The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Good evening everyone, I wonder if any one here could identify this rod, I brought it about a week ago and since then I have seen two other rods that look the same on Ebay being sold as Priory rods of Bournemouth - The Throop although its just a name.

There are a few similarities my rod shares with the other two rods, for example ferrules, handle shape, butt shape and Reel bands The rod I brought unfortunately does not have the Priory rods decal, whether or not it was removed at sometime in its life I don't know.

One major difference is the other Priory Throop rods were 11 foot in length and my rod is 12 foot in length all built split cane, here are some photos of my rod and so far all I have done is to clean and polish up the metal parts.

I have an idea the rod has a Split cane hollow built butt end as it feels pretty light and has a really nice power - test curve bending into the middle and butt end certainly a rod for larger fish on bigger waters Originally it would of had life rings correct me if I am wrong are they called low bell life rings ?.


These are the pics and I look forward to a few group answers sorry if it is posted in the wrong place feel free to move it somewhere else

Regards Trefor

hi trefor, no 2 rods were the same from proiry rods of bournmouth, most rods were made to customers specs, in effect 1 off rods, very under estimated rods in my view with a good build quality i have 2, 1 named the royalty and another called the parlour named after the avon, i can send some pics if you like, best wishes geoff.

It's not quite a match with my Priory Unnamed 10'6"
On mine the butt cap has more pronounced angles on the turning between the two ring grooves.
Yours look quite straight in line in comparison. Mine also has a much darker and varied colour cane.
Yours is an even light blonde, All other features are very similar.
What's going on with the Handle Bandage?

A couple of pics of my Priory Rod. It doesn't have a name, just the makers logo. It has not been refurbished at all, less a couple of rings and a one coat varnish, but no attempt to tart up the cane underneath, this is the original colour.

As can be seen it has a very dark finish. Another quirk of the Priory rods which is a subject of conjecture is the fact on a 3 piece rod,the middle section always seems to have two rings whereas a rod of camparible size by another manufacturer normally has three. It complements the action though as these are very fine rods.





These are quite big jpegs so you should be able to expand them quite a bit for comparisons.

Hope this helps to shed a little light.

EDIT; These are pics I already had in my photobucket account. If you want any specific ones taken let me know.

EDITED Again:

I have just looked at my rod and noted the following points:


The butt cap button is black and smaller ( not a comprehensive point as any butt cap could have been replaced.)
The butt cap is grooved on yours whereas mine has a distinct double step.
The reel bands are different. They are similar but not the same pattern
The flare of the handle is lower down than yours. Mine peaks at 4 shives down which although yours is handle is obscured, using the top cap as a guide it isn't the same.
The top cap is different. Yours has decorative banding at the top middle and bottom. Mine only has the bottom and middle. In addition the cap is round to hexagonal and the flats are quite visable close up.

The Butt eye is white porcelain (cant quite see yours.)
The female ferrules are differnet having only a single step ( 1/2" on the butt, 3/8th" on the middle) whereas yours has a double step.
The male ferrules are different being a simple brass tube with no step, unlike yours.
Middle section has only two eyes not three.
There are no intermediate whippings.
Coulour of cane is darker than yours.

Although as has been said, a lot of these rod were in fact"custom" rods for individual buyers, I would have thought that although length,tapers and cosmetics may have varied, the same basic fittings would be fairly common and some parts should match up, in this case they all seem to be different.

Here is a picture of my Priory rod..

Thanks for the pictures and your comments, the butt cap on my rod is stepped it's not grooved it was a little corroded so I polished it, the other priory rods that were on Ebay also had light colored cane see picture below as they had been refurbished by someone of high standing. The bandage on the handle is to protect the cork while I polish the metal parts I have already cleaned the handle it is super smooth, I used 1500 grit on it. I own one priory of Bournemouth rod it's an 8 foot pike rod with decal and dark flamed cane.

It does not matter much to me about the rod as I intend to keep it and use it on large lakes and the Great Ouse which isn't far from where I live. I'll post another picture with the cork handle bandage off the others do have intermediate whippings think I'll name this rod The Great Ouse, Thornton or maybe Beachampton lol My rod has not got a butt guide it came with a low bell life ring instead and the tip ring is really old like turned wire it needs a total re ringing and whipping as it is all no good it came from a shop in Forthwith near Manchester - Liverpool long way from home if it was a Priory rod.

Look at these

First one on Ebay
The other one on Ebay

Priory, like Grove of Sunbury rods can usually be spotted by their dark cane and white nodes...they really stand out. I've an idea that they are arranged in a spiral on the Priory rods, but I can't say for certain.


The handle illustrated, and the rod rings ( but not the ferrules) look like Marco Test to me.

I have just had a closer look at my rod and can say that the nodes are indeed very light in colour but are not staggered they are on same level around the rod but staggered, ie 3 at one level 3 at another level. The ferrules look the same but do not have a groove running around the strengthened area, so are the same as the Ebay ones in the last pictures. The butt has that reducing ring effect just like the others shown. One thing I will add is that the rod is a joy to use as regards the action, although I feel the butt could do with being a tad longer for the way I place my reel and hold the rod.. I will make a little dolly butt at some point. I am sure I have said that before on here

Thank you very much for your thoughts information and comments gratefully appreciated, the rod I brought has a 22" butt without the rubber button on it.

The nodes are lighter in color than the rest of the cane and they do stagger in sequence I would need to look that up on the internet to know exactly how the sequence runs as I have read that some manufacturers stagger the nodes in a specific pattern to aid strength and reduce breakages etc, should be nice to use one I have rebuilt it.

I guess this will be an article on the rods refurbishment, so watch out for it sometime in the near future, I'll strip it on Monday and post the taper dimensions for anyone who may be interested.

Regards Trevor

Basically, some American rod builders ( who are invariably making bendy game rods, don't forget ) prefer to stagger the nodes around in a spiral. This means that no single spot on the rod has more than one node in any given place and that node is butted up against 5 node-free sections.

Other rod builders don't see a value in this and just use a three-three system. As you look around the rod every other strip has a node in the same place and the other three strips all have nodes in the same place looking in either direction.

Some builders don't even bother about the nodes and just glue any old strip against any other old strip as did Dawson's of Bromley on occasion.

Why Priory and Grove rods look as they do I'm uncertain of.....my guess is that the cane is flamed to a dark colour deliberately avoiding the nodes, rather than baked which would colour the nodes too. This might mean that the nodes are not heated and pressed flat as the best rod makers did, but perhaps simply filed or machined flat.

I'm no rod builder, but if I was taking such a short cut I might well go the spiral route, lest my nodes be weak and fail.


Or I could be talking rubbish...it's not unknown.