A chance email leads Rob Hardy and Andrew Flitcroft to a hidden stream they had unwittingly driven over for decades
AS THE SAYING GOES “sometimes you don’t see what’s under your nose”. This was certainly the case with the River Wansbeck. For more than 30 years, Andrew and I have travelled the A1 for business and pleasure, unknowingly passing directly over this obscured little stream near the town of Morpeth in Northumberland. It wasn’t until we received an invite from Wansbeck Angling Association that we knew it existed.
The river starts its course above Sweethope Loughs on the edge of the Forelaws Forest in an area known as The Wanneys, hence the Wanneys Beck, or Wansbeck. From here, it winds its way east past Kirkwhelpington and Mitford, before sneaking under the A1 and through the centre of Morpeth on its way to the coast below Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
Wansbeck AA was created in 1907 when several smaller clubs amalgamated. It now controls eight miles of single-and double-bank fishing, mainly below Morpeth town down to Leech Bank where the A196 crosses it roughly two miles above its confluence with the North Sea.
We were excited to see what this intriguing river had to offer, so we’d arranged to meet members for a day’s fishing on our way home from a fruitless few days on the Tweed.
“Meet in the riverside car park, just past the rugby club,” were the instructions, and it was easy enough to find. We encountered a hive of activity, dogwalkers pulling on boots beside several club members whose hands stretched out to greet us. There was Doug Graham, club chairman and member since 1997, “out-served” only by Sid Dixey, a trustee since the early 1990s. Sid also served for many years as club treasurer, a position now held by his son Brendan, also present. Secretary Brian, my original contact, and Dave Surphlis, the river bailiff, completed the contingent, and they were deep in conversation with two Environment Agency officers, who told us the Wansbeck contains the healthiest population of native white claw crayfish in the country (with no signal crayfish or plague present).
Keen to keep it that way, the officers disinfected our waders, boots and nets before we headed for the river. They pointed out the ongoing repairs to a tree-trap designed to mitigate against large floating debris being washed downstream in a flood and blocking the w and Telford bridges — something that has led to previous flooding. While it had done its job during spring floods, the massive pressure applied by a 10ft-tall raft of logs, branches and other debris had caused structural damage and work was underway to strengthen it. The officers were there to ensure everything wa
