Manchester Anglers' Association

Manchester Anglers Association was founded in 1878 as a fishing and literary society. For the first few years members sought fishing where they could and gathered together in Manchester monthly to recount their experiences.

An early decision was taken to try to find suitable trout fishing that the club could lease and a number of locations were assessed for their suitability including the Derbyshire Wye and North Wales. One of the criteria used to evaluate such waters was ease of access. Another was the ready availability of friendly accommodation. Remember that these were days before motorised transport and rural roads were still fairly primitive.

The overriding need was to find waters that could be readily accessed by rail and eventually attention was drawn to the headwaters of the Ribble that had recently come within easy reach of Manchester as a result of the activities of the Midland Railway who had in 1875 completed their new Scottish mainline extension via Ribblesdale.

Scouting parties reported a river with great potential and no resident club. Also available was an abundance of accommodation in two inns at Horton and farmhouses dotted along the river.

The MAA arrived at Horton in Ribblesdale in 1882 and immediately began to establish a presence by securing a club room at the Golden Lion (the rod rests survive in the entrance hall to this day) and making plans for the preservation of brown trout.

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