2023 Show Schedule

NO MORE GAME FAIRS! Sorry folks - you won't be seeing me at the outdoor game fairs from now on. I attended pretty-much all of them for over thirty years, but to do them efficiently I need to carry a very large stock of books over diverse subjects, and take sufficient staff and vehicles to enable all this. The increasing homogenisation and commercialisation of the fairs (all of the major fairs are now owned and run by one company) has led to a loss of interest as far as I am concerned. The small fairs like the Fenland, the Welsh, the Irish, and the Gamekeeper's Fair have all gone, and I find myself out of sympathy with the corporate image of the new larger fairs. Covid gave me a year's break from them, but also made it more difficult to reassemble a large stock. And I'm well past retirement age and don't especially want to spend half the summer sleeping in a van!
Indoor events are different. I can put together an excellent specialised stock of books on any of my core subjects, so I will continue to attend those that I can manage on my own, with just a van full of books. I formerly attended the major flyfishing events in Ireland, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands, and occasionally in Germany and Sweden. Brexit put paid to that. Luckily, the Irish Fly Fair is resuming this year, just over the border in Enniskillen, so I'll be there.

BRITISH FALCON RACING 2023. Vowley, Wiltshire. September  16/17th.
Sadly, because of a family bereavement, I will not be able to attend the Vowley Races. I'll try again next year!

THE GRAYLING SOCIETY WEEKEND. Ilkely. October 21st/22nd.
We hope to be launching TWO NEW BOOKS of great interest to grayling anglers! LONG RODS - LIGHT LINES: SOME THOUGHTS ON FLYFISHING by Dave Southall, and the first ever book on trotting for grayling, GRAYLING ON THE FLOAT by Ade Bristow.

THE IRISH FLY FAIR. Enniskillen. November 18/19th.
Two years since I was at an Irish Fly Fair. Lots of Guinness to catch up and, of course, the best fishing and fly-tying books from around the world. This will be my only visit to Ireland this year, so your opportunity to see (and maybe buy) the largest range of flyfishing books, old and new. And if you want to buy me a pint or sell me some books, you can do that too!

THE BRITISH FLY FAIR INTERNATIONAL. Stafford. February 10/11th 2024
Still the biggest and the best. See you at the BFFI!

I try to attend the vintage tackle fairs at Redditch and Romsey. Unfortunately it seems that the Redditch fair will clash with the Irish Fly Fair in November, so it may be next spring before I can get there.