Local Angling Group Gains Access To National Trust Waters

---

Wandle Piscators' lease in Morden Hall Park begins mid-March

National Trust waters in Morden Hall Park. Picture: The Wandle Piscators

February 24, 2023

Following what they describe as extensive work behind the scenes, The Wandle Piscators have secured the angling lease to National Trust waters in Morden Hall Park.

Details on specific areas that will be opened up for general fishing, fishing bailiffs only, young piscators and those which are out of bounds, are still to be finalised.

Previously anglers could only fish in the Wandle at Morden Hall Park if they were a member of the Morden Hall Park Angling Club.

The Wandle Piscators were formalised as a group of anglers in 2005, which was the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Admiral Nelson, who is said to have been one of the Wandle’s most famous fishermen.

Nowadays the Club is “committed to helping the historic River Wandle come back to life after centuries of pollution and abuse”.

The River Wandle had a reputation as one of the finest trout rivers in England until the Industrial Revolution when increased pollution of the waterways started to kill off the fish population.

The Upper River at Carshalton. Picture: The Wandle Piscators

The Wandle Piscators point out that over the last thirty years the River Wandle has made “remarkable progress, but it has a long way to go” while the fish in it are “precious and need special care from the fishermen who take pleasure in catching them”.
A catch and release policy is in full operation and eating fish from the Wandle is a “risky business”, according to the Piscators’ Angling Guide. Although the river itself is perfectly safe nowadays, the major weirs on its course create deep deposits of silt, which contain the pollutants and heavy metals from former industries.

In Wandsworth accessibility for fishing the river gets more difficult below Trewint Street, before it disappears under the Southside Centre. However, for future reference the new developments at the Ram Quarter include plans to increase safe access to fishing before the Wandle reaches the Thames.

If angling locals travel a little further South they can enjoy the River Wandle as it flows from springs on the North Downs to the East, where the river now emerges in Wandle Park and Waddon Ponds near Croydon, and in the west where headwaters rise in Carshalton Ponds and around Beddington Park. There is also good fishing in The Middle River with easy access from parks and in those places where the Wandle Trail
runs close to the flow.

The Angler’s Guide provides residents with all the details of how to get the best fishing experiences in The Wandle, which now offers the chance to catch a wide variety of species with chub, barbel, roach, dace, trout, gudgeon, eels and carp being the most common.

The lease at Morden Hall Park will officially begin on March 15th, and the Wandle Piscators say they are looking forward to welcoming both new members looking to join as well as those already belonging to the Morden Hall Angling Club.

Angling within the park will only be available to paid up club members and you can sign up here.

Membership of the Wandle Piscators is open to anyone with an interest in fishing and also anyone who has an interest in restoring the River Wandle to full health and biodiversity.

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.