In the February 2011 post on this blog about discussions within the Hampshire Countryside Access Forum (HCAF) to improve navigation by paddlers it was noted that
"there are currently only about 3 miles of inland waterways that are publicly accessible in the whole of Hampshire. Virtually none of this is in the Test and Itchen area, although the Rivers Test and Itchen are among the few inland watercourses in the county that are navigable."
The previously reported 2010 decision of the Test & Itchen Association (T&IA) to refuse to even discuss access and navigation of these rivers seems to have completely halted HCAF progress with this issue. Subsequent minutes of HCAF meetings and the 2011 AGM, not to mention the 2011 Annual Report, completely neglect the subject. It appears that there is no longer even a HCAF Access to Water and Active Sports representative position.
As an organisation, the T&IA would outwardly appear to have successfully stiffled any opportunity for developing a mutually acceptable wider public use of the waterways it regards as the exclusive preserve of the privileged.* As organisations are made up of individuals, the following provides an introduction to the men who like to say 'no' to canoeing and kayaking on the River Itchen.
Internet references and listings of the Directors of the T&IA are freely accessible (although care needs to be taken as directors of this secretive 65 year old Private Limited company come and go, but often appear to remain on the scene). As of todays date, the CompanyCheck and bizzy websites concur that the following people are Directors of the T&IA.
Mr Clayton Mark Brendish, CBE
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 05/12/2004.
Interest: Owner of the Kimsbridge Estate on the River Test.
Other: Age - 64. Former director Admiral plc, BT, etc., current director Anite, SThree PLC, etc.
The Kimsbridge Estate office is the registered address of the Test & Itchen Association.
"A great sporting estate should be a retreat where you can indulge your profound passion unhindered." Unless you're an English or Welsh paddler.
Mr John Giles Selby Coode-Adams, OBE DL
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 31/12/2010.(1)
Interest: Director of The Houghton Club (more on this club later).
Resident: Feeringbury Manor, Colchester.
Other: Age - 73. City background - former Lehman Brothers banker. High Sheriff of Essex in 2000. In 2009 Country Life listed him as number 15 of the 100 most powerful people in the countryside.
Dr Richard Malcolm Crabtree
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 30/04/2000.
Interest: Managing Director of Waitrose's Leckford Estate with 11 miles of bank on the River Test.
Other: Age - 63. Vice Chairman, trustee and director of the Wessex Chalk Stream & Rivers Trust (WCS&RT), which just happens to be registered at the Kimbridge Estate office. With regard to the Leckbridge Estate, John Lewis 'partners' (employees) are eligible for a substantial discount on fishing prices on the Estate; I wonder what would happen if one of them asked to paddle on the Test...
Mr Jonathan Humphrey Durrant
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 08/05/2011. (2)
Interest: Director Timsbury Fishery on the River Test.
Other: Age - 48. Associate of Cooper's Country, "a team of individuals uniquely committed to promoting an informed understanding and enjoyment of"... hmm.
Mr Neil Freeman
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 08/05/2011. (3)
Interest: Owns long term lease on fishing at the Broadlands Estate.
Other: Age - 52. Chairman at River Test Salmon Group, trustee at National Angling Museum, Consultant Editor at Classic Angling Magazine, owner of Angling Auctions. The owners of the Broadlands Estate, Lord and Lady Brabourne, have been closely associated with the British Royal Family.
The River Test in the Broadlands Estate. © Copyright Peter Facey and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Mr Jim Gillo Glasspool
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 30/11/2008. (4)
Interest: Director of Timsbury Fishery on the River Test, etc., etc.
Other: Age - 78. No mention of angling objection to paddlers, either in Hampshire or at a national level, is complete without reference to Jim Glasspool. His Angling Trust Board profile skims the surface, but his long-standing involvement with the ACA remains as noteworthy as his directorship of the WCS&RT was inevitable. For future reference, note his earlier career connections with Shell.
Mr Norman MacLean
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 29/09/2006.
Interest: Emeritus Professor at Southampton University Centre for Biological Sciences; writes on the historical shaping of the environment by vested fisheries interests.
