Watch and Clock Industry in Coventry

I know the numbering in Allesley Old Road was weird! As I said, they had three back workshops. 25 must have been where the workshop was, when I was there in 1970-73. 31 was the main office, where accounts and Personnel were, as well as the post room and general office. I worked at the second house from the Hearsall Lane corner (now no 15 - maybe it was then, but I never used the number, simply knew where I had to go to work!) And, as I said, production was at 69 Hearsall Lane - the factory half way up the hill on the left going out of town. There was a car park behind that place, that we all used, except Jim Pledger and Jay Lucas. It should go without saying that there was no way to get the 120 employees into the premises at 31, on just two floors!! For a time, production was at 15,upstairs in the back workshop plus the three bedrooms (I inhabited the back one, the Technical Director, Jim Pledger, was in the front one, and his secretary in the boxroom). At the far end of the back workshop was a small canteen; there was a mission twice a day to go over the road to the bakery to buy cakes and sandwiches. When I was there it was a "tradition" that, if anyone was biting into a cream cake as the last person came into the canteen, it was that last person's duty to shove it into their face accompanied with a "Hah so!!"! (We were truly mad in those days!!! Young, of course... ) They made a huge mistake in going to Rowley Road; most production workers were women, they had no transport (except the bus) and at least half couldn't get to Rowley Road. It cost a fortune to have the factory built, and they simply ran out of cash, and cash flow. They were taken over by Rockwell. Jay Lucas had an estate at Moreton Morell; his father had owned a coopers' business, and Jay sold it, and used the money to set up Lexor in 1959. Jim Pledger had a pay-off from Rockwell that allowed him to set up a small business in Warwick, also making some delay-lines for sonar (his "fishfinders".)

They hated the work anyway Keith, they told me it was poorly paid and boring. One of the girls couldn't even tell me exactly what it was she was making other than it involved "soldering something to something else". Their one ambition in life was to get married and leave and there was a huge celebration with the other girls at the Hearsall Inn when one of them succeeded! I'm curious to know where the 'bakery' was Keith? I believe there was a cafe or snack bar near the bottom of Hearsall Lane just opposite No4 but I was strangely oblivious to it during the years I lived there.

It was in the row of 1950s shops. I suppose 'bakery' was giving it too much credit - I think it was owned by a proper bakery in town (can't remember who though) and sold cream cakes, sandwiches, bread, etc. I know that the women who worked in our building also sometimes came back with tea bags, coffee, milk, that sort of thing. But they sold rather nice cakes, especially the cream ones. It's a wonder we weren't all enormous. I think the door may have been on the corner. The thing about Rowley Road, though, was that the women had to be trained, and they couldn't train new ones instantly. That caused a lot of problems, so I was told (since I'd left by then), and production dropped sharply. A lot walked to work in Hearsall Lane, so it generally suited them OK. There wasn't a lot else close by. Some wouldn't have been allowed to tell you what they were making, because some of the work was for the Admiralty. The office girls went to the Albany pub, especially for hen dos. Our secretary had her bag stolen there one lunchtime. Left it under a table, and someone somehow took it. She also had her bag rifled and stuff - including her purse - taken one lunchtime, when she was in the canteen making Jim's tea. That made us all feel a bit uncomfortable, and we didn't want to leave our stuff unattended; but it must have been someone who knew the place and the working day, or they wouldn't have known when to come in and find the secretary out of her office. Incidentally, one of the guys who worked with me (Pete Faulconbridge) started his own business, which was in the house that I think was in front of Errington's workshops. He made industrial light fittings and power distribution kit.

My memory of those shops is extremely fuzzy as well Keith and I walked past them every day for three years! The numbering system in that entire area is extremely confusing as well. The eleven small watchmaker's dwellings of Stanley Terrace (now gone) were given the even numbers between 2 and 22 in Allesley Old Road. The odd numbers 1-11 were abandoned completely but can be thought of as occupying the empty space across the width of Hearsall Lane. As I mentioned before the odd numbers on the South side resumed at 13. The rear of No 13 was No2 Hearsall Lane. As already mentioned the rear of 17 Allesley Old Road was No 4 Hearsall Lane. This is where it gets fun, No 6 Hearsall Lane was the rear of No 3 Craven Street and my stepfather's workshop at No 8 Hearsall Lane was the rear of No 7 Craven Street! Four buildings in Spon End - Nos 59-62 - were demolished to allow Hearsall Lane to be widened. The new shop on the corner was then given the number 61 so there is a now a jump in the numbers from 58 to 61!

That explains why I remember No 4 - it must have been No 4 Hearsall Lane; there was a printed circuit maker on the lower floor at that end (Pete Oliver) PGE Electronics, as I remember. (He moved to somewhere up near to Gosford Green in later times, up Payne's Lane and off to the left - there was a small industrial estate there.) And guess what - I walked past the Hearsall Lane shops almost every day for 3 years too. But I never bought any cakes there, so I never took any notice of them, although I remember a builders' merchant being in the two shops furthest away from the junction (Builders' Supply?). Other times, I drove past them, and I was more interested in the traffic and the traffic lights. I can't quite remember what was there before the shops; I think there were old houses there, and they were occupied but in not wonderful condition (probably rented). But again, I only went past on the bus or as a passenger in my father or brother's car (my brother was a lot older than me), until I drove myself, 1964 on. Irritating, innit?

Hi Dutchman and Keith. Would you happen to know if this numbering also applied to the rear of no 21 Allesley Old Road? I ask, because, in 1960 I worked for Edmondsons Tools, who were using the lower building at the rear of no 21 AOR, yet the vans were sign written as Craven St and the shop was accessed from Craven St.

