Bob Southwell Rods

[Nailbourne]

Well, that seems to be cleared up, then!

Finally, when I was buying from them, split-cane sold for 5/- (25p) a foot! They also sold billets of greenheart!

Halcyon days . . .

[Nobby]

Yes indeed, there's certainly more than I was aware of where RW acknowledges JBW. It can't have done the latter's business any harm, yet it seems B.James gets all the credit for producing Mark IV rods.

I'd have though the road to Hythe would have been worn and rutted. Of course we now know B.James didn't follow RW's tapers exactly, presumably JBW did?

I'd be interested to know how you came to understand some of the blanks came from Croydon?

[Vagabond]

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1 Of course we now know B.James didn't follow RW's tapers exactly, presumably JBW did?

2 I'd be interested to know how you came to understand some of the blanks came from Croydon?

1 Yes, after correspondence with Dick and being re-assured by JBW that they used Dick's compound tapers, I purchased a blank Mk 4 plus fittings from JBW in bout 1954. It served well until my mate's father kindly slammed a car door on it, thereby shortening it to a pike rod. This was about 1960 and I bought a second JBW Mk 4 kit - that rod is still in use.

2. Never met Bob Southwell myself, but have heard from several sources he made split-bamboo blanks for JBW so I assumed it was pretty common knowledge.

Those I can remember are :-

Dennis Darkin (of pendulum casting fame, and no mean carp fisherman either) mentioned once that Bob Southwell had built him several rods (both for sea-fishing and freshwater) and added that Bob also built blanks for James and for JBW. Dennis apparently knew Bob well.

Steve (Budgie) Burgess knew someone at JBW and mentioned they had kept a number of Southwell blanks for themselves when JBW finally closed.

When I had a conversation with Dick Walker about my Mk 4 blank coming from JBW, I'm pretty sure the name Southwell cropped up.

So although JBW made blanks themselves, their volume of business was such in the 1950s that it is almost certain they got other trusted craftsmen to help out. They offered a huge range at one time - sea rods, match rods, fly rods, spinning rods, as well as the Mk 4 series.

Quality stuff too, unlike the soft bamboos with fancy whippings, flashy logos, shiny ferrules, glossy varnish, and the loads of hype that masquerades as "craftsmanship" nowadays.

[Nailbourne]

Vagabond - that's called 'bling' or 'designer'! Discreet Patek Philippe or a diamond-encrusted Rolex watch?

[Beresford]

In 1952 Dick Walker couldn't have driven to JBW – he didn't own a car. The transport for the Redmire trips was provided by Peter Thomas. Of course they may have travelled to JBW in Peter's Car but I don't think it could have been the case of DW nipping down there often, in the way that most of us now would think little of driving a 100 or so miles for something as important as fishing. I speculate that just as his friendship with Maurice Ingham grew through letters I guess that's how he became well acquainted with JBW.

I'd love to know how to tell a Southwell blank apart from others. If it's purely on how steely the cane is then I suspect a friends B. James that was so much better than any other James MkIV I've ever come across may well have been a Southwell. It was alive and really steely.

[Vagabond]

I'd love to know how to tell a Southwell blank apart from others. If it's purely on how steely the cane is then I suspect a friends B. James that was so much better than any other James MkIV I've ever come across may well have been a Southwell. It was alive and really steely.

It may depend, not just on the craftsman, but on the selection of the bamboo.

Genuine Arudinaria amabilis (The Lovely Bamboo) became increasing difficult to obtain as relations between China and the west deteriorated after WWII. It only came from a small area northwest of Canton (Kwangtun and Kwangsi provinces) and despite its name, did NOT come from Tonkin.

Supplying fishing rod material for wicked western capitalists was pretty low on Communist China's list of priorities. Most rodmakers had run out of the genuine stuff by 1965.

Those rodmakers with a good stock of A. amabilis were at a huge advantage, as other bamboo species are quite inferior in "steeliness"

[Nobby]

This is something I've only recently become aware of..Tonkin is actually in distant Vietnam. Tea Tree Bamboo, as it seems to have been called for some decades, now appears to come from one river valley deep in China. The river eventually leading down to Hong Kong and Macau.

In a trillion acres of bamboo forest it's surprising that the stuff still isn't grown in other areas or that it hasn't cross fertilised into some other sub-species.


Strange really that after all this time we in the West still know very little about the specific species required to make the best rods. A legacy of both cautious growers, agents and a government who hasn't fogotten the Opium Wars, I'd suspect.



We reap what we sow...

[Bob Brookes]

This has got to be one of the best ever threads on TFF. It surely epitomises the wealth of knowledge that the members of this forum have, and are prepared to share.

Let's be quite sure that if it is not posted and discussed on here, then it would probably be lost forever, as those with the first hand experience are not getting any younger. I am certainly glad that Vagabond has finally managed to find us and share his clear memories with us.

This is just but one of the great discussions on this forum that has been made possible by Mark and the Team, for which we should all be very appreciative. I certainly am, thank you Mark and contributors.
Bob

[Vagabond]

I am certainly glad that Vagabond has finally managed to find us and share his clear memories with us.

This is just but one of the great discussions on this forum that has been made possible by Mark and the Team.

Why thanks, Bob.

The history. the craftsmanship, and the skills of traditional angling are something I feel very strongly about and do fear may be lost in a world of bivvies, boilies and bolt rigs.

I learnt a lesson from my other hobby, which was restoring, firing and driving steam locomotives (have retired from that due to deafness)

An old chap in his nineties, turned up as a volunteer at our railway works and it emerged he had worked as a locomotive builder starting in the 19th century. All sorts of tips and wrinkles on the maintenance of Victorian locomotives were part of his ethos. Fortunately we had the wit to follow him about (especially at coffee breaks) with a tape recorder and recorded most of his knowledge. That knowledge has proved priceless in our restoration projects.

I am not an expert in any angling field, rather I am a species hunter (ie trying to catch as many different species as possible) which means being an all-rounder, able to cast fly, lure, float or leger reasonably far and accurately, and having a wide enough knowledge to choose appropriate tackle for anything from whaler shark to spined loach.

The advantages I do have are plenty of experience (first fished on my own at age seven - nearly seventy three years ago), some excellent angling mates (including Sandgroper) - most of whom were very good anglers indeed and a privilege to fish with, and (so far) a pretty good memory.

[Beresford]

Vagabond were you on the Bluebell? I've spent many happy days there. I've had a footplate experience on the Nene and throughly enjoyed it.