Of
CROWBOROUGH & DISTRICT ANGLERS ASSOCIATION
Officers:
Presidents:
The 10th. Earl De La Warr
The 11th. Earl De La Warr
K.J.B. Wilson Esq.
P.J. Boorman Esq.
Executive Vice-Presidents:
K.J.B. Wilson Esq.
Elected Vice-Presidents:
W.A. Cooper Esq.
Hon. Life Vice-Presidents:
A.J. Taylor Esq.
A.R.F. Barnard Esq.
K.J.B. Wilson Esq.
Hon. Secretaries
(Chief Executive Officers):
A.J. Taylor Esq.
K.J.B. Wilson Esq.
D.C. Errey Esq.
G. Wicks Esq.
Hon. Treasurers:
A. Sellings Esq
K. Williams Esq.
A. Smith Esq.
B. Green Esq.
Mrs. L. Colvin
P.A. Gammon Esq.
Executive Committee Chairmen:
H. Gilbert Esq.
T.F. Potter Esq.?
??????
J. Field-Buss Esq.
J. Mackelden Esq.
P.J. Boorman Esq.
C. Millis Esq.
Over the years many Ordinary Club Members have served, for varying periods of time, in the Offices of Asst. Hon. Secretary; Asst. Hon. Treasurer; Publicity Officer; Fund Raising Officer; Audit Officers; Executive Committee Vice-Chairman; Minute Secretary; Coarse & Sea Match Angling Secretaries; Match Stewards; Class “A” Bailiffs & of course as Executive Committee Members.
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Club History:
At the end of World War II when surviving young men, from the Crowborough & Jarvis Brooks Districts, returned home from serving in H.M. Armed Forces, a number of them once again took up their old practice of Sea Fishing together in an informal groups, but then quickly added Freshwater Fishing to their informal activities, as they had done as boys/youths & young men in the late 1920’s and throughout the 1930’s. Then in 1948 they decided to make their informal angling group into a proper Angling Club with its Headquarters based in The Social Club, Croft Road, Crowborough and thus was Crowborough & District Anglers Association born.
In the early years the Club’s activities were limited to Sunday Morning Trips to either fish Day Ticket stretches of the Rivers Medway or Eastern Rother or to the Beaches at Pevensey Bay; Langley Point; Norman’s Bay; Cooden or Dungeness with an Annual Trip to fish off the Breakwater at the entrance to Dover Harbour. At that time it was very convenient for the Club that its 1st. Executive Committee Chairman happened to own an elderly Char-a-banc.
In the early 1950’s the Club gained its first
“Grace & Favour” Rights to Fish from two local members of the aristocracy.
Firstly a Lord Winstone was having his haircut by Bert Taylor and discussing
Local Angling Facilities, or rather the lack of them, when he offered to
“have a word with the 9th. Earl de La Warr” on the young Crowborough Club’s
behalf. This lead to the Club sharing the right to fish The Main Lake,
Buckhurst Park with Sister Club, The Dorset Arms Angling Club, plus the
sole right to fish the “Half-Moon Stream” from the Half-Moon Pub down to
the Main Lake. Then through the ”good offices” of one of the Club’s Founder
Members (who was employed on the Rotherfield Estate) Lady Ellis was persuaded
to grant the Club the right to fish the two small lakes on the left-hand
side of the driveway into Rotherfield Hall. Subsequently the
Club gained, from Redlands, a further “Grace & Favour” Right to Fish
the “Brickyard Lake, Jarvis Brook. However the Sunday Morning Trips continued
right into the early 1970’s but by that time the modes of transport had
changed to Commercially hired Coaches for Freshwater Trips and Shared Members
Private Cars for the Sea Trips with exception of the Annual Dover Outing
for
which a Coach was hired which “stopped” at a
convenient Hostelry on the way home so that it was a very jolly group of
Anglers who used to arrive back outside The Social Club late on a Sunday
evening!
Thus the first two decades of the Club’s history passed with relative tranquillity until the Autumn of 1969 when an event took place that some would say “altered the course of the Club” for ever. Messrs. P.J. Boorman and K.J.B. Wilson were elected to membership of the Club by simply going and having their hair cut!! At the subsequent 1970 A.G.M. Keith Wilson was “conned” into being elected to the post of Hon. Secretary when he in fact thought he was going to be the Club’s 1st. Asst. Hon. Secretary! The then Hon. Secretary Bert Taylor (a Club Founder Member) continued on as Asst. Hon. Secretary for another year prior to finally retiring at the 1971 A.G.M., having been in Office for 22 consecutive years. He was subsequently appointed the Club’s first Hon. Life Vice-President, a post he still holds today, meaning that Bert has been a continuous Member/Officer for the whole of the Club’s 56 years history. At that year’s A.G.M. Peter Boorman was elected to the post of Asst. Hon. Secretary and thus began a partnership which has lasted some 33 years, hopefully to the benefit of the Club.
