South Coast-by-Spitalfields

A most convivial day on the stall at Spitalfields yesterday with several carrier bags of Vintage Fishing Tackle for the Soul purchased from gentlemen passers-by and a riot of regulars sailing upon an ocean of slosh.  At lunchtime, which as all regulars known falls at approximately 11:30hrs, a visit from Mr. Mathew Clayton with a delivery by hand of his edition of the Caught by the River Fanzine 4 'An Antidote to Indifference - South Coast Special'.  The work of a writer-cum-dealer is words as well as boxes of gear and in a year when my typewriter has been silent save for an episode of 'Bible John' in the Old Town Evening Star, a piece for next year's Lost in London book and my regular column in Classic Angling it was an honour to be asked to write about a week of life in Arcadia for a publication that includes (to name but a few) Mr. David Bramwell and his 'Ghost Villages', memories of The Ditchling Players, Mr. Paul Farrington's account of the 'Archive of Brighton Swimming Club' and an ode to 'Off Licence Life' by Mr. Robin Turner.  You may read all this and more by purchasing a copy of 'Antidote 4' which is on sale now from the vendors of truth and beauty: street corner urchins, public bar dwellers, shops of taste including online via Caught by the River, and finally from myself for £3 in coin - either from the depths of a 1946 J. R. Brooks Bag or indeed off the velvet at the stall.  I will also have copies with me this weekend at The National Vintage Fishing Tackle Fair.