J B Moscrop's "Manchester" Reel
J B Moscrop's "Manchester" Reel
This article was substantially re-written in July of 2019 - in the original version I had completely missed the existence of Patent 17501...
You may already have read something of the story of this remarkable fishing reel in "The Quest for Adjustable Drag" but there is so much more that can be said about one of my favourite objects from the history of fly fishing.
John B. Moscrop seems to have been a remarkable character. Born in 1831 he was educated at Bury Grammar School before being apprenticed in his father's grocery business. This seems to have been followed by a brief spell in an architect's office before he became a cotton spinner at a time when Manchester was being called "Cottonopolis" and the whole area was sprouting cotton mills. The damp but temperate climate of Northern England, coupled with the easy availability of water power made this the ideal centre for the growing cotton spinning and processing industry. By 1874 Moscrop was married and in a partnership with his brothers, operating Red Lumb Mill near Rochdale.
Aside from his business endeavours, Moscrop also had a keen grasp of current technology and something of an inventive streak. In 1881 he obtained a patent for a Continuous Recorder, designed to produce a paper record of the speed and performance of machinery, particularly steam engines. This device was manufactured by J Lumb and Sons, an engineering company in Elland, in the neighbouring county of Yorkshire, who already had a reputation for "governance" equipment - mechanical control of engines and machinery.
You may already have read something of the story of this remarkable fishing reel in "The Quest for Adjustable Drag" but there is so much more that can be said about one of my favourite objects from the history of fly fishing.
John B. Moscrop seems to have been a remarkable character. Born in 1831 he was educated at Bury Grammar School before being apprenticed in his father's grocery business. This seems to have been followed by a brief spell in an architect's office before he became a cotton spinner at a time when Manchester was being called "Cottonopolis" and the whole area was sprouting cotton mills. The damp but temperate climate of Northern England, coupled with the easy availability of water power made this the ideal centre for the growing cotton spinning and processing industry. By 1874 Moscrop was married and in a partnership with his brothers, operating Red Lumb Mill near Rochdale.
Aside from his business endeavours, Moscrop also had a keen grasp of current technology and something of an inventive streak. In 1881 he obtained a patent for a Continuous Recorder, designed to produce a paper record of the speed and performance of machinery, particularly steam engines. This device was manufactured by J Lumb and Sons, an engineering company in Elland, in the neighbouring county of Yorkshire, who already had a reputation for "governance" equipment - mechanical control of engines and machinery.
Moscrop didn't confine his inventiveness to the world of work, he was a keen angler and member of Manchester Angling Association. In February 1888 he applied for a patent for "Improvements to Fishing" reels in which he set out an entirely new way of constructing a fishing reel:
"The object of this invention is improvements in the outer framework of the reel whereby the same is rendered more rigid in construction and steadier in action than when cross studs are used to connect the front and back plates together..."
Patent No 2900 was the first of two patents relating to reels, in the second he adds a friction brake to the reel, operating between the front and back faces of the reel through the hollow spindle.
You can download copies of the original documents from the links below.
"The object of this invention is improvements in the outer framework of the reel whereby the same is rendered more rigid in construction and steadier in action than when cross studs are used to connect the front and back plates together..."
Patent No 2900 was the first of two patents relating to reels, in the second he adds a friction brake to the reel, operating between the front and back faces of the reel through the hollow spindle.
You can download copies of the original documents from the links below.
gb188802900.pdf | |
File Size: | 89 kb |
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gb188808122.pdf | |
File Size: | 115 kb |
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This is the construction method of which Moscrop was so critical. This brass platewind reel is made up of a succession of components, held in a sort of sandwich between the end plates, which are themselves held in place by a number of hollow brass struts, secured by screws. This method of construction has a lot in common with the way clocks are made, with the movement being installed between, and supported by, two endplates, separated by struts.
This is the drawing of Moscrop's reel, abstracted from the patent.
The patent dates from February of 1888, but it seems some reels were already available for inspection.
In his "The Book of the All Round Angler", published in 1888, John Bickerdyke writes:
"Of metal reels, there is a good one designed by Mr. Jardine and sold by Messrs. Carter & Peek. It lets the air into the centre of the line, which is a great advantage. I have also seen a reel, designed by Mr. Moscrop, a member of the Manchester Anglers' Association, which seems a great advance on all other metal reels; it is not at present for sale —though no doubt will be next year—so it will be sufficient to say of it that it is very light, contains only one screw, admits the air to the centre of the line, and is fitted with a check, &c."
