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D.D.A.P.S Fishing
(dartford and district angling and preservation society)
The Secretary
DDAPS
Lake House
2 Walnut Tree Avenue
Dartford
Kent DA1 1LJ
01322 270397
OFFICERS & COMMITTEE
President: A.L. Williams
Vice Presidents: B.W. Simmons - A. Worley - D. Bennett
Chairman: C. Lyons
Honorary Secretary: C. Archer
Treasurer: C. DiFranco
Manager: A. J. Curnick
Committee: J. Burt – M. Fisher – C. Walker – I.S. Lewington – J. Fisher – D. Bennett – M. Emm – R. Monday – A.Devine – D. Fellows – S Butler – D Tanner – D Grayland – C. Bruce
Rangers: J. Savage – T. Jones
D.D.A.P.S – The Beginning
The club was formed on the 9th April 1931. The first meeting was held at Sutton small hall, kindly donated for the night by Mr. Sutton. At this first meeting 25 people were in attendance and it was proposed that an angling association be formed. The first officers of the club were duly elected. Chairman was a Mr. Williams, Mr. Caselton was elected Vice Chairman and Secretary/Treasurer was Mr. Mulholland. Other members were Mr. Elliott, Mr. Adams, Mr. Elcombe, Mr. Prevette, Mr. Whitby, Mr. Cole and Mr. Ellingham. The name chosen was The Dartford Piscatorial Society. Donations given to form the club were Mr. Ellingham £2.00 (if the club gives £3.00), Mr. Elliot one pound and one shilling, Mr. Caselton the same and Erith members also one pound and one shilling. The next meeting was held at The Rising Sun Pub at Horton Kirby, kindly loaned to the club for the night by the owner Mr. Ray who also agreed that a club notice board could be put up in the bar. At the end of this second meeting the clubs finances stood at £11.17 shillings and the name of the club was changed to The Dartford & District Angling Society. It wasn’t until January 1932 that the word “Preservation” was included in the clubs name. Our home waters were Ellingham Ponds (now Brooklands) after Mr. Ellingham one of the founder members from Bexleyheath whose company were extracting the gravel from the ponds. During his lifetime the fishing rights were given free to the club. Upon his death the lakes reverted to Dartford Borough Council from whom the club has leased the fishing ever since. The first subscriptions were fixed at five shillings per annum and one shilling per week for members over 18. Ladies and boys 14-18 were 2/6d per annum and sixpence per month. It was proposed that a Mr. Elliot be the clubs official tackle dealer. After the initial few committee meetings the committee felt that the Rising Sun was too small for their meetings and so they were changed to the Bulls Head Hotel. The proprietor a Mrs. Brown, charged one shilling per night for the use of the “large room”.
The first official fishing trip for the club was to Yalding on 21st June 1931. Members who did not have transport went in a member’s friend’s van that charged three shillings per head.
Quote from the minutes:
“At 9.45am Sunday 21st June, 21 of our members met on the Medway bank armed to the teeth with nets and rods of all descriptions. It was a beautiful morning and everything looked hopeful. All had visions of a large bag. Eighteen members entered the competition and Mr. Cole collected the usual 1/- entrance fee (5p). It was also agreed to weigh in at the bridge at 5.00pm and also that the competition be a roving competition owing to other societies who had already pegged down along the Medway banks. A few minutes later our members had all disappeared in a quest of big game. Mr. Ellingham and myself (Mr. Mulholland) went in search for new fishing waters for our society. On arrival at a pond, permission was obtained, and two light rods were soon in action. A few minutes elapsed and Mr. Ellingham landed a silver bream, this being his first fish of the season. This was followed by another, then Mr. Roach introduced himself to Mr. Ellingham, who politely unhooked him and dropped him safely into the keepnet. Negotiations with a view to obtaining this pond for our society proved unfruitful but a further effort will be tried in the future. It was now 4.45pm, our rods were dismantled and kits packed, preparations were then made to join the party at Yalding Bridge. On arrival at our weighing in place I was astonished when informed there were no sizeable fish to be weighed in. This was attributed to the previous heavy rain and the muddy condition of the water. The water had risen about four inches above normal level. However, our members looked exceptionally well and thoroughly enjoyed the outing.”
In July 1931 the club went to Borough Green ponds and netted fish to put into our ponds. Quote: “After a little excitement in the village our little party were soon hard at work with the drag net. The first draw proved very unsatisfactory, only 39 roach, 6 carp. Second draw 145 roach, 1 carp. Second pond, first draw 228 roach, second draw 122 roach. Third pond: this pond being so large and surrounded by trees, reeds, etc. it was absolutely impossible to use the net without a boat. To net this pond looked out of the question until Mr. Williams our Chairman, volunteered to swim out with our light drag rope. Being a powerful swimmer he accomplished this successfully and the net soon followed the path of the swimmer. Unfortunately, owing to the depth of these lakes our 10ft net only captured the surface feeding fish in the centre and anything that happened to be near the edge. Our bag total was 7 carp, 269 roach. After a light refreshment our party left for Dartford where the fish were liberated in our own water. A vote of thanks are due to the following: Mr. Ellingham for his aid with the transport and other assistance with equipment, Mr. Williams for his cold bath, and to all members who willing assisted.”
