lesapandre Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Travels in Metroland. I'm off to NW London this morning - Metroland. Let's see if I can spot any remains of the once very extensive north London car industry on my travels. As you can see - people are rushing to work again.. goosey, Dyslexic Viking and LightBulbFun 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Sunbeam, Talbot, Daimler, Rootes, Bentley, Vanden Plas etc all had works up here... Here is a list of London manufacturers some of which were up here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Vehicle_manufacture_in_London Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 https://londonist.com/2015/11/london-made-motors lesapandre and Dave_Q 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSdriver Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Citroen at Slough for Traction Avant and early DS, notably different from their French counterparts Mulliner at Park Ward for toffs lesapandre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martc Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 I live hundreds of miles from that there London, so apologies for the following ignorance - but does Scammel at Watford count as 'London'? lesapandre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Charm Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 5 minutes ago, martc said: I live hundreds of miles from that there London, so apologies for the following ignorance - but does Scammel at Watford count as 'London'? Watford is very much Hertfordshire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martc Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 OK then, how about Aveling & Porter at Rochester? I'll concede that that's not north London, but what about sarf London? lesapandre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 I'm taking as my guide for this occasional series the old County of Middlesex - I even have my 1951 Pevsner with me...but areas further out were all part of this local car-ecology - so Rootes and Bedford at Dunstable, Vauxhall at Luton as well as anything in Hertfordshire. The arc of light-industry that ringed London to the North in the 20's -60's. martc, Dyslexic Viking, chaseracer and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Some interesting transport architecture up here. Park Royal with it's 30's tube station designed by Day, Welch & Lander in an Art Deco/Streamline Moderne style influenced by the Underground's principal architect Charles Holden and opened in 1931. Pevsner included it in his 1951 Buildings of England. D.E, scruff, Shite Ron and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Part of a 30's development, also by Day, Welch and Lander, right on the A40. Integral to the complex was a petrol filling station - all the infrastructure has gone but the attendants booth survives as a shop. Leadville is a good history of Metroland on the A40 which is now multi-lane. meggersdog, Shite Ron, Dyslexic Viking and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorpunk Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Lotus! Started in the garages behind a pub in North London somewhere, as I recall, then a dedicated factory which is now a Jewsons or something (there's a plaque to Chapman on the wall) - 7 Tottenham Lane, London N8 9DJ Will you include Cooper as a manufacturer? If so, get thee to IVEY HOUSE, Hollyfield Rd, Surbiton KT5 9AJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Pastry Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 I can remember going to the Rootes/Chrysler parts department at Barlby Road W10, which was an interesting old art deco building. I think it was the old Sunbeam works? No idea if there is anything left of it now. motorpunk and lesapandre 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorpunk Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 42 minutes ago, Missy Charm said: Watford is very much Hertfordshire. South of Watford Gap and North of France = London. LightBulbFun and martc 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Back on the tube...North Ealing. This is about 1901 and was the terminus for a time until the line was extended. LightBulbFun, DSdriver, scruff and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 A private 1960's estate - by then the car was firmly entrenched in the look of places. (Shows how good 60's architecture can be when it's maintained.) Inter-War Tudor-bethan... here they kept the Morris 10's and Austin 7's in garage courts round the back - producing a different environment. DSdriver, Mr Pastry, somewhatfoolish and 5 others 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 West Acton Tube by the GWR architect Brian Lewis - completed November 1940. LightBulbFun, Shite Ron and Mrs6C 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.E Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 A very obscure bit of car "manufacturing" in London, the bogus Owen brand: https://graham64.wordpress.com/2017/07/11/the-shadowy-owen-motor-car/ motorpunk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 I may be getting somewhere. Surprising how much old style light industry survives. This is Park Royal. Shite Ron and Dyslexic Viking 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Someone loves their Saxo. Few nice cars about - modern Lagonda, couple of old Saabs, superb 60's BMW coupe, old Mercs and a few supercars. mk2_craig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Phew. That's it. Collected my cutting compound from the specialist suppliers up here. Now for some coffee and cake... I hope you have enjoyed this Metroland tour. I looked in Action Cemetery on the way back. Bit more local history. Thread to be continued when I get time up there. Fascinating area - mostly fields until about 1920. 1920 1945 So I will keep posting. 🙋 chaseracer, RoadworkUK, Dyslexic Viking and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scruff Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Awesome thread. In a previous life I spent a lot of time around there scurrying in and out of waterways I never knew existed. Metroland is GR8. lesapandre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorpunk Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 6 hours ago, D.E said: A very obscure bit of car "manufacturing" in London, the bogus Owen brand: https://graham64.wordpress.com/2017/07/11/the-shadowy-owen-motor-car/ That’s a cracking story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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