Charlie Is One Of North’s Top Anglers (picture)

December 1965

South Yorkshire Times, December 4, 1965

Charlie Is One Of North’s Top Anglers.

Img_1043 Taylor

Denaby Main angler, Mr. Charlie Taylor, has no need for the tall stories of the one that got away. The proof of his golden touch with rod and line occupies every available square inch of shelf space I the front room of Mr. Taylor’s home at 12, Edlington Street, Denaby.

For in 40 years of finishing, Mr. Taylor, a Denaby Colliery salvage worker, has collected scores of trophies and awards and established himself as one of the North’s top anglers.

His ‘winning streak’ started at the age of 13 when he won a juvenile competition at Lincoln. His latest success came a fortnight ago when he won the N.C.B. Area Angling Championship which attracted about 350 Northern anglers to the banks of the River Witham at Kirkstead.

Mr. Taylor, in his spare time trainer for Yorkshire League football club, Denaby United, told me this week: ‘In the ten years I’ve competed in the championship I have always been ‘knocking on the door.’ Now I’ve finally succeeded.’

£150 First Prize.

No isolated win this. Last year Mr. Taylor brought the Lincoln Hospital Challenge Cup to this area for the first time – and claimed a first prize of £150.

His record in the Denaby and Conisbrough Angling Association, which folded about five years ago, was phenomenal. In the nine years he competed, he won the individual event five times, was runner-up on the other four occasions, and was a member of the winning team eight out of nine years.

No wonder then that he has landed not only fish, but a king-size cleaning problem, keeping a sparkle on his front-room silverware.

Now Mr. Taylor is sharing his experience, acting as tutor to angling classes under the Rockingham Institute of Further Education. He is at Denaby Tom Hill Youth Centre each Wednesday and at Rawmarsh Haugh Road Secondary School on Fridays.

Mr. Taylor commented: ‘One thing that surprises me about the classes is that, there are so few adults there. In Denaby alone there must be hundreds of fishermen but we mostly get youngsters to these sessions.’

Mr. Taylor has taken an active interest in youth work for 20 years and was formerly leader and Youth Centre. He is also a St. John Ambulance Corps member.