While the fishing at Ingestone has once again been excellent this year, in other areas its been challenging - high interest rates, inflation and managing the increasing burden of environmental, agricultural, corporate and government legislation have made running the business and balancing the books a challenge.
Those challenges will remain in 2024 but the fundamentals of what we do here are simple and straightforward, and thankfully we can all look forward to next year’s experiences on the riverbank being as magical as they always have been at Ingestone.
The river has produced some wonderful fishing this year for both salmon and coarse and with the Wye now under more ecological scrutiny, the river will no doubt continue to return fantastic specimens to our members.
Moving into 2024, the Environment Agency have updated our responsibilities when it comes to land and bank maintenance - the push is now for a more 'natural' approach and appearance - so my late fathers desire for the fishery and estate to be kept manicured, as Jill put it "like a bowling green" will have to soften a bit. Make no mistake though, our swims and facilities will continue to be kept in superb order.
Outside funding has allowed us to continue investment, with the box grader attachment for the track, and the Kubota mini tractor and flail mower for grass maintenance. We've just finished renovating Lavender Cottage, so while Jill waits for her house to sell we will run Lavender as a holiday let. Mr Cobley's old house up at Brickend has also had a refurbishment and now has a new tenant. Plus of course, Wi-Fi finally made an appearance at the stables thanks to Elon Musk and Starlink.
The condition of the estate is testament to Ray and Tracey’s continued hard work and they deserve a special mention, as does Ray Harris and Paddy who between them help keep the syndicate running and the membership levels buoyant, which of course contribute to our ability to run and fund the upkeep of the Fishery.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all our members and their guests and send our very best wishes to everyone and hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year.
Dominic, Jill and Hannah
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