The Manchester Anglers Association was founded in 1878 as a fishing and literary society. With the then recent completion of the Settle to Carlisle extension of the MIdland Railway providing easy access to the south western Yorkshire dales the club very quickly established an extensive fishery at Horton in Ribblesdale. Over the following 129 years the Association has acquired exclusive fishing rights on almost the entire catchment of the River Ribble above the hamlet of Helwith Bridge.  These waters vary from tree lined runs and pools in the pastures below the hamlet of Newhouses to classic open moorland trout and salmon stream in the upper reaches.

Anyone interested in the early activities of the MAA should seek out the classic series of essays published between 1880 and 1894 by the Association in three volumes entitled “Anglers’ Evenings”

When the MAA first came to Horton it found that the population of brown trout in the river had been much depleted.  During the building of the railway it did not take long for the large transient population of navvies to realise that the river offered an almost unlimited supply of free meals.  As a consequence stocks of brown trout were very low and unlikely to be naturally replenished due to the natural barrier of Stainforth Foss 5 miles below Horton.

To improve stocks the Association established an extensive trout hatchery at Horton that very soon became an international model. The hatchery continued in operation until 1946 when it was decided to buy in farm bred fish to supplement the native stock. To learn more go to the Conservation page and follow the link to The Old Hatchery.

These waters have been fished by some of the leading anglers of their day including Arthur Ransome who recorded his experiences in his delightful series of essays ‘Rod and Line’.  Here you can find an account of the 1926 solar eclipse and its impact on the fish as seen from the Tarn. Indeed, in these essays there are many references to the Manchester Anglers’ Association and ther fishing activities at Horton in Ribblesdale

Since its foundation, the Association has enjoyed the services of a keeper based at Horton and this remains true today with a part-time keeper at Newhouses available to manage the fishery on a day to day basis and maintain links with local landowners,