I was in no particular hurry – it was a glorious evening and I had the beach to myself. I’d arrived in plenty of time so that I could get set up at a leisurely pace well before the turn of the tide while enjoying the late sun. “Evening.” A dog walker strolled past, his little Jack Russell waddling tamely after him, tennis ball wedged in its mouth. “Lovely evening.” We chatted for a while, making small talk about the weather and the possibility of my catching a few fish, until another angler made an appearance slightly further up the beach.
Here was a man on a
