Metropolitan-Vickers (Metrovicks)

1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s

Trafford Park was originally parkland with Trafford Hall home to the de Trafford family; it was surrounded by a deer park and three farms.
In 1894 the completion of the Manchester Ship Canal gave Manchester access to ocean going ships. By 1898 Trafford Park had become an industrial site.

The British Westinghouse Electric Company, built a factory in 1902 beside the junction of the Bridgewater Canal at Water Meeting Farm. In addition to the factory there was a worker's village with shops, eating rooms, a dance hall, schools, a church, and a cinema.

(Colour Photograph showing) - Metrovicks Mosley Rd aircraft factory

In 1916 British Westinghouse became part of the Metropolitan Carriage Wagon Company which in 1919 was acquired by the Vickers Company. Renamed the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company it was a highly diversified company manufacturing ships, armaments, cars and aircraft.

In 1928 Metrovicks merged with rival British Thomson-Houston (BTH) as part of the Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) holding group.

By 1936 Metrovicks were developing an aircraft autopilot system, radar equipment, were working on a turboprop design developed at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) and developing the F.2 Jet engine - the world's first axial flow jet engine.

In 1938 a Shadow Factory scheme was implemented to increase manufacturing capacity of the British aircraft industry in the build up to WW2. The term 'shadow' was not to mean secrecy, but indicated the factory being staffed by employees alongside (in the shadow of) workers performing their normal duties.

Metrovicks were allocated production of Avro Manchester twin Rolls-Royce Vulture-engined bombers. For this, a new factory on Mosley Road was built and equipped, production commenced in October 1939.

The first Avro Manchester was completed and assembled by November 1940 but a German air raid on 23rd December 1940 severely damaged the factory and destroyed 13 of the Avro Manchesters. Production was delayed by six months, but 44 aircraft were eventually delivered in sections for assembly at Woodford and Ringway before the Manchester was redesigned with four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and renamed the Avro Lancaster of which 1,080 were made at Mosley Road.

After WW2 Metrovicks built 79 Avro Lincoln heavy bombers, but in 1947 the aviation business was sold to Armstrong Siddeley who continued to develop the Metrovicks designed jet engines.

In 1960 Metrovicks became part of Associated Electrical Industries (AEI).The factory was famously visited by Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in July 1961 just three months after he had become the first man in space.

In 1967 AEI was purchased by GEC which became Marconi plc in 1999 after which the Trafford Park site closed, demolished, and redeveloped.

(Monochrome Photograph showing) - Yuri Gagarin in Trafford Park