History

Kindly researched by Ken Mills (Life Member)

Dr James Ross Steen a young Irishman came to Aberdare before World War 2, he brought with him his passion for Angling, especially Fly fishing, and his love of the natural environment that stemmed quite naturally from his rural outdoor upbringing in the tiny village of Carickmacross, Southern Ireland.

Coming from a part of Ireland where all the rivers were crystal clear he was appalled when he arrived in Aberdare and saw the dirty and wantonly polluted River Cynon. The years went by and as soon as he saw the slightest glint of an opportunity of being able to do something about it he set forth undaunted on his quest for a clean River Cynon. He gathered his angling friends together and held a meeting at the Glandover Pub on the Gadlys, the meeting was a success, a further meeting was held at the Ambulance Hall in Depot Road, and the Aberdare & District Angling Association was born, Dr. Steen was voted Chairman a position he was to hold for nearly 30 years.

His interest eventually extending to the neighboring River Taff. He saw his dream come true alright not only did the Cynon once more become a river fit for anglers, but the powers that be so recognized his genuine love of nature and his ingrained hatred of pollution that they made him a member of the Glamorgan Rivers Board and up to his fatal illness, he was a staunch supporter of a better environment and of nature conservancy in all its aspects becoming a member of the Welsh National Water Development Authority. As long as the men who accompanied him on his angling expeditions loved angling and loved nature, that’s all that mattered, he did not care, or ask, or wish to know their station in life. That was utterly unimportant. unmistakably so, this made him one of nature’s true gentlemen.