The handle is wood wrapped in cork sheet and has an unusual brass tube reel fitting. The brass ferrules are spigotted but one has the brass sleeve missing and I suspect it's stuck in the female ferrule.
I think that the rod was manufactured as a pike rod or spinning rod for larger fish. JWM was a keen pike fisherman so he would have been eminantly qualified to design such a rod.
There is an interesting selection of guides on the rod, mainly porcelain lined. One is of particular interest as it has "Patent applied for" stamped on it. The side of the ring has a hinge which looks to have been designed to allow the porcelain liner to be installed then soldered shut.
The tip ring is one that I haven't seen before and is agate(?) lined but I think is more recent than the others. It's very heavily braced as if it was designed for larger fish such as salmon or pike.
The most interesting feature on the rod is the engraving on the butt cap - J. W. Martin & Son "Trent Otter". He was manufacturing tackle in Newark from the 1880's in partnership with Openshaw. He moved to Huntingdon for a while then set up another tackle business in Euston Square, London with his son around 1900. He died in 1915 suggesting that the rod may have been manufactured between 1900 and 1915.
