Birmingham Car Factories: The end at Longbridge

[coalnotdole]

Thought there may be some interest in the following photos. I took them after the closure of the Longbridge plant the historic home of Austin, Rover and various other brands from the British Leyland stable.

 

My visit came after the Shanghai automotive company had finished sending the production line to china piece by piece. I was a bit disappointed that there was not more of the production process to see but It had been thoroughly asset stripped and the stuff not of value had already been scrapped. Whats left are the empty production areas of the famous south works as I saw them shortly after demolition had started. Today only MG production line still stands, though that too is really a shadow of its former self.

 

The following is a collection of photos of my wanderings through the remains of what was once the largest car factory in Europe.

 

Road beside transmission building (right)

 

 

Rail Spur.

 

 

Hatch in a basement.

 

 

This part of the factory was making plastic mouldings Including bumpers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toilet block there were many of these.

 

 

 

 

Stairwell to an assembly area these were split over multiple levels and rooms now missing its production line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posters in one of the offices:

 

 

 

More production areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope thats of interest, I'll stick the LDV, Ward End works post up in a bit which had alot more left in it.

[BrianDamaged]

Superb. I live about four miles from Longbridge, and a lot of family/friends worked there. Like many others I spent many a Sunday watching through the fence as they demolished the place in 2006/7. Rover's demise left a huge hole in our local community that will probably never be filled.

[Rusty Pelican]

Sad but fascinating photos , looks how the british economy feels , id have wandered off with a poster or two myself

Thanks for posting

[AeroNautiCal]

Car production... Steel Production... Coal Mining... Ship Building... Engineering... Manufacturing...

[Lankytim]

At the time Rover went down the pan I worked for a haulier who was asked to recover all the plastic bumpers from Longbridge, I think the firm who made them was called Plastic Omnium- they had a depot at Hams Hall and now manufacture wheelie bins! The bumper factory buildings was full of machinery and had a skeleton staff of less than enthusiastic workers loading lorries. In my 12 hour shift I failed to collect ANY bumpers!

 

The factory had pretty much just closed down and had a very eerie feeling about it. I spent hours wandering about exploring. I found that much of the site looked like it had been derelict for decades and was in a very poor state. I remember being struck at how large the place was. Go back now and its pretty much all gone. Soon to be replaced my a mega Sainsburies. Great stuff eh, Great Britain? keep up the great work!

[Mr Lobster]

Really interesting to see, some of that looks like its been empty for decades! Thanks for posting.

[Cavcraft]

Plastic Omnium (French outfit) had a bloody big factory on Halesfield 7 (iirc) in Telford and did indeed make wheelie bins too. Got my former workplace a bloody big contract job there so used to call up to O.P (as they were known) everyday.

It was mostly robot controlled spray painting and they were doing shed loads of work for Rover and possibly Vauxhall at one point. Someone who had connections there set up his own business making garden furniture and other stuff out of the scrap plastic bumpers and the idea and products were fantastic. Unfortunately they couldn't get backing and the business collapsed which was a right shame.

 

The collapse of the Rover (and LDV) empire obviously sent shock waves in lots of places: Another firm in Telford used to make the roof linings (and sound deadening iirc) for LDV vans, I expect they've folded now too.

 

Aeronautical is bang on the money here, it really does sicken me when I think how many great British industries have shut. The trouble is we won't be getting them back any time soon (if indeed ever) as it all seems to be pissing off abroad.

[Lord Sterling]

I feel sick to the stomach looking at those photos and wondering what cold have been. I live literally 3 or 4 miles from Longbridge, its a straight drive there from where I am. I have been to Longbridge numerous times but have never ever been able to get in and have a proper look around. I never really got to see Longbridge when it was still up and running as I was too young and stupid to know about it despite my love for Rovers. By the time I found out where Longbridge was it was too late, I would have loved to have gone a tour around the site just to see it and know I have actually been inside the old Rover site, that will never happen now.

 

Plastic Omnium (French outfit) had a bloody big factory on Halesfield 7 (iirc) in Telford

 

Oh yes, I know this place pretty well, I remember seeing kids plastic slides and playhouses out on the yard, Fatha_Sterling used to work at BAT in Halesfield 9.

[Cavcraft]

In fact I think OP used to make the chrome (look) radiator grilles for Rover too as recall seeing thousands of the things knocking about.

 

Telford must have been quite a hot spot for shite related industry because there was a huge (GKN Sankey) factory near the Whitchurch end of Telford who made the chassis for Land Rovers amongst other things.

[Bren]

We can thank our politicians for this - Maggie was prepared to let it all go to the wall rather than be held to ransom by the unions, who, to be fair,at times did'nt do themselves any favours. It was'nt as if they were turning out top class products and could afford to be militant.

