Bob "The Captain" Southwell Challenge.

[NomadTheBiker]

The Captains Cabin, Station Road, Croydon, was my local tackle shop as a lad. My second rod was purchased from Bob, circa 1957. It was a bright yellow, solid glass, one piece rod with a moulded handle, of about 6 or 7ft. I believe he also supplied my Chapman 500, some years later, another present. My Edgar Sealey, glass Octofloat, came from Ogdan Smith's at the southern end of town. I have My uncle Bill's "The Captain" Richard Walker Mk1V Carp, bought from Bob in the late 50's. Im not sure I'll ever forget the smell of the Cabin, the linseed soaked nets hanging around the walls..

[Santiago]

The Captains Cabin, Station Road, Croydon, was my local tackle shop as a lad. My second rod was purchased from Bob, circa 1957. It was a bright yellow, solid glass, one piece rod with a moulded handle, of about 6 or 7ft. I believe he also supplied my Chapman 500, some years later, another present. My Edgar Sealey, glass Octofloat, came from Ogdan Smith's at the southern end of town. I have My uncle Bill's "The Captain" Richard Walker Mk1V Carp, bought from Bob in the late 50's. Im not sure I'll ever forget the smell of the Cabin, the linseed soaked nets hanging around the walls..

Just out of interest, could you please tell me the node pattern on the MKIV carp rod. I have MKIV that has a spiral node pattern on the butt and a 2:2:2 staggered pattern on the tip section, and suspect this rod to be unmarked rods of the same / similar pedigree. Another chap on here also has one, whereas to my knowledge all the other MKIV kit rods have the common 3:3 staggered pattern!

[Gilbert]

Fact number four, allegedly he made thousands of rods! Many without his name on! This adds to the fun of speculation, not that it matters.

it does matter !

[Nigel Rainton]

I have a Southwell rod, custom built to order and bought from the shop in Croydon which is not signed or labelled.

[Gilbert]

Trouble is , unless you have proof positive of a rods antecedents all you really have is a nice rod .

signature , bill of sale , or letter of authentication from an expert would all do the trick.

maybe a list of known Southwell features would help ---to at least whet the curiosity and prompt some interesting research.

i may have a couple of BS rods -----or i may have none . i really don't know

[Olly]

Hence - does it matter!

Yes if seller and wanting a fortune - but as a user - not a lot!

[Nigel Rainton]

I have four Southwell rods, they are all different, looking for known features is not conclusive.

[CrayCane]

I have a film of Bob Southwell demonstrating his rodmaking process to a small group of Canadian makers.

Whilst Bob clearly shows how much skill and experience he had in manipulating the cane there is very little he does that would not be immediately familiar to the majority of rodmakers of today. Apart from speed he works at, there is nothing in his process that would produce any unique features to make his rods immediately identifiable.
In this demonstration he uses a 3:3 node stagger.

Pete

[Nigel Rainton]

Pete,

Please could you put the film on here or on YouTube, there is so little known about Bob Southwell it would be great to share :-)

[CrayCane]

It would be good to share Nigel but I was a little unsure as I don't hold the copyright. The film is 40+ minutes long so would need to be hosted somewhere. However I'll have another look at Youtube. I don't want to tread on the toes of the chap who shared it with me.
Pete