As the opening of the new trout season draws ever closer, my thoughts turn away from Grayling and are redirected towards those beautiful wild trout of the Yorkshire Derwent - and the 'tackle tart' within me reaches for the glossy catalogues which drop through the door on a daily bases, in the hunt for even more gear to hide from my wife!
I saw the first signs that Spring is just around the corner as I took our dog (Ronnie) for a walk around a local stillwater yesterday afternoon. The sun was just at its peak, and towards the back of the lake - sheltered from the breeze - there were clouds of buzzers, all hatching in the dappled sunlight.
The original Almanack contained weather and astrological predictions and was mainly used by Francis as a means to sell his various pills and potions. It was a bestseller throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, selling as many as 107,000 copies in 1768.
