The holy grail of rods!!

[Olly]

I agree with much of the above - - or the seller was genuinely ignorant!

Nice rod -- providing you have not overpaid -- use and enjoy.

This Forum has a wealth of knowledge - someone will know! Just ask.

[Fredline]

The markings on the butt section.

The butt section shown does not appear to be as you originally stated.
" it is a MK1V carp rod, the absolutely fantastic thing is, it has never had a reel fitted to it!! 100% pristine as new, i will take some pictures of it and try to upload them"

[Lea Dweller]

Message for Mr Burr, I did not put this thread up trying to either cause problems or as a joke!! I was just excited getting such a lovely rod. If however I have caused a problem ( as your post implies) please explain. Regards Paul.

Thank you Paul for finally clearing this up and showing us the photo. Had this been done sooner, comments such as 'it's a joke/wind up' etc would not have appeared. The internet is a strange place and forums are often infiltrated by those with their own agendas, quite why they do it, I do not understand but, as the time continued with no further comment from yourself, I suspected that you had your own motives for claiming to have found the impossible rod. Had that been the case, I suggested that you were in the wrong place as it were and should be removed.

I am however, delighted that the matter is sorted and welcome you with open arms. I bare you no ills and look forward to your future involvement in Mark's excellent forum.

It seems you have been hoodwinked by somebody who is either ignorant of the facts or has a bent for bending truths to snare the unaware. Either way, if you are happy with your purchase, then use it and enjoy it. Every purchase is a learning experience and few get it right each time, happy hunting

Well done Dave, I agree 100% with your comments! I must admit I think the problem was the delay between the description of the rod and the actual picture of the writing on the butt section! Hopefully no harm will have been done and we can move on!

[AshbyCut]

I was sold it as made by Richard Walkers father, i am not bothered if it was made by him or not, it is a lovely rod indeed, i thought the members on here would know it's origin, and many thanks for letting me know.
Regards Paul.

I hope that you didn't pay above what the rod is actually worth ... and I can understand if, without without much in depth research, you were excited at the opportunity apparently being offered.

Dick's father's full name was Richard Harry Walker (initial R.H.W.) ... as attested to by Simon Walker, Dick's son, in the chapter "Dick's Family" he contributed to "Dick Walker. The Legend" by Martin James MBE and Friends (Little Egret Press) in 2019 (page 73). He also explains that Dick was born in 1918, and that his father and mother separated shortly after WW1. He moved to London after the separation. After his discharge from the army in 1919 "He took job at the Office of the Paymaster General at Somerset House, where he worked for many years."

This is perhaps the reason why it is understood that it was Dick's grandfather who started to teach him to fish when he was 4 years of age.

Your experience is a salutary reminder to all of us that we need to research !!!!

Welcome to the forum.

[P Hardwick]

Thank you Dave for your post, the honest truth i am pleased that the rod is not a super rare one, as i would not have used it, however it has a hot date, myself, rod and river Trent Friday, My grandson (7 year old) will be with me on the Trent at Willington. I gave £280 for the rod which for the quality of it was a gift. Got it from Southend on Sea, went for 1 rod come back with 5 !!??
Regards Paul.

[Wanderer]

Message for P Hardwick.
I hope you are going to put all of this down to experience.
They are, by and large, a friendly and very helpful bunch on TFF, but your initial post and the time taken to post the photo of the rod, meant that people were starting to become suspicious.
As Dave and others have said, there are some strange people out there.

Hope you enjoy using the rod ( whatever it's true history) and please let us have a report, when you catch a fish or two on it.

All the best.

[Northern_Nomad]

Just another tuppence worth if I may (OK this may end up half a crowns worth)

What hasn’t been mentioned is that the MKIV is the most commonly forged rod of its era. Many are sold as ‘built by Dick Walker’ or ‘given by Dick Walker’ to uncles, Grandads etc. What helps to drive what can be akin to a cottage industry in deception is the fact that J B Walker supplied kits to build your own MKIV. Now on completion it’s perfectly acceptable to annotate it ‘MKIV carp’ as that’s what it is. Many amateur builders also included their own name on the blank as it would be pleasing to do so, especially if they are proud of their finished rod. What is not really acceptable is to reference it to Richard Walker in any form as it can be seen as a means to deceive.

Looking at your rod as has been said it is on the balance of probabilities a J B Walker (no relation as has been said) and again looking at the finish, build style, handle and winding check style it’s probably a kit rod. A look at the ferrule and intermediates would probably confirm this. I would further postulate that the JBW initials on the top refer to J B Walker and the lower initials APP would be the builder.