 

Roll on to the new labour era, they did'nt care too much about manufacturing either, they were quite happy to pacify the electorate with jobs in banks / supermarkets / cafes and other service industries. All well and good until the big meltdown, dickheads like Nick Clegg then saying publicly "why don't we manufacture any thing anymore?" you tell us Nick, you tell us.

 

I am just reading a book about operation "Black BUCK", which was the RAF's assault on Port Stanley by it's Vulcan fleet. The fleet was being wound down due to Budgets being cut. A lack of training meant that in flight refuelling was becoming a lost art, in fact a lot of the in flight refuelling equipment had been scrapped and had to be taken back from a scrappy in Lincolnshire.

 

While reading this I was struck by the similarities between that period and the one we are in now. Never, ever trust politicians as they are only in for their own personal gain.

[Cavcraft]

Was it 'Vulcan 607' by any chance Bren? That's a fantastic and fascinating read that I found very hard to put down.

[lancashireclamper]

Last one out of the UK switch the lights off..........................................................

[Vinylseats]

What are those round things?

 

[scaryoldcortina]

basin, for washing of hands....

[Cavcraft]

..usually full of orange coloured Swarfega and large black blobs of grease or oil. Another one of those aromas you can almost smell from looking at photographs!

I bet the cubicle walls were full of graffiti about the manager, his wife and the bloke from line three who was always creeping up to the bosses.

[Rhythm Thief]

Great pics. I'm another who used to deliver stuff into Longbridge - I pulled trailers out of Exel in Landor Street for a while on the Rover contract. I remember hearing on the news about Rover going under and thinking "well, that'll affect that place in Bromyard where we collect the front bumpers from, and the carpet place in Liverpool. Oh, and the exhaust factory up at Blackpool, and the windscreen place in wherever-that-was ..." it really was more than just Longbridge that was affected when it all finished. It was afascinating place to look around though, even if it very quickly became apparent upon entering the site that it was never designed to manoevre articulated lorries around.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

We can thank our politicians for this - Maggie was prepared to let it all go to the wall rather than be held to ransom by the unions, who, to be fair,at times did'nt do themselves any favours. It was'nt as if they were turning out top class products and could afford to be militant.

 

I deplore the tories, but the above is totally inaccurate - Maggie's crew reluctantly agreed to two huge cash injections into BL. In fact the K-series was effectively paid for with taxpayer cash.

[Station]

Rover car were usually slagged off in the press and the general public wasn't overly loyal to the brand like other countries are, it's a massive shame it's all gone, but it's the way Britain is.

[scruff]

Great pics - and echo all the above, such a shame

[Pillock]

Rover car were usually slagged off in the press and the general public wasn't overly loyal to the brand like other countries are, it's a massive shame it's all gone, but it's the way Britain is.

 

No, as with anything cash is king and Rover just couldn't build a quality product at the same price point as anyone assembling overseas and paying workers less. They could have done with picking a market and sticking with it, instead of emulating Ford and Vauxhall and trying to get their fingers into every pie going. Purely marketing luxury cars might have worked, you get to a price point and then people will just "absorb" a few grand here and there, because they like the brand. A Mercedes fan will pay more for a Mercedes than an equivalent BMW because he likes the Mercedes. A buyer of a super-mini will swap brands for the sake of £50 and a free first service, so to get down to that price point the Rover quality had to suffer. Had they stuck to their roots and kept in the luxury sector, they could have pretty much charged what they liked for quality and "Britishness".

[Owain-328i]

It is a shame, what does the UK manufacture and export these days?? No longer a world player IMHO, if there was a war now i recon we'd be properly screwed.

 

Take us lot in Wales, the whole country is pretty much made of coal, (i know its been heavily mined, but we havent scratched the surface), yet instead of getting our own stuff out of the ground, most of it is import from china! Totally rediculous.

 

Lets take a moment to reminice about when the UK was great;

 

 

 

 

 

 

[coalnotdole]

Take us lot in Wales, the whole country is pretty much made of coal, (i know its been heavily mined, but we havent scratched the surface), yet instead of getting our own stuff out of the ground, most of it is import from china! Totally rediculous.

 

I agree with your sentiment but the facts are off the mark, We dont import Chinese coal. China is net importer of Coal they domintate of course in the production of manufactured goods. We currently import coal from many other places though, Eastern europe and Russia are big suppliers.

 

Glad these posts are of interest though.

[Pillock]

Is it a complete change in attitude though? Ask a generic grandfather figure about "the olden days" and his answer will be a verbal version of those pictures - when we made things, when we fixed things, and when we were bloody good at it. Engineering works - not a factory producing a particular product, but a proper engineering works - were in every town. They'd just make stuff, I imagine there'd be guys sat in there with mucky overalls on, a box full of imperial spanners, an office full of rolls of paper and set squares, and they'd bloody well just make stuff.