During that time the Club’s long serving Hon. Treasurer, Arthur Sellings (another Club Founder Member continued in Office for a further 3 years and then retired having completed 25 consecutive years as the Club’s 1st. Hon. Treasurer. His record service to the Club is remembered each year by the awarding of the “Roachman Trophy” (Arthur’s “Nom de Plume” and favourite fish). He was succeeded by a young Keith Williams who had originally joined the Club as a Junior Member and had as they say “come up through the ranks”. It is obvious that Bert’s and the late Arthur’s service record is unlikely to ever be equalled, let alone beaten, again in the Club’s future history.
The 1970’s saw major changes in the way the Club was administered, with Sub-Committees being appointed by the main Executive Committee, to take on the tasks overseeing various aspects of the Club’s growing activities/responsibilities and membership size. For the first time two Junior Representatives were elected to sit on the Executive Committee, with full voting rights, to represent to that Committee the interests/issues concerning the Junior Section of the Club. The growth in the Club’s membership and activities and the increase in associated costs were not welcomed by all of the Club’s “long time Members”. For example at the 1972 A.G.M. Keith & Peter proposed that the Club’s Annual Subscription be increased by 100%, from two shillings and six pence (half-a-crown) to five shillings (a crown) and two veteran erasable members immediately proposed that they should be taken outside and “hanged”!! Present Financial Officers please note!
It was at this time that the Club started to Rent Waters and under its 1st. Water Management Officer, Don Plummer, the Club created its first Fishery at Scaland Wood. Then under Don’s successor, the late Henry Russell, the 2nd. Lake at Wirgol was created. It was also during Henry’s Watch as Water Management Officer that the Club gained the “Grace & Favour” Right to fish the Sandhill Farm stretch of the Eridge Stream by kind permission of its Riparian Owner and Henry’s Boss, Mr. W.A. Cooper. Henry and a few of his Water Management Team used to pay the Club’s “Rent” for this Riverine Fishery by helping out at Sandhill Farm during harvest time. Mr. Cooper was later to become the Club’s first and to date only elected Vice-President.
Additionally through some canny negotiations
by the Water Management Officers and their Teams of hardworking Members
by the mid 1980’s the Club had a very healthy Water Portfolio of some 12
Lakes and several miles of Trout Hill Stream Fisheries plus many miles
of fishing in the Eastern River Rother through its membership of the Rother
Fisheries Association. Naturally over the years the constituent fisheries
in the Club’s Water Portfolio has changed, and is still changing today,
due to the vagaries in the size of the Club’s Membership and thus the amount
of finance
available to the Officers and Executive Committee
on a year to year basis, plus changes in the Riparian Ownership of various
Fisheries etc.
Also during these years the Club began to take an active participation in the much wider Angling/Fisheries and Sporting Worlds in general, through its Membership of the Kent and Sussex Angling/Fisheries Consultative Associations; the Rother Fisheries Association and the Wealden District Sports Council, with Club Delegates regularly attending those organisations Meetings.
Additionally the Club became a Member of the Anglers Co-Operative Association who provided very valuable, behind the scenes, advice when the Eridge Stream was polluted by the Redgate Mill S.T.W. 5 times in 15 years with massive fish and other invertebrate kills on each occasions. Luckily the Club had, during those years, built up very good working relationships with Senior Fishery Personnel at the Kent and Sussex Areas of the Environment Agency and all its predecessor Authorities so that after each pollution incident and its attendant fish kill the Eridge Stream was restocked with fish at no cost to the Club. Also at this time the Club’s Executive Committee joined forces with the residents of the St. John’s Area of Crowborough to protest at the regular polluting of the “Half-Moon Stream” by a sewer crossing Bunkers Hill, behind the Horder Centre, on its way to the St. John’s STW’s. It was the Club that supplied the crucial photographic evidence that lead in the long run to the then Southern Water Authority having to renew the sewer with a much larger pipe and also “softening” some of the original sharp bends in the old pipe. In addition to this wider participation the Club commenced fishing informal/friendly Matches against other Angling Clubs and Works’ Fishing Teams besides the Annual Match versus The Dorset Arms Angling Club.
