What a fantastic weekend away, meeting up with the family at Rutland Water. We all had a lovely walk around part of the reservoir before heading off for a wonderful evening meal at The White House in Stretton, where, back in 1664, the pub game of Nurdling was apparently invented. The food was fabulous, and it was a great evening together.
We stayed in a lovely Airbnb in Cottesmore, which was perfectly situated for our plans. The following morning, we headed into Oakham, spending some time there before enjoying lunch at The Hungry Bird.
On the journey home, we took a detour to a place that brought back plenty of childhood memories. I spent a great deal of my younger years on a boat on the River Nene, and Fotheringhay was a regular place for us to moor up.
What I never realised at the time was just how much history surrounded this small village. Richard III was born there in 1452, while Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned at Fotheringhay Castle before being executed there in 1587.
It’s funny how places from your childhood can take on a completely different meaning years later. What was once simply somewhere we moored the boat is now somewhere I can appreciate for its incredible place in British history.
What a fabulous weekend, full of interesting facts, beautiful places, great memories, and, most importantly, fantastic family time.
I would like to give a brief snap shot of my life and introduce myself;
My name is Richard Handel and was born in 1965 in Suffolk. I have worked as a UK Operation & Intermodule Manager for a shipping company. I live in Hampshire now and am married with 2 young children, both girls so I am a bit outnumbered even the cat is a girl!
I have been fishing since I was about 7 years old. I started on small local rivers in Suffolk, then moved onto gravel pits and then carp fishing. My personal best is a 39.08 mirror, over recent years I have started river fishing again, on the Hampshire Avon, this is a nice break from the carp lakes.
My life has turned a big corner this year, the company I was working for relocated their Operation centre to Estonia. I was offered a job at the head office in London. This would have meant a 5 day commute and working in Stratford. As a family, we did not fancy this, as I would hardly spend any time with the children (and the Mrs). So after 22.5 years, I was given a nice redundancy package and with my wife is working full time. I became the house husband.
This has meant a complete turn around in my fishing, as I can pick and choose when I go. I have found a splendid new syndicate to fish this year, which includes 5 lakes and some 8 miles of river with only 150 members. It's an amazing change to the way I am able to fish.
I am now trying to start my own tackle business and make a bit of a name for myself in the world of fishing, as I have retired from real work.
Richard
