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  • 'Sweets' Fishing Tackle Shop. The Oldie, August '15

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    rob yorke
    68 Ansichten2 Seiten
    Jean Williams - queen of the river Usk - says that you will ever only need five flies...

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    'Sweets' fishing tackle shop. The Oldie, August '15

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    Jean Williams - queen of the river Usk - says that you will ever only need five flies...

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Als PDF herunterladen oder online auf Scribd lesen
    Markieren Sie unangemessene Inhalte
    68 Ansichten2 Seiten

    'Sweets' Fishing Tackle Shop. The Oldie, August '15

    Hochgeladen von

    rob yorke
    Jean Williams - queen of the river Usk - says that you will ever only need five flies...

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Als PDF herunterladen oder online auf Scribd lesen
    Markieren Sie unangemessene Inhalte
    von 2
    Queen of the flies Fishing is the perfect antidote to stress, says Jean Williams, consummate fly-maker and angler’s best friend. By PATRICK BISHOP [AN OLD-fashioned bell tinkles as you push open the door of Sweets tackle shop. Once you cross the threshold the modern world vanishes. Inside the dim interior itis forever 1978. Odd bits of fishing equipment and faded pho- tographs line the walls haphazardly. A ‘monster 35%Ib salmon looks down from a dusty glass case. And there behind the counter is the smiling face of Jean \Williams who has presided over the place for nearly forty years. ‘Fishermen hate change, she says. “They love coming back and finding everything exactly as they remembered it~ notall white and clinical’ Amid the clutter on the counter is an envelope addressed in an elaborate copperplate hand to ‘the amazing Jean of Sweets =the one and only fount of fishing knowledge’ It’s bitof an exaggeration perhaps, but indicative ofthe devotion that she inspires. The phone rings frequently as anglers cal from far and wide, inquiring bout river conditions and what the fish are up to. There isa constant stream of visitors, from elderly male dog walkers dropping in fora chat to young lads reporting their successes. ‘Sweet's is inthe little Monmouth. shire town of Usk where Jean has happily spentll her life. Asa teenager she wanted to be ‘a hairdresser ora {clephonist.. Instead, a chance encounter between her aunt and Mrs Sweet in 2 tobacconist’s led toa jobas an assistant in the shop. ‘The owner, Lionel Sweet, was a famous fisherman who was able to cast five rods at once ~ two in each hand and one strapped to his foot. She learned how ee, | x= aay. to te lies and then Mr Sweet took her fishing. She caught first time ~a trout ona Claret and Mallard. When Mr Sweet died in 1978 she and her husband, Mike, bought the business. Mike isa golfer and rugby man, and the shop is very much her domain. In the years of her reign it hnas become a mecca for anglers coming to fish the Usk river, they go there to buy her beautiful fies and listen to her talking wisely in her soft Marches accent, about trout, salmon and life in general “Fishing is wonderful levells’ she says. ‘You meet people fiom all walks of life and all temperaments.” Her cus- tomers have included rugby star Sir Ga. reth Edwards, comedian Billy Comnoly, actor Timothy Dalton and, rather surpris- ingly, the American crooner Gene Pitney, ‘who was playing a local country club. She also believes it is much better for you than pills or psychotherapy. ‘People get so tensed up these days,’ she says. “They might be very important or do very stressful jobs, but when they geton the river they forget all about time. Nothing else matters except the water and the fish, and all your cares and worries drop away, When they get home, they area better person. Some wives would do well to realise tha.” Fishing is still a predominantly male activity, and often an obsessive one. ‘Women tend to react to their menfolk’s ‘enthusiasm for it in two sharply different ‘ways. Category A resents their frequent and often open-ended absences, Category B shares the view expressed in a poster

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