About Us

Some winning CFPAS members

Cambridge Fish Preservation and Angling Society (CFPAS) was founded in 1885 - in those days we were known as The Jolly Anglers - and the first fishery the club leased was the Hundred Foot Drain at Earith.

Anglers from the club made regular trips to the river to hold matches and were taken by coach. The hire of the bus in those days must have been extremely cheap! It is not certain when CFPAS changed its name from The Jolly Anglers but it is at least 60 years ago.

Our late President, Jack Baker, OBE HON M A Cantab, was instrumental in the foundation of the National Federation of Anglers (NFA).

CFPAS was a founder society of the Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Federation of Anglers and is affiliated to the NFA (Eastern Region).

CFPAS (now CFPAS Ltd.) offers a mixture of angling venues and our fisheries are amongst some of the best in England. In the last ten years our stretch of the River Cam has hosted:

The 2001 Embassy Division 1 National
The Embassy Division 2 National
The Embassy Division 4 National
The National Police Championship
The National Electricity Championship
The Anglian Water Group Championship
The Environment Agency Championship
The Angling Time Winter League Semi-Final

On the 13th March 2002 CFPAS became a Limited Company By Guarantee, becoming known as Cambridge Fish Preservation and Angling Society Ltd (Registered No.4393791). This was another milestone in our history. In becoming a Limited Company the Society limits its officers and its members liability to an amount not exceeding £1:00. There are three directors who's duties include:-

Responsibility for production of validated accounting records.
Taking reasonable steps to safeguard the assets of the company.
Detecting and preventing fraud and other irregularities.
Preparing financial statements for each financial period that give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial period and of the profit and loss for that period.

The day to day running of the society’s affairs and decision making is carried out by a committee that consists entirely of all the officers published in the CFPAS Membership Book. This committee meets on a monthly basis, however, business affairs are effectively undertaken on a daily basis and in recent years the club has invested in computer facilities with internet access between its three directors. Our website and email facility has also improved our communications with our membership and other key players such as the Cam Conservancy and the Environment Agency. Our website is managed by our Membership Secretary.

The directors and committee of Cambridge Fish Preservation and Angling Society Ltd are all unpaid and undertake work on an entirely voluntary basis. We are, however, proud of our business-like approach, and whilst it has taken a great deal of effort over the last couple of years we strongly believe these efforts will be rewarded and the society will go from strength to strength.