"It's a small world..."

[Rich Payne]

The factory wasn't used for motorcycles until post-war. The book makes reference to the No.2 factory (Westwood) being used for A/A predictors for Bofors and 6 Pdr

At the time it was built, I can imagine that Anti-Aircraft was a major priority.

All the four-stroke motorcycle production was at Redditch I believe.

[phylo_roadking]

All the four-stroke motorcycle production was at Redditch I believe.

...and the WD/RE 125cc "Flying Flea" - a two stroke - was built at Enfield's Caton Hill plant at Edinburgh during the war...

So that would indeed mean there was NO motorcycle production at Westwood during the war.

Which means there's something askew with that source on Westwood...

This structure began as a tunnel system in a quarry. During the Second World war it served two purposes; one section housed national treasures of great value. It was rumoured that the Crown Jewels were kept here with the area totally secure and even boasting one of the earliest smoke detectors. This area is now not accessible. Another area was used for the building of Royal Enfield motor cycles. The people who worked in both sections used a common entrance.

The Enfield section used for the motorbikes was one of the 'Shadow' factories protecting vital war efforts from bombing. Short Brothers, Rover and Enfield were the three main underground factories. They are known to us now as Shorts, Drakelowe, and Enfield. Enfield was still in use until the beginning of the 90's

Looking at Wiki (of all things!) prvides a possible answer...in relation to the Flying Flea in particular - and possibly the others as surplus??? -

There was a huge demand for cheap and reliable transport after the war so any surviving models which were disposed of as war surplus were stripped down and repainted for civilian use. Most of this work was carried out at Enfield's Bradford-on-Avon works in Wiltshire.

To me - that looks as if the war time premises there were only THEN used for motorcycle work, for processing and servicing/civilianising Royal Enfield war surplus bikes?

[phylo_roadking]

Okay!

Searching round I'm now getting big broad hints that Royal Enfield DIDN'T move into the former Bristol plant at SPRING Quarry in 1967...

...instead they moved what was left of motorcycle production to the WESTWOOD Quarry site, also known as the "Bradford-on-Avon factory"

This from Burton Bike Bits' site...and THEY should know!

In 1981 Burton Bike Bits Purchased the entire Royal Enfield ex-factory Stock From Aerco Jig & Tool, who in 1971 purchased the Bradford-on-Avon Factory and all Stock as well as the Veloce stock. This included Large Quantities of un-machined parts as well as assemblies, i.e.. engines, wheels, gearboxes etc. There was also reams of literature including Brochures, Parts Books and Drawings.

This from the Bradford on Avon Tourist Information and Travel Guide...

The area around Bradford-onAvon is riddled with mines, used for quarrrying the local stone which is similar to the stone which shaped the city of Bath. In the sixties two of the mines in Bradford were taken over by a mushroom growing firm, the even and humid atmosphere of the old mines being perfect for such purposes. The mine at Westwood just outside the town was used for industry, including the Royal Enfield motorcycle plant.

It's looks therefore as if they STILL owned the Westwood Quarry factory site as late as 1967. I wonder what it had been used for in the interim???

[phylo_roadking]

Aha! NOW things start to get clearer!

Royal Enfield Interceptor - 1968 - Classic Motorcycle Guide - RealClassic.co.uk

Production of a revised model, the Interceptor Mk1A, continued however, at a different factory (Enfield Precision Engineers, part of the same group as the main RE concern), based near Bradford on Avon

Royal Enfield - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Royal Enfield was the name under which the Enfield Cycle Company (a division of the British arms-making company Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield Lock), made motorcycles, bicycles, lawnmowers and stationary engines. This legacy of weapons manufacture is reflected in the logo, a cannon, and their motto "Made like a gun, goes like a bullet". Use of the brand name Royal Enfield was licensed by the Crown in 1890. The original Redditch, Worcestershire based company was sold to E. & H. P. Smith in 1963 and then to Norton-Triumph-Villiers (NVT). Production ceased in 1970 and the company was dissolved in 1971

I wonder if the Westwood Quarry site owned by Royal Enfield the marque by 1967 had formerly been an asset of NOT "Royal Enfield" as such during the war, but actually was an asset of the RSAF? After all...

Enfield were making Ack-Ack predictors there so maybe they were on a similar site.

....THAT looks indeed like something the RSAF would have had a hand in...?

[phylo_roadking]

Starting to circle the target now...

Looking at the Wiki article on the RSAF - it looks like it hit very hard times in the 1960's too In 1963 half the Enfield Lock factory site was closed and sold off. I wonder if it sold/transferred assets to "Royal Enfield" at the time...such as the Westwood Quarry site?

As a P.S....

Looks like SmallWorlditis strikes again! It has NOW dragged in the post-war history of the Royal Small Arms Factory!!!

[Rich Payne]

The page that I posted from the RE book refers to Enfield operating the 'Ministry of Supply' factory on behalf of the Directorate of Instrument Production.

Burton Bike Bits' version ties in pretty well with what I have always believed with the exception that perhaps the reason Matt Holder got lots of unfinished parts is because the locals had the good stuff away !

[phylo_roadking]

The page that I posted from the RE book refers to Enfield operating the 'Ministry of Supply' factory on behalf of the Directorate of Instrument Production.

Rich, it actually says "the Enfield company"...so do we assume RE - or the parent company RSAF at Enfield Lock? Both would match that description...

[phylo_roadking]

Picked up a bit more of the story today, courtesy of this month's Classic Bike...but at the same time it makes the whole story more complicated!

The Series II Interceptor was definitely designed, tested then built at Bradford-on-Avon....but the works was still specifically named "Enfield Precision Engineering". In fact, those premises HAD been open doing something in unbroken line since the end of the war...

BUT by the end of the 1960's....they AND "Royal Enfield Motorcycles" - were owned by Norton-Villiers! So, looking back at

The original Redditch, Worcestershire based company was sold to E. & H. P. Smith in 1963 and then to Norton-Triumph-Villiers (NVT). Production ceased in 1970 and the company was dissolved in 1971

....it does look as if Norton got BOTH bits of the company, Royal Enfield the marque and EPE, from H.P.Smith. Enfield Lock must have sold them BOTH off together when they started getting into financial trouble.

The original "Royal Enfield" had made the Series I Interceptor at the Redditch factory; in fact they made TWO types of it! A traditional-looking British parallel twin, and an "export" type for the U.S. with raised bars, longer swinging-arm, peanut tanks etc....and it was a success story.

I don't know yet WHY....but EPE got the commission to incorporate all these styling cues into a new "Series II" bike for BOTH markets, along with a host of engine mods and quite severe redesigns! What I DO know from today's article is....this project took longer to get off the ground than planned and what perhaps therefore SHOULD have been sold in parallel (sic) to the Series I instead came after it by several years, with Redditch closing in the meantime as hard (or rather, even harder) times hit Norton Villiers....

[phylo_roadking]

If you want to compare it with the Redditch-built Series I Interceptor on Page 1...this is the EPE-built Series II -

The visible differences are the major redesign of the bottom end of the engine, and the stronger Norton forks and twin-leading shoe front brake.

You can clearly see how the Series I U.S.-market version's styling cues have been incorporated into the new Bradford-on-Avon design.




"Some say...." right at the end of the industry, the best-looking British motorcycle ever...

[phylo_roadking]

The last gasp for engineering at the wartime Bradford-on-Avon quarry site came in 1970 - when Norton-Villiers closed the mine site completely. The subterranean workshops are now out-of-bounds....for most of them have been backfilled with rubble - mining is going on again at the quarry!