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Farlow & Co. Centrepin Reel


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Do You Know Anything About This Reel?

 

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Made by J.W.Young for Farlows. It looks as if it may be based on an "Easicast" but without the brake and with a lever ratchet. The backplate drillings appear to be home-machined. At a guess I would say late 40's to 50's in age. What size is it? 3 1/2"?

 

Farlows were a well established London company that catered more for the 'upper' end of the market. They commissioned reels from Youngs to their own specifications based on existing Youngs models (as did a number of other companies).

Eating wild caught fish is good for my health, reduces food miles and keeps me fit trying to catch them........it's my choice to do it, not yours to stop me!

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  • 4 weeks later...
Made by J.W.Young for Farlows. It looks as if it may be based on an "Easicast" but without the brake and with a lever ratchet. The backplate drillings appear to be home-machined. At a guess I would say late 40's to 50's in age. What size is it? 3 1/2"?

 

Farlows were a well established London company that catered more for the 'upper' end of the market. They commissioned reels from Youngs to their own specifications based on existing Youngs models (as did a number of other companies).

 

I'd say that it was made in Aberdeen by J S Sharpe, who worked closely with Farlows and merged with them in 1971. The back plate has many detail similarities with the Sharpe's Gordon range, and the later Farlow's Serpent reels.

 

Walter H. Barrett described the reel himself in his 1953 book "A Fisherman's Methods & Memories".

 

barrett.jpg

 

Regards,

 

Doc

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I'd say that it was made in Aberdeen by J S Sharpe, who worked closely with Farlows and merged with them in 1971. The back plate has many detail similarities with the Sharpe's Gordon range, and the later Farlow's Serpent reels.

 

Walter H. Barrett described the reel himself in his 1953 book "A Fisherman's Methods & Memories".

 

barrett.jpg

 

Regards,

 

Doc

It could be from J S Sharpe, but, they themselves were also supplied by Youngs!

 

may be wrong about the backplate cutouts but they don't look very accurately machined to me!

 

Another Youngs' clue for me is the two screw fixing of the spool release mounting cover, Sharpe's own reels usually were three screw fixings. Also, the ratchet operating lever and rivets for the spring and pawl appear to be very Youngs!

 

Comparing my Farlow's Python with the Easicast makes me think that the Python is made from (or copied) from a Youngs casting!

 

A true Sharpe's reel should have an 'S' stamped on the inside of the backplate, Dingley made Sharpe's had 'D'.

 

We could both be right here, in that it could be a Sharpe's made reel based on a Young's supplied casting :rolleyes:

Eating wild caught fish is good for my health, reduces food miles and keeps me fit trying to catch them........it's my choice to do it, not yours to stop me!

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It could be from J S Sharpe, but, they themselves were also supplied by Youngs!

 

may be wrong about the backplate cutouts but they don't look very accurately machined to me!

 

Another Youngs' clue for me is the two screw fixing of the spool release mounting cover, Sharpe's own reels usually were three screw fixings. Also, the ratchet operating lever and rivets for the spring and pawl appear to be very Youngs!

 

Comparing my Farlow's Python with the Easicast makes me think that the Python is made from (or copied) from a Youngs casting!

 

A true Sharpe's reel should have an 'S' stamped on the inside of the backplate, Dingley made Sharpe's had 'D'.

 

We could both be right here, in that it could be a Sharpe's made reel based on a Young's supplied casting :rolleyes:

 

I agree - we're both right, but at different times.

 

Let's look again at the original reel:

 

anbarrett2.jpg

 

anbarrett1.jpg

 

The cut-outs on the backplate must be genuine, if the reel is called a "Barrett". Not only did he describe it in his book, but here is the catalogue page from 1935.

 

fb35.jpg

 

At that time, the reels would probably been made by Young's, though Farlow's made a few at their factory in Croydon. But here is a pre-war (1939) Easycast MkII.

 

ec1.jpg

 

ec2.jpg

 

Note in particular the different spindle attachment.

 

And here is a Sharpe's made Farlow Serpent:

 

serpent1.jpg

 

serpent2.jpg

 

In this case, note the spindle attachment again, the general style of the backplate, and the two screw, push spring, spool release.

 

Pre war Sharpe's reels certainly had three screw covers (but with a different latch) and some of the the early ones had "S" stamps. There was a post-war "friendship" with Young's too - not only because of their common dealings with Farlow's and Millward's (ewho were themselves taken over by Farlow's).

 

Altogether an interesting reel.

 

Regards,

 

Doc

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