The following obituary of Dr Bell was published in the 6th February 1975 issue of The Field and is reproduced with their kind permission.

 

DOCTOR HOWARD A BELL

 

By J K B Crawford

Many generations of Blagdon fishers will read with regret of the death of Dr Bell, of Wrington.

 

After Cambridge and a London hospital, he served overseas as a Regimental Medical Officer during the First World War. Finally he took up practice at Wrington and neighbouring Blagdon. He fished the lake throughout the season every Friday except during his annual holiday on the Spey.

 

It is no exaggeration to say he revolutionized bank fishing at Blagdon, as up to the early 'twenties a 'banker' used either small salmon/ties or large-winged trout flies. Lures after dark. Bell never used either.

 

His knowledge of entomology was profound. Furthermore, his representation of the Blagdon Buzzer, Corixa beetle and amber nymph resulted from careful examination of the underwater life over many years and the autopsies that he carried out on every fish he caught.

This study may have set the pace for aquatic research, now a feature of lake and reservoir fishing. The present-day catalogue is fitting testimony to the scientific observation of which Bell, however well deserved, would never have taken any degree of credit. His 'silver horn' with a sparsely tied turkey wing was discarded and superseded by the worm fly. He originated the Grenadier, the name, he said, conveying the idea of a 'red coat'.

 

THE LAKE

Some chance meetings took place before acquaintanceship blossomed into friendship, always bearing in mind that Bell was primarily at the lake to fish. Outside his front window he had built a goldfish pond, shaped to the scale of Blagdon, which solved the problem of having to point out to a fishing friend a particular spot on this ever fascinating fishery.

He was also a keen and expert gardener, making quite a name as a grower of high-class apples. After retirement, sadly missed by his patients, he continued to tend his garden and exercise his wirehaired terrier.

Increasing age, even when accompanied by his friend the local policeman, finally brought an end to this outstanding fishing career.

Reproduced by kind permission of The Field