Looking Back
By Len Arbery
For me, and very likely for many others, the most significant carp in the history of the sport was Richard Walker’s Redmire Pool 44lb’er, caught 13 th September 1952. After it was donated to the aquarium in London Zoo at Regents Park, London, anyone sufficiently interested could see it with their own eyes. Moreover, this proved to the angling world at large, carp could and would grow to such sizes in English waters, and that big fish could be caught by design by those anglers sufficiently dedicated and skilled. Hence this capture was the catalyst for the birth of the specimen hunting movement in general, and carp fishing in particular, in this country. For, it is true to say, previous to Dick Walker and his contemporaries publishing their exploits, the capture of fish bigger than the norm was largely put-down to a matter of good fortune. 
Meeting Bill Quinlan and shortly after Bob Buteux proved my next significant specimen fishing milestone, for they freely provided me – an admitted complete novice – with the benefit of their vast and valuable experience. Furthermore, I think it fair to say, my dear late friend, Bill Quinlan, will forever be closely associated with Redmire Pool, but his carp fishing career began long, long before he trod those hallowed banks.
Around about 1960 a workmate of Bill's told him of a lake near Bognor Regis 'stuffed with carp'. The very first day Bill tried for them was uneventful from dawn until late afternoon, 'Then', Bill reported, 'the carp went berserk.' And he caught about 10 superb little commons, using B. James & Son's MkIV Avon rods and the Speedia centrepin reels seen in the picture herewith. Bill, when recounting this episode, told me that he got so keen on the place, he'd get up half-way through the night, race down there from his London home on his motorbike, have three or four casts before tearing back in time for work; a round trip of around 200 miles.
Also included in this photograph is one of Bill's original prints, this shows his first '30' - 36lb 4oz (known as Pinky) caught from Redmire's Willow Pitch, in 1970, i.e. around 10 years after he caught those Bognor fish. 
With Bill Quinlan’s and Bob Buteux’s significant and valuable influence I was invited to join the Herts-Chiltern Anglers. Who wouldn’t be inspired to succeed when mixing with anglers of the calibre of Alec Lewis, Bill Keal, Jack Hilton, Roger Smith, Pete Frost, Frank Guttfield, Alan Brown, Gwynne Williams, Tony Dixon, etc. along with Bill Quinlan and Bob Buteux, of course.
Bill Keal’s Eggetts’ brace was very likely the first-ever carp brace to aggregate over 40lbs! I think it is correct to say this was Bill's first ever 20lb'er and, with another '20', and a further big 'double' at 19lb-plus, caught from Eggett's in the same week. Bill Keal's Eggetts’ successes made a terrific impact nationally at the time, and on me. 
The next photograph, I am almost certain, has only rarely been seen before. Bill Quinlan is the subject of course, cradling his first-ever twenty-pound-plus carp, the venue being Brooklands, adjacent to the A2 in Kent, the year 1965, the carp weighing 24lb 12oz and the successful bait - a humble potato.

The second picture shows Bill returning this same fish. A tad coincidentally this same individual carp was also Bob Buteux’s first-ever ‘twenty’, too. 
A couple of years later, Brooklands was the first-ever place I fished in company with Bill, and I'll never, ever, forget that initial carp fishing trip together.

We sat-up all night, our eyes glued to the silver-paper indicators, on the centre-path, and with nothing to show for our efforts, I might add, before leaving at dawn for work. This meant long journeys for both of us, for, at the time, Bill worked in Hertfordshire, and I worked in Park Royal, London. Fishing all night before working a full shift the next day was by no means unusual: looking back, I don't know how we did it - I couldn't even contemplate such a thing now. Yes, it was hard, hard fishing, but carp fishing then was so, so exciting; I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
John Nixon, after being alerted by Graham Igglesden and Bob Rolph’s surreptitious Redmire visit that established the Redmire carp hadn’t all died in the arctic winter of 1962-63, acquired the fishing rights at the pool, which he let out to members of bona fide specimen groups. Jack Hilton, together with Roger Smith, Mike Mintram and Graham Igglesden, booked – through John Nixon – to fish Redmire Pool for eight days in September 1967, for their first-ever trip to carp fishing’s undoubted Mecca.

