Now I am not going to suggest that the River Aire is up there with the Test, Itchen or Hampshire Avon as one of England's prettiest rivers, Indeed I do not think that it even beats it's sibling rivers of the Wharfe and Nidd.
It is however one of the most improved rivers in the country and still has some wonderful stretches, of which some are free to fish and even the controlled parts can be accessed at low cost from clubs such as Bradford City Angling and Leeds ASA.
I like the idea of rivers having personalities and the Aire is no exception. I always think that he (he is a he) is somewhat sulky and bitter about his treatment and looks jealously over at his beautiful sister The Wharfe, she never got the level of abuse that the Aire suffered at the hands of Industry. While she danced and frolicked her way through spa towns such as Ilkley, Wetherby and Tadcaster, The Aire was dragged through Keighley, Bradford and Leeds, treated with contempt, polluted and extracted to within an inch of his life. And he has not forgotten. Or I think forgiven. He is a brooding river that doesn't recognise that actually he may just be in his prime.
It always make me smile to think that the owners of the newly built riverside "des res" houses nearby with their Range Rovers and hardwood Patio furniture probably don't realise that no one would have dared live that close to the river in the 1980's.
When I was a boy growing up in the suburbs of Leeds, the River Aire was a stinking sewer that one had to cross if you were walking from my house to theLeeds Liverpool Canal to fish. There is a foot bridge across it in Bramley and you could smell the river from 100 meters away. Giant bergs of yellowy foam would drift downstream from the foot of an enormous weir. One never stopped to look over the bridge in to it's inky depths as firstly you knew there was nothing in it and secondly it took you about 45 seconds to cross the bridge and you could only hold your breath for about a minute!
If we jump forward to present day, some 25/30 years later and I have sat and fished that same weir, I have seen trout trying to leap it and pulled good size grayling from just down stream. Kingfishers, Herons and Grey Wagtails abound.
And it is the Environment Agency, The Aire River Trust and Yorkshire Water that need to be thanked for this. Now I am a Socialist so totally against the privatisation of our utilities but I can not argue with the work that Yorkshire Water did in cleaning up Esholt Sewage works and the river downstream which contributed to the improvement of water quality. The EA's program of habitat improvement, punishing polluters and re-stocking and The Aire River Trust's tireless efforts to improve the banks and water quality has gone relatively unrecognised. but for someone who remembers the state of this river when I was a kid, the transformation has been unbelievable.
Trout (my largest was taken from the Aire) Grayling, Chub, Roach, Pike, Perch can all be taken along it's length and the EA even stocked it with thousands Barbel between 2011 and 2013.
Now don't get me wrong the job is not done and EA have their work cut out to keep this river in it's current state. It is surrounded by massive urbanised and industrial areas and keeping on top of the polluters and fly tippers is a thankless and impossible task. However, for now, as it stalks it's way through a world of slate grey and brick red, it adds a welcome splash of green. There are great river walks, picnic areas and fishing spots and you no longer have to hold your breath!
Come the Glorious 16th don't write off the Aire as an option. If we can get more people fishing this river then we get more eyes and ears on it thus help the EA maintain it and hopefully, in the long run, earn the forgiveness of this once abused river.
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