The Viscount 140, Made by Hardy Bros Ltd England, 3.5" reel. Made from light alloy and suited as a trout fly reel for one of my cane rods. Made in the 1970's. Giving the impression that it was cheaply manufactured. Part of a series of reels: the 130, 140, and 150. The foot and body are moulded together; There is a plastic check and spring, plastic adjustment knob and plastic crown on the rear.

Posted by Doug at 14:45 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Tom and I took a walk around the lakes and along the river at Conty. We were curious to see if there was anyone about and if there were any signs of wildlife. We didn't see many people, mainly Sunday strollers, a few hunters coming back home for lunch. Not much wildlife either was seen. A couple of swans on the Entournelles lake, some more lake birds and a heron. We didn't spot any fish as the waters were a bit murky and the river was flowing briskly. Here are some photos from today.



We're looking forward to the 15th March when the lake fishing starts up again. The river fishing season starts on the 22 March. This year were going after the elusive brown trout - if there are any to be caught.

Posted by Doug at 15:23 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Don't you hate it when you buy a great split can rod or a vintage reel from an auction house or vintage tackle shop and when you try and find out more information about it, all you get are links for out-of-date eBay listings. Looking for information on J.J.S. Walker Bampton & Co.?


Here is some information that comes from various sources.

J.J.S. Walker Bampton & Co. were a reputable British company based in Alnwick, Northumberland.

The company employed ex Hardy employees. Walker Bampton set up a rod and reel building operation in the early 1930s until around 1968.

There were quite a few such firms around in the inter-war years, allegedly due to the unscrupulous hiring and firing practices of Hardy Brothers - apprentices being employed until the age of 21 when they would be entitled to a man's wage, at which point they were unceremoniously fired.

The Walker Bampton rods shared many of the characteristics of the Hardy rods. The ferrules were based on the patented Hardy lockfast ferrule.

A Walker Bampton nine ft. rod in the 30's cost from thirty pounds upwards. Wages were then three pounds per week so they were luxury goods.

Walker Bampton supplied rods to Farlows of Pall Mall. Eventually Walker Bampton were bought out by Farlows. Farlows have now amalgamated with Hardy.

Hardy reel shop, c. 1900. Walter Dingley is at the far left in back
William Henry Dingley (Walter), born West Broomwich 1-6-1858. Apprenticed Reuban Heaton Co. of Birmingham at age of fourteen. Heatons was then largest mfg. of reels in the U.K. Stayed with Heatons for fourteen years. Worked with David Slater Reels, Newark-upon-Trent for five years. 1891 moved to Alnwick with Hardy but left over a patent dispute in 1911 involving the braking system on the Silex reel. Went to become the head of the reel making dept. of J.J.S. Walker Bampton where he was responsible for the Climax spinning reel. Started his own fly reel company about 1919 and recruited ex-Hardy men. Made reels for the trade and several companies but you can usually find the "D" stamp inside those reels. Died 1-27-1946 at age 88. Oldest son Ernest ran his company until March 1954 when the company closed on his death.

What can you add to this? Do you have any further information or photographs?

Posted by Doug at 13:51 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

That finger injury I had last year really did end my fishing season early. It was a real pain. I couldn't tie knots or even hold anything properly. I didn't get any fishing done after the accident.

So anyway, I'm thinking about the new 2008 season, looking at my rods, sorting out tackle and thinking about getting a new (vintage) reel to go with my Hardy Perfection rod. I'm going to put together a list of my rods and reels with all the info I can find on the web about them.

Out of interest: What are your thoughts about this blog? If you subscribe to the RSS feed of this Blog, please drop me a line and let me know what you think of it.

Posted by Doug at 17:42 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post