ANGLERS have paid
tribute to a man described as one the sport's
greatest servants.
Fred Egerton,
president of Northwich Anglers' Association (NAA) -
the biggest sporting organisation in mid Cheshire -
died on Boxing Day. He was 98.
"He was out of the
old school," said Tony Waterman - a long-standing
friend.
"Fred ran the
association with passion but he was also the perfect
gentleman and a fabulous match angler."
A committeeman
during the 1940s, Fred was elected secretary in 1949
and retired in 1981.
He lived on Bowden
Drive with wife Nel before moving to Avandale Lodge
Nursing Home in Lostock Gralam.
The group's Station
Road headquarters are named Egerton House in
recognition of his work and he performed the
official opening there in June 1995.
When he took over,
the association was in the doldrums with barely £100
in the bank.
"We needed to buy
land and fisheries. It took a lot of hard work and
our first purchase was 18 acres of land and water at
Billinge Green in the early 1950s. It cost £1,000,"
he said at the time.
"Fred was a man with
a vision for the association but kept things
simple," said Russell Moores, current NAA chairman.
"We will remember
him for a long time and it's a fitting tribute to
have our headquarters named after him."
Fred also led the
campaign against pollution in the River Weaver and
River Dane and it was his foresight that led to
angling in the Trent and Mersey Canal, helping form
a separate association that took on the water when
it could only support sticklebacks.
"Angling was a key
part of his life," added Russell.
The funeral took
place on Monday, January 8, at St Wilfrid's RC
Church in Northwich.
