east anglian rod company

[Julian Pardoe]

Phil, thanks for your encouragement. I will make time to do this. Actually I could write a book, but that would be too long for here! I do not know how much a 'potted history' would take. About 2 sides of A4 equivalent? Too much or not enough?

Do you think readers wouldbe interested in just the manufacturing, or the whole 'life' of EAR? EAR became the biggest wholesaler in the UK by miles, & was the main selling vehicle of many famous brands.

It is 19 years since EAR was sold. Time dulls the memory, but I still have a complete set of our annual catalogues to which I could refer. I still go to some of the trade exhibitions (here & overseas),to see old friends and am amazed how many retailers still approach me to reminisce on 'the good old days' and say 'what happened to 'so & so', or 'whatever became of xyz company?' One book giving a brief history of the tackle companies of the 20th century would be fascinating to compile, but I doubt it would compete with Harry Potter in sales! Before world war 2 there were not that many tackle companies. Or, put another way, after WW2 the number of companies involved in the tackle trade mushroomed as disposable income increased & angling attracted more participants.

Know anyone who wants a job?

 

[Paul (Brummie) Williams]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>The bad one wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

PS you don't get paid in money terms for writing articles on this site, but you might get some tackle for it .... You might even get some spools of KystonIncognito for testing/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif</blockquote>
Hahaha..................cos sweet FA was caught before it according to some!

 

[The bad one]

Julian you could if you were so inclined write the whole history of the company manufacturing and all other areas the company move into.

My advice to you would be to write them as articles of 1000-1500 words each. If you have any old photos of rod production and the like add them to it to give some visuals.

If you sponsored a match team or individual who won big events don't be afraid to add their photos toany of the articles. It's your history, so please own it.

If you find it easier to write it as one whole piece then you could do it that way. The Editor,when we get a new one, will be able to section it up into articles and fit the visuals into the right places in the articles.

With visuals its helpful to give the editor a clue which photo belongs where.

E.g a heading on the page such as <u>Insert photo of blank mandrill here</u>

Hope this helps you and I look forward to readinganything you produce regarding the history of EAR.

Phil

 

[Warren 'Hatrick' (Wol) Gaunt]

Hi Julian,

I have a very good friend and i'm damn sure he worked for East Anglian Rod, his name is Charlie Shearman, he went onto Pete Drennan. does the name ring any bells with you???

 

[Julian Pardoe]

Yes, he was one of our best reps for many years.

 

[andi linky]

Hi Julian/Everone.

Just got hold of some oldEARC 10 ft 2 piece black fiberglassblanks with stickers on them Rookeryhouse Newmarket.

V357 on the sticker.

SP 3056M VZ L-13 on the blank.

Was intrested to learn a bit more about them/or intended use/ maker.

Regards an Best Wishes Andrew.

 

[Richard Drayson]

What a fascinating and interesting thread this has become. I hope Julian can write some more on the subject.

Just for the record I once owned a EAR Co 'Piker Ten'.

 

[GreyFox]

I used to have an EARC Auger Mustang quivertip rod - bloody brilliant rod and I dearly wished I still had it.

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

I have an East Anglian Carbon Graphite CGF-85 8 1/2 foot 2 6/8 oz Fly Rod

AFTMA Fly Line 5-6

Bought brand new back in the mid eighties. Caught me many good fish from rivers and still in good nick. I think it cost around £40 to £50 at the time. Finished in black with gold at the end of the wippings on the eyes and keeper ring. Label still on the rod.

 

[Jon Wilson]

I have a pair of 11ft carbon 'Olympic carp' 2 1/4lb TC rods I still use today. My uncle Barry gave them to me along with his mitchel 300a's when he took up sea fishing. His late wife Lynda worked at EARC.

 

[Julian Pardoe]

OK, I am back from an unsuccessful 3 day fishing trip.

<u>To Andi Linki. </u>I have researched your 10ft 2 pce fibreglass blank. Old EARC ref V357. This was supplied to EARC by Sportex & they had a factory somewhere in the southern part of France. I did visit it once in about 1975& if my memory serves me well the factory was somewhere near Avignon in the Rhone valley. These blanks were discontinued by EARC in 1982. They were sold as a 'medium action leger/swim feeder/carp' rod blanks. They retailed in 1982 for £11.95

Back in the '70s & early '80s wholesalers like EAR sold large quantities of blanks & rod component parts to retailers who, sometimes, made up rods themselves to sell from their shops while other shopssold all the parts to anglers to make their own rods. However, with the arrival of cheap rods from, firstly, South Korea & then China, this trade largely died away as anglers could not buy the parts as cheaply as a complete rod. By 1985 there were <u>very</u> fewblanks in the EARC catalogue and there were none in the 1986 catalogue. Hope this helps!

<u>To Richard Drayson</u>.The Piker 10 was designed & approved by Barrie Rickards. Made from a Fibatube 'slow taper' blank with a spigot joint. There was 2 in the series....your 10ft & an 11ft. The 30" cork handle would have looked strange today with it's sliding silver aluminium reel fittings!

These 2 rods came to the market in 1977 & yours retailed then for£19.95. This model was discontinued in 1982 by when the retail price had increased to £36.95.

In 1983 EARC introduced a Mk2 version with Fuji guides & black sliding alloy reel fittings to distinguish it from the Mk1. Which was yours? Mk1 or 2?

