Front Cover The proof copy of my new book The Ancient Water Meadows of the River Nadder has just arrived and as always with these books I couldn't be more pleased with it. Earlier in the year I was invited by John Stoddart, the Warden of the Barford and Burcombe Fishing Club, to take photographs of the now largely derelict workings of the ancient water meadow system in the Nadder Valley with a view to producing an historical record. As warden, he was able to arrange for the multiple consents required from various landowners and tenants to enter the mostly private land and take the photographs. As we walked for miles on cold winter mornings looking at the intriguing sights, neither of us knew that months later we would produce this book together with John turning his commentary of how it all used to work, from its formation in the 17th Century through to its heyday, into the excellent and highly informative texts in the book. As someone who has always been fascinated by derelic
