'We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea'

From the pages of the family album of photographs that I bought at the market on 1st August, further adventures of Master Rupert and Master Luke and their friends and associates.

W. Pedder - Domestic Store

Spotted on the way back from the Post Office this morning a recently uncovered and previously lost shop front, 'W. Pedder - Domestic Store' situated on Highgate Road just north of The Southampton Public House.

In the Shop Window

To be found 'In the Shop Window' and for immediate sale a Palmer of Alvechurch Float and Accessories Case from the years when you never had it so good.

Spitalfields

Bought at Spitalfields yesterday amongst a bundle of ephemera, an omen for autumn in the form a pop-up Perch, torn by someone unknown from the back of a book.

A. Carter & Co, 11 South Molton St, London W.1.

Once upon a time in Arcadia, on a Thursday in the year 1925, ladies and gentlemen abroad in the West End and in search of Rod, Line & Bait could make their way to A. Carter & Co who were situated at 11 South Molton Street.  Carter's, as they were known, had by then been established for over 200 years and declared themselves to be 'Manufacturers of High-Class Fishing Rods & Tackle'.  In the year 1925 they appointed Mr. H. Roach as their managing director.  Mr. Roach had previously been in charge of the Fishing Tackle Department at the Army and Navy Stores.

Should you be a lady or a gentleman abroad on the wide streets of the West End and in search of Rod, Line & Bait you are advised to take the Underground Railway east to Liverpool Street, where after a short walk you will find my stall selling Vintage Fishing Tackle for the Soul which appears on Thursdays only at Spitalfields Antiques Market on Commercial Street in the district of London known as E.1.  There, between the hours of 8am and 3 you will be able to buy articles of tackle that would have originally been sold at Carter's as long ago as 1925 and before.  If you require any further information you may call me on Field Telephone: Arcadia 274 383.

Just in, Sir!

For immediate sale under glass at the mahogany counter that stands in the corner of my website - www.andrewsofarcadia.com known as 'Just in, Sir!' a small collection of 'Nottingham' reels dating from the late Victorian era to the years between-the-wars.

These Are The Good Times

In kitchens across Arcadia, for once Elgar is silenced on the radiogram as the sounds of Mr. Ian M. Rawes' London Sound Survey new long player 'These Are The Good Times - Field Recordings From London in the 21st Century' fill the air.  I have written a review of this most splendid work at Caught by the River.   The record is available to buy now and if you call yourself a Londoner you cannot do without it.

Beyond the Outskirts of Pandemonium

Up early and off in the motor van through the pale mists of an August morning to a Sporting Sale being held today way Beyond the Outskirts of Pandemonium.

S. & E. G. Messeena, 94 Upper Clapton Road, London E5

Once upon a time in Arcadia in the Season 1932-33, ladies and gentlemen in search of fly-tying materials could take the London and North Eastern Railway to Clapton Station where only a few doors away at 94 Upper Clapton Road in the district of London known as E.5 they would find the premises of S. & E. G. Messeena who had traded in feathers and skins since 1865.

The Messeena price list of Season 1932-33 is a comprehensive list of all that was available for the lady or the gentleman to buy from a full range of hackles, white swan feathers, turkey tails, Indian crow (red) and Cock O' the Rock Feathers.  Amid the smell of camphor there were Best Chinese Eyes, Jay Tails (Whole), Hare's Ears and Monkey Fur, Condor and Peacock Quills, Silks, Tinsels, Tools and Sundries, Spirit Varnish, Roach Hooks and Skins.

Sadly,  Messeena closed its doors in E.5  a long time ago but the ghosts of delivery men from the docks can still be seen lingering in the shadows of a long summer's day on Upper Clapton Road and the smell of camphor can still be caught when the wind is blowing in the right direction.  However, if you are a lady or a gentleman abroad and in need of fly-tying materials do not fear, for on my stall at Spitalfields Antiques Market, on Commercial Street in the district of London known as E.1 on Thursday's only between the hours of 8am and 3pm I carry many of the original items that Messeena's and other tackle shops like it would have sold in the year 1932-33, exotica rescued from old fly-tying kits, with the obvious exception of some feathers which it is now illegal to sell.

August is a Wicked Month

Passed this afternoon on Fortess Road just south of The Junction Tavern, a notice in the window of a junk shop.  

Lost Pantheon

Found at Kempton in the early morning rain last week a pair of painted wooden signs from an unknown former London wholesale market.

Swallows and Amazons Forever

Bought yesterday in the heat of the afternoon as the mercury boiled at the market a family album of photographs covering the years 1949 to 1961 and in particular the adventures of Master Rupert and Master Luke and their friends and associates.  The photographs shown here are a brief portrait of the chronological story of some 13 years of family holidays in Scotland.