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Cardiff Rover Factory

28K views 54 replies 35 participants last post by  Kendoman 
#1 ·
Just a query about the Rover plant that used to be round my way. I've realised that there's very little info out there about the Rover factory in Cardiff (other than that there's a road named after it - Rover Way - you'd be hard pressed to know that it ever existed). So, does anyone have any info - AFAIK it made gearboxes, and closed mid 80's, but that's about as much as I can dig out.

Can anyone help - I'm just intrigued really......

Oh, and can you guess what's on the site now - a Tesco's and executive housing......

Alastair
 
#2 ·
I'd like to know more about it too. I know my grandfather used to work there, but he's no longer alive, so I can't ask him! I didn't even know it was used to make gearboxes. He used to live in Whitaker road, just behind it. I remember it stood there for years, unused, before it was knocked down & the land used for the housing estate.
 
#5 ·
It goes back to the late 50s/early 60s when the Rover Company (as it was at the time) needed to expand production facilities, to cope with both the forthcoming P6 and to satisfy demand for Land Rovers. They owned more land at Solihull, but were prevented from using all of it by the Government policies of the day, which discouraged development in existing industrial areas in favour of setting up new factories in "development areas" such as South Wales, Merseyside and Scotland. Rover figured that shifting car production to one of these areas was unworkable, but production of gearboxes and transmission components was OK. The same Government policies gave us Speke and Linwood, amongst others.
 
#7 ·
Bathgate no more, indeed. Wonderful, yet very dark song lamenting Scotland's industrial decline, and the fact that many people have left the principality in search of work elsewhere.

The song also namechecked the former Hillman Imp/Avenger plant at Linwood (Linwood no more) and the once massive port at fife on the east coast, Methil. (Methil no more).
 
#10 ·
Baathgeyt, Linwood, Methil, and Irrvin (Irvine) - so what was Irvine?

There is also a sort of watertower at Wellingborough Station with a BL blue swirl on it, becoming increasingly derelict. What was that?

It's such a shame that all this money was wasted on setting up factories on greenfield sites. In the meantime, Dagenham, a long-established factory the size of a small town, no longer makes cars. Another long-established factory we all know and love which has been there much longer has closed down for the moment :(

Whoever would have thought that Halewood would become the main (?) Jaguar factory?

Of course, if the Triumph factory at Speke were still going, it would probably now be called "John Lennon" like the airport...
 
#8 · (Edited)
Rover factory in Wales

Austin themselves had a factory in Bargoed in Wales where they used to make the little J40 (scaled downA40 Devon/Dorset) pedal cars. Believe it carried on as Austin Rover/MG Rover etc and died a death cirac 1999 running up to the end of Mini production? (was still stamping out some parts for them right up to the end)

Just a bit of Rover/Austin trivia - the original J40 pedal car was made from offcuts from the Longbridge production line - I sourced one of these cars by accident for a friend a couple of years ago and it weighed an absollute ton! After a while they went over to using thinner steel sourced especially for the pedal cars
 
#11 ·
There is also a sort of watertower at Wellingborough Station with a BL blue swirl on it, becoming increasingly derelict. What was that?
That was a foundry bought by Austin I think in the 1920s and closed in the 1981. It's about a mile from Wellingborough Station.

The industrial estate which now sits on the site is still called the Leyland Trading Estate, but I never realised the connection until my dad pointed out the swirl
 
#13 ·
BL Rover Austin etc in Wales

Rovers alloys used to be made around Cardiff somewhere. Used to pick up cheap brand new wheels all the time around Minishows - they gone back to be smelted down as the car had a duff tyre or puncture on the line and it cheaper just to chuck on another. Got a brand new set of the lat Rover 400 alloys like this for my Dad for £50
 
#14 ·
Some Welsh componant manufacturers were hit when MGR collapsed last year too.

I never realised Rover Way was named after a Rover factory. Long before my time down here then.

Don't forget, as from next year, Project Kimber will be making AC (Smart Roadsters) just down the road in Bridgend. Does anyone know how advanced these plans are now? I know there was talk of produciton by the summer.
 
