Pure Chalk Stream Water

"The water that flows through the chalk streams is almost unique to England.  Taken as a whole ninety-five per cent of the planet's supply of pure chalk stream water exists only in southern England.  Each winter, the rain falls high on the sheep-grazed downs then seeps into the chalk seam hundreds of feet below the ground.  Filtered, purified and chilled, the water emerges months later to form such famous rivers as the Test and Itchen.  The closest thing to heaven on earth for rearing trout".  

Simon Copper - Life of a Chalkstream and The Field

True chalk streams rivers are fed exclusively by springs rising from chalk downland.  Rainfall filters through the chalk bedrock to emerge gin-clear and full of minerals and nutrients to create an exceptionally verdant and unique habitat.

 

The Test and Itchen Rivers

The Test and Itchen Rivers in Hampshire are the two most iconic chalk streams in the world.  It was on these rivers that the art of dry fly fishing was perfected in the 1800s.  Revered by fishermen across the globe, they remain the spiritual home of upstream fly fishing for trout.

The rivers rise equally in the North Hampshire Downs and the South Downs National Park to flow through some of Southern England's finest countryside before entering the English Channel.

ChalkStream®️  is supplied by the only farms on the Test and Itchen Rivers producing trout for the table.