The riverside retreats chock full of charm
The keepers were instructed to raise the flag on the hut’s roof when the mayfly hatch started. By this signal, the people up at the Big House would know, should they be looking, that the trout would soon be rising. If they tired of the fishing, they could step on to a platform beneath the hut, work the ropes and pulleys and levitate slowly but steadily to the first floor. From the balcony, the view took in the river, its surface pocked with rise forms, the lush water meadows, the ancient church and the thatched roofs of the village houses stretching away up the valley.
By any standards, that’s a pretty swanky fishing hut. It’s still there by the upper Test, though one now reaches the first floor via sturdy outside stairs. Another hut I know of, on the Kennet, is considerably nicer
