The Centenary Coxon with a big Avon barbel

 

Paul Witcher is probably best known as a maker of hand-crafted centre pin reels, of such sublime quality that they are sought after around the world, by anglers and collectors alike. To give the reader some idea of his craftsmanship, these reels now fetch more than a thousand pounds at auction and in private sales.

It may come as something of a disappointment to know that Paul has retired from reel making to pursue his career with the art of film (although, once in a while he is still tempted back into his workshop, but this a rare event nowadays).

However, we thought that it might be a source of enjoyment for those who appreciate the skills of a master craftsman, to hear more about Paul’s reels and how he came about making them.  And for those of us lucky enough to own a Witcher centre pin, the heritage of these reels might be useful to know, just in case the time comes when you decide to part with one…  

How the reel making began…

Paul started thinking about making ‘the perfect centre pin reel’, more than thirty years ago. At that time, manufacturers like Mitchell and Abu were dominating the headlines of the coarse angling scene, with fixed spool reels that were brilliant for almost every angling purpose. Except, that is for the one which Paul enjoyed most of all…trotting a float for big Hampshire Avon roach. 

Anyone who has ever used a centre pin will know that, despite all the technological advances of the last 100 years or so, with all the bells and whistles that has entailed, sometimes the simplest of tools are the best of all.

Henry Coxon is, of course, the godfather of centre pin reels, with his priceless Aerial of 1895, based on the spoked bicycle wheel…and from there the famous Allcock firm took the same design to new realms, the most desirable of which is arguably the 1920’s, 12-spoke version that is so collectable today.  

Those reels were unreachable to Paul, as a small boy with his nose pressed to the angling shop window in Christchurch, but he never forgot that elegant and brilliant design.

Much later, when he was trying to buy a centre pin reel in the 1970’s and ‘80’s, Paul was frustrated to find that there was little choice, for either his preferred style of fishing or, most importantly, his wallet.  The ‘Swallow’, made by Dave Swallow was available, along with a few others, but none of them quite conjured the timeless quality that had inspired him in the first place.   

If we can throw our minds back for a second or two, it’s worth remembering, that in the mid 1970’s, when Paul was an apprentice engineer, there were motor cars like the iconic E-Type Jaguar Roadster on our lanes. It would be fair to say that no manufacturer in their right mind would ever make a car like the E-Type in the modern era. Those beautiful spoked-wheels alone would cost a princely fortune to reproduce…because of course, they are incredibly time-intensive and expensive to manufacture.

But they were gorgeous and desirable in every way. 

It was the sight of the Roadster and the memory of Allcock’s 1920’s Aerial that inspired Paul to think again about how he might somehow acquire the reel of his dreams….which of course, was to make one himself.

As we have mentioned already, he began his working life as an apprentice Toolmaker, so he already had the skill-base to begin crafting the parts. But it takes a particular type of person to dedicate huge amounts of time to designing and hand-crafting a complex piece of machinery. Thankfully, most anglers have patience in abundance, but he also needed to have the dedication to match. These attributes, when combined with the obsessive nature of a perfectionist, are very rare qualities indeed.

The reels…

It would be fair to say that the first parts were primitive, starting in the mid 1980’s and crafted as they still are today, on a hand-lathe in Paul’s workshop at home in Wiltshire.

Equally, it took more than two years for Paul to produce his first reel, one that would perform at least as well as, if not better than an Allcock. This reel is 4.5 inches in diameter, which he calls simply ‘my reel’, it was never sold and he still uses it while roach fishing on the Hampshire Avon to this day. It has only one mark by the maker’s hand, roughly scratched on the back plate, “W”.

 

               

                                         Start with a lump of aluminium

At this point, it’s worth considering the process of making such a delicate instrument, by hand. A Witcher reel has more than 60 individual parts, each of which have to be crafted to the finest tolerances. The centre ‘boss’ alone, made from phosphor bronze, the most critical of all, around which the workings of the reel revolve, takes more than 30 different processes to make. And remember, just one mistake is enough to throw out the balance of the reel completely.

             

                                  Machining the aluminium in the lathe  

And unlike manufacturing with wood, once a mistake has been made with metal, it is pretty much impossible to correct an error.

Further, the design of an old-style centre-pin with a single spindle, rather than a set of modern bearings, is ridiculously difficult to make. Unfortunately, in the world of reel making, at least, old-style design does not marry at all well with modern techniques.   

