Home River


It's oh so nice to go travellin' But it's so much nicer, yes it's so much nicer to come home

Frank Sinatra sang this, and since he travelled the whole world but came from Hoboken, which even my friends from New Jersey say is a bit of a shithole, we can treat it as a sentiment that has been tested to extremes.

Probably every fisher has a place that they consider their own. And it might not be the best place in the world, but it has something charming about it. For me, that place is Hebden Water. It’s little more than a stream really, peat-stained, rushing over rocks from near Haworth in t
he pennines down to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.

Why do I like it so much? It is quite pretty, it costs twenty odd quid a year to fish, and if you fish it top to bottom, twenty days a year, it will probably be some years before you happen to meet another fisher. It is full of small trout (my record is a pound) that rise very freely. My average catch for the last three years is about fifteen fish a day, and those outings are often just an hour or two. I have to get home to Mamma’s for dinner, and so miss the evening rise most of the time.

The top of Hebden Water is wild, barren pennine country. Here the fish are very small. The fishing starts from Blake Dean Bridge. I call this the wuthering section, not merely because it has the landscape of Wuthering Heights, but also because we can be certain that all the Bröntes crossed Blake Dean Bridge many times in their lives. Haworth, where the Bröntes came from, is only a few miles away.

Chicago was Frank’s kind of town, but then he thought that LA was ‘his lady’. He t
hought that if he could just make it in New York, he could make it anywhere. Note to self, Frank: I have already made it everywhere. I like New York, but I’ll take Hebden, thanks. The fishing’s better.

The scenery through the woods is really quite spectacular. There is a café at Gibson Mill with pretty good coffee and very good cakes. This is about half way down to Hebden. Waders welcome. Gibson Mill has some exhibits that explain the history of the valley, which had a bunch of mills, the remains of which are scattered about. There are some walkers on the river, families from Hebden Bridge and serious walkers in groups, but fewer than you’d expect for a glorious valley with such varied scenery.

The bottom stretch of the river is where the good fish are. But I’m incompetent and never catch any really good ones. The hippies (Hebden Bridge is a major hippy place) will throw stic
ks into the water near where you are fishing apparently for their dogs to fetch, but really to put the fish off. I don’t really mind. They are hippies and think fishing is wrong. You see the kind of state of mind this river puts me in?

Hebden Water is like a well-presented fly, that I can’t help but take, time and time again. I am really the one who is caught.

I always think this river will catch on to hordes of fishers from Leeds and Manchester, the train ride being about half an hour from each, and then a short stroll to the river. But it never does. It is unloved, except by me. The Millwall FC of rivers, an unlicked cub, but that just endears it to me more. ‘Nobody likes us, we don’t care’ they sing at Millwall, and I tell my beautiful river the same every time we spend the day together. That’s why Ol’ Blue Eyes can stick Hoboken up his arse.
Price: £24 a season. Permits from Jewson, Halifax. Tel. 01422 354146
Price/quality ratio: 7/10
Quality: 6/10
Species: Brown trout.
Wildlife: Kingfishers, lots of dippers.
Tips: The top end is stunning, the pools in and near Hebden Bridge offer the best fishing. Get a cab to Blake Dean Bridge from Valley Cars (01422 844070) near Hebden Bridge Station, and follow the river back down into town. This takes a few hours.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

on the move...test