woodster ..your not being bitchy or cheap.. I was only guessing a year
my dad swore by Woolies gear... still has some of there mackie feathers in the original packets... a lot better tied than some that are made today. He may still have some other bits too, he bought a lot of tackle when they started to stop selling fishing tackle...
As to cheap ...nope your not that either... I visited a girl in france in 1980 and bought a 3 meter hollow glass course rod with metal rings and plastic reel seat that pushes on to hold reel cost me 20ff or £2 squids...I have caught many good 4lb+ mullet (over 100) on it plus bass and flounders. I have used it for spinning and legering and most things inbetween, it won't cast more than about 2oz leads but they will zip out to 70 yards or so. One or 2 (ermm nearly all some held in place with electrical tape and some rewhipped on) of the rings have had to be changed over the years for fuji ones as the line wear had nearly cut some of them in half.and now use cable ties to hold the reel on.... It is still a rod i am happy to pick up first to take with me even though I have a Penn bass extreme which was over 25 times the price of this rod.
I was given an old alvey center spool reel i will use when i go go boat fishing one year...there is not a great deal that can go wrong with it except fall to bits!!
I am the cheap one mate and I am happy at that which counts the most... ohh and never look a gift horse in the mouth.... had some great tackle given too me.. hooks still in greaseproof bags and boxes and made of real steel.
I know I am way off the thread by now

... but many anglers seem to want the newest and most expensive rods and reels... the old one were made to last and give you full enjoyment of angling.. new rods now have tips that would normally be seen on carp lakes and rivers. a rod will fail whether it is cheap or expensive.. if you have kids that want to go fishing the kits you can buy some places cost £20 and have all the bits you could ever want in it... but down the road in a non-fishing shop they have a telescopic rod with a free reel and extra spool and a bag for the rod too (don't see many of them now even with expesive rods) for £15... I know you have to buy tackle and line for it but you can get the tackle they will use to fish.. not some of the cr*p I might use to scare birds with.. the rod might last a year or two or it might last 10 trips... if the kid enjoys fishing and is learning the art too...its been a very good start if they don't like fishing and stop ... you have a rod in the car taking up no space that you can take anywhere and fish with...my dad still has the 9ft peir rod he bought for me as a kid its sold glass and still in good shape after hmmmm £4 years.... off my soap box before i turn in to suds.