As I said in my original post, I sent the rod off to Wally’s Cast for restoration. Well, it arrived back on Christmas Eve. I have to say that I think Wal has done a wonderful job.
Wal did a full strip and rebuild for me. All of the low bell rings were very rusty and/or damaged, so the only original rings left are both of the tip rings on the original solid wood sections. The ferrule caps are original but needed new cork lining. I’ve added a bit of additional explanation beneath the photographs.
From top to bottom:
1) the original light lancewood tip. This had a fairly severe curve as you can see from the unrestored photographs above. Sadly, it started to return almost as soon as Wal straightened it, so this section now has an honourable retirement.
2) the original greenheart tip. This has restored very nicely. Wal thinks it was intended for up to 10lb line. I’m going to use it from time to time but will restrict it to 8lb line as a precaution given its age.
3) a general purpose split can tip that Wal put together for me - I wanted something Avon style for lines of about 6lb.
4) a replacement for the lancewood light tip in split cane that Wal put together for me - 3lb line.
5) top light solid cane section to go with the light tip.
6) top heavy solid cane section to go with the original heavy tip and the new general purpose tip.
7) bottom solid cane section with replacement ceramic ring.
8) butt section, more on this below with additional close up.
A couple of close ups:
Butt section transfer:
As I asked Wal to clean the solid cane sections completely, he did this lovely job keeping the original varnish over the transfer to preserve it and, in his words, “emphasise it”. I really like the way it looks. The bag looks original but there is no sign of a label.
Now, I’m a user, not a collector. For me a rod is a living thing that needs to be fished, if only a few times a year. It seems to me that this “Suitcase Rod”, as Milwards describe it in the 2 catalogue references I’ve seen, is still incredibly practical for travel and fishing rambles. So, it could see a fair amount of use.
According to the 2 catalogues, one early 1950s, one early 1960s, mine is the early rod (with solid wood tips) whilst the later Services had split cane tips. In summary, I now have 3 rods:
1) 10.5 foot light rod - 3lb line.
2) 8.5 foot general purpose rod - 6lb line.
3) 8.5 foot heavy rod - 8lb line.
One last note, I’m not much of a photographer and decided to use a light background for all but one of the photographs. If anyone would prefer to see ones with a darker background, just let me know.
Cheers,
Phil
From "... the wilds of the Wirral, whose wayward people both God and good men have quite given up on ...".