Other: Age - 79.
Mr Robert David Miles
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 05/12/2004.
Interest: Solictor who lives close to a tributary of the River Test.
Other: Age - 64.
Even tributaries of the River Test are jealously guarded from access by the public.
Mr Christopher Gwyn Saunders-Davis
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 21/05/1991.
Interest: Trout farmer.
Other: Age - 66. The trout farms of which he is a director extend well beyond the Test and Itchen catchment; the Padworth trout farm site sits on an arm of the non-canalised River Kennet that also fails to welcome paddlers.
Padworth Trout Farm is a trade name of Test Valley Trout. Fortunately, the public footpath that runs alongside this location provides access and egress to the water, somewhat like on sections of the Itchen, but not notably on the Test.
Mr Michael Ernest Winter
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 08/05/2011. (5)
Interest: ? New boy on the T&IA block, more research needed.
Other: Age - 70.
The first conclusion about those people running an organisation that has refused to even discuss paddling on the Test and Itchen is that, in the majority of cases, their financial interests appear to centre on the Test. Perhaps they see public navigation rights on the Itchen as being the thin end of a wedge to the Test.
Financial self-interest would no doubt be disregarded as a primary motive for such a position, although they admit that they are concerned about perceived financial harm to fisheries on the whole, but the fact remains that those who deny the public access to their natural heritage are making money from their objection by selling exclusivity.
Finally, if you're wondering why I've listed ages, it's just to show that the T&IA directors who object to paddling on the Test and Itchen have an average age of 65.9 years. I was surprised to find that this is not much lower than another group of individuals who have a far more insidious influence on paddling on Hampshire's inland waterways.
*I thought long and hard about this note in a post describing the objection of vested fisheries interests to paddlers, but, in the interests of balance, praise is due to such as the owners of the Kimbridge Estate for their support of Casting for Recovery or the Leckford Estate's support for Fishing for Forces.
(1) Companies in the UK states date of appointment as director as 10/02/2011.
(2) Companies in the UK states date of appointment as director as 19/05/2011.
(3) Companies in the UK states date of appointment as director as 06/06/2011.
(4) Companies in the UK states date of appointment as director as 28/12/2008, and also notes the ending of his appointment as Secretary of the T&IA on 26/05/2010.
(5) Companies in the UK states date of appointment as director as 06/06/2011.
"there are currently only about 3 miles of inland waterways that are publicly accessible in the whole of Hampshire. Virtually none of this is in the Test and Itchen area, although the Rivers Test and Itchen are among the few inland watercourses in the county that are navigable."
The previously reported 2010 decision of the Test & Itchen Association (T&IA) to refuse to even discuss access and navigation of these rivers seems to have completely halted HCAF progress with this issue. Subsequent minutes of HCAF meetings and the 2011 AGM, not to mention the 2011 Annual Report, completely neglect the subject. It appears that there is no longer even a HCAF Access to Water and Active Sports representative position.
As an organisation, the T&IA would outwardly appear to have successfully stiffled any opportunity for developing a mutually acceptable wider public use of the waterways it regards as the exclusive preserve of the privileged.* As organisations are made up of individuals, the following provides an introduction to the men who like to say 'no' to canoeing and kayaking on the River Itchen.
Internet references and listings of the Directors of the T&IA are freely accessible (although care needs to be taken as directors of this secretive 65 year old Private Limited company come and go, but often appear to remain on the scene). As of todays date, the CompanyCheck and bizzy websites concur that the following people are Directors of the T&IA.
Mr Clayton Mark Brendish, CBE
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 05/12/2004.
Interest: Owner of the Kimsbridge Estate on the River Test.
Other: Age - 64. Former director Admiral plc, BT, etc., current director Anite, SThree PLC, etc.
Mr John Giles Selby Coode-Adams, OBE DL
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 31/12/2010.(1)
Interest: Director of The Houghton Club (more on this club later).
Resident: Feeringbury Manor, Colchester.
Other: Age - 73. City background - former Lehman Brothers banker. High Sheriff of Essex in 2000. In 2009 Country Life listed him as number 15 of the 100 most powerful people in the countryside.
