of Invicta Works, Grantham. Road rollers, dumpers, graders, bulldozers, concrete mixers.
General
1932 AGE - Agricultural and General Engineers went into receivership and Aveling and Porter acquired the assets of of Barford and Perkins
1934 They changed their name to Aveling-Barford.
Early in 1934 the business was transferred from Rochester to Grantham on a 36 acre site which was leased from Ruston and Hornsbya Director of R & H based at the Ransomes subsidiary in Ipswich, and George Ruston Sharpley,
1937 Became a public company to raise £320,000 and on the board of directors were Edward James Barford, William Geoffrey Barford (from Barford and Perkins) and and John Heinrich Wulff Pawlyn also a director of Ruston and Hornsby based at the Ransomes subsidiary in Ipswich and George Ruston Sharpleythe managing director of Ruston and Hornsby.
Without the financial assistance of Ruston & Hornsby of Lincoln, both Aveling and Porter and Barford and Perkins would not have survived. Ruston and Hornsby funded the amalgamation of the two companies, and gave them part of their Grantham site. For many years all the vehicles were powered by R & H diesel engines. R & H had also previously made road rollers, but concentrated this all at Grantham.[1]
1937 The firm claim they make 75% of all rollers in the UK at present. [2]
1937 Road and aerodrome roller manufacturers. "Invicta" Rollers. "Pioneer" Rollers. [3]
WWII During the war the company built bren gun carriers for the army, shell fuse caps and various precision-made components for tanks and submarines.
1960 Advert for dumpers and graders. Linked to Goodwin Barsby and Co.
1960s Aveling-Barford continued to prosper in the immediate postwar period, but the 1960s and 1970s were difficult decades for the firm. The workforce was slashed and the company's range of products was dramatically reduced.
1961 Group manufacture road rollers, dumpers, motor graders, calfdozers, trench cutters, shovels, road, quarry, gravel and contractors' plant, diary sterilising and pasteurising equipment, agricultural, horticultural and drainage implements, concrete mixers, and small dumpers. [4]
1967 it became part of British Leyland Motor Corporation. British Leyland engines were to be used as part of the deal, but there were reliability problems.
Aveling-Barford still survives today as part of Wordsworth Holdings, which bought the firm in 1988.
Barfords is now owned by Invictas Engineering.
The records of Aveling-Barford include build records, product catalogues, photographs and engineering plans. Many of the records date from before the 1934 merger and therefore relate to the two constituent companies.
Rollers
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Wikipedia
- ↑ The Times, Wednesday, Jun 30, 1937
- ↑ 1937 The Aeroplane Directory of the Aviation and Allied Industries
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- ↑ The Times, February 21, 1986
- [1] Lincolnshire Archives
- Mining Year Book 1960. Published by Walter E. Skinner. Advert p57
- Steam Engine Builders of Lincolnshire by Ronald H. Clark. Published 1955 by Goose and Son