Hardy CC De France & Cadet 9-10ft Fly Rod

Here are 2 rods I have owned ages with a view to restoring them. The first is a 9ft House of Hardy (renowned rod makers in Alnwick England) “CC De France”, a much sought after dry fly rod made of split cane. It has its original furniture on the handle, the reel seat is stamped with the “Hardy’ reg’d Universal Reel Holder” and the butt cap has the Royal warrant stamped (king George ?) And the Hardys logo with “Made in England”. On the sliding reel ring part is the number which can be used to reference the date which reads ‘H12181’. The rod is in good condition for its age in that the cane is good and no delamination has occurred, but it has a sett in it which is a great shame as without the sett it is a very desirable item. My plan was to rebuild it once I had carried out an attempt to straighten out the tip section. They can be rebuilt with the sett pointing downwards which improves the aesthetics when looking down the rod once assembled. The ferrule is fine, but most of the silk whipping has been heavily varnished by a novice. The second rod is very interesting to anyone who collects Hardy. The “Cadet” (so Ai tells me) is a rod which would have been built at the request of a retailer ie Harrods, Army & Navy etc in small quantities to furnish a customers order. Hence made in the Alnwick factory, special order, very rare. It has the number G34695 on the sliding reel seat and the name “Cadet” in ink above the cork handle. It too has a sett, so the same applies to both rods, the top sections would benefit from some heat and being straightened out. Please study my photographs as they illustrate the good and bad points on the items. They will be posted in a plastic protective tube.