Alresford Angling Association a Company Limited by Guarantee
Club Rules and Byelaws
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NAME:
The name of the club shall be “Alresford Angling Association”
2. OBJECTIVE:
The general objective of the club shall be to provide the facilities of an
History and Legacy
In the late 1960's, a local Aggregate and Ready-mix company had finished excavating along a stretch of land bordering Sixpenny Brook and an idea was formed to approach the company by a group of Alresford anglers to form a non-profitmaking club for the "peaceful pursuit of angling". Their approach was successful and Alresford Angling Association was formed with an initial membership of Alresford residents only.
A meeting took place on the 13th February 1968 and a committee was formed by vote. Mr D.Munson became Chairman, Mr.Arthur Bareham became Secretary/Treasurer and a committee of Mr.Peter Sawers, Mr.Peter Greenleaf, Mr.Ling,Mr.H.Peacock and Mr.E.Watson were duly elected. Membership was 10/- (50p) for Seniors and 5/- (25p) for Juniors.
The club now began to put in place a set of rules and a Constitution was created, and the bones of these are still in place today. Other local clubs were invited to compete against AAA and internal and external trophies were aquired by purchase or donation. Since its inception,AAA has maintained a group of anglers keen on match fishing and a team to take on other clubs and organisations. Support for local charities has always been at the forefront and sponsored matches a way to make this happen.
Entering the 70's, the club had a new Chairman, Mr. John White who held the post up until his resignation in 2018.Mr. Ron Tickner became Treasurer, a position he held until his death in January 2025 and Arthur Bareham remained Secretary until his death in December 1991.During this early period, the club had also joined the Essex Angling Consultative Association and this made technical, legal and protective adviice available to them and Mr.Albert Waters joined the committee to act as the clubs representative.It was from this combined input that the foundation of AAA was created to become the sociable and friendly club it is today.
Along with Alresford Lake, or Arthur Bareham Lake as it is now named in appreciation of all the work put in by him in his role as founder and Secretary, the need for other venues was needed to keep pace with membership demands. 1979 saw the emergence of Frating Hall as a venue with feelers out for other sites.1991 and Frating Abbey Lake was leased and added to the club's waters. Membership at this time had risen to just over 100 senior members and close to 30 juniors, with membership fees at £15 and £7 respectively and a £5 joining fee and it was during that year that Mr. Glenn Sibbons took on the role of Secretary after the untimely loss of Arthur Bareham.
Due to the increase in maintenance by nature of more waters to manage, Mr.Clive Baker was elected as Maintenance Manager and the start of co-ordinated repairs began. 1995 saw the lakes being fished throughout the year as the Close Season had finished on still waters. Both sets of Frating venues were stocked and a lot of work went into setting up swims and managing the water quality.
During 1997, a large orchard on the outskirts village was developed for the ongoing removal of sand and ballast. The owners of the land, the Grinsted family, had played a major role in village life especially at apple harvest time, when many village people were involved in their harvest. The landowner generously offered AAA the oppurtunity to develop the lakes as they were dug out and created. These went on to become the 3-lake complex and became Bramley, Worcester and Cox lakes in acknowledgement of the lands previous use and the whole complex named as the Grinsted Orchard Lakes.
As with the case of the club's other lakes, the business of stocking the Orchard Lakes began. Ron Tickner was heavily involved in the original lease arrangements and financial figures for the Orchard lease.Due to a sudden proposed substantial increase in rental costs, from £1000 to £10,000, the club gave up the lease on Frating Hall. Again, a fortuitous moment as the landowner allowed the club to net the lake and we stepped relatively effortlessly into the new lakes at the Orchard with a stock of fish.
2002 saw the death of long-term committee member Derek Creed and a trophy created in his memory. Other trophies included the Bareham Shield, Westlake Shield, Wigley Memorial and Norrington Trophy presented in memory of contributors to the club's formation. Over the next few years saw Albert Waters take over the role of Maintenance Manager along with Ian Grimwade, and Paul Barrell step up to the role as Secretary. The membership was expanded, not only to cover the increased rents but also to purchase stock fish, to expedite this the membership boundary was expanded to cover the whole Tendring area.
