Hardy had much to crow about in 1966. The new Willowburn factory was completed and opened by His Grace the Duke of Northumberland. The new symbol of a fly set inside a castle wall was developed, signifying that Hardy tackle is made to last. They continued the building of Palakona bamboo rods, handmade reels and […]
Category Archives: The Thomas Turner Collector’s guide
06
Sep
Sep
With a heading like this it’s not surprising we had immediate interest in a fabulous rod collection bought by TT this week. You may remember a couple of weeks ago we bought 550 cane rods and bamboo poles in one collection. Any sane person would think that’s it for a while, but NO! The busier […]
15
Dec
Dec
Nothing odd here, just a mid-1980s Hardy Hydra light weight fly reel with its spare spool. A budget reel passed over by many anglers in favour of the Marquis or LRH models. It’s not unusual to see reel and spare spool combos. This is the later Mk2 version with the ventilated spool as opposed to […]
10
Dec
Dec
This is a 5’ two-piece Hardy Palakona split cane spinning rod, hand-built in Alnwick in 1947. Initially I struggled to find any reference to it at all. Then by luck, in a 1951 price list, it appears in the West Country Spinning rod range but sadly with no images. Numbered 0-4 plus a Steel Centre […]
Hardy, Reels, The Thomas Turner Collector's guide, Thomas Turner blog
The Hardy Creative Team-The Zane Connection
01
Dec
Dec
In the last few days there has been quite a bit of chat at Thomas Turner about Zane Grey, Hardy and the Zane rods and reels that the company has made over the years. I’m not in a position to comment with any authority on the nuts and bolts of the design and the manufacture […]
24
Nov
Nov
The Hardy Conquest centre pin was a revered pin in the 1950s and with the appearance of the new Hardy Marksman rod range in the early 2000s, it was decided to reinvent the reel for the new century. Charlie Norris ( Hardy reel designer) and Stevie Harper (composites engineer) were put on the case and […]
25
Aug
Aug
Occasionally along comes a rod which you just have to buy no matter what! This is the Hardy Coquet Sea Rod, an 8’ Palakona cane rod in two sections dating to 1957 and it appears unused. From the initial images sent to us, we were undecided if it was new or rebuilt and the good […]
12
Jun
Jun
Like a Tudor watch, would you always be explaining it’s made in the same factory as Rolex? Well, not really because in the 70s Hardy recognised the demand for self-build rods. I know this coz I built one, badly! Jim (James Leighton Hardy) was instrumental in setting up the Fibatube factory in Willoburn, Alnwick. This move […]
05
Jun
Jun
Always popular, this Hardy little gadget is easily missed at the bottom of a tackle box or bag. The Joint Lubricator and Container was an entirely new idea in the 1930’s. Measuring 1-3/4” tall the outer casing is stamped”Hardy Bros. Makers Alnwick”. It was produced in both brass and nickel materials. Pull off the top […]
04
Jun
Jun
This lovely little rare rod came into us this week. The Hardy Jet Midge 6’3” had a very short production run, appearing in the 1974 catalogue in text only, no images. It disappeared along with the other Jet rods from the catalogues in 1975 to become the Fibalite series. I’m sure many of the Jet […]