Having lived in North Staffordshire all my life and having easy access to the River Manifold from an early age my interest in rivers and their ecology has grown.
I am a member and a past Secretary of Leek & District Fly Fishing Association, an organisation that controls numerous miles of the River Dove and its tributaries, some of which were fished by Izaak Walton. This allows me to be actively involved in the management and upkeep of these rivers.
My angling career started with Bill Tagg teaching me the art of Fly Dressing 25years ago.
In 1982 I won the Trout & Salmon magazine Fly Dressing competition Junior Section and have continued to tie flies ever since. This has continued to develop and has resulted in me achieving the A.A.P.G.A.I. fly dressing qualification, running classes during the winter months and demonstrating at a number of Country Fairs and the British Fly Fair.
I have also appeared on BBC Radio 4 The Philosopher, Fish & The Dove programme in 2003 and contributed a chapter in the Fly Fishing Tales 2 audiotape.
