Among European river menders, the restoration of Longinoja brook has become a textbook example of local activism persuading local communities and public bodies alike to start valuing a little urban stream again. Flowing through the Finnish city of Helsinki, this important sea-trout spawning tributary of the Vantaanjoki River was historically dredged and otherwise modified […]
Archive for the tag 'Urban regeneration'
November 24 2018
Today’s Flyfisher: Taming the Taff
There must be something in the air and the water at the moment… because for the second time this autumn, there’s a new quarterly print magazine for fly-fishers in the UK and further afield. Better still, the first issue of Today’s Flyfisher (just like the launch edition of Fly Culture) pays its respects to the […]
September 22 2018
Fly Culture magazine: Trout on the Train
A couple of months ago, we posted a fishing report from the River Tame in Manchester… … essentially a sneak preview of a feature for an exciting new fishing magazine: Pete Tyjas’s Fly Culture. And now the finished article is finally here! Complete with amazing photos from Paul Gaskell, Trout on the Train provides readers […]
June 1 2018
Film night: Let’s hear it for the volunteers!
Volunteers Week runs from 1 – 7 June this year, and to celebrate the vital work of volunteers who are the lifeblood of many local river groups across the UK, the Rivers Trust has just released this short film of what it’s like to volunteer with the Don Catchment Rivers Trust. In 2018 alone, […]
April 17 2018
In the Telegraph: River guardians of the Tame
I’m knee-deep in the river Tame in Stalybridge, 15 miles east of Manchester. Beside me is Woz Andrew, a local fly-fishing guide. After climbing down a flight of stone steps from road level – hollowed by a century of boots and a remnant of this river’s industrial past – we have made our way slowly […]
November 20 2017
Trout & Salmon: Jon Beer fishes Holmfirth
Here at Urbantrout, it’s a constant low-level source of entertainment to watch how different angling writers react to the ambiguous challenge of our urban rivers. One or two usually-intrepid international explorers have proved weirdly squeamish (no names, no pack drill!) – while other less obviously gung-ho personalities are clearly super-keen to get stuck into Dirty […]
June 26 2017
London Rivers Week 2017 is here!
If you’re into urban rivers and everything about them (like we are) there’s no bigger or better event than London Rivers Week… … which has just been launched on the banks of the Ravensbourne in Ladywell Fields in Lewisham. As Thames21’s London Rivers Week web hub says: London Rivers Week aims to inspire people like […]
October 16 2016
More headlines from Manchester: Trout & Salmon magazine features the mighty Irwell
It’s a satisfying thought that since Trout in Dirty Places was published in 2012, the whole idea of urban fly-fishing has gone so mainstream that you can hardly pick up one of the monthly magazines without finding at least one article about what used to be our dirty little secret… The latest in this canon […]
September 28 2016
Pic of the day: Matt Sewell art on the Rea Brook
For urban fly-fishers exploring the edgelands of our towns and cities, graffiti is a common sight. Old brick arches, hard concrete river banks and derelict factory walls offer almost everything a spraycan kid could ask for: an endless blank(ish) canvas, and plenty of slightly sinister seclusion to wait for the muse to strike. Still, not everyone […]
April 29 2016
Film night: Thanks from the Wandle!
When you’ve spent a decade (or more) steadily working away at mending the headwaters of an urban river… … you end up with lots of friends to thank. So the team at the Wandle Trust (now grown up into the South East Rivers Trust) made this video to celebrate the upper Wandle project’s success at […]
