Trouting For Old Blokes

Jon Beer fishes in Holmfirth, a Yorkshire town made famous by a trio of bumbling retired men.

- Jon Beer

THE WORLD’S LONGEST-RUNNING sitcom takes place in a small town in West Yorkshire. In this oasis of northern nostalgia three of the older sort of bloke enjoy a carefree second childhood. For most of the episodes the three characters were Compo, Clegg and Foggy. Foggy Dewhurst, the driving force, the man of ideas; Norman Clegg, the voice of moderation and restraint; Compo Simmonite, the unrepentant clown. At one time, in the long distant past, Clegg and Compo had been classmates in the local school. Now they are retired and, for the best part of three decades, pass the time in unlikely misadventure in the lanes of the surrounding moors, in the café, pubs and ginnels of the small town and in the little river that once powered the town’s mills. The little river is the Holme (pronounced “Home” incidentally). The small town is Holmfirth.

Which is where we fetched up that September morning. There were three of us. At one time, in the long distant past, Paul and I were schoolmates. Even at school, Paul was ever the voice of moderation and restraint. I, alas, was the unrepentant clown. Now we are both the older sort of bloke. You can see where this is going, can’t you? But my carefully crafted analogy stutters hereabouts. Lynva is clearly not the older sort of bloke: she’s not even a bloke. But she is undoubtedly the one with the ideas – and the driving force. That’s why we were here on that September morning.