The developement of the Orchard lakes continued with all three lakes becoming fishable, swims were added along with access roads and car parks being laid and the introduction of a wide range of fish species to suite all members. This was achieved by a solid group of members who gave up their spare time to create this fishery.
As stated earlier, in 2018 John White retired as Chairman. Since the retirement of Paul Barrell as Secretary, John White had been covering both positions and replacements were now required for the club to function. Steve Sibbons stepped forward as Chairman and Mike Day agreed to cover the role of Secretary. Jim Martin took on the role as Membership Secretary, having filled the roles of Match Secretary and Maintenance Manager and along with Adrian Loughton who stepped into the role of Match Secretary.
2019 saw the club make a new approach to purchase the Orchard Complex. This had been unsuccessfully tried a few years earlier, but due to the certainty that this time the land owner wanted to sell the land,severing all ties with UK, it was felt that this time was a make or break situation for the club's future.
The club had joined various associations during its time, but finally joined the Angling Trust and Fish Legal, which proved to be provident as Covid arrived during 2020 and for a year everyone had to abide by everchanging legislation. At this time, a small sub-committee was formed, comprising of Albert Waters who had taken on the role of Chairman, Ron Tickner, Mike Day and Paul Barrell. The purpose of the sub-group was to carry out negotiations via solicitor and owner, owner and committee etc. and to report back with conclusive information. After all the work put in by the club and the care and management of the area, David Grinsted wanted us,AAA, to be the future owners and custodians. There was to be major changes within the financial side of the club, with the need to raise a deposit and to continue with repayments on the sale price. Once again, members stepped forward and an internal fund was created to pay this amount along with the first payment. 2023 saw the exchange of contracts and monies with Alresford Angling Association becoming owners of 30 acres of land comprising of 3 lakes with a 15-acre surface area of water, and the remaining area of woodland and wildlife habitat. We are now a Company Limited by Guarantee with 4 Guarantors and 3 Trustees. During the time-span involved in the purchase, sadly Ron became very ill, but determination enabled him to see the club's future secured before he sadly passed away.
Throughout the existence of Alresford Angling Association, the Committee and its Members have had to deal with:- a global epidemic, an outbreak of Foot and Mouth, drunkeness and assault, exposure by a member of the public, a suspected drowning, poaching and tresspass, along with the many changes in tackle and fishing methods including the use of knotless nets and the stopping of keepnet use except during matches. Fish care has moved to the forefront along with more awareness of the care of the natural environment. One thread has continued to follow through the years though and that has been the need for volunteers to the work parties and the elimination of litter. Hopefully, the future will be one that brings more volunteers and litter will be non-existent.
The club has to thank all those who have stepped up and offered their time and energy in maintainng the values first put forward in 1968.
Thank you all.
Fund Contributors
1.Adrian Loughton 2.Alan Day 3.B.J.Wells
4.Brian Welham 5.Chris Barnham 6.Colin Cattermole
7.Colin Williams 8.G.Spurgin 9.Geoff Sarsby 10.Glenn Sibbons 11.Graham Lawrence 12.Graham Osborne
13.Ian Grimwade 14.James Jordan 15.John Griffiths
16.John Hopkins & Alex Ra 17.Mark Powell 18.M.T.Frost
19.Michael Parker 20.Mike Day 21.Pat Alldus
22.Peter Collins 23.P. Tickner 24.Ray Baker
25.Richard Beeson 26.R.J. Hudson 27.Roy Pearson
28.S.A. Smith 29.Steven Cook 30.S. Essam
31.Steve Sawyer 32.Trevor B. Griggs 33.William Duncan
Who gave £40,200 to assist with the deposit for the Grinsted Orchard Lakes.