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SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN many more visit the Welland Valley in winter, especially when the floods are out.

Hares are plentiful on the Burley, Exton, and Normanton estates, but are scarce in the western half of the county.

Rabbits are found in all the coverts and in a good many of the hedgerows, but the strong nature of the soil prevents them from increasing very rapidly and becoming the nuisance that they are in some localities.

ANGLING

The followers of Izaak Walton have but few opportunities of testing their skill in Rutland. Fort Henry Lake in Exton Park, the Burley Fish Ponds, and the Oakham Canal for a mile or two towards Ashwell are almost their only chances. All of these are well stocked with the ordinary coarse fish, and some good catches of pike have been made in the Burley Ponds. Thanks to the kindness of Lord Gainsborough and the late Mr. Finch, Fort Henry Lake and the Burley Ponds are industriously fished, and a lot of amusement and many fish got out of them in the course of the year.

The Stamford Angling Association, of which Mr. H. N. Fisher of Stamford is the secretary, preserves and stocks a considerable length of the Welland and the Quash, and in both streams good sport is obtained. Both trout and grayling do fairly well in the waters of the Quash. 307