A hundred years of quiet joy

Jamie Tusting casts on a sparkling stream winding through timeless countryside to mark the centenary of a progressive fishing club

- Jamie Tusting

The Guash is a small limestone stream running from Braunston-in-Rutland to its confluence with the Welland downstream of Stamford, Lincolnshire. Its meandering course winds gently through classic English farmland, passing through stone villages, going largely unnoticed by many. It is a stunning little stream, bursting with life and is, most notably, home to a wonderful population of brown trout.

For a large part of its course the river runs through the Burghley Estate and in 1921, the Marquess of Exeter and the then land agent to the estate, Major Bailey, formed a small fishing club to breathe life into and rejuvenate the river.

In its inaugural year, 56 members paid three guineas to join the Guash Fishing Club. A riverkeeper was employed and some stocking commenced, with a programme of bank and river improvement works scheduled across their waters.

Through the following decades, the club took on more waters and soon reached its current level of 16 miles of fishing across 13 beats. Through the 1930s and up to World War II, the fishing remained strong. Catch returns indicated rod averages of two to three brace an outing.

The bumper years continued after the disruption of war and, into the 1960s, fish of up to 5lb were caught.

Those good times were followed by a period of more troubled waters and the 1970s were a difficult time for the club and for the river. There were a number of man-made problems impacting heavily on fish stocks.