When I returned home from the vets a few weeks ago, having taken my cat in for an operation to remove a big growth, I admit to feeling really sad as I reached the gate. I knew that there would be no little ginger cat waiting for me there. Yet there was a cat waiting for me – a very fat, black-faced Siamese I have now called Buster.

He greeted me when I entered the garden, then dived round to the back of the cottage and greeted me again. When I opened the back door, he ran in and sat by my cat’s empty feed bowl demanding dinner. I had no alternative but to feed him. He then slipped into the airing cupboard for a sleep-over!

I eventually discovered that he and my ginger moggie are best friends. They go everywhere together, so he must have called in to discover where Harvey had gone. Buster has now made Rose Cottage his home, despite the fact I finally discovered he belongs to a kindly couple who live close by.

My own cat, Harvey, has a modest appetite, Buster has not. He chomps his way through everything placed before him with great enthusiasm.

Imagine my delight, therefore, when David Duffy, a friend and colleague, turned up at the cottage bearing gifts – two very large, fat trout which he had caught at Farmoor Reservoir that afternoon. Their eyes were gleaming, their skin shining, and their flesh firm. They were the largest trout I had ever seen.

David said that the trout he catches at the reservoir are especially good at this time of the year, as they have spent many months waxing fat on the huge amount of natural food contained in the reservoir. He finds them far superior to the farm-fed fish that can sometimes taste of the pellets on which they are fed. He went as far as to say: “Over the years, Farmoor has consistently produced among the best-tasting trout I have come across from anywhere in the British Isles.” And David should know, he spends any free time he has fishing in British waters.

My first thoughts when presented with this magnificent gift were that these trout would solve the Buster problem for many days to come. But when I took a good look at his magnificent catch I instinctively knew the fish were far too good for cats – even a fat Siamese like Buster.

So I froze one, and baked the other by wrapping it in a paper parcel, stuffed with herbs, lemon slices, mushrooms and celery, and sprinkled with white wine, for a family dinner. It took just half an hour to bake at 190C/375F or gas mark 5. (See picture).

Gosh, it tasted scrumptious, but it was so large I had enough over to make a trout pie the next day (see left) and give the cats a couple of feeds too. Buster purred his head off as he gobbled his share down – he was certainly a very happy cat by the time he had licked the plate clean.

Farmoor Reservoir – actually two separate bodies of water – five miles west of Oxford, has a long history. Apparently, it lies in an old river channel which once cut the gap that leads east towards Botley and Oxford. Evidence of man’s occupation on the site since the Iron Age, was confirmed by an excavation in 1974.

After the Second World War some of the area was used for gravel excavation and in 1962 contracts were placed for the construction of the first reservoir that opened in 1967, supplied by water from the River Thames.

While the Environment Agency is responsible for the river, Thames Water owns and manages the reservoirs, which means they also control the stock of trout and fishing, maintaining an annual stocking density of 50,000 rainbow and brown trout weighing anything from one pound upwards.

Because Farmoor is famous for its insect life, it offers excellent fly-fishing throughout the year, much to the delight of anglers such as David.

Rainbow trout, with their gloriously firm pink flesh, can be distinguished by the broad purple or violet band along their flanks and the black spots on their tail.

As oil-rich fish, such as trout, provides the Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids that are believed to help provide protection against coronary heart disease, and help those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, they really are good for us.

Oil-rich fish play an important role in infant development too.

Ideally, we should all be eating at least one or two portions of oil rich fish a week, but I am not sure how much a cat should eat to keep it healthy, because if Buster had his way, trout would be on the menu every day.

To enquire about season and day tickets to fish at Farmoor I and II, contact the Farmoor Rangers. They can be reached by calling 07747 640707.