I think I may have mentioned this before but I live very near to the Chesterfield Canal http://www.chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk/ and that I have started a new regime of jogging along the tow path. Well, this lovely waterway is attractive in other ways too…
During the long school summer break, my four grandchildren (aged between five and nine) come to stay either in twos or altogether – like yesterday, when we spent some time making our own fishing nets. All each of them needed was:
- A 5 ft garden cane
- A wire coat hanger
- A piece of netting
- A needle and thread
There was much amusement as they put their sewing skills to the test plus a bit of help from Grommar and Poppar of course. In the end all four of them finished with a very respectable fishing net. Naturally, they were all desperate to put them to the test so plans were made that Evie and Jack could go fishing the next day, as they were staying here with us and Josh and Harry could go the following week, when they would be staying with us.
It was a golden couple of hours as Evie and Jack searched along the canal bank for the perfect spot, looking for tiddlers along the way. Neither had ever ‘fished’ before so they soon learned that splashing around in the water and making grand swooping gestures with the net was not going to catch them any fish. After a demonstration by Poppar they soon got the hang of it and it wasn’t long before each of them had a jar with a couple of tiddlers, some other creatures and some bits of weed.
We had taken a picnic lunch with us and as we ate lunch, we saw a kestrel, heard a yellow-hammer, a buzzard, swans with signets, pondskaters, water boatmen and blackberries almost ready for picking – probably a task for next week. It was a couple of hours very well spent and could be replicated anywhere there is a body of water – just make sure you take every safety precaution and notice of any safety warnings – or else you will have to answer to your kids!
This is also one of the things to do on the https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/documents/50-things-activity-list.pdf
Trust me, it was a day to treasure.