Courtaulds

Hi Disorganised1 Was that in the lower ground floor of what is now Sutherland House?

Hi Disorganised1 Does the name Rodger Bowler come to mind? Always very obliging.

Indeed Rodger was my first boss in Courtaulds when I started as a Data control clerk, and his wife Pat was in charge of the punch girls. We had a strong sports section in those days, and Roger was a prominent member of every team we ran, though I recall badminton was his particular forte.

Does anyone remember the bridge that linked the two Courtaulds sites over Foleshill Road? I have searched high and low and can find no photograph of this. Can anyone help? Also I seem to remember that Courtaulds fitted carpet on one of it's external employee stairways to test the strength of the man-made fibres. Is that true? Finally was a formula one car displayed at the Foleshill Road site (possibly a Tyrrell in 1988)?

Hi David You are correct regards the enclosed footbridge, which connected Courtaulds Engineering Ltd, the current derelict building on the left travelling south, to the Courtaulds plc company. Carpet & floor coverings were always on test for all manner of wear & tear. A beam detector counted the usage. I will look for some pictures. I can also confirm the Formula One car. Courtaulds plc was a sponsor.

Thank you Philip. I was beginning to think I had imagined it about the bridge. I would love to see a picture of this. I never worked at Courtaulds but passed by the Foleshill Road site hundreds of times on my way to and from Coventry on the number 20 Corporation bus when a child and later in an assortment of old cars!

Hi David, List of formula one sponsors in 1991. 1991Arrows: Footwork, Shell, Blaupunkt, Porsche, CamozziBenetton: Sanyo, Autopolis, Camel, MobilBrabham: Autobacs, Misukoshi, Sumitomo Marine, BP, Yamazen, YamahaColoni: Mateus, GalpFerrari: Fiat, Agip, Marlboro, PioneerFondmetal: Fondmetal, AgipJordan: 7Up, Fuji, Shoei, BP, Osama, Ireland, BrooksfieldLarrousse: Toshiba, UnisysLeyton House: Leyton House, Perdigao, BPLigier: Gitanes, Loto, ElfLotus: BP, Tamiya, Komatsu, Pepe Jeans, Lotus CarsMcLaren: Marlboro, Shell, Courtaulds, TAG/HeuerMinardi: SCM, Resta, AgipModena Team: Victors, Fini, Central Park, Grana Padano, LeaseplanScuderia Italia: Marlboro, Lucchini, Agip, LusfinaTyrrell: Braun, PIAA, Calbee, Nippon Shinpan, Essilor, Shell, CourtauldsWilliams: Elf, Renault, Labatt's, Canon, Camel, Bull During that period & following years, the Courtaulds Group logo appeared on the cars.

Philip - thank you for your list which shows the wealth of sponsorship support for F1 at that time. Courtaulds were involved in F1 sponsorship for ten years from 1986 to 1995 inclusive. They firstly sponsored Tyrrell in 1986 and 1987, and also backed Lotus in 1988. From 1989 they sponsored McLaren right through to 1995, adding Tyrrell again for one year in 1991. I can only speculate, but think that the F1 car displayed at the Coventry factory may have been the 1986 Tyrrell. I think this partly because this was the first year of Courtaulds' F1 sponsorship, and partly because the Tyrrell had "COURTAULDS" written on the side in large letters! I am also sure that the Tyrrell executives would have been very interested in the Foleshill Road site as it was here at Courtaulds Grafil that the carbon fibre used in making the F1 car's body tubs was made.

Hi David The period also coincided with the re-launch of the company group & F1 was the sort-after image.

There's a nice postcard image on ebid at the moment, apparently showing employees leaving Courtaulds and awaiting to board a queue of four trams. [item since delisted] Courtaulds had it's own tramway siding, which was double track. I believe many of the ladies came from Bedworth and were nicknamed 'sardines' because of the way they packed onto the trams.

Nice find Mcsporran how posh the area looks to now.

I can remember the trams waiting in the siding, they were always open top as the entrance was not high enough to take the enclosed roof top trams. Imagine travelling all the way to Bedworth on a snowy winters night. I was looking at the offices opposite yesterday, it's a disgrace to let a fine building like this get into this vandalised state. Are there any plans to conserve this building?

In my final year at school (left Woodlands in 1970) I began to spend a lot of time watching the two steam locos that still worked The Foleshill Railway (which was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Courtaulds). Run as an independent railway company, its main function was to haul loaded coal over Kingfield Road and into the works to power the coal operated boilers. Once emptied, the wagons were then returned to Websters Siding(s) on the Coventry to Nuneaton branch, from where they were taken to local collieries for loading once again. Less well known, even in the final few years of the railway, was the hauling of scrap metal away from the J & H B Jackson scrapyard for reprocessing at various steelworks around the country. Jacksons still exists, of course, on Stoney Stanton Road. At the time of the official closure of the Foleshill Railway (1972), the official address of Jacksons was 'Websters Siding, Stoney Stanton Road, Coventry'. My attachment to the Railway continued right up to closure, and in those final 2 years, I got to know quite well a lot of the operational management of Courtaulds as well as Jacksons. As a 16-17 year old with a real interest in their railway, both companies allowed me access - albeit restricted on occasions - to encourage and assist me in my quest to photograph every inch of the Railway from 'Websters Siding' signalbox at the rear of the Daimler works on the Nuneaton branch, right through to 'Websters Sidings', Stoney Stanton Road. This not being a railway thread, my reason for giving the background is that I was invited by Courtaulds to the official farewell to the Foleshill Railway. Every visitor was presented with a ribbon that had been specially woven on a former Cash's machine that formed part of the Courtaulds technical collection. I do have the full 'technical' information available somewhere (still buried in the spare bedroom following building work during the summer). This was contained in a handout available at the time. I know these ribbons were produced 'on site' as I was able to watch them being woven during my visit. Seeing as the site has been flattened, would anybody know what happened to the Courtaulds technical collection?

I joined Courtaulds Research in 1984 and they had a textile testing facility at 72 Lockhurst Lane with a mixture of knitting and other equipment. I don't recall a ribbon machine, but I didn't have much involvement in this area. The textile testing facility lasted until the closure on Courtaulds Research in 1999. There was also a Viscose research laboratory built on the "Main Works" site next to the Canal in the 1960's, but this had been converted to a training/conference centre by the time I went there.in the 1990's. Courtaulds were closely involved with the British Textile Technology Group (now BTTG) so I expect any redundant equipment would have been offered to them, or possibly to a University through BTTG, so that Courtaulds could still have accessed the facility if needed. Anything that couldn't be given away will have been scrapped. Peter.

Thanks very much for your response Peter.