Angling as Situated Practice reveals how a sixteenth-century biographer and trout are shaping the future of our riparian spaces. Through a dialogue set at Amwell Magna, the oldest angling club in the country, the didactic prose frames the current state of rivers in the UK and evokes the reader to contemplate their future.
This work is a didactic prose on angling, incorporating both fiction and non-fiction in a dialogic form. Angling is a pastime practised by the author on the River Lea, which becomes the setting for this research and its argument. It asks: what is the role of anglers as custodians of the future of our riparian spaces? The essay draws inspiration from a trip to Amwell Magna Fishery on the River Lea, the oldest angling club in the country and the place where Izaak Walton fished. Walton, the author of The Compleat Angler, wrote a dialogue between Piscator and Viator that positions the angler as a conceptual device for learning. Seeking, in a sense, to continue Walton’s work—who described angling as “a contemplative man’s recreation”—this text positions the anglers of Amwell Magna as Piscators, the author as Viator, and the architectural future as the driving force and context. In doing so, it frames the current condition of rivers in the UK and invites the reader to reflect on their future.
Multiple ideas were used to incorporate the pastime of angling into the design of the publication’s format. The cover and the proposed structure are merely suggestions for where to begin or end; the pages fold accordingly to suit. It is designed to be easy to fold and hold, enabling the reader to turn the pages with ease. The edges have a slight roughness to improve grip. The booklet is thick enough to hold in one hand, leaving the other free to hold a fishing rod or rest in a pocket.
In its folded state, the format partially conceals what lies behind the next page, allowing the reader to concentrate on the main text and making it easier for the eyes to move through the rhythm of the writing, whilst keeping one eye on the river to watch for rising trout. The left-hand page is kept largely blank, except for footnotes and illustrations, while simultaneously offering space for notes by the angler who sits on the riverbank contemplating a day’s fishing.
This work is a didactic prose on angling, incorporating both fiction and non-fiction in a dialogic form. Angling is a pastime practised by the author on the River Lea, which becomes the setting for this research and its argument. It asks: what is the role of anglers as custodians of the future of our riparian spaces? The essay draws inspiration from a trip to Amwell Magna Fishery on the River Lea, the oldest angling club in the country and the place where Izaak Walton fished. Walton, the author of The Compleat Angler, wrote a dialogue between Piscator and Viator that positions the angler as a conceptual device for learning. Seeking, in a sense, to continue Walton’s work—who described angling as “a contemplative man’s recreation”—this text positions the anglers of Amwell Magna as Piscators, the author as Viator, and the architectural future as the driving force and context. In doing so, it frames the current condition of rivers in the UK and invites the reader to reflect on their future.
Multiple ideas were used to incorporate the pastime of angling into the design of the publication’s format. The cover and the proposed structure are merely suggestions for where to begin or end; the pages fold accordingly to suit. It is designed to be easy to fold and hold, enabling the reader to turn the pages with ease. The edges have a slight roughness to improve grip. The booklet is thick enough to hold in one hand, leaving the other free to hold a fishing rod or rest in a pocket.
In its folded state, the format partially conceals what lies behind the next page, allowing the reader to concentrate on the main text and making it easier for the eyes to move through the rhythm of the writing, whilst keeping one eye on the river to watch for rising trout. The left-hand page is kept largely blank, except for footnotes and illustrations, while simultaneously offering space for notes by the angler who sits on the riverbank contemplating a day’s fishing.