An Association with Captain L A Parker

In the early 1970’s I worked as a storekeeper for Budgens Cash and Carry. They had a warehouse in West Harnham just around the corner from The Old Mill at Harnham. The Old Mill was on the River Nadder just where the river joined the River Avon in Salisbury. The warehouse was run by a nice chap and his family. I am sorry, but I am unable to remember his name after all these years. 

I do, however, remember that he was quite religious and a member of the Jehovahs Witness faith. He was a really good man and looked after his workers well. I think I worked for him for about two years.  

Now, let me tell you a bit about Captain L A Parker and how I came to be linked to him in a small way. He worked as a river keeper on the Hampshire Avon. He lived in a small cottage at Bicton Mill which was close to the village of Charlton near the towns of Fordingbridge and further on down the river, Ringwood. 

I believe that he spent the years each side of World War two looking after the river at and around Bicton Mill. He had a wife and son who lived with him at the cottage.

In those days only the rich got to fish the great river legally. The main stretches of the river were owned by aristocracy or rather elite fishing clubs. I think that Captain Parker worked for one of these rich men. The majority of his time was spent ensuring that the river was always in tip top condition. 

When he was not doing this he was looking after clients and ensuring that their visits were fruitful in fishing terms. Over the years he became very well known in angling circles around the country and was revered for his ability and angling knowledge of the river. Many famous anglers of those times made their way to the famous stretches of the river in that area.

Being so knowledgeable he was often pursued for his views by the angling press. He was invited to write articles in some famous fishing books, including “The Art of Angling” by J Mansfield and he also wrote a book himself entitled “This Fishing” by Capt L A Parker. This book was all about the Hampshire Avon and it describes the methods of angling at that time. 

He also describes swims that he and his colleagues had fished and how they had fared regarding fish numbers and weights. The book, “The Art of Angling” had three volumes which consisted of various articles by famous anglers of the day including himself. 

All these books can be found in specialist bookshops in and around Fordingbridge, Ringwood and Bournemouth. A copy might be bought in the Salisbury area.

The whole story comes together because Captain Len A Parker had a son who like me, worked in Budgens Cash and Carry at Harnham. His son was Len Parker the same as his illustrious father.

Len Parker junior new that I was an avid angler and overheard me lots of times going on about my fishing exploits. He knew that I fished the River Avon around the Salisbury, Downton and Fordingbridge areas. Often, we got to talking about fishing and I noticed that even though he told me he lived at Bicton Mill and that his father had worked on the river, he showed no enthusiasm for fishing himself.

Finally, after getting very emotional one day, he told me why. He said that he hated his dad and also anything to do with fishing. The reason for this was because his dad was married to the river and all the cronies that he had to look after as part of his job. His dad spent the majority of his time away from the home and that he and his mother were left to their own ends without his father on many, many occasions. All Len junior wanted was a father that looked after his mother and spent time with his son like other dad’s did.

That obviously never happened and it had a very bad influence on their father- son relationship. I did feel very sorry for him and I could understand his predicament because I too had been raised by my mother after my father walked out on us when I was aged 9.

One morning Len junior walked into the canteen at the warehouse hand handed me the 4 books I have already mentioned. The books belonged to Captain L A Parker and were signed by him as his own personal copies. He also put his address on the inside cover of each book just above his signature. All of this time, I have kept the volumes of “The Art of Angling”, for over 40 years.

Unfortunately, Captain Parker’s own book “This Fishing” was lent out to my mate Brian Duckett and he moved to the Bristol area to work in a bank. Brian never returned it to me as promised. I have always regretted lending him the book.

Just a little aside, in one of his articles, Captain Parker describes “Clay Ball Fishing” in one of the swims on the River Avon at Burgate. From his description, I was able to single out what he described as the “Armchair Swim”. It turned out to be a swim at the bottom end of the stretch, just where a fence entered the river to separate the fields. You could indeed get right down into the swim and with the bank about 12 ft above you it probably felt like you were in a giant armchair.

When fishing the swim it felt very strange to realise that some 60 years earlier Captain Parker and probably some other famous angler, were fishing in this very swim. They probably used the clay from the bank with a stone inside each ball as he described in the article, to hold the bottom in the fast current below. They were after barbel and probably using much simpler gear than I was, then.

Perhaps, one day, I will try to find out more about Captain Parker. I wonder of any of the old boys in the Angling Clubs around the lower or middle River Avon, ever knew him? Are there any more things written about him?