Christmas 2021 marks the closing of one of England's fly fishing institutions: Bakewell Fly Fishing Shop. A few photos here to mark its closing and the partial retirement of owner and well-known Derbyshire angler, Peter Arfield. I say 'partial retirement' because Pete will still be offering guiding and tuition on Derbysire rivers. The shop will be sadly missed by fly fishers though as it had genuine, iconic status - a renowned hub for anglers everywhere. Here are a few photos from what will be my last visit to the shop: Pete Arfield presides over the organised chaos of Bakewell Fly Fishing Shop Pete Arfield - portrait Hebden Court, Bakewell Stone steps leading to Bakewell Fly Fishing Shop Gone fishing One door closes, another opens. It is the end of an era though, that's for sure.
This is the first in a series of short notes about some of the flies you’re going to find in your tray when you start kick sampling the river. You don’t have to be starting to kick sample to read these notes: if you are here then it is a good bet you are interested in the river in some capacity and if you are, then hopefully you will enjoy reading about these flies whether you are going to go out and actively study them or not. All the flies featured and photographed here I’ve collected myself and are from my local rivers, either the River Goyt or the River Sett in the Peak District, which is at the top end of the Mersey catchment, just on the Derbyshire side of the Derbyshire - Cheshire border in England. The exception is the adult willow fly, photograph below, which has been kindly contributed by entomologist and angler Stuart Crofts. First up is the stonefly, and in the photograph is the willow fly, one of the family of stoneflies that you’ll often hear called needle flies. When y