Bickerdyke was clearly impressed. However, it is difficult to define what the reel he had seen was like. You see, there don't seem to be any contemporary examples of reels based on the 1888 patents. The closest I have come across is a reel by Smith & Wall that appears to apply the basic principle of Moscrop's 1888 drag:
In his "The Book of the All Round Angler", published in 1888, John Bickerdyke writes:
"Of metal reels, there is a good one designed by Mr. Jardine and sold by Messrs. Carter & Peek. It lets the air into the centre of the line, which is a great advantage. I have also seen a reel, designed by Mr. Moscrop, a member of the Manchester Anglers' Association, which seems a great advance on all other metal reels; it is not at present for sale —though no doubt will be next year—so it will be sufficient to say of it that it is very light, contains only one screw, admits the air to the centre of the line, and is fitted with a check, &c."
Bickerdyke was clearly impressed. However, it is difficult to define what the reel he had seen was like. You see, there don't seem to be any contemporary examples of reels based on the 1888 patents. The closest I have come across is a reel by Smith & Wall that appears to apply the basic principle of Moscrop's 1888 drag:
..but as we shall see, it's Moscrop's first patent in which he aims to improve the outer framework of the reel that is more significant.
Moscrop took out a further patent for "Improvements to Fishing Reels in 1891. Patent No, 17501 builds on the principles of structure of the first patent but describes in great detail a completely different approach to both the drag and the check. This later description conforms almost exactly to the marked Moscrop reels.
Moscrop took out a further patent for "Improvements to Fishing Reels in 1891. Patent No, 17501 builds on the principles of structure of the first patent but describes in great detail a completely different approach to both the drag and the check. This later description conforms almost exactly to the marked Moscrop reels.
gb189117501.pdf | |
File Size: | 192 kb |
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This third patent turns out to be the crucial element, revealing the origin of the reel known as the Manchester reel.
This is the reel itself:
This is the 25/8" version of the reel, the smallest option available and one of two offered without drag.
This second example is the 3" model, in this case, supplied with the optional drag. This consists of a circular brake shoe that contacts with the inside surface of the reel. The amount of pressure applied can be adjusted by rotating the square brass knob on the front face of the reel. This compresses a helical spring increasing pressure on the brake. This mechanism is surprisingly effective, - you can actually stop the reel completely. The offset brake as fitted doesn't suffer from this problem and is a much stronger design solution.
At this point I'd like to show a comparison between Moscrop's reel and a typical reel of the period.
At this point I'd like to show a comparison between Moscrop's reel and a typical reel of the period.
If we disregard the principle difference in the method of construction, which was discussed above, there are other important differences between the Moscrop reel on the left and a typical platewind reel to the right. The first I wish to point out is the handle. The distinctive blind, bullet-shaped Ebonite handle of the Moscrop reel, is unique. No other reel was fitted with this style of handle, probably because it is covered by the terms of Patent 17501. The platewind on the right illustrates a much more typical method of constructing the reel handle, - simply turning and drilling a handle from horn or bone, drilling the centre and mounting on a shaft, the end of which is peened over. The ventilated spool of the Moscrop reel is mentioned in the first of his patents, the intention being to allow air to circulate, drying the line. Interestingly, this feature was duplicated in a Reuben Heaton patent of 1888. Patent 18817 allowed for a spindle-less reel, the line supported on wire pillars.
These two pictures allow us to compare the way the check is constructed. On the Moscrop reel, a helical spring is anchored to one of the arbour posts. This connects to a shaft, bent at right angles to receive the spring. This runs down one of the arbour posts to the check pawl, which engages a sprocket on the back face of the reel cage. This is the check mechanism outlined in the 1891 patent and illustrated in the drawing above. Compare this to the platewind reel on the right. Although the checkwork is not directly visible - it is mounted between the sideplate and the spool, we can see from the three anchor points that this is a caliper check. The two fixings across the artisan mark anchor the C-shaped spring while the third anchor point allows the check pawl to pivot between the spring points.
The purpose of this comparison is to emphasise how much the Moscrop reel differs from conventional practice in contemporary reel making. I believe the reason for this, aside from the innovative qualities of Moscrop's patents, is that these reels were not made in a reel makers shop. By his own affirmation, the method of construction of these reels are outside the skill set of contemporary reel makers. This is a machined casting, something entirely outside the portfolio of reel making skills at the time (thought we must allow that the side plates of contemporary reels were turned from casting), so it would have been pointless for Moscrop to engage a reel maker to produce his reel. Now if that is indeed the case, who made these reels?
I believe one very strong possibility is the firm of J Lumb and Sons. Moscrop had already dealt with them in the matter of his Continuous Recording Machine, so it makes sense for him to approach them regarding his reel.