 

In the deepest darkest olden days, if your car went wrong you'd fix it. It wasn't bodging, it was fixing and it more than likely involved a hammer and some rope. Now you get frowned at if you don't proceed immediately to a main dealer and sit in their glass and chrome waiting room whilst someone fits a genuine part, whilst following the step-by-step guide. But this is now normal to just give up all rational thought and throw money at a problem, having no understanding of how it's going to get resolved. The importing coal from Russia - a choice most likely made by someone in an office, with a load of money, who thinks holes in the ground sounds rather dangerous.

 

Blimey, that turned into a bit of a rant! Have this as an apology.

[CIH]

 

........Lets take a moment to reminice about when the UK was great;

 

 

 

weren't thy built in Romania ?

[Pillock]

That's 56's you're thinking of

 

50's were built at the Vulcan Works, according to Wiki.

[overheadvalve]

Car production... Steel Production... Coal Mining... Ship Building... Engineering... Manufacturing...

Agree with this, we are however great at bailing out banks, building retail parks and......warehousing for all the foreign crap people here keep buying. We, as a country with a manufacturing base are so fuc*ed.

 

We can thank our politicians for this - Maggie was prepared to let it all go to the wall rather than be held to ransom by the unions, who, to be fair,at times did'nt do themselves any favours. It was'nt as if they were turning out top class products and could afford to be militant.

 

Roll on to the new labour era, they did'nt care too much about manufacturing either, they were quite happy to pacify the electorate with jobs in banks / supermarkets / cafes and other service industries. All well and good until the big meltdown, dickheads like Nick Clegg then saying publicly "why don't we manufacture any thing anymore?" you tell us Nick, you tell us.......

Thatcher? yes but she didn't shaft us and wage wholesale war on you know who at any cost (Dr David Kelly???)

She didn't give cash to bail out the banks either. She refused to sell Austin Morris to Volkswagen group, they asked on two occasions and she refused so they went away and purchased Skoda.

They all all born liars though, only thinking of themselves.

[garethj]

They could have done with picking a market and sticking with it, instead of emulating Ford and Vauxhall and trying to get their fingers into every pie going. Purely marketing luxury cars might have worked, you get to a price point and then people will just "absorb" a few grand here and there, because they like the brand. A Mercedes fan will pay more for a Mercedes than an equivalent BMW because he likes the Mercedes. A buyer of a super-mini will swap brands for the sake of £50 and a free first service, so to get down to that price point the Rover quality had to suffer. Had they stuck to their roots and kept in the luxury sector, they could have pretty much charged what they liked for quality and "Britishness".

Agree with this, and perhaps that's what they had in mind towards the end when they killed off Austin. Thing is, nobody's stupid and everyone saw that a Montego with a Rover badge wasn't worth paying a premium for.

 

It's not just far eastern competition either; Germany does alright making cars.

 

It is a shame, what does the UK manufacture and export these days??

I work as a design engineer, and we do still make some things here. In our factory we make at least 100,000 products a year and sell them worldwide. Unfortunately the man in the corner office is an accountant and if the cost at the bottom of your spreadsheet is bigger than the one on someone else's spreadsheet, production moves elsewhere.

 

We are very good at short term gain here, the only 5 year plan CEOs have is to increase profits (at whatever cost) and jump ship to another place for an extra 100 grand a year.

[Pillock]

 

It's not just far eastern competition either; Germany does alright making cars.

 

 

Premium cars. A 1-series BMW is over £18k. The lowest spec Polo is over half that.

Remember the Lupo? VW killed it as people were crying out for a cheap car, and the Lupo wasn't cheap. So they introduced the Fox and proved that they couldn't build nice, cheap cars - it's horrible.

Rover were just a bit confused as to what their strong point was.... cheap superminis? Luxury wafty barges? They made them all, but didn't specialise in anything.

[Lankytim]

All of the electronic/rubber/lighting components we sell are manufactured in China, but when they go to another customer to sell the country of origin is usually marked down as U.K. giving the impression that they are made in Britain.

 

I bet that 99% of everything in the U.K is made in China, or atleast made from components made in China.

[Alexg]

 

Good news

 

The vehicle details for UOM 297 are:

 

Date of Liability 01 12 2011

Date of First Registration 08 03 1957

Year of Manufacture 1957

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 948CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status SORN Not Due

Vehicle Colour CREAM

Vehicle Type Approval

 

Bad News

 

The vehicle details for B101 KLV are:

 

Date of Liability 01 05 1997

Date of First Registration 05 09 1984

Year of Manufacture 1984

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1275CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour BLACK

Vehicle Type Approval