Sad news today with that of the death of Dr Stephen Marsh Smith OBE which took place yesterday .morning.

Most of you who read this blog will know of him over many years as the CEO of the Wye Usk Foundation and recently CEO of Afonyd Cymru the umbrella trust of the rivers trusts of Wales.  A very focused and driven figure who sought over the last 20 years or so to improve the fortunes of the river Wye and it's salmon.

I knew Stephen well before WUF was formed , over 35 years ago in fact.  He  was a friend of my boss at the Nyth when I first went to work there. We often fished together on that beat and later we had trips together, with others,  to the Tay, Spey and the river Test .   He was an excellent salmon fisherman and shot.

I had the enjoyable task of setting up a 38lb salmon he caught from his beat, plus a few other game birds and a cannibal trout, plus the smoking of the salmon we could keep in those days.

Its common knowledge that we had disagreements over the last ten years over the situation on the Wye and I had little personal contact with him during that time.

However I extend my sympathies to his partner and family and all his other friends and will remember the early days of our relationship with fond memories such as this picture from the river Test and the catch of grayling we took together.

RIP Stephen

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From the WyeUskFoundation;

https://www.wyeuskfoundation.org/news/dr-stephen-marsh-smith-obe