The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I'm surprised that floats go for that kind of money; didn't realise any floats were collectors items, at least not to that kind of price level. I'm no doubt showing my ignorance here, but who is/was Colin Whitehouse? And are the floats sufficiently rare and desirable to maintain that value?

I understand and agree completely there Mark, but my moan is that buyer/users are being priced out of the market of a lot of things by buyers/showers/investors and these things will not see the light of day on the bank..

Its not a matter of envy at all (before anyone suggests it), there's nothing more I enjoy than bumping into anyone using nice stuff and chatting.
The thing that really annoys me however is that this culture breeds sellers on ebay and the like who invent rarity, models, makers and affiliations to anglers etc. I've no doubt that the Colin Whitehouse floats are genuine, as I have bought from the seller myself a while back and he is 100% genuine, but some of the stuff fetching silly prices would be so easy to copy and not documented with catalogues, reference books etc, that we are in danger a few years down the line of not knowing genuine from fake. Look at the decal thread and you'll see what I mean these people don't bother reproducing decals for rods worth only £50 do they?

I've always liked the way fishing is a 'doing' pastime and making your own floats, rods & baits and going out and catching a fish on them was the most enjoyable bit, I think people who go down the collecting route too much and hoarde loads of stuff away just because its a good investment and not that they like it, would probably be better off with stamps and coins.

Monday morning rant over.

DaveM wrote:
I've always liked the way fishing is a 'doing' pastime and making your own floats, rods & baits and going out and catching a fish on them was the most enjoyable bit, I think people who go down the collecting route too much and hoarde loads of stuff away just because its a good investment and not that they like it, would probably be better off with stamps and coins.

I too think it is a real pity that some wonderful vintage tackle is never used, and therefore never gets seen by anyone else either. After all that was the sole purpose for it being created in the first place.

Colin Whitehouse is, for want of a better title, the assistant rod maker to Edward Barder, Bluedun.


I'm inclined to just say that he's made far better quality finished floats than that before now, but I hope the new owner enjoys them.

Bet he doesn't fish with 'em, though

When I see remarkable auction prices fetched, I usually post on The Path Forum...it's worth scrolling back through the post header titles in the Beyond the Rabbitproof Fence section.


£200 for a bait advertisement sign, anyone?

Thanks Nobby. In that case he must be rubbing his hands!

Bluedun wrote:Thanks Nobby. In that case he must be rubbing his hands!

Colin made next to nothing from the floats when he made them.
He used to make them in his spare time along with other items like catapults etc.
He is indeed Edward's highly talented assistant and a very quiet unassuming chap at that too. He is an expert when it comes to coracles as well.
I bought 2 batches of floats from him in the mid to late 90s and he charged about £4 per float!

Snape wrote:

Bluedun wrote:Thanks Nobby. In that case he must be rubbing his hands!

Colin made next to nothing from the floats when he made them.
He used to make them in his spare time along with other items like catapults etc.
He is indeed Edward's highly talented assistant and a very quiet unassuming chap at that too. He is an expert when it comes to coracles as well.
I bought 2 batches of floats from him in the mid to late 90s and he charged about £4 per float!

thanks for the info ive never heard of him or his floats before

Snape wrote: .....I use mine but will be a bit more careful in future. I have these swan quills but lost one when carp fishing at Adlestrop about 10 years ago. I watched it drift to the shallows and get stuck in an inaccessible place. I should have jumped in and saved it....

..."Yes; I remember Adlestrop..."

...in my opinion, One of the most poignant little poems ever written about Old England..by one of Her finest poets, Edward Thomas.

This is to English poetry what Vaughan-Williams 'The Lark ascending' is to English music. It should be made compulsory learning in all schools.

-Hope you didn't mind the little diversion from the topic..

wm+

Watermole+ wrote:..."Yes; I remember Adlestrop..."

...in my opinion, One of the most poignant little poems ever written about Old England..by one of Her finest poets, Edward Thomas.

Thomas was a pupil at my old school (Battersea Grammar) - there was a portrait of him on the wall of the canteen but I'm ashamed to say I had no idea of who he was during my time there. You'd have thought he'd have been mentioned at some point, at least by the staff of the English department, but he wasn't. And I took English Literature A-Level too!

It is a lovely poem, maybe a fisherman's poem in the sense that it captures an unexpected idyll, which we hope to do when we go fishing. Adlestrop is in the Cotswolds, so I presume it's an idyll of the rich nowadays. Here's the poem for those who don't know it.

Adlestrop, Edward Thomas

Yes, I remember Adlestrop --
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop -- only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.