‘Fishing is a form of meditation’ – it’s always been my escape

I became obsessed as a boy and am still hooked. With the mental benefits of angling well documented, here are some of the best British spots to cast off your worries
• Top five British wildernesses for fishing

It would start with the cellar door. My dad’s friend Darcy would park outside our house with a wooden door strapped to the roof of his Ford Zephyr. Together they would then unscrew the hinges of our cellar door and add it to Darcy’s. With the two doors lashed down they would set forth on the most exciting adventure ever: pike fishing.

I was six years old. We lived in south central Glasgow and this was the most exciting and dangerous fishing trip I never got to experience. As I remember it, my dad told me they would have to approach the far-off, remote, pike-infested water across treacherous mud and swamp. Hence the doors. Leap-frogging. Until they reached the water’s edge.