I first joined the club as a junior member in the early 50s,and won my 1st Trophy, the Roach Cup in 1952.After that my thoughts turned to other pursuits until I rejoined the club in 1960 when I was elected on to the committee and I have been on the committee ever since. Serving as a match secretary, junior secretary and finely president. When I joined the club in the 60s things were very different from today, otters were nearly extinct mink was something worn by rich ladies and cormorants lived on the coast. This is not to say that we did not have our problems pollution being the main one. When everyone used the rivers as a cheap and easy way of getting rid of there waste and consequently damaging the water ways.
This was brought to a head when the angling clubs of the Waveney valley led I am proud to say by the BCTAC held a meeting at the Bungay community centre attended by reps from the environment agency. They were persuaded to place monitors in the river between Homersfield and Bungay and the reading were so high they thought there equipment was faulty! The main problem was pig slurry and after a check found there were more pigs then people in the valley. After this they jumped on the pig farmers and we have seen a big improvement both in water quality and the fishing. Another big event in the clubs history was the common registration act when the club registered the piscatorial rights on Bungay common and Earsham fen. The judge ruled that the common owners hold the fishing rights on Bungay common the only concession being we could fish the river from a boat. The club was more successful on Earsham fen and that is the reason you can fish the fen free today.
Other big differences in the club is that in the early days very few people fished the rivers in winter. The only anglers you would see on the waters where pike anglers and they were fishing mainly for the pot. Most club members gave up fishing freshwater in October and then went sea fishing in those days the sea section was as strong as the fresh water section the club used to run an annual open for the mayall cup when over 100 anglers would line the shore. At Southwold the clubs Suffolk championship was the other sell out with 100 plus anglers trying to get tickets or this match. The club always ran a very popular junior match which became so popular we had to split the boys and girls between the common pond and the club pit. In 1973 Dave Gladwell and myself fed up of seeing the youngsters turning up with poor tackle decided to restore the Junior section in order to teach the youngsters how to make maintain and look after there tackle etc and also to look after the environment am pleased to say the section is still running today.
When I joined the club we had three main waters, the club pit, Broome Pits and now after much hard work and soul searching the Bypass pit at Earsham. Like all clubs we have had our ups and downs but through common sense and good management we have come to be the club we are today.
We are not professionals just ordinary people with jobs and families who are willing to give up some of their free time in order to help others. As a club we have managed to keep a healthy membership in spite of the counter attraction of commercial fisheries etc. This has been done by good house keeping and offering fishing for a reasonable subscription. The club is now one of the leading clubs in the area and this is something all members and committee members both past and present can be justly proud of.
Richard Patrick
President of the Bungay Cherry Tree Angling club. back to home page