Yep, "Builders Supply Merchants". Also Gibbs TV showroon on the corner and O'Neil the bookmaker somewhere in the row. Gibbs shop had been a cafe until 1959 but was abandoned when the nearby Plaza cinema closed. There was also an abandoned factory "Smith & Sons", somethng to do with the calibration of watches if I remember correctly? This is the view from Hearsall Lane, Broomfield Place is on the left, Stanley Terrace is in the distance: These are views from the Allesley Old Road, all of the buildings in these pictures were demolished. The new shops were set much further back:

Strangely not Adrian. Although most of the premises were arguably in Craven Street it doesn't affect the numbering system. The houses on that side are all even numbered beginning with the first house after the workshops which is No 2.

Thanks Dutchman.Very much appreciated.I,ll take it as read, as I know you know your stuff.

The buildings on the left remained, of course. I have a vague recollection of some of the buildings on the right, and certainly those over the other side of AOR. You can see the entrance to No4 next to the 'garage' on the left. That 'garage' was where P G Oliver was, at least, part of his workshop. He made a lot of printed circuit boards for Lexor, including our prototypes. The high wall was still there, too. The bookmaker was round the corner as I remember, and was still there during my time at Lexor; I am pretty sure that Gibbs had gone by then, though; the fate of most out-of-town TV/radio shops. A lot of them came into being around 1950-53, and the boom in tape recording in the 50s was their zenith (I used to be able to recall the names of 36 British - yes, really - British tape recorder manufacturers in about 1958!); that was when Mercer's TV/radio shop was in the Butts, and that, too, had gone by about 1962 or 3. I don't quite understand why they demolished the houses on the far side of AOR, because they left the pub, and it was to the same building line, so, logically, it couldn't have been for road widening (and I don't recall AOR being widened there, anyway). Can you recall the pub's name - I can still picture the sign, but not the name? The watch factory: George Smith, at Broomfield Place in 1850 sounds logical; but there is also a Henry Smith, aged 27, managing a factory of 50 people, in 1851 (he was from Stafford); also, Henry Smith, "AOR, Chapelfields" in 1900, but no building number. Both are designated as watchmakers. The only other Smith that is interesting or relevant is William B Smith; he was at 8 Lord St in 1866; 44 Mount St in 1878; 19 Norfolk St in 1896; and 48 Gas St in 1900 and on. There was a Henry Smither at 40 Craven St in 1880-93. I think it would be quite interesting to get a map of Chapelfields, also of Earlsdon, say 1880 or 1900, with all the houses and their numbers marked, and put names to as many as possible. It looks as if the 'factory' was entered from AOR, doesn't it? But "Alf Holland" looks like a motor repair shop, so it probably had an entrance from Broomfield Place. I'd be inclined to think it was George Smith's factory; could be that Henry was George's son, managing it, then running it.

The "Black Horse". Stanley Terrace had been left derelict for years and residents of the newly-built estate behind it complained to the council. There was a proposal to knock down the pub as well and add a bus lane to AOR but in the end a watchmaker's memorial garden was created on the site of Stanley Terrace instead: The last registered occupant was British Tankers Ltd (hence the BP advert). The premises was officially vacant by 1935.

There's a link worth mentioning to the fusee chain making businesses of Christchurch (no pun intended ). Two were bought by Coventry watchmakers. One was bought and operated by Mendel Radges; Joseph Radges had a watchmaking(?) business at Summerland House, Butts from 1865-85, and at Argyle House, Butts, from 1886-92. With a name like Radges, has to be the same family! Since some chains were made in Coventry (and Birmingham too), I'd guess chains were made at those addresses. The other business was bought by William Clarke and Partners, but was mainly run by the son, Edward Ernest (who also sold bicycles). The most likely Clarke is James William Clarke of 36 Craven St 1864-73 and 2 White St 1874-8. I think Stanley Terrace was occupied in my lifetime. But I don't remember the factory - I think it must have been much altered before the houses were demolished and the shops built. I don't remember there being a George Masons shop there either. If you look carefully at the photo showing a bit of Broomfield Place, there is what looks like a watch factory on the extreme right; that is probably Smith's. So far as 'calibrating watches' is concerned, that wouldn't need a factory, since they were rated at the end of the finishing stage. I looked again at the Alf Holland sign, and I can't make it out - are the words clearer on the original? What's the date of that photograph?

Stanley Terrace is the row of houses facing the junction. Most were used as shops until the 1970s but were converted back to private dwellings shortly before demolition. You might remember the florist and grocer who spread her display right across the pavement to the great annoyance of the council? The houses above the factory were known as 'Hearsall Cottages'. You wouldn't Keith, they moved a few doors further away from the junction before the war. That was probably 'Guillame' watch tools and material suppliers. I don't have the original Keith and it isn't dated but I estimate circa 1934.

(I don't quite understand why they demolished the houses on the far side of AOR, because they left the pub, and it was to the same building line, so, logically, it couldn't have been for road widening (and I don't recall AOR being widened there, anyway). Can you recall the pub's name - I can still picture the sign, but not the name? As I recall, the final demise of this row of houses was triggered by one of them being demolished by a double decker CCT bus which failed to negotiate the junction, having come down Hearsall Lane. This left a gap which from memory attracted vandalism over some time (a gas explosion seems to ring a bell).

I certainly recall a gas explosion, but don't remember a "bus incident"