Chadderton Factory (1939 2013) - 1

The Newton Heath factory had served Avro well throughout the 1920s and 1930s, but with the war clouds gathering it was announced by the government that Avro would have a new plant built. The site chosen was at Chadderton near Oldham and Avro dynamic duo, Roy Dobson and Roy Chadwick decreed that this facility should be twice the size of the other aircraft factories.

Employees from Newton Heath began moving into the new works in the Spring of 1939 with aircraft production commencing soon afterwards although not with an Avro design, but with the Bristol Blenheim light bomber which the Company built under licence. This type was followed by the Avro 679 Manchester twin engined bomber, but poor engine performance forced Roy Chadwick to search for alternative power plants. The answer came with the Rolls-Royce Merlin, an excellent engine which was proving itself in the famous Spitfire and Hurricane fighters. Four of these engines were installed in a modified Manchester and from that emerged the greatest bomber to see service during the Second World War, the Avro 683 Lancaster.

The wartime production of the Lancaster was over 7,000 with almost 3,000 being manufactured at Chadderton. The plant manufactured all of the large components which were then transported to Woodford for final assembly, a practice which continued throughout the factory's working life.