#17 ·
The only place making alloys in Cardiff that I'm aware of was Alloy Wheels International, up between Whitchurch and Forest Farm (not far from the site of the old Melingriffith tinplate works, for anyone with an interest in industrial history). I'm guessing it was them that made the alloys for MGR - they closed in summer 2002 as far as I can remember. I remeber cycling along the Taff Trail which used to skirt along the side of the plant as a kid and wondering what went on there - never going to get the chance to see now!!!

Possibly a victim of the Rover downturn, although press releases at the time suggested other factors were more important.

Cheers

Alastair
 
#19 ·
The Rover factory was built on the site of old wartime Cardiff Airport.

"The original Cardiff Airport operated at Pengam Moors (Cardiff Bay) from 1931 to 1954." (See: http://info.cwlfly.com/en/content/4/229/airport-history.html)

My father went to work there in 1942. As far as I recall they were repairing and servicing fighters and bombers there.

Haha thats right.. my father was just saying they used to play on the wartime planes which were present at the rover site, presumably stored there some time after the rover factory went up? Interesting link btw :)

Apparently the factory itself used to make panels for Rover 2000's, and engine and gearboxes for Land Rover..
 
#20 ·
Rover factory Rover way

Just a query about the Rover plant that used to be round my way. I've realised that there's very little info out there about the Rover factory in Cardiff (other than that there's a road named after it - Rover Way - you'd be hard pressed to know that it ever existed). So, does anyone have any info - AFAIK it made gearboxes, and closed mid 80's, but that's about as much as I can dig out.

Can anyone help - I'm just intrigued really......

Oh, and can you guess what's on the site now - a Tesco's and executive housing......

Alastair
Hi Clarkea1, The rover car factory Rover way opened in 1962, it produced gear boxes and back axles for the rover 2000, and gears only for landrover, i worked there 1963-1979 as an electrician
 
#24 ·
....and the OP hasn't logged in since June 2009 ;)

Not that it should put Rhysnich off, it is always interesting to hear first hand knowledge of the history, especially of a plant that most of us don't know much about (until this thread bounced up, I had forgotten there was a factory at Cardiff).

So welcome to the forum :welcome:
You are all right, I was just preparing an answer the same as what I said six years ago.

It's always good to get an answer from someone who knows.


:welcome:
 
#23 ·
....and the OP hasn't logged in since June 2009 ;)

Not that it should put Rhysnich off, it is always interesting to hear first hand knowledge of the history, especially of a plant that most of us don't know much about (until this thread bounced up, I had forgotten there was a factory at Cardiff).

So welcome to the forum :welcome:
 
#27 ·
just reading this thread i had no idea there was a factory in Cardiff,but i do know a year after rover collapsed a factory up my way in Maesteg called standard cooper moved to china this hurt my local area they made door seals for rover and land rover but MGR was there biggest customer
 
#31 ·
interesting read

i havent seen the before, not supprising as i havent look that far back lol.
regarding the rover alloys, they were made at AWI whitchurch in cardiff. it didnt close in 2002 it was 2000, i should know i worked the last nightshift there. there are now houses on the site and quite a nice house sits on top of where my to lathe,s were. we made 90% of mg/rover alloys for them along with, land rover, range rover, jaguar, bentley, rolls royce, lotus,GM,fiat and of coure we owned the wolf race brand.
hard work, poor working conditions but a great set of boys there. over 400 jobs went that day.
the sister plant was in kent, near snodland if i remember correctley.
rover way is still worth a visit as there are more breakers down that way than i have seen in such a close area. there are 7 on the one estate couple are actually next door to each other which can come in handy lol.
as mentioned there were quite a few factories that went under here in my area, electrical manufactures, dash and trim etc.
the story is the same all around the uk unfortunatley, people dont hear about the smaller factories when a big manufacturer goes under.
gone are the days of changing the vitesse 17,s every 6 months. set for £60. good times.
 
#32 ·
I worker at the Rover factory on Rover Way in Cardiff, I was on of the las toolmaking apprentices there. from memory In the last 4 years the company made con rods, gearboxes for the Jaguar, Rover SD1, and Ital (Morris Marina). They also made the cam carrier for the Rover SD1 I think.
They also made the first automatic gearbox for the Range Rover, which was a bought in Chrysler gearbox I think that was modifies at the plant in Cardiff.
 
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