In 1983 the retail price was, also, £36.95. It was discontinued in 1984 & in 1985 EARC inytroduced the 'Barrie Rickards' 11ft carbon fibre Piker & dropped the 10ft. OK?

<u>To Grey Fox</u> I cannot find the EARC Auger Mustang quiver tip rod. If you want to know more, can you give me a year? I do not remember them doing Auger rods, but EAR did take over the marketing of Alvey sea reels from Auger, so they may have had a connection with Auger rods.

 

[Julian Pardoe]

<u>To Wobbly face</u> Glad you like the old fly rod. Difficult to know when it was made from the info given. Does it have an item no still on it? Probably rubbed off by now! Is the handle cork or EVA? You say it is black, but I am struggling to find one. EAR did make an 8 1/2 ft #5/6 that retailed for £49.95 but it was dark green varnish.

 

[Julian Pardoe]

<u>To Jon Wilson</u> OLYMPIC rods were the biggest selling carp rods EARC ever sold. In the 1980s Olympic was one of the biggest Tackle firms in Japan after Daiwa & Shimano. They were quoted on the Tokyo stock exchange. Grays of Cambridge was their UK distributer trading as <u>RG Edwards.</u> Does that ring any bells, anyone? Black Seal Monofilament? All rotted by now, but anyone remember it?

Anyway, EARC bought RG Edwards off Grays in 1984 & I went to Japan to discuss with Olympic how EARC could increase sales. In 1985 Olympic spinning reels & carbon poles appeared in the EARC catalogue. Believe it or not there was even (then) a 13.50 metre 12 section take-apart pole that sold <u>to the shops</u> for £795 + VAT. God knows what the shops sold it for, but that was a lot of money 23 years ago! Anyway, I digress...

Olympic also had a factory in a tax free enterprise zone in a town called Masan in south west Korea. I visited this several times & they made most of the 'Olympic' branded rods that EARC sold in UK. Your rod was introduced in 1987 & retailed then for £34.95.It stayed in the EARC range until 1990 when Porter Chadburn bought EARC and, through a complicated metamorphosis involving the purchase of Leeda, T & J, & Steades, it reappeared in 1991 (effectively) as Leeda. Leeda decided to drop the Olympic brand & concentrate on building the Leeda brand where ever possible.

I remember Lynda well. I believe she came straight from school to work in the sales office in Newmarket supporting about 1500 retail accounts in UK & Europe & our (by 1990) 20 salesmen. You had to be good to work at EARC!!

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

Hi Julian.

CGF-85 8 1/2 foot 2 6/8 oz. AFTMA Fly Line 5-6. These are the only markings on the rod. It has a cork handle and the rod is black with the gold trim on wippings. The price sounds about right.

Your input is very interesting, makes a change to here from tackle companys on thier history, development and ideas.

Thanks Wobbly.

 

[GreyFox]

Julian,

The rods came in two colours, darkish green and a maroon, time would be about the mid 70s.

 

[Steve Handley]

Great thread and what a fascinating insight into the backgroundof the East Anglian Rod Company by Julian Pardoe.

 

[Julian Pardoe]

Grey Fox,

You have me stumped. There is nothing in the EARC catalogues in the mid 70s. I can only assume thatEARmade these rods for Auger and I just do not remember it. What is surprising is that, as EAR & Auger were competitors, both names appeared on the rods you recall. Sorry!!

 

[The bad one]

Julian your a star.... brilliant stuff!

 

[The bad one]

Julian I now have a question for you, "Do you know who owned a company called Millbro (I think that's how it was spelt) and who eventuallythey were consumed by?

I got to know them as a kid not for the fishing tackle (rods) they made, but the catapult which were the bees knees and had an ally frame squire elastic and were the most powerful you could at the time geton the market. They cost 5 bob at the time wich was a fortune when your pocket money was only 1 shilling and six pence.

My next encounter with them was circa 1970 and the first purpose built glass carp rod at an affordable price (excluding walker cane MkIIand subsequent glass rods by Bruce and Walkerthat followed) If memory serves me right they were made on a yellow glass blank and sloppy as hell. I never did by one but came close.

Instead going for 2 blanks byNorthwest Blanks Middleton Manchester, which launched their carp blank range whilst I was still deliberating about the purchase.

 

[Julian Pardoe]

Milbro was short for Millard Brothers & was owned by Grampian Holdings, which was a public company with a stock exchange quotation. They have now, as far as I know, no interest in Tackle. They were the UK distributers for Daiwa. When Milbro had got the Daiwa turnover up to sufficient critical mass that they could stand on their own, Daiwa split from Milbro & set up their operation in Scotland. If you Google Grampian Holdings you will see what they do now, but it is boring for us in the tackle trade!

Milbro still exist & are best known as a maker of airgun pellets. Again, google Milbro to learn more....but pretty uninteresting.

Can't tell you much about their gear. Hard enough to recall our own EAR products of 40 years ago! EARC was incorporated in 1966 and when the company was sold for a 7 figure sum in 1989/1990 it was handling (I believe)between 6000 &7000 items as a wholesaler. Sadly, I have no longer gotour last computer print out to verify the exact number! I do not propose to count the items in the 1990 catalogue...it was over 300 pages of A4!