The owner of Cliff Waters also gave permission for the club to net fish and pay £1.10s for every 100 fish over 6 inches. All fish caught in away matches were brought back and put into the ponds. From 1930 until July 1931 the total fish stocked were 37 trout from Loch Leven?, 11 dace, 685 roach, 982 rudd, 69 tench, 201 perch, 186 bream, 26 carp and 13 pike. By July 1932 the number of carp introduced was over 300.
A club house was erected by the members on the ponds on the island which is now out of bounds. Each member had a key to it, it had an asbestos roof supplied by a Mr. Williams of Erith, and it was equipped with table and chairs (the table being purchased from a Mr. Garrett for 5/-). Framed pictures were on the walls, one of which depicted a match between Dartford and Ashford. It was insured for fire by the Co-op after being rejected by the Prudential. During the war, the lakes were covered with camouflage netting supported by battens and canister floats, unfortunately after the war much of it was allowed to sink to the bottom. The society meetings were eventually transferred to an office in Lowfield Street (now Coniston Buildings). The clubs present head quarters in Walnut Tree Avenue were empty for some while as the building was the subject of a compulsory purchase order for road improvements. When these were changed, the society was fortunate enough to acquire the property with the help of a grant from the Sports Council.
As DDAPS developed, leases were taken out on the lakes at Darenth (now Clearwater), Devon Road (now Leisure Sports) and the lakes at Sutton at Hone and Horton Kirby. Sutton Lakes were purchased in 1965 but negotiations were first started in December 1959. Parts of the rivers Beult and Tiese at Chainhurst were purchased in 1965 but the land was sold to the local farmer, with the society retaining the fishing rights. Horton Kirby was purchased in 1971 and the car park purchased in 1978. The leases on Darenth and Devon Road Lakes were lost when Leisure Sports Angling was set up by the owners. The club also leases stretches of the River Medway at Postern Lane in Tonbridge and River Beult at New Barn Farm. From small beginnings we now have in excess of 2600 members.
Work Parties
It is a club rule that all new senior members of the club attend a work party during their second season of membership. New members are notified of their work party date during the year. If a member cannot make the date that has been allocated they should notify the office and attend any of the other work parties. Work parties are only held on a Saturday and are usually at Brooklands Lakes but you will be notified if they are elsewhere. If a member cannot attend any of the work parties then a £30.00 non-attendance fee becomes due. Failure to pay the fee will result in club membership not being offered to that member for the following season. See rule 5C
Guest Tickets
These are not available for June and then only from Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). Fishing is from dawn till dusk. Guests must be accompanied at all times by a full member. Tickets for adults are £10.00, juniors are £5.00. They are available from the club office or by post when seven days notice must be given. When applying by post, the member must give their membership number, the guest’s name, the venue required and the date of the visit. Juniors may not apply for guest tickets.
Companion Membership
Open to members over the age of 18 on a one per member basis. An annual subscription is payable but a joining fee is not required. Companions must be accompanied at all times and may not fish unless they have had a guest ticket (weekdays) purchased for them. There is no waiting list.
Junior Membership
Junior members are reminded that they cannot be on society waters after dark either in a fishing or non fishing capacity.
Pre-Junior Membership
This is only open to direct relatives who have not reached their twelfth birthday on or before 1st June in the current year. An annual subscription is required but there is no joining fee. When a PJ member reaches the age of twelve and wishes to move up to junior membership then a joining fee becomes payable. PJ members may fish (daylight hours only) but they must be accompanied by an adult member at all times. They are not allowed on the waters after dark, whether fishing or not. There is no waiting list.
Gate Locks and Keys
There is a charge of £10.00 deposit for each key. This deposit will be refunded should you leave the club and return the key. Each year around 200 people drop out of the club and very rarely return their keys. Over a five year period this would lead to some 1,000 non-members having keys to our lakes. Hopefully the £10.00 deposit may encourage the return of ore keys from members leaving the club.
Wanted
Once again we are asking if any member have any unwanted building materials that the club may be able to utilise such as suitable timber, scaffold poles, chicken wire etc. If you have any of the above, please contact the office. We thank all those members who took the time and trouble to donate materials last year.
Society Office
The office is open during the week between 9am-4pm but it is best to ring first and the manager is in and out of the office all day. Subject to staff availability the office is also open on selected Saturday mornings throughout the year between 10am and 12 noon. These dates are posted on the office window. Again, it is best to check by phone in the week prior to your intended visit.
Lastly, may I wish you all a happy season and hope your nets keep wet.
Craig Lyons, Chairman
Merchandise
Cloth sew on badge..............£4
Metal lapel badge................£3
DDAPS Document wallet....£1
Spare gate key....................£10
DDAPS Baseball style cap(Blue/Green).......£4
Polo Shirts (Blue/Green L,XL,XXL).............£10
Hoodies (Blue/Green L,XL,XXL).................£15
All prices correct at time of going to press but may be subject to change. Please check before ordering.
Available from the office, contact office Manager Alan Curnick 01322 270397.
