Plough Angling Club Minutes

Meeting: 18^th March 2025

In Attendance and Apologies

Present: L Teale; J Blackwell; D Dance; J Rolfe; T Warncken; B Sutton; S Ferris; J Pike; V D’Souza; R Stone; G Cramp

Apologies:  C Judkins; N Ponting

Minutes:  L Teale

Actions from Previous Meeting

• The Club Secretary position is currently vacant. This is an important role for the smooth running of our Club. If any Members would on reflection like to be considered for this position, then please contact the Chairman.
• The date(s) of the Team Match(es) against Wantage & Grove AC is still to be finalised. The possibility of a single match fished at a neutral venue (Buscot Park lake) will be discussed with them. No further progress to date.
• 10 of the 38 available Pegs at Newbridge are currently unfishable because of encroaching reed beds and overhanging branches. The Match Secretary identified the following Pegs as unfishable: 1, 10, 14, 18, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35 and 38. Pegs 10, 18 and 35 are easily recoverable. Trees at Pegs 23, 24 and 25 will require trimming. Therefore, a Work Party at Newbridge will be needed during the Close Season to address these issues and strim the Pegs.
• It was proposed that we look at adding to our current list of match venues for 2026/27 season. The match anglers present at the February meeting proposed a limit of £15 for match fees, for venues within a 30 mile radius. Steve Ferris has drawn up the following list of potential venues: (See printed minutes).
• The lawnmower is currently sited at Nick’s farm and needs repair. Jon Blackwell advised us that a service kit has been ordered along with a replacement seat. The mower will be repaired by his son in readiness for the Spring. No further progress to date.

Club Welfare Officer’s Report

• Our Club Welfare Officer is Richard Stone (mob. 07551 031857; rstone0311@yahoo.com.)
• The Club’s welfare policy is available on our website (www.ploughangling.org.uk/safeguarding/)
• No issues were reported this past month.

Sea Secretary’s Report

• The trip, sailing from Weymouth, scheduled for 16 March 2025 was cancelled owing to high winds in the Channel.
• A Sea Fishing Group page will be added to our website. Chris will advise content for the page.
• Contact Chris Judkins if you would like to be involved in the Sea Fishing Group.

Match Secretary’s Report

• The Ron Foster Memorial trophy, in conjunction with PAY7 on 9 March at Newbridge was attended by 5 members and resulted in 5 dry nets. The match fee and pool were returned to those attending. The Ron Foster trophy will now be awarded to the winner of the match at Soke Road.
• The fourth leg of the Nick Ponting Canal Trophy, on the Upper Dunmill stretch of the Hungerford Canal, was cancelled through lack of availability.
• The next match will take place on Sunday 6 April at Soke Road. The draw will take place at 09:00, fish 10:00 – 16:00 (6 hour match).
• The first leg of the Gerald Sedgewick Memorial Trophy will take place on Sunday 13 April on the Tavern stretch of the Hungerford Canal. The draw will take place at 07:30, fish 08:30 – 13:30.
• The winner of 2024/25 Plough Angler of the Year was Matthew Cramp.
• The winner of 2024/25 Nick Ponting Canal Trophy was Nick Ponting.
• The Match Fund stands at £296.50.

Treasurer’s Report

• Refer to printed minutes.

Vice Chairman’s Report

• Thank you to all who attended the Work Party at Plough Pond on 5^th March. A report is available on our website: Plough Pond Work Party Update – www.ploughangling.org.uk. 50% of the island was cleared and the tree next to Peg 3 was partially removed. A further Work Party will be needed to complete the tree work on the island.
• The re-stocking of Plough Pond started on 12^th May. A report is available on our website: Plough Angling Club Fish Stocking Update – A Big Boost for Plough Pond! – www.ploughangling.org.uk. Priory Fisheries will be contacted to discuss next year’s stocking requirements.
• Website improvements: the Events Page has been updated (Events from April 6 – June 17 – www.ploughangling.org.uk). You can now import all events into your calendar. If you have any issues with the event details, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
• To increase the visibility of all the good work the Club is doing, perhaps we could create a Newsletter that promotes member engagement in all aspects of the Club, such as matches, work parties, social events, etc?
• Marginal Planting: AGA Group have quoted for marginal plants and the supply of pre-planted coir rolls for the island.
• Supplementary Feeding: feed pellets have been delivered and the bulk are stored at Nick’s farm. Two feed bins are full at the pond. A feeding guide has been placed at the pond.
• Cormorant Patrol: I suggest we reinstate the cormorant patrol. Club members are asked to visit the Pond when possible, to monitor and report any cormorant activity. An increase in footfall will help.
• WhatsApp Group: consider creating a WhatsApp group for interested members. Catches and other issues or changes to matches can be communicated quickly and efficiently.
• Newbridge Day Tickets: I have looked at electronic payment of Day Tickets. The cost is around £9 per month, which was thought to be too expensive by those present at the meeting.

Chairman’s Report

• The Angling Trust’s AIF – Predation Fund opened on 17^th March 2025. The Club intends to apply for a grant to enable us to carry out further cormorant predation measures at Plough Pond as part of the Development Plan. There are some questions around the payment terms to be addressed.
• A draft Lease Agreement for Plough Pond has been prepared by the Chairman and is currently with Nick Ponting for review and will subsequently be sent to our Landlord for his comments.
• Water quality testing at Newbridge is continuing as part of our role in the national study of rivers by the Angling Trust (WQMN). The latest round of testing was carried out on 7^th March 2025. Phosphate levels were 0.17 ppm, below the reportable level, and Nitrate was recorded at 5 ppm. The results were uploaded to the national database, where there are currently 8,900 entries across the UK.
• Water quality testing at Plough Pond was carried out on 5^th March 2025. Nitrate was measured at 5 ppm. All other contaminants were undetected (nitrite, ammonia, and phosphate). The pH was 7.5. Dissolved oxygen was in the range 114 to 147% and water temperature 5.6 to 8.0^oC. The lower nitrate levels for this time of year were thought to be the result of the presence of submerged weed growth, unseen in previous years.
• We arranged a meeting with Tom Hopes, the SE Region Enforcement Support Manager at the Angling Trust. The meeting took place at Newbridge and was attended by Plough AC Members: L Teale, T Warncken, A Fell-Matthews, D Dance and J Pike. The Angling Trust was represented by Tom Hopes, and Janusz Kansik and Nino Brancato from the Building Bridges Team. The Volunteer Bailiff Service run by the Angling Trust was discussed. Plough Angling Club would certainly benefit from having 2 or 3 of our Members trained as Volunteer Bailiffs to help Adam at Newbridge. Please contact the Chairman if you would like to take part.

New Actions

The meeting ended at 9:20pm.

The next meeting will take place at the RBL Sports & Social Club in Hanney at 19:30 on 15^th April 2025. All welcome.