car and motor off into the sunset.
I must admit to becoming very attached to some of those that I have raised for 25 odd years and would be loath to entrust their welfare to someone who may neglect them.
The logistics of moving big fish to a new home can be a nightmare although I know one or two that have done it.
This thorny problem is one reason why so many ghosties and koi have been released into the wild and given us the dreaded koi herpes virus!
Besides all of the problems with moving them one has to ask the question,..is it worth all the effort to relocate them to 'otter central!!'
Some years ago we managed to buy some scrub land at the end of the garden and I have dug a large pond and planted loads of trees and shrubs.

dave-taylor-albums-garden-ponds-picture4832-735.jpg


This becomes a part of you because you created it, but I would relish the challenge of starting a new chapter and doing it all again with the added bonus of being in easy reach of my favourite rivers.:)
dt.
 
Dave

Just to wet your appetite, yes people are correct the avon and stour are not the rivers they once were (where is except the wye), in the 4 years I have been down here I have had 2 15's and a 14-15 from the Avon, it isn't that bad!. A mate of mine came down for the last week of the season and caught an 8-1 chub.
Still plenty of fish to be caught and as you say it is still a magical river.
 
Richard Parsan said:
What a lovely pos, Lewis; positively brimming with tolerance and humanity. :rolleyes:

In answer to Dave's lovely predicament; yes, I'd move at the drop of a hat....family and job permitting. :)
Click to expand...

To be fair my localist barbel river, is the Calder in Wakefield.
This stretch often has gangs of kids setting fires act, eastern Europeans getting drunk, Asians chucking there household waste straight into the river, dog walkers letting there animals loose on the banks, ect. I fish it occasionally, but for the above reasons, not very often.

I consider myself both tolerant and humane, but like Lewis I prefer to travel further afield to more tranquill areas, I dont think theres anything wrong with this.

As for moving to be near a barbel river, would love to a few years down the line somewhere on the Swale or Ure would do just fine.

Jon
 
Jon Bedford said:
To be fair my localist barbel river, is the Calder in Wakefield.

Shows how times change Jon, when I lived in Manchester I used to travel over to Brighouse and catch some superb roach, that's when the calder wasn't polluted , how times change - barbel now.
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Go for it....

I retired at 55 yrs old, 7 years ago, and both myself and my wife had decided we wanted to move nearer to the coast, I like Sea angling just as much as Barbel angling, so that made the location a bit easier, I mostly fish the Ribble, a coast move in the opposite direction would put me about 20 miles from the sea, and 20 miles more or less from a couple of Yorkshire rivers.. both would be far closer than I travel at the moment...which is 36 miles plus to the Ribble, or 96 miles to the coast, not ideal really.

We got as far as putting the house on the market last year,due to the poor response, it has been taken off , and I am still dreaming....

Other things also have to be considered, family, friends, the Dragon in Law ( Or , she who she thinks must be obeyed as I call her lol )

I also have a quite lucrative one day a week job, and the Dragon needs to be taken to the shops once a week.

I have managed to work all this into the equation, just need to get the house back on the market again , probably early next year, waiting for the market to pick up a bit.

Dave.
 
Do it! When the wife asked if I wanted to look at a house in Boston spa I said no, just buy it! I know live a minutes walk from the river instead of 30 mins drive. The advantages are endless, the closed season is more enjoyable. Lots of time walking the banks watching fish and the river coming to life.
Chris Yates wrote about the dangers of living too close to your favourite river and not taking it for granted. I would hate for this to happen but can't see it myself! The only thing to watch out for is getting the balance right between time on the bank and time with the family, but that's my wife's fault if I get that wrong, well you wouldn't move an alcoholic next to a pub and blame them for drinking!
 
Karl Heptonstall said:
The only thing to watch out for is getting the balance right between time on the bank and time with the family, but that's my wife's fault if I get that wrong, well you wouldn't move an alcoholic next to a pub and blame them for drinking!
Click to expand...

Good point there Karl..
Went on a family holiday to Branscomb in Devon many moons ago and hired a lovely detached thatched cottage in the village.
I'm not a member of A.A. but have always enjoyed the odd pint of bitter:D
Well, I got a right result when I discovered that the pub across the road named The Fountain Head had won CAMRA's best pub award the previous year!
Needless to say I was dissapointed that my wife did'nt enjoy this unexpected bonus as much as me and we have never returned:(:D
 
I'm 55 in October and planning to retire. Living in Essex I know all about 200 mile round trips to the Kennet, stuck in traffic on the M25 when I should have been on the bank ! I already bought one house 5 years ago in Ludlow so I could fish the Teme and try and get up there every couple of weeks but I'm now negotiating with my wife on a move to Berkshire. not sure Ill get away with both houses in fishing locations but I can try !! You only get one shot at this so grab it while you can.
 
Spot on Cliff,..tommorrows the first day of the rest of my life etc...non of us have a crystal ball and know whats around the corner, [ probally just as well ! ]
I'm 99% sure that a move is on the cards for the Taylors.
 
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