Caught by the River

Nelson's Blood

John Andrews | 22nd August 2007

dp

poacher’s pond looks a goer, well worth getting on a lysander but don’t wait for me, get in the reeds and get the eels in. i could be over in the autumn but the big push might be in the spring. must be a few wildies laid up in the silt, too. perfect for corn on a size six. after bushy park i took flight up the A11 to north norfolk, big skies, wide marshes, long shingle beaches and ancient oak woods. village after village with one pub and a pond full of crucians. bookshops and barrels of ale. grass growing down the middle of the road, colonies of sparrows. stayed for three days and mapped estate lakes for the winter, climbing red brick walls and taking the back roads. yellow corn fields against black skies, thunder storms on the beach, driftwood fires and mackerel boiled in a bucket. drank nelson’s blood in burnham thorpe, then to the beach at cley in the dusk to take mackerel on a single spoon, the sniper’s supper, the one eyed admiral’s feast.

lady hamilton on the birdtable

ja