         

                                                              Easy init, finished backplate

                      

                         One of the small rivets being made on the lathe

                             

                             The finished reel after 60-70 hours of toil

There are plenty of reasons why modern centre pin manufacturers use bearings instead of a single spindle, not least that they are cheap and easy to make. But also, they can never attain several very important qualities that set Witcher reels apart.

Firstly, modern ‘bearing’ reels, no matter how smooth, do not deliver the same minimalist start-up inertia when the drum begins to revolve. Secondly they don’t spin as smoothly, bearing reels always have a purr, and in the worst cases a clunk that a proper pin never has. But if high quality bearings have been used a bearing reel will always out spin a pin.  

Most importantly of all, they can never attain the ‘soul’ of a reel that has taken months to lovingly craft by hand. In short, it’s a bit like the difference between an original oil-painting and a mass-produced print.

The first reel to finally reach Paul’s satisfaction is what he calls his ‘prototype’: the ‘Avon Centre Pin’ in 1989 and having revealed it to a few close friends, instantly began receiving orders…and from that point, he was under siege from anglers who wanted his new reels, as fast as he could make them.

The first 20 ‘Avon Centre Pins’ took two years to make and they set a new standard for reel making between 1989 and 1991. These are 4.5 inches in diameter black anodised and have twelve spokes that are parallel with each other. They also have a lever ratchet.  

Immediately following those reels, Paul began making the ‘Avon Elite’, ten in black and ten in silver. These had a brass centre boss with an oilite bush pressed into them. Again these had a lever ratchet but the spokes were off-set. Two were sold to the father of centre pins in the modern era, John Wilson. They were manufactured between 1992 and 1993.

Then followed the ‘Avon Elite II, essentially a new design, it was much lighter and more delicate than its predecessor. Paul also incorporated a caliper ratchet spring into his design for the first time. He also made six 3 ¾ dia reels that carried the ‘Elite’ name.       

The Witcher ‘Bisterne Aerial’, of which only 15 have been made out of 21, was born in 1994 was a collaboration between Paul and Chris Yates. They both sat down and discussed what the perfect pin should be. The result was based on the ‘Elite’ design but had a much wider drum and is 4 inches in diameter.   

In 1995, Paul decided to commemorate Henry Coxon’s genius that so inspired his early angling, with the ‘Centenary Coxon’, of which only two were ever made. These are real jewels and it was the first time Paul made a reel with the spokes sitting on an “outy” spool plate. They are 4 inches diameter with the line pins set quite deep, for use with heaver lines. Paul now uses this reel for all his barbel fishing.

One of the rarest of all Witcher reels is one that Paul made purely for himself, as a sheer indulgence. This is an un-named reel, with a 4 inch diameter wide drum, but in this case, the pin stays with the boss as a sealed unit. Paul now uses this reel for trotting a float on the Avon.  

Between 1995 and 2002, Paul made another handful of ‘Bisterne Aerials’, which brings us to 2003, when he embarked on perhaps his most ambitious project…to emulate the legendary 12-spoke Allcock Aerial (circa: 1920).

This reel, named simply the ‘Witcher Aerial’, was the culmination of thirty years designing reels and very much a celebration of a bygone era. It was not a direct copy of the Allcock reel, partly because some of the manufacturing techniques have been lost in the mists of time, but it was designed with most of the same criteria. Apart from the beautiful use of aluminium and brass, which are typical of Witcher reels, they have 12 spokes and a brass caliper check. In addition, Paul was able to ‘age’ the aluminium, so that they have a lovely ancient patina, quite unlike any other reel on the market today. 33 ‘Witcher Aerials’ were completed and sold over a three-year period from 2003, each of which are numbered and came in a lovely leather case. The first two, stamped 001 and 002, remain in his cabinet. These he calls the zero-zero reels, after which no other 00 prefixes were stamped.

Two other reel Witcher reel designs were made, one in 2005, a one-off beauty called the ‘The Longford’ and the other, a bearing reel, made for the film maker ‘Hugh Miles’ of ‘Passion for Angling’ and ‘Catching the Impossible’ fame, in 2007, which is named after him. Only two of these reels are in existence, Hugh has one and Paul the other.

Will there be any more Witcher reels made?

Never say never, as they say. It might just be that Paul will knuckle down to yet another marathon of reel-making at some point in the future. Certainly, he knows that there are plenty of anglers who would like to own one of his pieces not least because they are very desirable and collectable.

It is with apologies that Paul no longer takes orders for his reels, but he hopes that you will appreciate that after 30 years of dedication, he wants to move on…and that his film-making career eats up just as much time, if not more, than reel-making…but at least the former takes him out onto the river bank, which is always a blessing.