Did you know that the Hanley’s Villages have their very own Fishing Club!
It is believed that the club was formed when Sir Ronald Lechmere, Squire of the estate gave his workers the rights to fish along the banks of the river Severn, which runs through the estates land. The above photo shows what we believe is Sir Ronald standing by the boat house with fellow members of the club. The photo is owned by Mick Harris, who is the current club Chairman and amongst the anglers standing for this photo is his Father. The Harris family like so many other local families have had connections with this club for entire generations. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, can you identify any of the anglers shown? We would love to get some more information about the clubs history and help in finding out exactly when the club was formed.
The Hanley Castle Angling Club has served the People of the Hanley’s for generations and with the blessing of the Lechmere Family, will continue to do so for generations to come.
You will find our home waters at the end of Quay Lane in Hanley Castle. The club currently has both the right hand & left hand meadow at the bottom of the lane. There is a car park just inside the gate of the left meadow. Over the years, the general way the club has kept the banks, is for one meadow to be cut out and pegged for match & pleasure fishing, while the other meadow tends to be left or rested. However the club is currently trying to finance putting in more permanent pegs for both meadows. Our stretch of the river has through the years gained quite a reputation for its excellent fishing.
The membership in the club comprises of a mixed bunch of anglers and caters for every interest.
MATCH FISHING: We have a strong match element, which is very active both on home waters and with many away day matches on local rivers and pools. There is a fine collection of silverware to be won each year and we have a Spring/Summer tournament (THE WILLIAM OLDHAM AWAY DAY PAIRS CUP) which runs from January to October every year and a Winter League (THE IAN GLAZE MEMORIAL WINTER LEAGUE) which goes through the Autumn & Winter period. This year will see the Junior Cup and the Ladies Cup come out of retirement for the 1st time in a decade.
SPECIMEN HUNTERS: There is an ever growing number of specimen hunters, who enjoy the challenges our waters offer. Every year we get reports of very big specimens of various species been caught. This year the (MARRIS FAMILY SPECIMEN CUP) has been taken out of the match calender and will now go to the member who records the biggest BARBEL caught on home waters during the river season. To record your claim on this cup, you must get a photo of you with your fish preferably standing by the peg number and/or witnessed.
PLEASURE ANGLERS: The beauty of having a club like this one, is to simply have a chance for those who simply want to go fishing when the mood takes them. But besides having our own waters to fish. Our members have the opportunity to come along to the away day venues arranged for the match circuit and simply fish them, without having to match fish. All anyone has to do is let the secretary know and he will make sure extra pegs are made available for them.
MEMBERSHIP: in the club is mainly for Residents and Ex-Residents of the Hanley’s villages. We do offer a limited number of what we call Privilege memberships, these being non-residents and are usually friends of members. All privilege memberships have to be discussed and accepted by the committee at one of the meetings before been allowed to join the club.
THE ANGLING TRUST: The Club has recently joined the Angling Trust, which gives the club the protection offered through their Fish Legal Team Their Insurance is far more tailored to our type of club. With a membership which spans every age group, now all of our members are covered while fishing!
If you’re interested in the club then contact us by using the form below:
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Page updated 15 Nov 2022.
The Hanleys' Villages 