History
Fly-fishing is not an escape from life, It's a deeper immersion into it." HARRY MIDDLETON – RIVERS OF MEMORY (1993)
Immerse yourself in nature
There’s more to fishing than catching fish. Then there’s Barton Court. A secret place, where the River Kennet idles peacefully through the grounds of a private family estate between Hungerford and Kintbury. Strictly preserved – and therefore not over-fished – Barton Court is the perfect fly-fishing retreat.
Designated a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), here you’ll find peace, quiet and all the space you need to lose your worries and yourself, wandering through ancient water meadows, with Kintbury village church bells in the distance. Exploring the tangled, criss-cross cobweb of clear pasture and woodland streams, chuckling over sparkling gravels. Immersing yourself in the tranquillity and beauty of one of Britain’s rarest and most treasured natural wetlands, with rod in hand. At your disposal, some of the finest chalk stream fly-fishing in the south of England, without the restriction of fixed beats – the freedom to roam and fish dry-fly and nymphs on just over two and a half miles of main river and carriers, with a mixture of double and single bank fishing.
Immerse yourself in history
For centuries, the River Kennet has earned the reputation of yielding better and bigger trout than any river in England – a tradition we strive to continue. Rainbow and brown trout of three pounds and over are regularly caught. Our population of wild fish born in the river increases year by year. And here is the residence of the elusive Kennet ‘greenback’. Sporting the least number of spots of any brown trout you are likely to catch, it is one of the last indigenous, native trout remaining in Southern England.
Since pre-war days, during the heavier Mayfly spinner falls – when cars on nearby roads needed to turn on their wipers – the Kennet and Barton Court can still claim to have more prolific and spectacular hatches of mayfly than any of its Hampshire neighbours. “Mayfly was in fair numbers,” John Rennie writes in ‘I Have Been Fishing’ after a day’s fishing on a distinguished beat on the River Test, “but nothing like the rise you get on the Kennet”.
Immerse yourself in literature
In the past, it was at Barton Court where the author, Walter Barrett, devised his Barrett’s Shaving Brush’. Still, the mayfly pattern of choice is of seasoned Kennet Flyfishers up and down the valley.
Many other famous Flyfishers, fly-tyers and writers have eulogised about their days fishing at Barton Court. Notably, John Goddard, the renowned Flyfisher and entomologist who fished the waters at Barton Court for many years. During this time, he collected, identified and photographed the abundance of river flies that hatch there, his studies resulting in Trout Fly Recognition, a highly acclaimed fly-fishing classic.
Immerse yourself in the thought of your next day’s fishing
Come, cast. Catch more than just the best trout of your season. Come, wind in your reel – and unwind in our comfortable fishing hut by the river.
For ’tis not all of fishing to fish,” as Izaak Walton once said.
Many thanks to Neil Patterson for the writing and images.