THERE was a time, many years ago, when the cries of “Last orders, please” and “Time, ladies and gentlemen”, or sundry variations on those words, would bring a close to the drinking of any further alcohol at any given pub that I happened to be frequenting. A “frequenting” mostly in connection with the playing of skittles for “Scuppas” in the Thursday night Wellington Ex Services League. 

This was, however, in my younger years when both bladder and inclination oft saw a last pint of ale enjoyed with fellow team-mates at the back end of a given-such evening. Alas, if I dared such an act of indulgence today it would see me making sleep-depriving visits to the “small room” in the “small hours” of the night! 

I mention the “Last orders” command from landlord to pub-goers as a lead-in to the news that I am, sadly, calling time on the writing of this column on behalf of the Wellington Angling Association. Stepping down as the Secretary after 17 years in post. (I suggest a pause here whilst you who are reading this latest column compose yourselves as you gasp in disbelief and, in some cases surely, wipe away cascading tears...)

No longer living in Wellington having moved away to live in North Devon, it would be a tad incongruous to continue writing this column. No longer here to fish the river, have sight of it in its various moods, nor to have conversations with fellow members who have been fishing it, the geographical disconnect from the town and the river is simply too great.

My last AGM as Secretary was recently held at the beginning of March, twenty-two souls attending the solemn ritual at the Wellington Football Club's premises, (venue manager Jenny Oxby generously opening up for us on that first Sunday in the month). The meeting was of particular importance after our Chairman had had to step down suddenly due to health reasons, and my decision not to continue in post. “Crisis? What crisis?”, to quote a favourite saying for a potential set-back in the offing! 

It was, in the event, a thankfully fruitful AGM, a new, slightly enlarged committee emerging from attending members. Phew! Thus will continue the presence of an angling club directly connected to the town, working with members to take care of and permit controlled fishing in the river which provides it's northern boundary. 

A fond farewell then, Grahame Woodward.

* I have "enjoyed the ride" since that day in town when you asked if I would contribute a column on behalf of the fishing club. Two favourite columns come to mind because of the input that inspired them - our treasurer's fishing trip to The Gabon in West Africa and the popularity of angling in China.