Nature Book Reader June 2020 - Flipbook - Page 98
A Nature Book Reader
ANDY PATTENDEN
Andy grew up near to the Thames and wetted his first lines in the river and
the royal parks bordering it.
The Longshoreman
by Richard Shelton
“A life at the waters edge”
is the wholely appropriate
subtitle of this affectionate
mixture of memoir and
science. Richard Shelton
takes us from a childhood
paddling in the River
Chess through a long and
distinguished career in the
fisheries service.
Here are the recollections
of someone who has
truly immersed himself
in the watery landscape.
Along the way we are
provided with insights into
the commonplace and
mysterious via guanine
crystals, geosmin and the
continuous plankton recorder,
and gain rarer glimpses into
the murkier depths of the
seas surrounding our island.
A compassionate glimpse is
provided into disappearing
lifestyles and occupations,
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and the twighlight of the
fishing industry is given a
vivid human face by this
eloquent documenter
Some of the early
memories feel almost
archetypal, representing a
kind of collective unconscious
of childhood experience;
netting sticklebacks, the sight
of his first eel, disturbing
cadis fly larvae, stalking
elusive butterflies, the taste
of sweet cold tea’ roasting
sparrows, establishing
amature aquariums and
other pursuits inspired by the
Badminton Library of Sports
and Pastimes. Some of these
I found acutely vivid, and
many of my own memories
subsequently resurfaced like
forgotten dreams.
Surprisingly some of the
most rewarding passages
were those describing his
