Going Bros S.O.S

Do you know of a good traditional fishing tackle shop, past and present.
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Pallenpool
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Going Bros S.O.S

Post by Pallenpool »

Would anyone happen to recall this marvellous little shop in Sunny Southend? I had to collect a couple of rods from there way back in the early 80's. They were made by a certain Mr Martin Ashby. You had a choice of blanks and finishes but Martin always seemed to build on green Sportex blanks, with full or part cork and Fuji ring sets. They were great rods and well worth the trip to collect them. The shop itself was very small from memory and was in the old part of town atop pier hill I believe. The service was second to none, I think the staff wore long brown coats, similar to what you would see in a hardware shop. The interior was an alladins cave for the specimen hunter and traditionalist alike. If only shops like this were around today - still nostalgia has a large part to play in why we choose to angle the way we do.
Last edited by Pallenpool on Thu Nov 18, 2021 11:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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GregF
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Re: Going Bros S.O.S

Post by GregF »

Yes, I remember the place. Didn't use the shop much because I had others more local to me but it is where my Avon Royal Supreme was purchased around 82-83.

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Tengisgol
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Re: Going Bros S.O.S

Post by Tengisgol »

Yes, I remember it well. You can probably still get those green Sportex blanks from Ted Oliver!
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Ian.R.McDonald
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Re: Going Bros S.O.S

Post by Ian.R.McDonald »

it upsets me when I see Southend pier on the Jimmy and Jamie tv prog in its post fire stripped state. But at least its still there

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Cooky
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Re: Going Bros S.O.S

Post by Cooky »

]Great little shop in a prime position at the top of pier hill overlooking the Thames Estuary.. You would have thought that it would mainly be specializing in sea tackle but no, it was the 70s carp angler who they catered for. Martin Ashby the resident rod builder built the range of green Sportex carp rods know as Carp 1 - 10, as well as the Gibbinson Clooper carp.Image[img][img]

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Cooky
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Re: Going Bros S.O.S

Post by Cooky »

They even used to have a full page advert in the early BCSG books, very few specialist shops around at the time.Image

Here's a nice leney strain common caught on my Carp 6 that I bought from Goings in 1980/81.

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GregF
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Re: Going Bros S.O.S

Post by GregF »

Loving the green glass and abbreviated cork. Classic! :Ok:
"Give up haste and ambition, close your mouth, only then will you comprehend the spirit of Tao" - Lao Tze

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SooperClooper
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Re: Going Bros S.O.S

Post by SooperClooper »

Remember driving down to Going Bros one Saturday morning and buying around 20 ultra fast taper Sportex blanks, I said to my girlfriend that if she went into a record shop we passed and asked for "the crunch" by the Rah band I would buy her a dress she saw, she thought I was winding her up, she got the dress!! Got home, sold all the blanks and drove back down and bought a load more, two I built for Bob Baldock seen using them in Neville Fickling's first pike video!

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Grumpy
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Re: Going Bros S.O.S

Post by Grumpy »

Going Bros,the "go to" shop for a budding teenage carp fisher.Bought my first pair of blanks there about 1975.When Pier Hill was revamped Goings moved to a back street around the corner.They closed down not long after,a victim of the relocation and the availability of ready built carp rods in general tackle shops.If only modern tackle shops had the atmosphere and smell that Goings had.

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OCM1
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Re: Going Bros S.O.S

Post by OCM1 »

Great shop "Goings" My first purchase was 50 yards of 3lb bs PDQ line as the shopkeeper said I "wasn't going to catch a fish bigger than 3 pounds from Priory Park lake!
I was 11 years old.
Anyone remember Charlie Hoy's tackle shop down one of the side streets, before you got to "Goings?

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