When Chorlton made cars ………..

It is a story I have twice come back to having had a stab at finding out where and when a firm set up here in Chorlton making cars.

Shaw's Motor Garage, date unknown

First time round I tried following up a request about Ashby Cars, but only got as far as learning that they relocated from Towcester sometime after 1921 and ceased production later in the decade.

Then after a conversation with Ian Henderson who thought they might have been based on Edge Lane my interest was reignited.

And as before I turned to Graces’ Guide to British Industrial History who offered up “Pioneer Motor Works, of Towcester and Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy.”  The business was run by Victor James Ashby and his son Victor Stapleton Ashby.

The history of the firm is a bit sketchy, and there is a gap between them producing an experimental car in 1901 and 1919 when they commenced production of about 50 "Ashby Cars" before going into partnership with the aeroplane makers Short Brothers.

According to the Grace database, “After returning from the First World War Victor Stapleton Ashby designed a cyclecar that came to the attention of aeroplane makers Short Brothers. 

Short Brothers employed six Ashby staff members, with the car being known as the Short-Ashby in 1921. 

Short Brothers withdrew their support in 1922 owing to poor sales. The Ashbys then moved to Chorlton-cum-Hardy, where production of a two-seater light car powered by a 970 cc 8 hp engine, three-speed gearbox or four-ratio friction drive, continued until 1924.

After which they introduced a 2 hp / 550 rpm engine in1925”.*

Site of Shaw's Motor Garage, circa 1990s

And that pretty much is that.  Grace mentions a garage workshop in Towcester but I very much doubt I will be able to find it, although I did trawl Brackley Road where they were still living in the May of 1921 but drew a blank.

As for the location on Barlow Moor Road that is still to be found, but my money might be on that stretch of the road from the old cinema/Co-op to High Lane which in the early 20th century was home to Charles Shaw’s garage which was still trading in the mid-1950s at 483 Barlow Moor Road.

It is just possible he rented space out.

Alternatively there was a an industrial unit on what is now the Marks and Spencer's store which might have briefly been our motor car factory.

My Facebook pal Tony has access to the directories for the 1920s and I have asked him to go looking, while I will search the local newspapers.

So, we may be in luck.

We shall see.

Ian has found an image of Short Ashby car and it wil appear once I can check out the copyright.

Location; Towcester and Chorlton

Pictures; Charles Shaw’s Garage, 483 Barlow Moor Road, date unknown and again circa 1990s  

*Grace's Guide to British Industrial History, https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Victor_Ashby_and_Son

Lost Chorlton ……..it’s all in the ground ……

You would have to have been born before the mid 60s to remember the stretch of houses on Barlow Moor Road which were demolished to build the eastern side of the now closed Chorlton Precinct.

Wilbraham Road, circa 1911

They date from 1896 and had gone by the early 1970s if not the late 60s.

In 1911 around the time the photograph was taken the street directory lists the occupants as “Shaw Chas. & Sons, motor enginrs”, at number 42, with “Webster Thomas Frederick, Webster Misses M. & B. dress mas, and Jones Charles E. photographer”, next door and “Fugistall Charles, confectioner” at 46.

Nothing much remarkable in that given that Chorlton had been growing a pace since the housing boom which had started in the 1880s.

But the entry relating to Charles Shaw is interesting because just eight years earlier he is listed as “Shaw Charles and sons cycle dealers and agents” and hints at a man who saw an opportunity with the coming of the motor car.

So much so that by 1912 he had opened a purpose-built garage on Barlow Moor Road with a petrol pump beside the road.

And equally innovative was the presence of Mr. Fugistall at 44 Wilbraham Road who was selling that other wonder of the age providing people with a “true likeness of themselves” in the form of a photograph.

A hole in the ground, 2024

It’s all a bit of our history that has long been forgotten, but on Saturday I was down by that very spot peering into a hole in the ground.

Odd bits, 2024

As ever there wasn’t much to see and what ever was being done extended into the old Precinct, but as ever it was the pile of stuff excavated from the said hole in the ground, including what looked like a bit of water main, a variety of bricks some older looking than others and a lump of stone.

And I rather think some of those buried bits will be all that are left of numbers 42 through to 46 Wilbraham Road.  They had a short existence, but long enough to be remembered by some.

I have set my friend Anthony the task of looking through his extensive collection of street directories to track the names of people who lived in the properties from the 1920s into the 1960s.

All of which will add to our knowledge of this short strip of Wilbraham Road.

"Is it really history?" I hear Eric mutter and yes it is …. just not the stuff of war, disasters or the tales of the good and the great.

Location; Wilbraham Road

Pictures; Wilbraham Road circa 1911 from the Lloyd Collection and in 2024 from the collection of Andrew Simpson