Dr Richard Malcolm Crabtree
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 30/04/2000.
Interest: Managing Director of Waitrose's Leckford Estate with 11 miles of bank on the River Test.
Other: Age - 63. Vice Chairman, trustee and director of the Wessex Chalk Stream & Rivers Trust (WCS&RT), which just happens to be registered at the Kimbridge Estate office. With regard to the Leckbridge Estate, John Lewis 'partners' (employees) are eligible for a substantial discount on fishing prices on the Estate; I wonder what would happen if one of them asked to paddle on the Test...
Mr Jonathan Humphrey Durrant
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 08/05/2011. (2)
Interest: Director Timsbury Fishery on the River Test.
Other: Age - 48. Associate of Cooper's Country, "a team of individuals uniquely committed to promoting an informed understanding and enjoyment of"... hmm.
Mr Neil Freeman
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 08/05/2011. (3)
Interest: Owns long term lease on fishing at the Broadlands Estate.
Other: Age - 52. Chairman at River Test Salmon Group, trustee at National Angling Museum, Consultant Editor at Classic Angling Magazine, owner of Angling Auctions. The owners of the Broadlands Estate, Lord and Lady Brabourne, have been closely associated with the British Royal Family.
Mr Jim Gillo Glasspool
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 30/11/2008. (4)
Interest: Director of Timsbury Fishery on the River Test, etc., etc.
Other: Age - 78. No mention of angling objection to paddlers, either in Hampshire or at a national level, is complete without reference to Jim Glasspool. His Angling Trust Board profile skims the surface, but his long-standing involvement with the ACA remains as noteworthy as his directorship of the WCS&RT was inevitable. For future reference, note his earlier career connections with Shell.
Mr Norman MacLean
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 29/09/2006.
Interest: Emeritus Professor at Southampton University Centre for Biological Sciences; writes on the historical shaping of the environment by vested fisheries interests.
Other: Age - 79.
Mr Robert David Miles
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 05/12/2004.
Interest: Solictor who lives close to a tributary of the River Test.
Other: Age - 64.
Mr Christopher Gwyn Saunders-Davis
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 21/05/1991.
Interest: Trout farmer.
Other: Age - 66. The trout farms of which he is a director extend well beyond the Test and Itchen catchment; the Padworth trout farm site sits on an arm of the non-canalised River Kennet that also fails to welcome paddlers.
Mr Michael Ernest Winter
Appointment as Director of the T&IA: 08/05/2011. (5)
Interest: ? New boy on the T&IA block, more research needed.
Other: Age - 70.
The first conclusion about those people running an organisation that has refused to even discuss paddling on the Test and Itchen is that, in the majority of cases, their financial interests appear to centre on the Test. Perhaps they see public navigation rights on the Itchen as being the thin end of a wedge to the Test.
Financial self-interest would no doubt be disregarded as a primary motive for such a position, although they admit that they are concerned about perceived financial harm to fisheries on the whole, but the fact remains that those who deny the public access to their natural heritage are making money from their objection by selling exclusivity.
Finally, if you're wondering why I've listed ages, it's just to show that the T&IA directors who object to paddling on the Test and Itchen have an average age of 65.9 years. I was surprised to find that this is not much lower than another group of individuals who have a far more insidious influence on paddling on Hampshire's inland waterways.
*I thought long and hard about this note in a post describing the objection of vested fisheries interests to paddlers, but, in the interests of balance, praise is due to such as the owners of the Kimbridge Estate for their support of Casting for Recovery or the Leckford Estate's support for Fishing for Forces.
(1) Companies in the UK states date of appointment as director as 10/02/2011.
(2) Companies in the UK states date of appointment as director as 19/05/2011.
(3) Companies in the UK states date of appointment as director as 06/06/2011.
(4) Companies in the UK states date of appointment as director as 28/12/2008, and also notes the ending of his appointment as Secretary of the T&IA on 26/05/2010.
(5) Companies in the UK states date of appointment as director as 06/06/2011.