Throughout all this time the Club’s Membership
gradually grew from less than 100 Members in 1970 to peak at approx. 350
Members in the mid to late 1990’s. Obviously it was the growth in the Club’s
Membership size, with its resulting growth in Subscription Income, together
with steady increases in the actual amount of Annual Subscriptions, to
be paid by the various classes of
Membership, that provided the necessary
finance that permitted the Officers and Executive Committee to greatly
expand the Club’s Fisheries Facilities.
Additional financial resources were raised by
the Fund Raising Officers and their Sub-Committee
Members by organising the Club’s participation
in Local Fetes/Carnivals etc. A number of “Adult Males” only Stag Nights
were also organised with the participation of Members from other Local
Angling Clubs and other Local Sports Clubs. The Club also gained a Lottery
Licence from the Wealden District Council and ever since Fund Raising Officers
have used this, with varying degrees of success as a productive fund raising
method. The current Fund Raising Officer, John Kelly, was highly successful
with his New Year 2004 Raffle raising many hundreds of pounds for the Club’s
funds. Another successful venture was the organising of “Evening Fishing
Workshops” where our Club Members and Members of other Angling Clubs were
invited to attend, on the payment of fee, to listen to lectures and watch
demonstrations given by famous National Match
Anglers.
The 1987 A.G.M saw the next mile stone in the
Club’s administrative history when Keith Wilson retired from the Office
of Hon. Secretary and Chief Executive to take up the less demanding post
of Executive Vice-President. Subsequently,
following the death of The 10th Earl De La Warr and the resignation, after
a year in the Office of President, of The 11th. Earl De La Warr, Keith
was
appointed the Club’s 3rd. President. Meanwhile
at the 1987 A.G.M. David Errey was voted into the post of Hon. Secretary
& Chief Executive.
It was on David’s Watch, in the early 1990’s, that the Club embarked on its largest, so far, Fishery Development Project. The application and obtaining of a Sports Lottery Grant to help finance the creation and subsequent stocking of Pennybridge Lake was magnificently successfully masterminded by Roger Funnell and his small dedicated Team of Assistants. The necessary paperwork that had to be completed for the Grant Application was a massive exercise in itself let alone all the hard physical work Roger and his Team put in on the ground preparing the site before the Contractor started work. Just how hugely successful they were can easily be judged by anyone visiting Pennybridge Lake – it is a fantastic place to sit and enjoy the wonderful views and admire the surrounding beauties of Mother Nature. Pennybridge is clearly the current “Jewel” in the Club’s present Water Portfolio and will remain a sparkling tribute to all the hard dedicated work put in by Roger and his Team.
The Club continued to prosper throughout the decade
of the 1990’s with its Membership varying on a year to year basis of between
300 & 320 Fully Paid Up Members, peaking in one year to a total of
approx. 350 Members. At the same time the Club’s Water Portfolio continued
to grow although from time to time a Fishery was lost either through a
change in Riparian Owner; a proposed Rental increase that was unacceptable
to the Officers and the Executive Committee or
they decided a particular Fishery was no longer
value for money to the Club due to poor usage by the Membership. Also,
of course, in 1998 the Club reached its Golden Jubilee and celebrated 50
successful years as the Town’s Senior Angling Club. Consequently all in
all the Club’s Management Team approached the coming Millennium, in good
spirits; with healthy financial resources and confidence in the future,
totally oblivious to the disasters that were about to break over their
corporate heads!
During the 90’s decade Mr. A.R.F. Barnard became much more closely associated with the Club following his appointment as the Club’s 2nd. Hon. Life Vice-President. Tony Barnard has represented the interests of Sussex based Anglers/Fisheries for well over 40 years. Until he was forced to resign all his Public Offices through ill health he was: Chairman and Chief Executive of Isfield Angling Club (and was hugely influential in the building of that Club from a small village club into the biggest and wealthiest Angling Club in Kent and Sussex); Founder Member and Chairman, for many years, of The Sussex Anglers Consultative Association; also Chairman, again for many years, of the Southern Water Authority/N.R.A’s. Sussex Fisheries Advisory Committee. Additionally he was the Founder Chairman of The Sussex Ouse Conservation Society. In recognition of his years of dedicated service to Anglers/Fisheries in Sussex a number of the Sussex Angling Clubs, Crowborough included, made Tony either an Honorary Member or Officer. Thankfully Tony made an amazing huge recovery from his ill health and continues to willingly share his vast knowledge and experience, in all matters relating to the Management of Angling Clubs and Fisheries, with any Angling Club who cares to consult him. Certainly the Crowborough Club has benefited over the years from his valuable in-puts to a variety of matters relating to the Club’s affairs.
