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27-579: The River Babingley is a chalk stream and minor river in the northwest of Norfolk in England . It runs 12.2 miles (19.6 km) from its source at Flitcham to the River Great Ouse at Wootton Marshes where it terminates. The Babingley rises in Further Back Wood, east of the village of Flitcham, close to Abbey Farm. Its source is at a height of 25 metres (82 ft). A watermill once stood on

54-637: A day ticket basis. In the UK, these can range in price. They are usually paid on the bank with a representative of the venue collecting the fees from anglers from the peg (fishing spot) at some time during the day, or prior to commencing fishing. In some cases, season tickets can be purchased. Some lakes and river stretches are operated by angling clubs which charge annual membership fees. Application forms can be available from local tackle shops or angling club websites. Fishing venues can be operated by syndicates, usually by invitation. They can sometimes be joined by contacting

81-453: A few years after the last war. From the lake the river runs through a wooded valley out of the Park and into the countryside south of the royal estate of Sandringham . The banks of the river along this stretch are very wooded. Just past Hillington, the river passes the northern edge of a lake that has been used as a camping and caravan site. The river continues westward skirting the northern edge of

108-566: A handle on the reel. However, the use of "poles" is also widespread. Here, the line is fixed to the very tip of the rod, with no reel used: in order to retrieve the line, the pole itself is taken apart until the line can be swung to hand. Poles are often very long in order to increase the angler's range—up to 52 feet (16 m). The main techniques used are float fishing , bottom fishing (legering) and lure fishing . Fly fishing techniques may also be used for certain species, such as grayling or chub . For float and leger fishing, groundbait

135-453: A large Forestry Commission plantation and south of Sandringham. At the end of the plantation there once was Babingley Watermill; again, no traces survive. The river passes under the A149 road and skirts around the north of the village Castle Rising , where it passes under Babingley Bridge. In the fields on the other side of the bridge was the deserted medieval village of Babingley ; the ruins of

162-401: A river for coarse fish species, such as chub, barbel, roach, dace and bream, the favourite hook baits tend to be maggot (white, red, and bronze), caster (maggot chrysalis), worm, cheese, pellets (halibut, trout, and carp), boilies (round boiled baits typically made with fish meal, milk, and soya ) and luncheon meat . Loose feed can be any of the above baits with a particle bait, sometimes in

189-413: A senior member of the syndicate. The most common types of tackle is the rod and reel, the rod being typically between 8 and 13 feet (2.4–4.0 m) long, and manufactured of tubular carbon fibres or splits of Tonkin bamboo. A reel is then attached near the base of the rod to hold a long length of line, which is run to the tip of the rod through eyelets. Once cast out, the line can be retrieved by winding

216-485: Is fairly stable and rarely deviates from 10 °C (50 °F). On cold winter mornings, water vapour from the relatively warm stream condenses in the cold air above to form fog. Chalk is slightly soluble in rainwater because rain is naturally slightly acidic . The products of chalk weathering are dissolved in rainwater and are transported in stream flow. Chalk streams transport little suspended material (unlike most rivers), but are considered " mineral -rich" due to

243-685: The River Thames , River Lea and River Colne ): Chalk streams of the Yorkshire Wolds : Chalk streams of Lincolnshire : There are several chalk streams in the Lincolnshire Wolds including Chalk streams of Kent: Chalk streams of Norfolk: Chalk streams of Suffolk: Coarse fishing Coarse fishing ( Irish : garbhiascaireacht , Welsh : pysgota bras ) is a phrase commonly used in Great Britain and Ireland . It refers to

270-534: The United Kingdom and mainland Europe , as well as in some former British Commonwealth countries and among British expatriates . The distinction between coarse fish and game fish, terms that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 19th century, has no taxonomic basis Before that time, recreational fishing was a sport of the gentry , who angled for salmon and trout and called them "game fish". There

297-590: The angling for rough fish , which are fish species considered undesirable as food or game fish . Freshwater game fish are all salmonids , particularly salmon , trout and char . Generally, coarse fish are freshwater fish that are not salmonids, though there is often disagreement over whether grayling should be classified as a game fish or a coarse fish. Fly fishing is the technique usually used for freshwater game fishing, while other angling techniques are usually used for coarse fishing. The sport of coarse fishing and its techniques are particularly popular in

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324-595: The 20th and 21st centuries, much of that management has been aimed at producing the best conditions for fly fishing , and most specifically, dry fly fishing . The chalk streams hold a good number of wild salmonid fish species such as the brown trout ( Salmo trutta ), and grayling ( Thymallus thymallus ). In addition to these there are also considerable numbers of stocked brown trout and stocked rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ). The rich invertebrate life and characteristic transparent shallow water make chalk rivers and streams particularly suited to fly fishing. Many of

351-562: The Church of St Felix can be seen. The river now crosses into fen and marshland and passes under the disused railway bed of the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway that ran from King's Lynn to Wolferton and once carried many members of the royal family on their way to Sandringham. The river now meanders in a northerly direction towards The Wash. It then switches into a man-made course that directs it southward through Wootton Marsh towards Vinegar Middle where

378-399: The UK has caused the chalk streams to dry up. This has caused ecological damage and stagnant sewage that flows through the rivers and increasing phosphate levels. Although chalk streams are generally watercourses originating from chalk hills, including winterbournes , streams, and rivers, the term chalk stream is used even for larger rivers, which would normally be considered too large for

