Found in the Disused Fishing Tackle Factory

Found inside the Disused Fishing Tackle Factory a wealth of Vintage Fishing Tackle for the Soul, from hooks packaged and ready for a delivery never to be made to Victorian Fishing Tackle Salesmen's Sample Cards, from printing blocks for Fishing Tackle Catalogues to Needle Tins ready to be labelled 'Tackle'.

Lost in the Disused Fishing Tackle Factory

Along a passageway past machinery that has long fallen silent, into rooms populated by empty chairs and flocks of birds, upon dust covered surfaces and behind broken window panes, the ghosts of a century of Fishing Tackle Makers whisper.

The Tale of the Disused Fishing Tackle Factory

If you had been at Spitalfields Market yesterday not only would you have been able to browse through a selection of Vintage Fishing Tackle for the Soul and drink an inordinate amount of tea you would also have had the opportunity to buy a control panel from the cockpit of a Lancaster Bomber which another dealer had for sale on his table.  In Arcadia it has been that kind of week.  On Wednesday I was fortunate enough to visit a disused fishing tackle factory in the Midlands and over the next few days I will be telling the tale of the building and the remains of its contents.  In the meantime here is a photograph of it taken in January of the year 1908 just after it had been erected.  The identity of the lady in the foreground is unknown.

Eaton & Deller of Crooked Lane

Once upon a time in Arcadia, ladies and gentlemen who were at a loose end on a Thursday could take a walk down Crooked Lane in the district of London known as E.C. and visit the premises of Eaton & Dellar who were situated at No. 6.

Crooked Lane was a street along which there were a number of Fishing Tackle Manufacturers and Shops in the mid to late 19th Century.  At some point in the first part of the 20th Century not only did shops such as Eaton and Deller vanish but so did the whole street.  You will not find it on a modern map.  Its vanishing is the subject of conversation at many a lock-in.  However, if you walk up Brushfield Street or Commercial Street in the district of London known as E.1, every Thursday you will find echoes of Crooked Lane in the form of my stall at Spitalfields Antiques Market.  Today I am there from a half past seven in the morning until roughly three o'clock in the afternoon where I will have this salmon reel from Eaton & Deller for sale amongst other items of Vintage Fishing Tackle for the Soul.

Army & Navy Co-op Society Ltd c. 1910

Found in the field of human conflict that is better known as the half hour before it gets light at a Car Boot Sale, a collection of metalware from the Army & Navy Co-op Society Ltd.  Stamped with the R.D. number 553329 these items of ironwork were Patented in the Year of Arcadia 1910.

Found

Found at Houghton Hall Car Boot Sale some interesting items of Vintage Fishing Tackle for the Soul.

Houghton Hall Car Boot Sale

A riotous day was had by all on Saturday under a fierce Norfolk sun at the Houghton Hall Stately Car Boot Sale.  Funds were raised for http://www.norfolkchurchestrust.org.uk/, the partial contents of a lock-up were knocked out for a song, the landlord of The Scolt Head Public House was kitted out to go fishing for bass off the coast that very evening and items of Vintage Fishing Tackle for the Soul were purchased from a gentleman selling moth-ridden hunting pinks from the door of his 1960's caravan.  The Empress and I returned on Sunday via the North Creake Car Boot Sale, a more sedate but equally satisfying affair of four stalls.