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Meet Hans van Klinken in 2025 at international flytying fairs and events
Posted by Lydia Unwin on
Hans van Klinken started flyfishing at the age of 15 in Norway. He immediately fell in love with the unbridled beauty of the Arctic regions. Hans’ greatest outdoor experience was in 1975 when he spent almost four months in the wilderness of Lapland, where he learned how to survive in the forest and on the tundra.
Hans began flytying in 1976. By the early 1980s, he was creating his own designs, mostly parachutes. This eventually led to his development of several unusual patterns and tying techniques. His international fame increased as he continued his meticulous development of his flies, giving demonstrations, workshops and classes around the world.
Armed with his backpack, rod and flytying material, he and his future wife Ina travelled round Scandinavia as far north as Svalbard and later Europe and North America, fishing their way around. It was in the large variety of the river systems and lakes of Scandinavia and Finland that he honed his flyfishing skills.
Hans’ retirement now makes it possible to commit fully to the world of flyfishing and related environmental issues. He has finally found the time to write his long-awaited first book which sheds light on his ground-breaking thinking behind the world famous Klinkhåmer fly and variations.
Throughout his life he has held free-of-charge educational programmes and flytying lessons for youngsters, something he sees as his way of giving back to society.
Saudi Prince Khalid's Racing Colours - A free extract from Ashforth's Curiosities of Horseracing
Posted by Lydia Unwin on
Have you ever wondered how racing colours are chosen? David Ashforth gives us a rather famous example involving the selection of Saudi Prince Khalid's racing colours. If you enjoy reading it, this is one of many short stories in David Ashforth's book, Curiosities of Horseracing.
A must read for anyone looking to dip in and out of a book about a quirky sport and its participants.
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- Tags: Ashforth, horse, Horse Books, Horse Racing, Horseracing, horses
The perfect gift for the sporting shooter... Douglas Butler's entertaining stories
Posted by Lydia Unwin on
Douglas Butler has an ear for a good shooting story and, as an inveterate shooter himself, knows just what curious, unexpected, dramatic things can sometimes happen when out in the fields, woods and marshes with fellow guns and dogs.
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- Tags: Fieldsports, Shooting
Much ado about Mutton by Bob Kennard... Lamb, Hogget or Mutton? What's the difference?
Posted by Lydia Unwin on
We think of eating lamb at Easter in the same way as we think of turkey at Christmas. But this culinary custom is at odds with seasonal eating – most British lambs are not ready to be eaten in spring. The best time to eat grass-fed British lamb is from autumn onwards when the lambs have had time to feed on the summer grass and mature, the meat can also be hung to add flavour. If you eat lamb at Easter it will have to be born in winter, they are therefore using nutrients to keep warm, instead of going...
Pull the wool from your eyes... it's time to appreciate British Wool!
Posted by Lydia Unwin on
Did you know that the fleece of each breed of sheep has evolved to suit their historic location. Wool from each of the UK's native sheep breeds has its own unique characteristics and is valued for those properties, from colour and texture to the amount of lanolin which impacts moisture wicking and antimicrobial properties.