Pegley Davis Foravon UNUSED!!!

[P Hardwick]

Crikey was I a happy person yesterday, i picked this rod up, an unused Adcock Stanton, an unused Wensum Stillwater and a unused Mitchell 440A fixed spool reel up £300 the lot, on the forum i was reading about the PD cane rods and it seems they have a high reputation.
My life and PD rods started at age 10!! My father bought me a PD beach caster, my late sister nicknamed me "pigley davis"!! not nice.
Picture the scene me at 10 PD rod multiplier reel and MONO line!!
I managed 2 casts followed by a huge "bird nest" of line, then followed by a minimum 4 hours untangling the line, i showed a lot of patience at that age!! Hope this story amuses you (didn't me at age 10!!)
Paul.

[MWithell]

Well done. My memory of Pegley Davis is the PDQ fishing line, which was rather crude but cheap, which was of primary importance when I was that age

[Olly]

I found this from Nobby.
""Pegley-Davies. Tackle supplier who lasted from the Fifties until the mid-eighties. They made rods in conjunction with their neighbour on the Hersham Trading Estate, FT Williams and the two firms seem to have joined in all but name, even sharing the same catalogue.""

For those interested there is a catalogue for sale on that auction site.

As a teenager I fished the river Mole about 1/2 mile or less from their factory in Hersham

[Tengisgol]

Made me think about Sham69 and Hersham Boys!

What is the Wensum Stillwater please?

[Olly]

A centrepin called The Wensum marketed by Stillwater.

[MWithell]

I hadn't realised they were as close to where I lived. I was in Teddington when I first came across the 'Preferring Distinctive Quality' line, in Ted Charman's shop not far from the river. I could only afford a spool of 3lb - the pennies didn't stretch to 4lb!
Does anyone else here remember Ted Charman? The poor man had Parkinson's Disease, for which there was much less in the way of treatment in those days, but he used to deal out the six-pennerth of maggots. For some reason he wouldn't take my bait box across to the maggots; he brought the measuring scoop across the shop to the counter, and some maggots always escaped on the journey. This was fascinating to an eleven-year-old, of course.

[Olly]

Well you must be about my age as I frequented his shop when nearest the church! I fished the lock/weir and nightfished Manor Gardens. He later moved to the 'sports/model' shop above the railway line near Church Road, where a friend I met and fished with, has lived for about 50 years - or more!

[MWithell]

I remember Manor Gardens, but I soon moved upstream to near the bridge and then the other side of the bridge. I found the best place was just below the lock in the deep water or at the end of that stretch where the water got shallower and there was a bit of current. I can remember the Francis Francis punts out in the main stream, with people catching a succession of roach on bread.
The tackle shop was taken on by the model shop on the bridge, probably around 1972, but Ted and his wife retired, I think. Someone from school worked there at weekends, and if no one was around I got a full baitbox of maggots for the price of half a pint!
It's funny that it never occurred to me to use anything other than maggots as bait. It wasn't until I was in my mid teens that I started using bread in still water and catching wildies in Bushy Park. For the 1976 season I set a goal of catching a double figure carp. I got it on June 16th at about 5am at the Diana Fountain pond! I then had an O level exam in the afternoon...

[P Hardwick]

]Took it to the Trent today, lovely rod, with a 5" Adcock center pin.

[Olly]

Perhaps a bit older than you on second thoughts! The end of the double lock is where my old friend still fishes! Francis Francis has all but disappeared now, many now passed on. My father worked for Shell so I fished the Lensbury Club banks. Zander swimming about there now! I caught barbel and bream mostly.

1976 - Crikey! I had been at work for 12 years by then!