The purpose of this comparison is to emphasise how much the Moscrop reel differs from conventional practice in contemporary reel making. I believe the reason for this, aside from the innovative qualities of Moscrop's patents, is that these reels were not made in a reel makers shop. By his own affirmation, the method of construction of these reels are outside the skill set of contemporary reel makers. This is a machined casting, something entirely outside the portfolio of reel making skills at the time (thought we must allow that the side plates of contemporary reels were turned from casting), so it would have been pointless for Moscrop to engage a reel maker to produce his reel. Now if that is indeed the case, who made these reels?
I believe one very strong possibility is the firm of J Lumb and Sons. Moscrop had already dealt with them in the matter of his Continuous Recording Machine, so it makes sense for him to approach them regarding his reel.
This is an advertisement from 1895 cataloguing the skills and product range available from Lumb's. Note "Brass Castings" and the number of valves and gauges which would have required machining. Admittedly the evidence is wholly circumstantial, and the only records from Lumb & Sons available date from 1907, four years after Moscrop's death, so proof will be very hard to find. all I can say is that , to me at least, this argument seems to make sense particularly when you address the next development.
Bickerdyke tells us that Moscrop was a member of Manchester Angling Association and it seems the first reels were distributed among his fellow members, this is perhaps when the reel acquired its nickname of "The Manchester Reel" perhaps in reference to the popular and contrasting wooden "Nottingham Reels". You can see from the extract from Kelson's book though, that by 1895 they were being sold out of an address in Manchester, 25 Market Place.
Bickerdyke tells us that Moscrop was a member of Manchester Angling Association and it seems the first reels were distributed among his fellow members, this is perhaps when the reel acquired its nickname of "The Manchester Reel" perhaps in reference to the popular and contrasting wooden "Nottingham Reels". You can see from the extract from Kelson's book though, that by 1895 they were being sold out of an address in Manchester, 25 Market Place.
It was also about this time that the reels were advertised in the end-matter of George Kelson's book on the Salmon Fly:
Twenty Five Market Street was the location of the Old Wellington Inn, the upper rooms of which had previously been an opticians. In Moscrop's time it was Chambers Fishing shop who seem to have acted as agents for The Manchester Reel. This is the same location in 1905, ten years after the advertisement seen above. Some sources suggest that Allcocks of Redditch took over the agency in 1893, though Chambers address still appears in the 1895 advertisement. Farlows also seemed to act as agents from 1898 to 1915, and the reel was retailed by both Gamages and Harrods.
This is a page from Harrod's Price List of 1913 with the relevant section enlarged. Note that the "Moscrop" is now described as being of an "improved pattern" and are available in aluminium.
Sometime early in the twentieth century, perhaps at the behest of Allcocks, production of the Manchester reel moved to Aston in Birmingham, on to the benches of Reuben Heaton. Heaton were the biggest reel makers of their day and supplied to the trade in almost every corner of the country. It is this re-incarnation of the reel that Harrods describe as the "new pattern". There are four specific changes, one trivial, the others of more significance. Let us first dispose of the trivial change, the brake adjust on the face of the reel is much thinner, losing the square, "blocky" character of the earlier model. The reel is now made of "red brass", a deep rich bronze-coloured alloy enhanced by chemical patination - the earlier reels were of yellow brass. The handle now follows one of Reuben Heaton's conventions and is mounted on a "fishplate" screwed tot he face of the reel. The biggest change comes in the check, the weak but ingenious helical spring is replaced by a simple, conventional but effective caliper check. It is these latter changes that serve to emphasise how "un-reelmaker-like" the original version of the reel is. It is this second version that shows us what an established reelmaker, perhaps 20 years after the original patent, can do with this design - it also shows us the Heatons now have machine turning skills in-house.
I believe there will always be gaps in this story, parts that can perhaps never be proven, but I also believe that the role of this little reel in the development of fly reels has been grossly over-looked. The "cage and drum" construction of the Manchester Reel lies at the very core of the modern fly reel. Features like the easy removal of the spool without tools, the check and adjustable brake are all aspects of the modern reel that are taken for granted but all I ask is that you remember - you saw them here first.
I believe there will always be gaps in this story, parts that can perhaps never be proven, but I also believe that the role of this little reel in the development of fly reels has been grossly over-looked. The "cage and drum" construction of the Manchester Reel lies at the very core of the modern fly reel. Features like the easy removal of the spool without tools, the check and adjustable brake are all aspects of the modern reel that are taken for granted but all I ask is that you remember - you saw them here first.