It's been a while.

I've been absent from the forum for quite a while. Unfortunately my last two surviving uncles from a large fishing family passed away within a few days of each other. It fell to my wife and I to arrange the funerals and begin the process of sorting out their affairs. It is an honour and privilege to have done so and I dare say the process will continue for many months to come.

Apart from a lot of family stuff, I've inherited an awful lot of fishing gear! It will take a lot of sorting out and includes salmon and trout gear from the 1950's to modern match gear and everything in between.

I will be donating most of the salmon gear and other odds and ends to The Royalty Fishery Museum. Two of my uncles in particular had more than their fare share of salmon from the Hants Avon and Dorset Stour and I'm sure they will be laughing there heads off in astonishment that some of their exploits are to be recorded in that way.



One of many interesting finds has been a "Walker" MKIV Avon. It is one of two built by my uncle Ron back in the early 1960's. He built a fair few salmon spinning rods and trout fly rods and, as far as I'm aware, rarely ventured into Avons or other coarse rods.

I've not found the other one yet and at first didn't know a lot about this one. I have since found an empty rod bag with some notes which has helped to pinpoint it. It looks unused and is in pristine condition.

Paired with another particularly cherished find, a MK4 deluxe triple check Speedia from the 1960's, I intend to christen the combo with an Avon barbel



I also seem to now have a very nice set of pristine Normark rods! Microlite Match 12ft and 13ft, Multi Tip and Titan 13ft. I fancy the Titan will be my weapon of choice when I get around to the Stour chub later in the year

The process continues... lots of stuff to be donated to various good causes but I'll be keeping one of two of the special finds..... floats in particular!

Hard to describe Neil what it means to you....having a family heritage laced with fishing as served you well. I spoke to my mum today about my grandad who was an engineer in the war and his legacy was heart warming again as we spoke about him.

All that tackle I feel you I feel you you need to let some go...and very quickly, normark rods have very little value nowadays. .........

Nice to hear you post a thread again!

Your feelings when using this gear will be immense and mixed...

jasonbean1 said:

Hard to describe Neil what it means to you....having a family heritage laced with fishing as served you well. I spoke to my mum today about my grandad who was an engineer in the war and his legacy was heart warming again as we spoke about him.

Click to expand...

A very big part of the legacy is the family military records from when my grandad joined The Navy in the 1890's, his 1st World War and 2nd World War record through to enlistment and National Service of 6 uncles and 1 aunt. All of that needs proper recording and further research!

You can never have enough centrepins



I might even put some new line on the pair of Preston Innovations PRX Pro 4000's as they appear to be pretty good............ for coffee grinders

I'm a big fan of bait droppers but never used one this small!

I will look forward to seeing some more stunning Chub soon Neil!

Neil Maidment said:

I've been absent from the forum for quite a while. Unfortunately my last two surviving uncles from a large fishing family passed away within a few days of each other.
[/IMG]

Click to expand...

Very sad that but it's something totally out of our control.
Condolences to you and your family Neil....

Sincere condolences Neil - When someone close becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.........

Welcome back Neil . . . we have missed you.

It must have been a very bitter-sweet experience going through your Uncles' rods and tackle, but using some of those items in the near future will be a lasting reminder of two excellent anglers.

Once again, my sincere condolences to you and your family.

Sorry to hear about your loss Neil, I'm sure it means alot to go through years and years of tackle that's probably associated with a lot of good memories. I'm sure its worth a hell of lot sentimentally.

If you manage to find the the time Neil, could you post a full picture of the 'walker' mkIV Avon as it looks absolutely stunning.

Once again, my condolences.

I'm sort of aware of the provenance pitfalls with "Walker" cane rods and certainly not claiming anything too special about the rod(s). There's still no trace of the other one.

But I do know that Ron built the rods from "Walker MKIV Avon blanks" probably in the late 1950's early 1960's. The finish is pretty good and far better than I ever managed in the few sad attempts I had in my teens to build anything resembling a rod.

With guidance from elsewhere I've examined the rod from top to bottom and can find no fault whatsoever in the cane. Some tentative lifting of various bags of sugar have revealed what appears to be a very pleasant and forgiving rod, we shall see.

It looks unused and feels excellent when paired with the Speedia. I've never been a fan of keeping such gear as pristine, they're built to be used and I have a few different 'pins of around the same age that are begging to be tried out with it!

Wonder if he got his blanks from Walkers of Hythe same place I bought some of mine.
One thing don't understand is why we spent hours putting all those whippings on the rods. Did they really need them or was it just fashion?

The rod is more stunning than I originally thought, I'm sure it will be a pleasure to use. He was obviously a very talented rod builder, and the condition is pristine, especially to say they're 5 or 6 decades old.

I really hope you find the second of the pair, and if the first is anything too go by, I'm sure it will be just as perfect.

steve2 said:

Wonder if he got his blanks from Walkers of Hythe same place I bought some of mine.
One thing don't understand is why we spent hours putting all those whippings on the rods. Did they really need them or was it just fashion?

Click to expand...

The intermediate whippings were frowned on by Walker who omitted them from his hand built rods as 'not necessary'. My local t/s of the time, B James & Son, incorporated them as a bit of 'bling' that anglers of the time liked. James Bruce Snr. (aka B James) obviously had the public/financial interest first rather than whether it was 'really needed'.

Here's Ron, the rod builder, in Davis Tackle, Christchurch in the 1960's with the owner Mrs. Davis.

Lovely picture that Neil.