A New Factory at Chadderton

1930s 1940s

On the 16th August 1938, Air Minister Sir Kingsley Wood announced
that the Government would fund the construction of a new aircraft
factory by A. V. Roe & Co. Ltd. The factory would occupy an area of
750,000 square feet.

The site chosen was in the fields along Greengate, Chadderton and a firm of Architects, Dixon, Hill, and Company were employed for the Design. Building was quickly started and 7 months later in March 1939 the first employees began to arrive from the Avro works at Newton Heath. Office staff, Tool room and Pattern shop were some of the first to arrive.

On the 31st of March King George VI escorted by Roy Dobson, Roy Chadwick and others, visited the Newton Heath factory and the Avro Ivy works at Failsworth. Those personnel that had transferred to Chadderton sadly missed any opportunity to see the King on that day.

Transferring personnel were given a tap on the shoulder, and any with heavy toolboxes could hitch a ride on one of the many lorries moving goods. Others had to use public transport which terminated at the Gardeners Arms Pub at New Moston and walk the rest of the way.

The early days were grim as it was cold and damp during the spring that year, and since there were no canteen facilities the day seemed twice as long, work on the main assembly bays progressed rapidly underneath large tarpaulin sheets over the roof structure to keep the rain out.

The Chadderton site was officially in full swing on the 3rd September1939 and the first aircraft to be produced was the Bristol Blenheim Mk.1of which 250 were built as part of a contract to manufacture 718 with Bristol Aeroplane Company and Rootes Securities at Speke, Liverpool.


The factory was bombed on Easter Monday 1941, fortunately workers
were on holiday and no-one was injured. The bomb scattered rivets in
the rivet store all over causing a significant break in production.

Identifying the various rivet sizes was hard but Avro turned to the Henshaws Institute for the Blind for help. Blind people could feel the sizes of rivets by touch and feel better than a non blind person using their eyesight. Production quickly restarted.

When production started of the Avro Lancaster in early 1942, the aircraft were built using semi-skilled men and women, all working an average 66 hours per week on 12hr shifts. By January 1943 the footprint of the factory had increased by a further 273,780 sq. ft, the equivalent of almost 16 football pitches making it Britain's largest aircraft factory.

(Monochrome Photograph showing) - View of the Front Offices and Entrance at Chadderton c1949
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