Bruce & Walker began in the 1950s in a fishing tackle shop in Ealing, London, where Jim Bruce learned split-cane rod making from his father. A move to Upwood brought Jim together with local engineer Ken Walker, who built every piece of workshop machinery to a specific purpose. The two founded Bruce & Walker in January 1959, just as carbon fibre was about to transform rod making.
Since 1959
Kay Walker and her husband Brian Potter joined the business in 1983 and learned every stage of hand rod-making under Jim and Ken. Brian is no longer active in day-to-day running of the company but remains closely involved as a consultant, drawing on decades of taper design and hand-testing experience. Every Bruce & Walker rod is still designed and made from start to finish in-house — we moved to our current workshop in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders, in July 2025, after decades based in Upwood.
Today
Neil Fox now owns Bruce & Walker, carrying forward the hand-built tradition the company was founded on in 1959.
What goes into a rod
Top-flor grade cork, premium proprietary carbon prepreg made in the UK, Alps rings and snake guides, and reel seats machined exclusively for us in the UK from aircraft-grade 6061 aluminium. Built to be passed down, not replaced.