My missus and I participated in a 'Reel Experience' that Garry runs in his workshop in Redditch.
I now live darn' sarf' but in my younger life I lived in Redditch and often stayed in neighbouring Studley with my grandparents fishing the River Arrow. This was my first river I fished and still my favourite.
It was great to hear all of the history around the tackle industry in Redditch. My missus insisted on being the person who took part in the construction of the reel so I chatted all things fishing with Garry throughout the day. He can talk
Garry's dedication to his art is amazing. He explained that the company who anodize the reel body had not posted the parts for the day so he drove to Manchester to collect them at 3am in the morning to be sure that he made our 9am appointment. We said we could've have rescheduled but he insisted that wouldn't have been right.
I had met with Garry a couple of times leading up to creating the reel and spoke about specification and on these trips he fettled and serviced a Speedia and Young's BJ reels for me.
I'm really chuffed with the result. My missus really enjoyed her time on the tools (she does all of the DIY, I do all of the cooking and fishing!) She even managed to get her name on it.
It's a 4.25" medium drum with adjustable drag and check. I've been using it for trotting (line off the top) and it so smooth.
Garry is a true gent! A great down to earth bloke and Redditch lad like myself. It's very rare to see someone who lives for their work these days.
I would recommend this opportunity to everybody without hesitation.