405-610: The chalk stream springs are also used as sites for watercress production, due to the constant temperature and clean, alkaline , mineral-rich spring water. The Mid Hants Watercress Railway in Hampshire is so named on account of its use for transporting watercress to London from local chalk streams. A number of the chalk aquifers and associated groundwater sources related to chalk streams and rivers are used for water abstraction by local and national water utility companies. The over-abstracting of chalk streams by private water companies in

432-574: The dissolved calcium and carbonate ions . The surface water of chalk streams is commonly described as "gin clear". The channel bed consists of angular flint gravel derived from the natural flint deposits found embedded within the chalk geology that contains relatively low amounts of clay and silt deposits. The unique characteristics of chalk stream ecology are due to stable temperature and flow regimes combined with highly transparent water and lack of sand grade sediment particles. The chalk streams have been intensively managed for many generations. In

459-719: The form of a small fish such as a live roach. However, it is worth noting that some fishing venues prohibit the use of live bait. Spinning, the use of an artificial lure, is also used for predators. For all anglers in England and Wales, anyone aged 17 and over must purchase a valid rod licence before fishing. Children under 13 do not need a licence, and children aged 13–16 must get a free junior licence. This will enable anglers to legally fish in England and Wales for non migratory trout and coarse fish. A single rod licence will enable an angler to fish with up to three rods at any one time. Most commercial fisheries and some rivers are operated on

486-519: The form of hemp seed or a manufactured fishmeal ground bait. For most species, hook baits will work. When targeting more specific species, such as specimen carps, baits such as boilies, large pellets, large bunches of maggots , floating baits, large lungworm , tiger nuts, and meat chunks from cat food can work well. Micro pellets softened along with ground bait can be fed alongside all hook baits. Predatory fish such as pike, zander, perch, and eels can be caught using either dead or live bait, typically in

513-401: The ground, where the chalk layer acts as an aquifer . The groundwater flows through the chalk bedrock, re-emerging lower down the slope in springs . The chalk acts as a temporary reservoir by regulating the amount of water supplied to the springs. This is why many chalk streams in the UK have stable flow regimes that vary only slightly over time. The temperature of the emerging surface water

540-711: The past it powered all the machinery within the Congham Oil Mill. The Cong then flows on under the A148 and joins the Babingley close by the Gatton Waters caravan site. After Hillington Park the river flows into the lake that served another long-gone watermill that stood close to Hillington Hall The now increased force of water once powered the large waterwheel at what, years ago was known as West Newton Paper Mill. It changed over from making paper to grinding corn which lasted up until

567-596: The river bank, but traces of it are long gone; the watercourse and the millpond are all that remain. From here the river runs through a gentle sloped valley westwards and passes under the B1153 road and into Hillington Park. There is a tributary spring in a meadow on the Hillington side of Pond Farm, at Congham . This tributary of the river is called the River Cong , flowing through the woods and over an impressive waterfall, where in

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594-486: The river finally runs into the river Great Ouse estuary at Lynn Channel. In the hamlet of Babingley, near the river, Felix of Burgundy is said to have landed c.630 AD to introduce Christianity to East Anglia . Local legend has it that after Felix's ship was wrecked while travelling up the River Babingley, he was rescued by beavers and subsequently made one of the beavers a bishop. Chalk stream The beds of

621-451: The rivers are generally composed of clean, compacted gravel and flints , which are good spawning areas for Salmonidae fish species. Since they are fed primarily by aquifers , the flow rate, mineral content and temperature range of chalk streams exhibit less seasonal variation than other rivers. They are mildly alkaline and contain high levels of nitrate , phosphate , potassium and silicate . In addition to algae and diatoms ,

648-422: The streams provide a suitable habitat for macrophytes (including water crowfoot ) and oxygen levels are generally supportive of coarse fish populations. Of the 210 rivers classified as chalk streams globally, 160 are in England. A list of chalk streams in England gives a total of 224. Chalk is a highly porous and permeable rock, and rain falling onto chalk topography percolates directly into

675-469: The surface and top layers of the water, enticing the fish into feeding. Both floating and sinking flies and lures can be used to fish either on the surface or in the upper layers of the water. Usually, in the summer months, a spinner or fly manoeuvre across the surface will bring about a take from a fish due to the tendency of fish to move into the warmest part of the water, the surface and first layer—about 18 inches (46 cm)—of water below. When fishing

702-715: The term stream . The Somme in northern France is a chalk stream on a larger scale. Winterbournes are known by different names depending on region: Chalk streams of the Southern England Chalk Formation in Berkshire , Hampshire , Wiltshire , Dorset and the Isle of Wight : Chalk streams of the Southern England Chalk Formation in the Chiltern Hills , Hertfordshire and Surrey (tributaries of

729-505: Was a view that other fish did not make as good eating, and they were disdained as coarse fish. Coarse fish have scales that are generally larger than the scales of game fish, and tend to inhabit warmer and stiller waters. When fishing on rivers for game fish (i.e., brown, rainbow, brook and sea trout, salmon and in some cases grayling), artificial flies, small spinners and lures are a popular choice for many game anglers due their ability to mimic prey items, (such as small invertebrates), on

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