The new Millennium came and the Club celebrated
the New Century along with the rest of the World with great hopes and expectations
for the new decade ahead. Unfortunately it was not to be as in the first
years of this new decade Crowborough & District A.A., like the majority
of all the
other Angling Clubs in Kent and Sussex and others
right across the Country, began to notice a decline in the general interest
in Angling as a Sport with the resulting decreasing Membership levels.
The Environment Agency was also reporting a year on year reduction in the
numbers of all classes of Rod Licences being sold. For the first
2/3 years of the 21st Century the Club ended each fiscal year with a “Trading
Loss” for the first time in the Club’s history and precious Cash Reserves
had to be used to cover the financial shortfalls.
At around this time Hon. Treasurer Mrs. Linda Colvin and her husband, Match Secretary, Graham Colvin decided to sell up their Tackle Shop in Crowborough and move to South Wales.The Successor Proprietors subsequently decided to close the Tackle Shop and return the premises to “residential use”. The closure of the Crowborough Tackle Centre was an enormous blow to the Club. The loss of an “Unofficial H.Q.” for the Club, where Memberships; Guests and General Public Day Tickets could be obtained; Simple & Hi Tech Tackle, Bait (both Live & Dry) for Game, Coarse & Sea Fishing could be bought; plus acting as a place where Members could meet for a chat and exchange exaggerated gossip about their last Fishing Trip, had many detrimental effects on the Club especially from a financial point of view. Luckily for the Club Peter Gammon volunteered to take on the post of Hon. Treasurer.
In the early years of the 2000’s there were further changes to the structure of the Senior Officers of the Club. In 2001 Keith Wilson retired as the Club’s 3rd. President and Peter Boorman was elected as the Club’s 4th. President. Cris Millis took on the post of Executive Committee Chairman and Roger Funnell became his Vice-Chairman. At that time Keith was made a Life Honorary Member of the Club and then subsequently at the next year’s A.G.M. he was elected to a Honorary Life Vice-Presidency. At the 2003 A.G.M. Hon. Secretary & Chief Executive David Errey announced his retirement after having served with great dedication and devotion to the wellbeing of the Club in those roles for 16 years. Geoff. Wicks then picked up the mantle of Hon. Secretary.
Returning now to the large and difficult financial problems inherited by Peter Gammon when he took on the role of Hon. Treasurer. The first task Peter set himself, on taking Office, was to undertake a comprehensive review of the Club’s Financial Affairs. On the completion of that Financial Review Peter put a number of hard cost cutting recommendations to his fellow Officers and the Executive Committee. To their great credit the Officers and Executive Committee Members “swallowed hard and then bit the bullet” and not only fully accepted/adopted all Peter’s proposals but immediately set about actioning them. In conjunction with the cost cutting actions the Executive Committee commenced a robust Membership Recruitment Campaign masterminded by Vice-Chairman Roger Funnell and who was greatly assisted by President Peter Boorman. In addition to using the Club’s Website as a recruitment tool they produced a “Publicity/Membership Recruitment Flyer” which was delivered house to house on many of the Housing Estates in the Crowborough Area. Fund Raising Officer John Kelly also played a large part in helping to turn around the Club’s finances by organising a highly successful New Year 2004 Raffle.
The huge success of the Cost Cutting; Membership Recruitment Campaign and the Fund Raising Projects can be gauged by the fact that Hon. Treasurer was able to announce, at the 2004 A.G.M. that for the Fiscal Year 2003/04 the Club had returned to the much healthier position of ending the year with a Trading Surplus. He reported that the Subscription Income and therefore the Membership levels were up on the previous year, furthermore the Club’s Yearly Expenditure was down. Equally important the revenue produced by the activities of the Fund Raising Officer had increased by an enormous amount.
Consequently with the Club now back in a stronger Financial Situation the new younger and reinvigorated Management Team is in a prime position to take the Club, on behalf of its Membership, into a bright successful New Century.
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Contributors:
P.J. Boorman.
K.J.B. Wilson.