Fisherman, 84, gets MBE for 50 years of volunteering

Fred Higham has carried out decades of voluntary work on the River Ribble catchment

A fisherman and volunteer has been recognised for the 50 years he has spent protecting and improving the local environment.

Frederick Higham from Clitheroe - known as “Ribble Rod” - has been fishing on the River Ribble in Lancashire since he was a child.

Last week he was awarded an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours for services to Angling and Environmental Protection.

The 84-year-old said the river had meant a lot to him since he first went "tickling trout" with his grandad.

'Country lad'

"Going back a long, long time when I was about eight or nine, my grandad used to take me out on Mearley Brook, a little tributary that runs into the Ribble," he said.

"We used to go out tickling trout. It's where you lean over the bank and into the river and you feel under the bank or stones and let the fish lie gently on your hand.

"They won't move as they don't sense danger, so you can just close your hand over and flick them out on to the bank."

Since then, Mr Higham has carried out decades of voluntary work on the River Ribble catchment.

"The environment is everything," he said. "If you haven't got a good environment you haven't got good fishing or good rivers."

"This river has given me so much pleasure and enjoyment over the years that I thought it's time to give something back, so that's when I started becoming involved with committees and clubs."

The father-of-three is now chairman of Ribble Anglers, director of Clitheroe Anglers and a member of the Ribble Rivers Trust since it started in 1997.

Volunteers are involved in tree and hedge planting, fencing, cleaning up the river or uprooting invasive plants.

He said when he received the letter to say he was being given the MBE he was "shocked".

"I showed it to my wife - I daren't keep anything from her - and I said I'm an ordinary country lad, this doesn't happen, is it one of my mates having a bit of a joke?" he said. "So later that morning I rang the cabinet office.

"Just to check."