Izaak Walton

Fishing
I often think about what I'm going to put into these posts when I'm driving and this week as my mind turned to fishing I just happened to be going past Izaak Walton's Cottage. This half timbered building sits beside the river Meece in Shallowford, a small hamlet in Staffordshire. It is a lovely place and would be even better if the main north west railway line didn't pass along the bottom of the garden. Still you can't have everything, and it wouldn't have been there when Izaak was about.

The building is now a shrine to the man who is credited with being the author of the greatest angling book ever written, "The Compleat Angler." The cottage is quaint inside and there are displays of old fishing tackle and stuffed fish. At the time of writing this blog, entry to the building and garden was free so it's well worth a visit if you find yourself in the area.

Most people who pass by the cottage, which can be seen easily from the road, probably assume that Walton lived there and fished in the local river. While it's true that Walton may have spent some time at the cottage, it wasn't his home. He purchased the cottage and rented it out to those not so well off and the money that was taken in rent was used to buy fuel for the poor in the county town where he was born.

A few facts about Walton
He was born in Eastgate Street in the county town of Stafford England in 1593 and was Christened in St May's Church. After leaving school he went to London and set himself up in a drapery business. Where he got the money from is unknown, his father was an inn keeper so he must have come from humble surroundings.

He married Rachel Floud in 1626 and during their 14 year marriage they had 7 children, 6 of which died before she did. The last surviving child lived two years longer then too passed away in 1642. He married again in 1647 and had another 3 children all of which did much better than those from his previous marriage. Walton was interested in the Anglican church and started to write biographies of some of the important religious men of that time. It was while chronicling the life of one of these figures in 1651 that he was introduced to the gentle art of fishing.

Walton was a late comer to angling and didn't take up the sport until he was well into his fifties. In fact by the time he'd written and published his most famous work he was 60 years old.

It is shame that little is known about this remarkable man. He lived to be 90 years old and this was through some of the most troubled times in British history. He was a staunch Royalist in the times of the civil war so he did well to survive that episode. He also managed to survive the great fire of London although one of his houses succumbed to the blaze.

A part of my life and Walton's, appear to have run along similar tracks, well at least for some of the journey so far.

After marring my first wife I lived in flat in Eastgate Street Stafford only a couple of doors away from where Izaak was Born. Then when we started a family we moved to the little village of Norton Bridge which is only half a mile from Walton's cottage. Following that I moved to an area in Staffordshire called Walton.

Perhaps it isn't so strange then that the first book I had published was about fishing, and written when I had entered my late fifties. This wasn't planned, it just happened and I never even realised the connection until I came to write this post.

If my book sells only fraction of the numbers that Izaak Walton sold I'll be a happy man. His book has been published in more than 120 editions and is one of the best selling books of all time. I have read it and I loved it. For those of you who haven't, please give it a go. It isn't a dry old book about how to catch fish, it is about a gentleman and pleasure he found in fishing.

There are many versions of Walton's book on the market, just go to amazon.co.uk and you'll see what I mean.

If you want to find out more about my book,it might not be as good as Walton's classic but I like to think it's just as entertaining. Click here

That's it for today, I hope you've enjoyed that little bit of history and the photos.