An afternoon by an old favourite

The Thames 

I had an afternoon last Tuesday on the Thames, a river I used to fish before I had a vehicle or a mate with one, so somewhere in the early 60's.
My mate Colin Adams and I used to get on public transport and head off down to Hampton Court from Harold Hill.
I can't remember how long it took us, what route, or what tackle we used at that time.
All I can remember is that we fished there quite often,opposite Hurst Park racecourse under the willows and trotted the stream with hemp seed and maggots.
No photo's recording the time or the place!
The maggots got us bleak'd out, and so hemp became the preferred hook bait.
It  gave us good nets of cracking roach, nothing big, but certainly enough to keep us going back on a regular basis.

Anyway, my return to the river, as detailed last week, was to Marlow to fish the weir pool, my aim to catch my first Thames barbel.
From what I had been told by my host, it is a patchy stretch at times, but if I hooked a barbel it should be expected to be of "good size".

Blimey I look tired!

As reported I caught two barbel just before darkness set in.
The fish were not as big as the potential suggested by my host, but equally enjoyable for me and a sure sign to him that the stretch does have long term potential.
It was good to be back on ol'father Thames, and gives me even more reason for us to up sticks and move west to knock an hour of my journey's to the choice of rivers...... at the very least.