There is a sliding scale of value to MKIV’s depending on their pedigree. B James rods will vary in worth depending on the age of them as dictated by their transfers - Ealing, Ealing England etc etc and matching handle type, whether it was built in house or the blanks bought in from the likes of Bob Southwell etc. J B Walker’s due to the ‘kit’ availability more difficult to do so.

So due to the above,when someone comes on any forum and states they have a rod linked to Richard Walker, there is a collective sigh of “here we go again”, in which although many suspect it’s not going to be genuine, still do hold out hope that maybe this time it could be true. In your particular case the link to RW’s father was unlikely from the start as stated in earlier posts. I think it is a credit to the members of this forum that after a few days of not seeing photo’s only mild references to a ‘wind up were mentioned. On many other forums the reaction would have been a lot more robust.

What’s a rod worth? Well the answer is what it is worth to you? The pleasure you get from ownership and using it. You paid £280 plus petrol and time for a journey from Derbyshire to Southend on Sea on the premise of it being a ‘linked to RW’ rod and it isn’t. Whether the seller was misguided or dishonest and whether you think that recovering some of your outlay is justified is really a matter for yourself. Perhaps joining the Forum and then asking for advice on a possible RW linked rod would have been a better way to go?

What you need to do now is to enjoy your rod and make your own memory’s with it

I for one would like to see further photo’s of the ferrules and intermediate pattern, handle furniture etc etc. that would be interesting.

Oh and welcome to the Forum. You will find it an encyclopaedia of knowledge

[Dave Burr]

Thank you Dave for your post, the honest truth i am pleased that the rod is not a super rare one, as i would not have used it, however it has a hot date, myself, rod and river Trent Friday, My grandson (7 year old) will be with me on the Trent at Willington. I gave £280 for the rod which for the quality of it was a gift. Got it from Southend on Sea, went for 1 rod come back with 5 !!??
Regards Paul.

Taking a grandchild fishing is a pleasure and a chore all in one, taking two is just plain torture but, when they catch a fish and glow for the camera, it's just great.

Tight lines

[Northern_Nomad]

Thank you Dave for your post, the honest truth i am pleased that the rod is not a super rare one, as i would not have used it, however it has a hot date, myself, rod and river Trent Friday, My grandson (7 year old) will be with me on the Trent at Willington. I gave £280 for the rod which for the quality of it was a gift. Got it from Southend on Sea, went for 1 rod come back with 5 !!??
Regards Paul.

Taking a grandchild fishing is a pleasure and a chore all in one, taking two is just plain torture but, when they catch a fish and glow for the camera, it's just great.

Tight lines

Dave,

Having just taken 3 (yes three) grandchildren fishing on Saturday I feel my place in heaven is now guaranteed.

What was supposed to be a trip to take the youngest granddaughter (6) before my Son declared that he would also attend with the two boy siblings of 10 and 13. It stretched my tackle store a bit to find suitable tackle for each differing need but I somehow managed it.

My Son is 38 and he was probably the one who needed most of my attention and tuition plus tree recovery skills.

I’ll pop a journal piece up of the day. Everyone caught many fish and Grandad even managed half hour or so fishing in a corner with a MKIV and Mitchell combo

[Dave Burr]

Thank you Dave for your post, the honest truth i am pleased that the rod is not a super rare one, as i would not have used it, however it has a hot date, myself, rod and river Trent Friday, My grandson (7 year old) will be with me on the Trent at Willington. I gave £280 for the rod which for the quality of it was a gift. Got it from Southend on Sea, went for 1 rod come back with 5 !!??
Regards Paul.

Taking a grandchild fishing is a pleasure and a chore all in one, taking two is just plain torture but, when they catch a fish and glow for the camera, it's just great.

Tight lines

Dave,

Having just taken 3 (yes three) grandchildren fishing on Saturday I feel my place in heaven is now guaranteed.

What was supposed to be a trip to take the youngest granddaughter (6) before my Son declared that he would also attend with the two boy siblings of 10 and 13. It stretched my tackle store a bit to find suitable tackle for each differing need but I somehow managed it.

My Son is 38 and he was probably the one who needed most of my attention and tuition plus tree recovery skills.

I’ll pop a journal piece up of the day. Everyone caught many fish and Grandad even managed half hour or so fishing in a corner with a MKIV and Mitchell combo

Don't go to heaven Neil, you won't know anybody.