Dunlop

From the photo sharing website, flickr: Dunlop No 1 Drawing Office 1950's

Passing the old grounds of the Dunlop I noticed it was to let 50p per square metre. I thought what a shame such waste. I then thought why are they not using this land for building houses instead of building on the green belt, it would still earn money

I've seen trucks just today going in there Morgana. Looks like you may have spoken too soon. Don't know what they are doing, but in the midst, there was a digger. They do seem to be clearing that bit of land. I don't know the gate no. but it is next to the sports ground on Burnaby Rd.

Thank you Baz Perhaps the council has nicked my idea On Beake Avenue side the gates are still locked, land barren, when I went past last week, I'll see if I can check tomorrow on the Beake Ave side, let's hope they are, seems more sense to build houses on an already built up area than digging up our countryside. Hi Baz, no work Beake Ave side, the other day you saw them on Burnaby Road, digging machines that might have been the changing of the lampposts the town are renewing.

I think the old Dunlop site has planning app in for a housing estate. Dunlop are moving to a new factory at Prologis Park, I think.

Thank you Flapdoodle for that information. I am pleased it's going to a good use, might save our green belt bits, hopefully.

The Munitions Sidings was the point at which this bit of railway joined the Coventry to Nuneaton line. The 'Burnaby Road' site was first built by White and Poppe to meet a contract they had from the Ministry of Munitions during the First World War, for the manufacture of fuses and their insertion into shells. The railway was built to bring materials in, and move completed shells out. The loaded wagons were collected from the Munitions Sidings (hence the name) and moved onwards by the London and North Western Railway. After the end of hostilities, White and Poppe no longer required the entire factory. This led to the first establishment of Dunlop and its later associated businesses on the site. White and Poppe finally closed in the early 1930s, by which time Dunlops business was growing at a such a pace that they took over the entire factory, and indeed later expanded outside of the original site. The railway continued to bring materials in, but by now it was scrap metal that was moved off the site by rail. Contrary to what some people might remember, the railway had ceased to operate by at least early 1963, although the exact date is proving a bit of a problem to establish. Certainly the connection over Black Pad was well and truly rusted in that June. The internal user wagons were stored in the sidings alongside the Black Pad footpath, where they were all later scrapped. This railway was actually operated as a seperate concern, The Whitmore Park Private Estates Railway Ltd, which in later years was entirely owned by Dunlop. Should anybody have ANY photographs taken anywhere on this railway, I would be delighted to see them.

A very recent photograph off the Black Pad footbridge shows the view towards Daimler Halt. The truncated remains of one of the Courtaulds chimneys is on the left. To the right is where the Whitmore Park Private Estates Railway came in from the Dunlop factory, which is way behind and off to the right of my right shoulder. The Munitions Sidings were also on the right, roughly in line with the rear of this train. This is the view towards Black Pad. The railway crossed the foreground at 45 degrees and passed through the clearly visible gap between the brickwork and second fence line. Here it split; to the right, it passed to the rear of what is now Federal Mogul, before crossing Burnaby Road at the lower of the two crossings. To the left, there were a couple of sidings that ran parallel with Black Pad, before one track swung to the right and entered Dunlop after crossing Burnaby Road at the higher of the two crossings (ie, the one nearer the Pilot).

The Dunlop railway line can be seen in these two images from "Britain from Above" from the north from the south

Thank you very much!

Hi, does anybody remember the Dunlop fair in Lythalls Lane in the 1950's and 60's? Has anyone got any photos?

Hello Kate & welcome to our forum

I remember it - on the St Luke's fields behind the houses by Sunningdale Avenue. I once won a 'pig' in bowling for a pig when I was about 7. I was quite happy when I found out the 'pig' was Ten Bob. I remember entering the balloon race, and watching it get stuck in a tree. I was taken by my autie Doris and Uncle Tad. Ted and Doris Harper, the lived in Rotherham Road. Sorry - no pictures.

I remember the Dunlop fair very well. I lived just off Lythalls Lane nearly opposite the entrance to the Dunlop sports field, it was one of the highlights of our year to spend the whole day (always a Saturday) over the Dunlop. The show ring always in the middle of the field there would be many interesting shows to watch and in between shows walk around the fair which was always set up along the back of the field near to the railway lines. My mum loved the darts stalls and we always ended up with numerous goldfish and dinner plates. Before the fair we would watch the marquees and the fairground rides being erected and of course watching them come down afterwards, it was also a major operation to get the fairground vehicles onto the field as the entrance on Lythalls Lane was very narrow though it was later widened and gated. Sadly shortly after the fair was stopped but they were certainly happy times.

Tommo58, I lived in Lythalls Lane for a short spell, about two doors from the entrance to the playing field, the cinder path came round between our garage and the field, but we were there through the winter, so never saw the fair.