A ‘great novelty angling contest’ was the highlight of the second annual gala held on the South Park boating lake. The contest pitted Dr Begg, president of the Bath Angling Association and England’s champion angler, against ‘the human salmon’ – Middlesbrough’s legendary swimmer Jack Hatfield, who had won three medals at the 1912 Olympics.
The lake opposite Blackwell Grange had opened in 1925, having been dug out by unemployed men, and canvas sheets were stretched around its fencing to prevent the thousands of spectators from seeing the terrifically exciting contest without paying.
‘Hatfield undertook to have a line similar to that used for salmon fishing tied around his waist and connected to the rod in the hands of Dr Begg, 74, and to defy the efforts of the angler to land the “catch”,’ reported The Northern Echo.
The contest began: the human salmon thrashed around in the water while the champion angler battled with his tackle on the bank. ‘The novel contest lasted for 17½ minutes when it had a rather unfortunate ending,’ reported the Echo. ‘Hatfield proved too powerful for the fisherman and in the end Dr Begg collapsed from exhaustion following a strenuous struggle between him and the fish … He had to receive attention from officials who brought him round with towels … To mark his victory, Hatfield received a gold enamel medal.’
(‘Memories’, The Northern Echo, 2006)