The Jolly Collier is a fondly remembered pub. Image from Memories of Old Brownhills by Clarice Mayo and Geoff Harrington.

Great community activist, Brownhills womble and top bloke Brian Stringer has been in touch again to share a newspaper clipping which I think is from the Walsall Observer, from some point in the 1970s.

The clipping, Kindly shared by Gina Young features her father, John Young, and is a profile of the angling club that used to meet at the Jolly Collier pub that once stood on the corner of Coppice Side and the Pelsall Road in Brownhills, but closed in the 1980s and was demolished some time later.

Brian explains:

Hi Bob

A lady named Gina Young has given me this old newspaper cutting of The Jolly Collier angling Club.

Her Father John Young is on there and died just a few weeks ago. She asked if I could pass it on for her.

I know paper clippings are a pain but ig it comes through OK you might be interested. I knew Ivor Shaw who lived in Clayhanger and Ithink he was the cousin of our Bill.

Cheers,
Brian

Thanks Brian, that’s actually a really good quality scan and I’ve transcribed the main text underneath so it’s searchable – cheers to both Gina and yourself for a really interesting find and my condolences to Gina and family for their loss.

I’d be really interested to put complete names to the faces in the image – sadly the names were cropped but we do have Tony Reynolds, Artur Blad-, Ivor Shaw, John Young, Spike Edwards and maybe Trevor Church?

Also I’d be interested in the date, and if you have any memories of this club, others locally or just local angling in general?

What do you know? Please comment here or mail me: BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Cheers!

A cutting – from the 70s Walsall Observer, I think from the font. Image courtesy of Gina Young and Brian Stringer. Click for a larger version, text transcribed below.

They’re ambitious and keen at Brownhills

Brownhills Angling Club members meet everv Monday night at the Jolly Collier, Clayhanger, but they rarely discuss the club. Always, the subject is match fish­ing.

This is hardly surprising as all the members are ardent match anglers who have banded together for mutual help and support on the open match circuit. Formed less than three years ago by a few prominent local anglers, the club are making quite a name throughout the Midlands both in individual and team events.

Said secretary Ivor Shaw: “Match fishing today is highly competitive, extremely expensive, and complicated by constantly changing techniques. One man on his own has little chance of reaching the top even if he can afford to go it alone.

“It is important to be able to swap ideas and discuss tactics with other top class anglers and this is why we formed the Brownhills club. We have grouped together to help further our own am­bitions.

“For example, four to a car to distant venues helps to cut down expenses. Bait prob­lems are minimised as there is always one of us able to obtain supplies, and the ticket problem is also less­ened to some extent because we are able to plan ahead and send for them in bulk.”

The club are affiliated to the Birmingham AA and tha Provincial AA in order to obtain association cards and to become eligible for various team copelitions. “We almost won the PAA team ehampiondhip last season,” said Ivor, “Every member of our six-man squad turned in a good performance and the only team that beat us were lucky to include a runaway winning individual catch in their total.”

Although the Brownhills lads do not fish matches among themselves they organise two or three open contests each se, son on the River Wye. This s a river on which most of them seem to do well, particularly in the open matches at Redbrook.

In one event last season six of the club gained high placings and it is rare for them to come away empty handed.

Probably their most outstanding member last season was Tony Reynolds, an up and coming match angler who was placed in several opens. But others who also did well were John Young, Dave Roberts, Jim Antill and Roy Biddulph the well known Shropshire angler.

“Yes, distance is no bar in our club,” said secretary Shaw. “If a chap is keen enough he is made welcome no matter where he lives. We still have room for a few more members, but they must be keen and ambitious to stand the pace.”