Made in Coventry

The Winfrey in the topic is named after the owner of Winfrey Engineering. I worked at the company in the early sixties. The company did sub contract work for Dowty Mining Co. By the way is Dowty still in business? I remember they had massive building on the Coventry Road in Exhall.

There are numerous books around that will help you. As you are doing academic research, I suggest starting with a copy of this book: Life and Labour in a 20th Century City: The Experience of Coventry Bill Lancaster & Tony Mason [Editors] Published by Cryfield Press, Coventry (1986-06) This is a series of papers about Coventry, with a few chapters about the post-war decline. Coventry grew too quickly and became reliant on a handful of major employers for mass-employment, and certainly in the motor industry the city's factories were too small and generally became candidates for closure when the downturn came - plus the lack of diverse local economy (No services, no large organisations as Coventry was not the centre of a metropolitan region or a country town, no creative industries, etc) meant there was little way to soak up job losses. When the aircraft industry closed in the 1960s, the 'warnings' were ignored and no attempt was made to diversify, instead the motor industry was used to soak up the job losses. The city has effectively missed out on the 'high tech' industries (Marconi all went years ago) as this had tended to be concentrated around the M4 corridor and Reading. Coventry is now heavily reliant on the public sector and two universities. One thing I would investigate is whether it would be possible to make Coventry into the 'administrative' centre of Warwickshire (Whilst retaining Warwick as the traditional County town - similar to Lancashire, with Preston and Lancaster) and improve the transport infrastructure between Coventry and Warwickshire - there's already an economic dependency there, as Coventry's out of town business parks are good for commuters. This would also create large organisations for public services that could be based in Coventry. The alternative is that Coventry continues its decline and moves towards being a remote part of a 'greater Birmingham'. Being stuck between Warwick and Birmingham is not a good place to be. Friargate could potentially become like the 'financial' sector in Bournemouth, although I tend to suspect that Birmingham will suck up all those jobs, and I don't think Coventry being bypassed by HS2 is particularly helpful - although this city has had quick links to London for years and it's not made much difference.

Lack of investment was the killer. Old factories, old machine tools, old infrastructure. I did a full four year Technician Apprenticeship at Self-Changing Gears from 84 to 88. The writing was on the wall at that time. Like a lot of Coventry's small engineering companies, they had sold a lot of kit in the sixties and early seventies, but had never made any real profit. The spares business was keeping them afloat in the eighties, but they weren't selling much new build kit. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the spares business dried up and so did the company. I actually pointed this out at a staff briefing session once, and oh how they laughed at this smart-arse apprentice who knew it all at seventeen. The first year of my apprenticeship was at the training school at Alvis on Holyhead Road and that company was one of the few who managed to transition from an old and antiquated factory to a new facility and survive. The principal reason I left Coventry 20 years ago was, as an engineer, there simply wasn't enough work around.

25th September 1953 in the Central Hall. A talk was given by Mr W H Lindsey, director and chief engineer of Armstrong Siddeley to the members of the Freeman's Guild and the public. A Mamba turbo-prop engine.

A friend has loaned me some bound volumes of the Daily Mirror from the years 1910-1918. These adverts show that few workers would be able to afford the products they made.

Good grief, the original cost of such items never ceases to amaze me! I've done a quick conversion and these items, at these prices, today would cost you. Humber motorcycle - £4636 to £5135 Rudge-Whitworth = £35 per month Triumph - £673 to £1346 O'Brien - £349 or just £25 per month! How on earth did anybody ever afford to buy them!

They didn't, couldn't is the simple answer. These products weren't made for the masses. They were made for discerning people of substance. The common man was expected to walk. If these products had been made too cheap, the common man would become weak, feeble.

In any case, the mill, pit and factory owners invariably provided lots of substandard housing such that the common man wouldn't have to walk too far. It was only if the common man got ideas above his station that he might need some form of mechanised transport..

I live in one of those houses but built in 1911 so local council kept an overseeing eye. It has been modernised so does have inside toilet and bathroom. It would not be more than 3/4 mile to any of the mills in Accrington. It's downhill to get you to work on time in the morning but an uphill struggle after a 12hr shift. People forget that the unions did a great deal for the pay and conditions of the workers over the last century.

Hi all Some positive news, I hope The old Brico

My grandfather, H W Kendall, was involved with early trade unions in Coventry and was elected to represent the United Machine Workers at a national gathering in Westminster Central Hall during WW1 when Lloyd George had accused Trades Union Officials of sending a circular to watch and annoy a certain man with a view to retarding output at the Ordnance Works. In fact the workforce was working flat out to achieve the output required for weaponry.

My grandad, HW Kendall, left Grantham for Coventry in 1905 to work at the Ordnance Works. He was a skilled toolmaker, seen in this photo in a bowler hat next to the girl with tambourine. My grandma, Mary is the fourth lady from left front beside the float. Herbert may have been the Secretary of the Group, as he was later involved with early Trade Unions. Photo perhaps 1912-13.

Having read through this thread, there are a lot of familiar OEM names, but not mentioned anywhere are the hundreds of "sub-contract" machinists and additional services such as heat-treatments, platers, flame hardeners etc that kept Coventry's manufacturing going. Without the one man bands and small workshops, our manufacturing would have ended a lot sooner.