Ian Dandy

Trustee since 2026

My name is Ian Dandy, and I was born and raised in Tarleton, a small village by the confluence of the Rivers Douglas and Ribble in West Lancashire, both of which were heavily polluted at the time. My first fishing exploits were limited to the local canal and ponds where the quarry would be roach, rudd, eels, perch and small pike.

I remember receiving a copy of ‘Fishing with Mr. Crabtree’ one Christmas and seeing the wonderful water colour paintings of the grayling and background descriptions of ‘The Lady of the Stream’. I was captivated by the beauty of the fish, and being able to fly fish in the rivers illustrated and described in the book was beyond my wildest dreams.

As an adult I got keen on competitive long distance running, and became fairly good at it, winning lots of races, and gaining representative honours, so the fishing took a back seat for a while. I still run every day and am also a fully qualified endurance running event coach. 

As the running ability started to drop off, my interest in fishing returned, but this time fly fishing.  I joined Lancashire Fly Fishing Association gained access to the upper Ribble and Hodder. I’m also a member of Clitheroe Anglers and Ribblesdale AA, as well as Milnthorpe AA in Cumbria.

On a late winter’s day in around 2003, I finally caught my first grayling and have been hooked ever since. I love to fish the dry fly, especially with traditional split cane rods, but haven’t quite mastered the art of Euro nymphing!

Employment wise, I left school at 16 and served my time as a commercial vehicle bodybuilder, but after a short 2-year spell in the Metropolitan Police, in 1990 I began a career in occupational and environmental health and safety. I’ve worked as a health and safety manager, enforcement officer and consultant, including a significant part of my career in insurance. I gained my MSc in Occupational & Environmental Health and Safety Management, and Fellowship of the Chartered Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. After a working life looking after the health and safety of people at work, I now also try to help look after the health, safety and welfare of the Lady of the Stream. I think she deserves and needs all the help we can give her!

My conservation activities up to now have naturally been focussed on my local rivers. I was a Trustee of and provided health and safety support to the Friends of the River Yarrow, a small tributary of the Douglas which thanks in part to the efforts of the group, now supports a thriving population of trout and coarse fish. I am currently fully involved with conservation activities with Lancashire Fly Fishers Association, being an active committee member and undertaking water quality sampling and invertebrate monitoring on the Hodder and Ribble.

Since volunteering to take over the Conservation Officer role for the Grayling Society, I’ve been in contact with the Ribble Rivers Trust, to liaise with them and hopefully get involved with some of their projects.

I also recently contacted and attended a meeting of the Hodder Consultative to promote the Grayling Society, and especially to encourage the associated fishing clubs to persuade each of their members to complete the society catch returns on a regular basis, as I strongly believe we need hard data and scientific evidence to support our initiatives. As a result, I’ve now been invited to join the Consultative as a permanent member to represent the Grayling Society and work closely with the Consultative in continuing to protect the Hodder and its fish and wildlife environment.

Although my current activities have been confined to the North West, I obviously want to get involved and assist the Grayling Research Trust wherever I can.  I’d also be more than happy to provide advice and assistance to anyone regarding health and safety. To that end I’d encourage any interested parties to get in touch, and hopefully I will be able to assist them in any local activities or initiatives they have planned.