End Peg focuses on twelve days in the life of a coarse angler.  Made up of two practice sessions and ten matches, theses days on the bank exemplify the highs and lows, the delight and frustration, and the moments of unadulterated comedy that only fishing can create.  Set against a backdrop of glorious countryside with majestic Red Kites, mischievous damselflies and protective moorhens competing for the limelight, the forces that attract us back to the riverbank time and time again are presented in a light-hearted, humorous style that befits the enduring, entertaining and occasionally exasperating sport of coarse fishing.

Discussions of the wider issues associated with each of these fishing sessions, such as why the closed season exists, how bleak became essential to the fashion accessory trade, the importance of lucky charms and how gudgeon fishing resulted in the cancellation of a wedding, are included, along with invaluable advice regarding the methods we should employ to catch fish from the father of fishing, Izaak Walton.

From those forever bewildered by the sight of thousands of seemingly sane men, women and children perched, each week and in all weathers, on uncomfortable-looking boxes, while simultaneously waving several yards of carbon fibre over the waterways of Britain, to anglers already ensnared in the sport’s complex web of mystery and intrigue, End Peg has something new, something to raise an eyebrow, and something to bring about a smile. 

End Peg - The Highs and Lows of Match Fishing can be purchased from the publishers website here or search for "Peter May End Peg".

 

 

"I was engrossed by the prose. The depth of research is staggering, A Day At The Races is something special, of that I have no doubt. There's a ton of stuff here that I knew absolutely nothing about!" - Mike Catttermole, Broadcaster/Journalist

‘I have not come across a book like this before. Yes, I have seen weighty tomes with a price tag to match but this is an accessible, well-written and meticulously researched history of racing that deserves to sell in the thousands’ John Anthony, Racing Ahead.

 

New for 2022, A Day At The Races focuses on a selection days that served to shape the destiny of horseracing.  The style allows for Readers to dip in, or read it from cover to cover depending on their preferred approach.  In an attempt to paint an even broader picture, these critical days in racing's past are presented alongside other highly significant contemporaneous historical events in order to provide additional social context.  

As well as charting the evolution of the sport, the book is packed with racing and betting anecdotes.  Examples include the walk of a thousand miles around Newmarket Heath to win a bet; the Owner’s wife who bank-rolled Supermarine (developers of the Spitfire); a duel to the death at Ascot; the jockey involved in the last lance-on-lance charge by the British Cavalry in the Great War; a horse that wouldn’t move unless accompanied by her favourite cat and another stopped by a ray-gun; the syndicate that won millions from the Bookmakers and the aristocrat who lost millions on the Derby; Alfred Lord Tennyson’s mythical inspiration; the former Champion jockey who invented a bit that remains in use today but died in poverty; a lucky Owner who won a worthless sheep farm only to find it was the source of a silver mine; deadly lightning strikes at Ascot; Jean Shrimpton’s controversial visit to the Australian Derby; the horse that savaged Lester Piggott’s great uncle and then won the Triple Crown; the Champion juvenile who was presented to Lord Kitchener; the Classic named after a house, and the horse that beat his rivals out of sight.

A Day At The Races is available to order from the Publisher's website here.