The Castle Fish

If you had walked into the Castle Inn in Fydell Street in 1953 you’d have seen fish everywhere, on the walls, above the bar, over the seats and in the back rooms, but there was no smell of fish because all of them were stuffed and in cases. The landlord at the time Mr. Ernest Ratherby said, “They have turned this place from a back-street pub into an anglers inn.”

There were about 60 fish in the pub and if any large fish was caught in Boston then it was stuffed and put in the Castle Inn, but it was not just a drinking place for local men, anglers from all over the country came by car, coach and rail to see the collection of fish. When Mr. Ratherby came to the Castle in about 1936 he said the collection was worth about £300 but had no idea what it was worth in 1953.
The best of the collection was a 23lb. Pike and there was a story that a drunk, leaning unsteadily on the corner of the bar one evening, trying to get the fish into proper focus, is reputed to have said, “The fisherman who caught that fish is a sh-tinking liar.”
Prize piece of the collection was a large case holding two enormous Pike, both were caught within a stones throw of the pub and both within an hour of each other. The oldest fish was caught in 1903.