Ilam and the Compleat Angler

About trip

The Manifold and Dove rivers join just beyond Ilam near the Izaak Walton Hotel. Both rivers were fished by the ‘Father of Angling’ and the author of The Compleat Angler, or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Since the first edition appeared in 1653 it has never been out of print. Izaak Walton Born in Stafford in 1593, Walton moved to London as an apprentice ironmonger, becoming a craftsman and guild member when he was 25 years old. For most of his working life he owned an ironmongers shop in Fleet Street and lived in a house in Chancery Lane. A keen angler he spent much of his spare time fishing on the Thames but it was not until retirement that he was able to devote himself to his hobby completely. ‘I have laid aside business, and gone a-fishing.’ Shrewd Operator: The view we have of Walton from his book is of a genial old buffer strolling along river banks in pastoral England. But nothing could be further from the truth. Walton lived during a period of political upheaval and unrest. In 1649 he saw the execution of Charles I and left London for Staffordshire where he stayed during the Civil War. A staunch Royalist he is mentioned amongst the supporters of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Following the battle he visited a friend who had been imprisoned in Stafford. From this friend Walton received the King’s ring, which he delivered to Colonel Blague, then a prisoner in the Tower of London. The Colonel escaped, made his way to France and returned the ring to the King. If Walton had been caught, he would have been executed. Just two years after ‘the only known adventure’ in his life he published his famous book. Celebrated Work. The Compleat Angler is the story of three sportsmen, Viator, a huntsman, Auceps, a fowler and Piscator, the fisherman, walking the River Lea on May Day debating the finer points of their chosen sport. The fifth edition in 1676 contained an addition by Walton’s friend and fishing companion, Charles Cotton, who lived at Beresford Hall near Hartington. Cotton built a little fishing house on the banks of the Dove near his home, which still stands today. This ‘holy shrine for all anglers’ has the interlacing initials of both men and the inscription ‘Piscatoribus Scarum 1674’. Following the restoration of the monarchy and Charles II, Walton moved to Winchester as the guest of his friend George Morley, Bishop of Winchester, and lived there until he died, aged 90 on 15 December 1683. He was buried in the floor of the Chapel of St John the Evangelist and the Fisherman Apostles. While you're there: Visit the church that stands in the grounds of Ilam Hall. Originally Norman it was rebuilt in the 19th century but retains some of its older features. Inside is an elaborate and striking monument depicting the deathbed scene of David Pike Watts with his only daughter and her children. Where to eat and drink: The National Trust’s Manifold Tea Room, located above the shop and overlooking the terraced gardens of Ilam Hall, provides welcome refreshment. Open weekends throughout the year and daily in the summer, look out for tasty treats, such as apricot flapjack, chocolate orange fudge cake and cream teas. There is a large area of outside seating that allows terrific views across the park. What to look for: As you cross Ilam Park try and pick out the well-preserved remains of medieval ridge and furrow fields on the right-hand side. Look for the track that runs across them. It was once used by local tradesmen and servants at Ilam Hall who were forbidden to use the main drive. Directions: Leave the car park from the corner (pedestrian exit), turn right through a gate and follow the track through the park. Cross a stile and turn left on to the road out of Ilam village. Go uphill, turn left at Park Cottage on to the Castern to Throwley road. At a Y-junction go left, following the road across Rushley Bridge. 2 Go through Rushley Farm and then turn right, through a gate, on to the public footpath. Cross a ladder stile, walk along the side of a fence and then cross a gate on the left. Continue ahead following the waymarked path beside a stone wall and a fence, walking along the valley bottom. 3 Go over a series of stiles and at the final one, turn left on to the road. At the crossroads turn left towards Ashbourne. Go left through a gap stile at the next public footpath sign and cross the field. Cross a stile, go through another field to a stile to the left of a farm, then head diagonally left across the next field. 4 Cross the wall by stone steps, head diagonally right to a gap stile to the right of some buildings. Continue on this line to another stile in the hedge to the right of Fieldhead farm and turn left on to the road. Follow this round the boundary of the farm and go over a stile on the right by a metal gate. 5 Follow the field-edge path uphill. Cross a stile, cross the field to where two walls meet at a corner and follow the wall to the right. Join a farm road, pass a derelict farmstead, then turn diagonally right across a field and through a gap stile in the wall at the far corner. 6 Follow the direction pointer past two marker stones to the next public footpath sign and go right. Follow the wall on your right, go through a gap, follow the waymarker downhill. 7 Go across two fields, a stile and then a bridge and into Ilam Park. Turn right and at the stile fork left, uphill, on a broad track that crosses the grounds back to the car park.