E. Eggington & Sons was a renowned fishing rod maker based in Merton. In this article, angler Doug Pollard delves into the history of this family-run business, from its beginnings in the 1880s to its closure in 1972. He reflects on its legacy, the craftsmanship behind its sought-after rods, and its deep connection to the River Wandle.
This post is written by Doug Pollard. Doug was born in Morden in 1940, and lived in Wimbledon until 1956. He emigrated to Canada in 1967 and now lives in Victoria, British Columbia. He has always fished and loves rivers.
Seven decades have passed since I last gazed hungrily through the window of E. Eggington & Sons. Squeezed somehow into Merton Bus Garage, with the Wandle on its doorstep, this was more than a fishing tackle shop. In their tiny factory, the Eggington family crafted some of the finest fishing rods available at the time (and perhaps ever.)
The story began in the 1880s in East London, where Edwin Eggington was already making rods. He had two sons, Harry and Christopher, who became apprentices to their father at J. Bernard and Son, an established tackle maker on Jermyn Street. Edwin became Bernard’s head rod-maker.
When WWI broke out, Harry signed up to serve in France with the Royal Artillery. Christopher worked in Woolwich Arsenal where he learned new skills. In the meantime Edwin looked for a quieter, safe place to raise the family, and found the Wandle flowing through Merton. It was a beautiful area that Lord Nelson chose to live in until his death in 1805. It was also the location of a large silk-weaving factory where William Morris installed his works in 1881. Whether the Wandle survived industrial development of Merton Abbey Mills is open to question, but it was nevertheless a beautiful river, and, of course, has certainly become one once more.
A new bus garage had been built on Merton High Street where it crossed the river. Edwin noticed some space by the entrance of the building, and in 1920 negotiated a place for his family enterprise, E. Eggington and Son. It did not take long for the company to establish a reputation for fine rod-building.
Of course, there were some big names already established in London, including Hardy Bros. and Farlow. But the new and sought-after split cane rods presented a problem: a rod consisted of two or more hexagonal sections, each requiring six triangular tapered pieces. These pieces were painstakingly shaved to size with hand planes. With engineering skills acquired at the Armory, Christopher milled tapered grooves along a flat lathe bed. Lengths of wood split from whole canes could now be shaved precisely and quickly into the triangular pieces necessary to form delicately tapered sections of a rod. A secretly formulated glue held the pieces together for a lifetime. All that was needed was a handle (always of exquisite shape) ferrules, line guides or rings whipped at prescribed intervals along the rod, and several coats of varnish. The wives of Christopher and Harry were engaged in these final stages of finishing.
This was not a mass-production factory: a custom rod might take several weeks to complete, but there was a steady demand. A peculiarity of Eggington rods was that some of them had sections of different lengths, something not found in other makes. Eggingtons believed that this was important for perfect action for casting and playing fish. Several notable anglers bought Eggington rods. Bill Penney is reputed to have used an Eggington when he caught the record roach of 3 lb 14 oz in 1938, although he was known to have made his own rods. Dwight Eisenhower was definitely a customer, as was the well-known angler Maurice Wiggin, who sang praises of his 6 oz fly-rod that grassed a salmon with ease.
Sadly, Harry died in 1960, leaving Christopher to carry on until 1972, when E. Eggington & Sons was finally closed. I would have met one of them, perhaps both, in 1956. Our family was about to move to Bookham, and I had already joined the Leatherhead and District Anglers Society. The club had trout water on the lovely Tillingbourne River at Chilworth. An uncle had given me an old split cane fly rod, but I needed more than that. I cycled down to Eggingtons where they gave me an equally old fly reel, and sold me a new dressed silk fly line and a dozen dry flies. I could not wait till we moved. I made two trips by train via Dorking and caught my first trout, rather small wild browns, at Easter. The rest was history as they say.
As a boy I could ill afford an Eggington rod. By the time I could I had emigrated to Canada, but I still remember the treasures in the Merton Bus Garage window. I have seen just one rather worn rod at auction in Victoria, British Columbia. They are still revered by British anglers and it would be no surprise to see one in use on the Wandle.
Much of the information in this article, along with the black-and-white photographs, comes from a 1999 Trout and Salmon article by Christina Witham, Edwin’s granddaughter.