Nottingham Anglers Association History...

Formed in 1895 by a small group of anglers, the Nottingham Anglers Association has grown into one of the largest angling club in the Midlands.

The club remained fairly small until the late 1950's when the then President, Albert Whitsed purchased a small pond and area of land near Papplewick out of his own pocket.

Over the next few years a group of enthusiastic volunteers cleared the overgrown pond and this was to become the original Bestwood Duck Pond. During this time the Association had a membership waiting list, however, over the next forty years the construction of a further four ponds on the land at Bestwood and the acquisition of further ponds and stetches of the River Trent saw a dramatic rise in the number of members.

Throughout the Associations rise, match anglers also had their own success stories, the N.A.A. team winning the all England Championships in 1913 and 1957, they were also the runners up in 1954 and 1972.

In 1978 the team won the division 2 championship after being relegated in 1977, this was the only time we have been out of the top flight of the N.F.A. Championships.

The current membership of around 3,300 remains fairly constant and the Association's committee constantly strive to improve the facilities available to it's members.

We do not however lose sight of the massive amount of work that has been carried out by those who have gone before us. We would not be where we are now without them and remain forever in their debt.

Showing the winning National team of 1957, the late great
Albert Whitsed is seated left in the above picture.

This shows the construction of Bestwood Pond in the late 1950's,
with Albert Whitsed pictured with the wheelbarrow.