We look after the fishing interests on two stretches of the river Wensum - Sayers Meadow and Sparham Hall, and also four nearby stillwaters, Sparham Pools, Boundary Lake, Island Pool and Square Meadow, all of which are actually former gravel workings.

We are effectively the successors to the Norfolk Anglers Conservation Association’s Sayers Meadow Project, an ambitious ongoing habitat restoration project, which itself lead to the acquisition of the other river fishery, Sparham Hall, and two of the stillwaters. All these fisheries are on the same farm, owned by the same landowner, a gentleman who is very much on board with our aims and objectives. He has been supportive from the start, over twenty years ago, and continues to work with us, even to the extent of rolling his sleeves up and getting stuck in with a chainsaw himself!

Many of the founder members from the original fishery project are still members and or officials/committee members, others have become involved more recently, and we all share a passion for the River Wensum in particular, and also its adjacent stillwaters. The original Sayers Meadow project focussed on habitat and stocking work to compensate for the downgrading of the famous barbel fishery downstream at Costessey, which ultimately failed, although it provided some amazing barbel fishing in its day. Nowadays, although the barbel are still present in small numbers, we have changed our emphasis somewhat, more towards trying to maintain and improve the existing stocks of indigenous, iconic roach in particular, likewise dace and the more recently introduced but very welcome chub.

Therefore, the work being carried out recently, rather than consisting of riffle/pool construction etc, has included the design and implementation of fry refuges, large woody debris (LWD) features and alder tree planting within existing and new areas fenced off to exclude livestock. This is carried out in close consultation and co-operation with Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE), indeed this is almost a given, as we have to obtain their collective consents for most of the work we do, the Wensum being both a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

We plan to do more of the same and similar works on the river fisheries over the near future, also we are negotiating a rolling five-year maintenance program with NE.

Future plans also include revisiting a project proposed in the past aimed at improving the roach stocks on Sparham Hall, which is effectively separated from Sayers Meadow by the old mill structure.

On a yearly basis, we are still working with the EA to gravel jet some of our prime riffle areas, which have been used historically by barbel for spawning, and to this day are still used by chub and dace. This operation clears at least some of the excess silt and other Diffuse Water Pollution (DWP) deposits, which threaten to choke the gravels, starving juvenile fish and inverts etc of oxygen and free-flowing water.

On the stillwater fisheries, whilst in the past we carried out silt treatment and lily planting on Sparham Pools, nowadays we mainly concentrate on maintaining access and swims/platforms. 

We have been represented on the Wensum Working Group since it's inception a couple of years ago; in its latest re-incarnation with Angling Trust's Kelvin Allen and Norfolk Rivers Trust; and whilst it now seems likely to become part of Broads Angling Strategy Group (CIC) we are hoping to maintain our relationship.

It's fair to say the future looks bright!