Bill (Knocker) Norris

Do you know of a good traditional fishing tackle shop, past and present.
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Bob Brookes
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Bill (Knocker) Norris

Post by Bob Brookes »

Bill Norris set up his tackle shop in the cellar of a regency house at 24 Russell Terrace, Leamington Spa, when he came back from the war. I know because I lived in the house above from 1945 until 1961 and as a lad I spent many hours in his shop & rod workshop.

As well as the shop he had a maggot farm which was run by a mate of mine, Woody, who went on to be a joint founder of Ultra floats. The maggot breeding facility was many years later acquired by Alan lane, the son of the famous Billy Lane of Coventry.

Bill made all my rods, which were usually ferruless cane to cane match types. He had good way of boring out cane that I believe was his own process. His wife Gladys did all the finishing and did a great job with the whipping. Bill devised a treadle operated whipping machine that speeded the process up considerably. When Dick walker came up with the Mk4, he brought out his version which was a 3 piece with a whole cane butt. It was not conventional but was well considered locally.

His shop was typical of it's time being more of a social club or a teashop, little wonder the agreed timescales were seldom met. One of the things I am pleased about is that I went back to his shop around 1986 with my son & they made a rod for him when he was about 11. The material was no longer cane & the finish standard reflected Gladys's failing eyesight but it is still a prized rod of Stuart's.

Shortly afterwards he sold up & the premises continued to be a fishing tackle purveyor under the name of The Tackle Cellar. That has since closed and Old Knocker Norris now a distant, but fond, memory. Does anyone on here remember the establishment & the man?
Bob
"You do not cease to fish because you get old, you get old because you cease to fish"

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Mark
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Re: Bill (Knocker) Norris

Post by Mark »

I don't suppose you have any pictures of the shop or of Bill Norris that you could put up on the forum do you Bob. I would love to see them if you do. :thumb:
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Re: Bill (Knocker) Norris

Post by Bob Brookes »

Hi Mark,
I certainly don't have a photograph of Bill or the inside of his shop or workshop.

Somewhere I have a picture of me on a bike taken in the 1950's outside 24 Russell Terrace. It may show the window of the cellar or the alley that you went down to get to it. If I can find it then I will post it if it shows anything of relevance.
Bob
"You do not cease to fish because you get old, you get old because you cease to fish"

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Re: Bill (Knocker) Norris

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Thanks Bob. :thumb:
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Re: Bill (Knocker) Norris

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24 Russell Terrace 1954 001 - Copy.jpg
This is a photo taken in 1954 of me on my new Coventry Eagle bike I had bought me so I could ride to secondary school, aged 11.
Unfortunately you cannot see the cellar windows which were to the left of the white pillar. Access to the shop was down the passage & down some brick steps at the end.
A little after this picture was taken, a painted notice was fixed to the right of the arched doorway directing potential customers to the Alladin's cave that lurked below.
Happy days,
Bob
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Re: Bill (Knocker) Norris

Post by Mark »

Lovely Bob, thanks for sharing that. :thumb:
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Re: Bill (Knocker) Norris

Post by J.T »

Posting the below on behalf of Bob so this information is here as well as in the rod section.. :)
Bob wrote:LuckyLuca & AshbyCut,
As you have probably read on the Tackle Shop section I was pretty close to W H Norris way back when.

Knocker made my first rod for me when I was 10 or 11 so that was 1953/4. It was a 3 piece about 10ft long in cane with the top section of greenhart. It was definitely not a 'kids' rod but was made for me probably from sections in his workshop & had the makers name & my initials on it. It later became a pike rod with a short, stiff top section replacing the original. This rod has long since gone the ways of many.
Image Image Image
My second rod was made in 1956/7 and is a proper man's rod which I used for years on the Leam, Avon & even further afield. It is remarkably similar to the one that AshbyCut has listed so that should date that rod for him. I have shown photos of that rod together with another Norris rod that I have. Now this is a real concidence as it bears the same owners initial as his. From memory this was given to me by a friend of my late fathers probably 30 years ago (Herbert?). He was a regular at Knocker's shop so I wonder if the 2 rods were made for the same person. This rod is made with 2 tops, I guess the lighter one for roach & the heavier for bream & tench. This rod is in good nick but would benefit from a varnish & the rings cleaning. 'My' rod needs a rewhip, and that is a lot of whipping so I guess it will never be done. Offers would be considered for the pair if they were to be of use to someone!

Bill Norris always had close contact with the Redditch tackle companies and bought in some rods & rod parts. I know he bought split cane from Aspindales & had a contact at Shakespeare where he obtained surplus glass & later, carbon blanks that he finished. A still have a lovely dry fly rod I had from him in 1961 which originated from Manor works, Redditch which was one of the Aspindale factories.

When my son took up his fishing seriously, we travelled from our then home in Nottingham to see Bill & he made for him a carbon/glass float rod. This would have been about 1989/90 and was not too long before he sold the business. Although Stuart was pleased with the rod, and still treasures it, it is obvious that Bill & his wife, Gladys, had their best rod making days behind them.
I hope this is of some interest to you both. I will be adding some information on Woodfield in another post.
Bob
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Re: Bill (Knocker) Norris

Post by Bob Brookes »

Thank you for that J.T.

I think it is now in the right place to help with the story of this small tackle manufacturer and shop.

In a way Bill Norris helped give birth to a significant tackle manufacturer of the 70's that is still going strong today, Ultra Floats. A very friend of mine, Alan Wood, spent time in the workshop, as I did, when he was still at school. He left school at 15 & went to work full time in the business doing all jobs but ended running the maggot breeding side.

After many years he joined Chris Archer to start making some wonderful floats & Ultra Floats were born. Their work caught the eye of Billy Lane and they made his range of floats for him. The floats illustrated in his book are Ultra Floats. When they needed investment to grow the business the Lane family provided it through Billy's son, the late Alan.

As a further link, the Lanes ended up buying Bill Norris's bait breeding business.

Bob
"You do not cease to fish because you get old, you get old because you cease to fish"

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Re: Bill (Knocker) Norris

Post by J.T »

You are most welcome Bob, and a big thank you to you for posting in the first place. :hat:
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Re: Bill (Knocker) Norris

Post by GarryProcter »

A wonderful thread Bob, thanks for posting all this.

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