The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

This afternoon on arriving in work a friend rushed up and pressed a little reel into my hands and dashed off again... he said... hope you can make use of it as he headed off into the distance

It's a reel called The Bijou... does anyone have any ideas as to the maker please...?

Cross referencing several on-line resources, starting here http://whiteaddersflyfishingmuseum.weeb ... ngton.html , I'm almost certain the Bijou was made by T J Harrington of Walton-on-Thames.

It's interesting the number of light engineering firms who turned their hands to fishing tackle after WW2.

I'm not sure about the Bijou (and the Wey as well) for being Harrington reels...all of their definite models end in an 'A'. But they do seem to employ the same rather clumsy design and even the same printing font....so perhaps....

Nobby wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:48 pm I'm not sure about the Bijou (and the Wey as well) for being Harrington reels...all of their definite models end in an 'A'. But they do seem to employ the same rather clumsy design and even the same printing font....so perhaps....

Back in my days studying for my history degree, my lecturer in American Political History would have described that as putting the known facts to better use than I did! From my reading of your posts since I joined, I bow to your far superior knowledge. I always enjoyed chancing my arm on historical research!

Actually I completely glossed over a fact myself...we now know they made a reel called the Triple Check...so they don't all end in 'A'.......damned history...why can't it be straightforward.....?





And it doesn't look so far from the Wey or the Bijou if I'm honest......


At a guess the TJH firm was run by the somewhat eccentric James' father, whereas during his management they did perhaps all end in 'A'. It would appear he started there in 1955..I wonder when he took over...?

Nobby, I like your style sir!

History and archaeology are never straightforward but huge fun. Even better when I can combine them with my other great love - fishing!

It's amazing to me that we know so little about what was once a huge industry in the UK and it was the thought that, unrecorded it would be lost forever, as the last few workers from those times passed away that made me decide to start a blog.
Good researchers are priceless! I may have found out the odd fact myself ( my favourite was finally identifying who made Harcork floats for Jeff Della Mura, the author), but what others have discovered amazes me...Whiteadder, mentioned above, Stefan Duma and a few others here on TFF have done some amazing work and our history is a good deal safer now.

Incredible that it was only 70 years ago that the industry re-built itself after the war and was at its height again within 5 years...only to crumble in the next 20 years......

Short video showing the Wey Mk 2!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvaaubEay6E

I've been after one myself for a long time. I'd love to catch a chub on the Wey on the Wey

Russ

Nobby, I’ve only been a member here a few months but I’ve already lost count of my visits to your site. It’s incredibly helpful and clearly a labour of love.

It’s the same with other small specialist, often local, industries. My Dad did a stint as a farm worker in the late 1940s but retained a passion for agricultural machinery. In his final years I know he visited at least 2 museums that now have accurate labels on various tomato, potato and beetroot sorters as well as horse drawn machinery. There can’t be many left know who know how to use those things, or even what they are.