A few years ago I came across a reference to a paper delivered to the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society by F Faraday about fish breeding at Horton in Ribblesdale.  This was in conjunction with a visit to Horton by the British Association in 1887 so it seemed logical that a copy of the paper might be lodged in the archive of the BAAS.  An enquiry to their librarian produced no joy so I resigned myself to the probability that no copy of the paper remained in existence.

I turned on the infernal machine last evening to check emails and was flabbergasted to find a copy of the paper sitting in the in box.  At nine pages it details the arrangement and operation of the old fish house on Horton Beck and describes its situation.  The paper is complete with a diagram of the layout inside the fish house and tells us that the operation was spring fed via a lead pipe.  I had always assumed that the supply was fed from the beck itself.

So thanks John for filling in yet another gap in our knowledge of the way in which the MAA preserved its waters and encouraged trout recruitment in the early days of the club's long life at Horton.

Turning to more modern considerations it rained heavily during the night accompanied by visuals and a soundtrack courtesy of the first thunder storm of the year.  The eau in the river is up a touch this morning and it looks as if it will be a damp day so we may have more eau by this evening.  Don't hold your breath, but it may at long last be worth cleaning the dust off that light weight river rod that has sulked in the corner all season.  I shall keep you posted.

Ian