 It rained more-or-less continuously for the whole eight days. Jack began fishing from the dam, a position which provided good visibility of almost the whole pool, and Jack noted there were numbers of carp showing on the shallows. About mid-week Jack could resist the temptation no longer and moved onto the shallows. After two further carp-less days, shortly after dinner, the buzzer sounded to Jack’s left-hand rod, but the silver-paper didn’t rise toward butt-ring: instead it just seemed to be trembling – another twitch bite. Jack didn’t hesitate and after striking found himself attached to a powerful underwater adversary. Mike stripped off his trousers, grabbed the landing net and squelched out through the stinking mud when the fish showed itself ready for netting. This first Redmire carp for Jack proved to be also his first-ever 30lber, for it pulled the needle round to no less than 35lb.
Later this carp became well-known as ‘Pinky’ due to its colouration and, being so distinctive, it was used as a yardstick when estimating the size of other Redmire carp. It was caught on four occasions in all; by Bill Quinlan, again Jack, and finally by Bill Walkeden; being one of the carp that figured in ‘The Night of the Beer Barrels’. The two pictures show Jack Hilton holding his 1967 Redmire 35lb-er, a momentous capture at the time. In the second image of Jack Hilton with his Redmire 35lber, one can see where it was caught on the far bank, at just about the extreme left-hand side of the picture. 
On 6th September 1970, I caught my very first carp over 20lb, 27lb 10oz to be precise; Longfield near Wraysbury being the venue (later known also as Fox Pool). The successful tackle including a B. James MkIV Avon rod, Mitchell 300, loaded with 12lb monofilament line, and boiled potato bait, mounted on a number 2 cut down and solder-blobbed Low-Water-Salmon hook. Bob Buteux, who actually netted my prize, and I had the venue to ourselves, and we fished adjacent pitches.

As soon as it was light I phoned Bill Quinlan, from a nearby public telephone box, to ask him to come and take the photographs, for this was quite a significant capture at that time. To put this in some sort of context I think this was the fourth largest carp caught by a Herts-Chiltern member, only being behind Pete Frost's Tiddenfoot 31lber, Jack Hilton's Redmire 35lber and his Ashlea 28-12, besides being one of the biggest leathers ever caught back then.
In the event Bill duly turned-up, making him late in collecting Pete Cranstoun for their trip to Redmire later that same day.

Being very proud of my success, I wanted to tell the world, but my friends encouraged me to keep quiet, thereby protecting the water's anonymity, the sole reason behind this capture not being published at the time. Perhaps unsurprisingly this carp remains one of my most memorable; yes, even after all these years! 
Here now are examples of bite alarms I made around 1974. The three heads on the left are ex-Bill Quinlan, the remaining three are my own, as are the sounder boxes. The smaller of these was mounted on a rod rest and connected directly to a head; very handy for stalking and/or short sessions.

When designing/making these, most usually in sets of three, I was indebted to three individuals: the late Chris Seager – the heads being based on a set he had made: my late close friend, Phil Lewis, a clever and talented electrical engineer,
who designed and made the circuit boards, with a separate circuit for each head: and to Dave Short for his hands-on assistance throughout the building and assembly. Plenty of midnight oil was burnt during this process, believe me!

The probable total output of my bite alarms amounted to eight sets, all for friends and myself. Oh! And they proved absolutely 100% reliable, and were only retired from action with the advent of the Optonic bite alarm.
I'm pretty sure it was at the Carp Society conference of 1988 (now, where's that thirty-plus-years gone?!) that the Carp Society auctioned the first week of the season at Redmire Pool for the first time. I'm also fairly certain that Tim Paisley accompanied me on stage to witness a truly remarkable event, for frantic bidding reached the almost unbelievable sum of £2300! The successful bidder being none other than Chris Yates himself! And Chris further surprised everybody in the auditorium by riding his bike up to the stage to collect his prize!

Subsequently, we learned that Chris was bidding on behalf of himself and Hugh Miles, the highly successful and acclaimed wild-life film maker and cameraman. Their idea being to make a series of angling films, "A Passion for Angling", with the proposed Redmire film being a 'tester'; that is, if this didn't work-out for any reason, the whole idea would be dropped. Plainly, the Redmire film, 'Redmire Legends', proved an unbridled success.

For some now unforgotten reason, it fell to me to meet Hugh, Chris and Bob James at Redmire about six-weeks prior to the season's opening for their introductory visit. Chris, of course, knew Redmire Pool very well, although not having visited the place for some years; this for Hugh and Bob though, was their inaugural Redmire visit.
 I’m very proud to have played a readily admitted very minor role in “The Passion for Angling” story; still, in my humble opinion, the most outstanding TV angling series ever! 
This picture was taken on Redmire's dam that very day, with Hugh Miles closest to the camera, then 'yours truly', Bob James and, finally, Chris Yates. Not all very memorable fishing occasions have to include a fish you know! Son, Tony, actually captured this photograph using my old but trusty Rolleiflex 2¼ inch square format camera.
Next week
Tim Paisley
A look back at the Carp Society through the 80's
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