AN important part of Redditch’s history has gone for good after the town’s last fish hook maker died.

As reported in the Advertiser, Vince Green retired last July, at the age of 73, following a stroke, and he died on March 22.

Fish hook making was started in Redditch at the beginning of the 19th Century by companies such as Henry Millward, Samuel Allcock and William Bartlett.

Mr Green founded Sprite Fish Hooks in 1974 following the death of his father, Ted Green, who had learned the trade of hook making first at John James at Studley and then at Samuel Allcock in Redditch.

Following the acquisition of the Allcock Company in 1969 by Norris Shakespeare, Ted Green was made redundant as Shakespeare ceased manufacturing in Redditch.

He then went on to start his own business making commercial sea hooks for the North American market.

When he died in 1974 his son Vince, who had done an engineering apprenticeship at Entaco, an amalgam of the Redditch needle and fishing tackle manufacturers formed in the 1930s, felt he had the skills necessary to carry on his father’s business but decided to concentrate on sporting fishhooks for salmon and trout fly dressing.

Sprite Hooks gained a good reputation over the years for consistent quality and reliability and hook sales steadily increased.

As the news of his death reached people, many internet forums were flooded with messages. On Fly Fishing Forums, contributors left the following comments: “The end of an era. RIP”, “he was such a lovely, friendly guy”, a man of many principles and great hooks”, and “we can only hope his legacy will be honoured by someone determined to continue his work”.