Hardings of Willesden Kennet Special

[EdNash]

Hello everyone. I have acquired a Hardings of Willesden rod, marked as a Kennet Special. Lovely , lovely condition 3 piece butt section cane top two split cane . Middle section is cane and split inserted. Does anyone have information on this rod or manufacturer please. Thanks Ed. I shall try and put some pictures on later.

[Vole]

I can't tell you very much about Hardings, I'm afraid, but having just found your 2017 post about a rod, I can tell you that it is most unlikely to have been made in-shop, unless it's very old. I used to be a member of the Willesden and District Angling Club, from about 1969 to 1975, most of whose members shopped either at Harding's or at Frame's in West Hendon. The then proprietor, Bert Moules or (Moule, I can't remember which, now) was on the committee.
He would fish the small and clear water of Reading's Holy Brook wearing a sparklingly white shirt, and wondered why he'd never caught a barbel...

Google maps will have shown you a pizza shop at that address now. The only thing that remains the same is that the door is still on the right.
Behind it, on the right-hand wall, were rods and other narrow goods, but the best stuff would be in the window.
Turning left at the door, you faced a glass-topped (can't remember if the front was glazed, too) wooden-framed counter, where the daily consumables and a few tempting treats were displayed, behind which was the narrow strip Bert inhabited; behind that, an array of shelves and drawers.
It smelled, as was appropriate, of maggots, linseed oil, breadcrumbs and baccy-smoke.
I must have first gone there, probably for six eyed 'ooks and three penn'orth of maggits, about 1963, and Bert was firmly established then.
When and if there ever was a Mr. Harding, I never did find out.

I bought my first proper, own-money rod there, in about 1966, and almost demented poor old Bert as I agonised between a Dawson (cane) and a Martin-James (glass) - probably the slowest five guineas he ever made!
I'm sure that if he'd had any own-label rods on display I'd have noticed, and probably have bought one out of good manners, so I suspect a previous owner was responsible for your rod.

If you can get some pictures up, that would be great!

[Olly]

A match type rod from my perception due to the splice - possibly for the now disappeared Kennet roach! -

[Fredline]

There is one for sale on the "internet" as we speak. It looks a nice rod.