It doesn’t take long for pegs to get overgrown and the BAA doesn’t have the manpower to keep all their stretches perfect. The only answer would be to have working parties but that’s easier to arrange through a club than an association of clubs. Reference the road side of things, as you say it’s all down to the farmers I’m sure the BAA would love that kind of access on all their river stretches….

I live close to Cropthorne, Charlton etc and I used to help our match pegging guy on all the BAA stretch`s and unfortunately a lot of their stretch`s are the same. Some great waters but for match`s its impossible to fit the pegs in some times. We used to have to fit just 20 pegs in and to say it wasn`t easy is an understatement, I used to take a sythe type thing to help cut out our pegs but sometimes you could cut back the bank side vegetation, but unfortunately in some good pegs lillies and rush`s had grown to far out into the river to be able to fish it comfortably and then you may have a good peg free of weed but the trees and bush`s were so, that casting was impossible. I suppose to keep on top of those sort of things the BAA would need lots of manpower obviously costing more than they can afford. Shame really but maybe a sign of the times? I still enjoy going on the river but I mainly go on a pleasure session where i can get on a peg I choose and quite often have the river to myself. Ok for me but I do think its a shame.

Fished some team events down on that stretch back in the mid 90’s, it was the Clancy Winter League, mainly chub and bream would win the matches, but even then the river was going downhill and fast.

The trouble with the BAA is that it depends on the clubs signed up to them to do the bank clearing, if they don’t, then who does, the days of the big matches on the rivers in the Midlands is over with the exception of Evesham and Twyford Farm and the odd match on the Severn.

Rjays when you say Twyford was sold for redevolopment do you mean the river stretch or the retail area as it was many years ago?

So the boaters win again, it will be a shame to lose such a venue, it will be like knocking down Old Trafford or Anfield, a lot of history will go.

I haven`t been to Twyford for 2 years now. The last time I fished it I had the job of getting 18 anglers on. The guy who owned it at the time( sorry can`t quite remember his name) said that we could have the whole stretch, I thought great we can peg us all out with plenty of room, but I only managed to get 2 pegs in on the old Island pegs if you know where I mean and I had to go up to the pegs in the 100`s to get us all in. The pegs were either unsafe or none existant after the floods of 2007 pegs were overgrown and trees and bushes had grown wild stopping fishing from a load of pegs. I went down once after that as a mate of mine was pleasure fishing and when I was sat behind him the guy who owned it came down and we had a good chat about it, and unfortunately he said no one was ever fishing it anymore so he didn`t have the funds to put in new pegs. I think he had put a few pallets in here and there. I also heard that he had tried to organise a winter series there after our match, maybe he had put a few more pegs in hoping it would attract more people but I heard whether true or not, no one showed any interest in fishing it? Such a shame as I have some great memories from there. 🙁

Stuart, thats the guy I was on about. Yes that track down is a bit deadly for car exhausts like you say. Did you mean the summer of 2010 or last summer 2011? The time I went and saw my mate fishing there was 2010 so I haven`t been there since. But my mate and his dad had a decent day on the hemp and tare, not massive weights but plenty of roach. Also I did hear from Stuart that you do get a few more specimen type fishermen going there after the barbel.

I used to go a lot on a Sunday just as the matches were finishing and jump in a peg as soon as the guy had moved his stuff from the peg! lol but I wasn`t the only one, there used to be quite a few doing this. Obviously summer months with the light nights. As for when my club had a match on there, I used to feel as if we were fishing at Wembley in those days! lol I have even fished there when people were fishing on both banks, but from what I can remember the last time I was down there the opposite bank looked unfishable in places. Good memories though!

Would that have been Stuart Gottfried? he was running the matches when I moved to the area in 1991. I think I’m right in saying he was (is) May Vince’s son …. but I could be wrong on that. May would take the phone bookings and pools, Stuart sorted out the pegging etc.
He wasn’t a slouch as an angler either … he cam 3rd or 4th on an Avon champs once … had a big weight of Evesham town the year that Matt jukes won it from the barford stretch. Steve Ashmore was second with a 30+ from above the Isbourne … brilliant weight from there on the day!
You certainly got some good anglers at twyford … I remember getting battered by Tommy Pickering next peg on my first visit, then doing the same to Mark Downes the next time. I remember the draw queue with the likes of Dennis White and John Allerton on a wednesday …… those were the days
🙁