I am very sorry to let you know of the passing of Alan Jukes who died on Saturday 28th July.

Alan was a great friend to us here at Bellbrook and he will be very much missed. He was always very quick to offer help, always had time to chat and was left in charge of the fishery on numerous occasions – such was our regard for him.

He will also be much missed by those who he fished with both here and at the various other fisheries that he and his mates would descend on. To say Alan was a keen fisherman is very much an understatement but even more than that he was also a gentleman of the sport. It was never too much trouble to help out one of the beginners or someone less experienced and he would offer endless encouragement and good natured teasing to those he met along his path.

The last time Alan fished was the 28th April when he won the 2018 Wessex Water Open Fly Fishing competition winning the cup and £1000 – a serious event. So all that practice was definitely beginning to pay off.

Alan was also a regular at the competitions held here at Bellbrook and was well known for his witty banter and terrible jokes. We would often share a quick text or WhatsApp message and so I was aware that he had been in and out of hospital but not once did he gripe or moan. In fact in his last message to me on the 21st July he estimated that he would be “back cage fighting again in 8 weeks.” I don’t know about your beliefs but I am pretty sure he’s cage fighting somewhere.

Our love and sympathy go out to his family.