Warwickshire Avon - The Untrodden Pt.55 (Big Barbel)

There are certain news stories that make you stop what you’re doing, read them again and wonder if someone has accidentally put the wrong location on the press release. Five Mexican men, a secret meth lab and remote farmland near Furnace End in Warwickshire meanwhile I’m sat here preparing to go barbel fishing on the Warwickshire Avon, which suddenly feels like a slightly more questionable evening activity than it did this morning. I had been looking forward to a peaceful few hours by the river, watching the light fade over the Avon while waiting for a chub or barbel to do something vaguely interesting. Now, having read about Furnace End, I’m wondering whether every unoccupied farm building in Warwickshire has a secret second purpose and whether I should be checking the postcode on my fishing ticket before setting off. The timing is particularly unfortunate because I’ll be fishing into dusk, which is normally one of my favourite times to be beside a river. The planes from the local…