MKIV pecking order

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Mole-Patrol
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Re: MKIV pecking order

Post by Mole-Patrol »

Nobby wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:51 pm Returning to Snape's original post:


I read in my JB Walker catalogue that they claim to have supplied cane to Richard Walker for use in his Mark IV rod.


They made this claim for many years, and I guess that means nobody objected. So whose cane were they supplying? Their own, Southwells???


Why would RW go all the way to Hythe for his cane, when Croydon is so much nearer, though both would offer the same sort of postal service, surely...so why go to JB Walker?
Gurn wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:52 pm
Nobby wrote:Returning to Snape's original post:


I read in my JB Walker catalogue that they claim to have supplied cane to Richard Walker for use in his Mark IV rod.


They made this claim for many years, and I guess that means nobody objected. So whose cane were they supplying? Their own, Southwells???


Why would RW go all the way to Hythe for his cane, when Croydon is so much nearer, though both would offer the same sort of postal service, surely...so why go to JB Walker?
I have a JB Walker catalogue in which there is a copy of a letter from RW thanking them for supplying the materials he used to make a rod that caught Clarissa, I think I have reproduced it somewhere on this forum but can't locate it. Will dig the catalogue out if necessary.
Reading through this old thread has left me a bit confused. The early posts on the thread suggest that B. James was the supplier of RW's early rods and manufacturer of the subsequent rods that became on sale to the public. However, as Gurn posts above; RW wrote to J.B. Walker in September 1952, three days after his record catch and the contents of the letter are as follows:

Image

This letter was used by J.B. Walker as advertising at least up to the 1970's. The letter is formal so I do not think that J.B. Walker was related to RW, but it does indicate that J.B. Walker were part of the design and development process of the Mark 4 Carp Rod and that Ravioli / Clarissa was caught on a rod made from materials supplied by J.B. Walker, not B. James.

Also, Barry Rickards states in his RW biography that that RW was contacted by an angler asking where he could obtain a Mk. 4 rod as at that time only J.B. Walker were supplying them. RW offered the angler one of his own rods without charge which was duly collected just after the death of RW’s first wife. I believe that Ruth Walker died in early 1955. If this is correct it indicates that Mk. 4 Carp Rods were only manufactured or offered as kits by J.B. Walker until at least early 1955 and that they may have been in short supply and / or expensive.

So, unless the great man himself and the good doctor are confused I suggest that the early Mark 4 rods up to at least 1955 were made from materials supplied by J.B. Walker, although that still leaves the question of where J.B. Walker obtained his cane from in the 1950's.

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Nobby
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Re: MKIV pecking order

Post by Nobby »

We have, somewhere on here, a letter indicating that RW intended only to let JB Walker and B.James offer Mk IV rods, because no one else had helped him.

That isn't strictly true as an Allcock director had supplied the cane RW made his first carp rods with " from the pole".

It's generally thought that all JB Walker did was supply materials that RW used on the rods. I imagine things like ferrules, rings, reel clamps etc. etc.

We also have letters, duplicated on here, showing that B.James were offering made up MkIV.rods shortly after the capture of Ravioli, RW being quite terse about Jim Bruce's handwriting on them.

The post you are quoting from was made before much of this 'new' knowledge came to light for many of us.

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Mole-Patrol
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Re: MKIV pecking order

Post by Mole-Patrol »

Thanks for that information Nobby. :Hat:

In the letter RW writes: "Every rod remains in perfect order without the least sign of train or set.
I am very grateful to you for assistance you gave when we were experimenting with carp rods, which greatly assisted in producing the Mark 4 Rods
".

That to my mind indicates that JBW were involved in the supply or fashioning of the cane used in some way or another during the experimenting processes. The supply of rings, ferrules and butt caps would not in my opinion have warranted such praise, especially the comment about the rods remaining in perfect order.

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Mole-Patrol
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Re: MKIV pecking order

Post by Mole-Patrol »

Nobby wrote: Mon Jan 13, 2020 9:07 am We have, somewhere on here, a letter indicating that RW intended only to let JB Walker and B.James offer Mk IV rods, because no one else had helped him.

That isn't strictly true as an Allcock director had supplied the cane RW made his first carp rods with " from the pole".

It's generally thought that all JB Walker did was supply materials that RW used on the rods. I imagine things like ferrules, rings, reel clamps etc. etc.

We also have letters, duplicated on here, showing that B.James were offering made up MkIV.rods shortly after the capture of Ravioli, RW being quite terse about Jim Bruce's handwriting on them.

The post you are quoting from was made before much of this 'new' knowledge came to light for many of us.
Returning to this subject;

I came across some information on an American site that quoted a letter from rod maker David Norwich. The text made reference to David having bought the planing machine from JB Walker when they closed. He stated that this was the machine used by JBW to supply RW with the blanks used in his 1953 capture.

Another poster referenced that RW had initially approached Allcocks and whilst they declined his request for them to make carp rods, they did supply the culms used in his early experiments.

This information must have originated from JBW themselves and appears to corroborate RW's letter to JBW of September 1953.

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Liphook
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Re: MKIV pecking order

Post by Liphook »

I think it's fairer to say David Norwich had one of the milling machines attributed to making the Walker Carp rods. I know it was for sale sometime ago and had an online listing. He's been retired a while. My rod building guru and helluva nice man. I sold his rods in the 90s and spent some enjoyable times at his Fountainhall workshop

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