Archer Road history

[grinder]

From the shoe factory up to approximately the front of the Sainsbury store and as far back as the railway line was Laycocks.

The entrance to the car park was Laycocks drive and the front railings on Archer road to right of the car park entrance as you go in are the original Laycocks railings, to the left was the office block, a listed building flattened to make the car park.

There were two chimneys on Archer road, one the brickyards the other Laycocks, the Laycocks one was on the right hand side at the bottom of the drive...

Edited December 23, 2013 by grinder

[gobbldegoop]

Correct Grinder. I lived opposite what was the shoe factory for 28 years, including working in it for 10 years when it was a TV workshop (I phoned 999 when it caught fire one lunchtime!). I have a series of pictures taken of the large Pickford Holland chimney being blown up with my little 110 Agfa motorised camera, which is where the Sainsburys store sits.

[Lobos]

I lived on Archer road as a kid and starting from the Bannerdale road end there was Jylees chuks engineering factory across from there were some steps down to Buttermeer road, then Mr woodalls corner shop on the end of Ulverston road. then there was Thornton's sweets and toffee factory on the left, on the right there was also the S&E co op milk dairy entrance going down the back of the houses, then there was the the co op boot repairs next to that was Laycocks engineering across the road was a small petrol station then next to that was the brick yard quarry and pond, a lot of waste land for us kids to play on,next to where Laycocks was there was the brick yard called Holland and Pickford's,round the corner was the train station and the bridge with the steps down to Millhouses park then on the end was the old cop shop and across from that was the the old public toilets or and also the Laycocks sports club and bowling green across from the Laycocks firm..

 

PS in the back yard of our naibors house there was on old building that used to apparently be a comb manufacturing factory.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Lobos

[Electerrific]

Wasn't there a bakery beyond the corner where the beer shop is ?

Thorntons chocolates used to have a factory where the newish block of flats are on that corner.

Yes, I went there from Abbey Lane school on a visit.

 

Got lots of lovely choccies and toffees.

[sheilawragg1]

Yes, I went there from Abbey Lane school on a visit.

 

Got lots of lovely choccies and toffees.

my aunt used to live just off Archer road near the pub, her name was Annette smith, she had a son my cousin it would be nice to know if he is still out there and would like to get in touch

[gobbldegoop]

I wonder if everyone who lived on Archer Road as a kid when Thorntons were there have a sweet tooth, I certainly do. I regularly got the fluidity check from the chocolate delivery tanker (bags it on the way home for lunch, then picked it up on the way back to school) which was about 2lb of chocolate in a slab. Combine that with lots of friends mums who worked there and got misshapes every week, it was a veritable sugar rush every day for us.

[Michael_W]

Sainsbury's was built on the site of the brick works in the mid 80s, their original car park ended at the end of Laycock's Victoria Works site, Sainsbury's extended their car park and the store itself after Laycock's Victoria Works were demolished.

LUK bought the clutch manufacturing operation of GKN Laycock which was based on Archer Road back in 1987 and the site closed around 1989 /90.

 

Here is a picture taken from the back of the old petrol station looking at Laycock Victoria Works on Archer Road, possibly taken in the 80s maybe even earlier, it was linked to in the thread about the History of Laycock's on this forum.

 

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/motorhead_dude/Photo0131.jpg

 

Laycock's Garage Equipment site was situated where the new houses were built on the Periwood estate. (formerly Camping Lane)

Esporta built their premises (Now Virgin) on the site of the dairy.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Michael_W

[hillsbro]

Here is a scan from the 1954 Kelly's Directory..

[Markstevo]

There used to be a bakery near the off licence at the top of ulverstone rd by the name of vernons, it shared it's grounds with an engineering firm (Toledo Eng)

[abbeyedges]

Here is a scan from the 1954 Kelly's Directory..

 

Thanks for that listing Hillsboro'.

 

This has jogged my memory of a Geography visit I made when I was about 14 from Abbeydale school. I think we were studying the River Sheaf area and I made arrangements to visit the S&E shoe renovation works.

 

All I can remember was the walls seemed to be plasterd with centre pages of Mayfair, Playboy etc. I don't remember any questions I asked or answers I received as my eyes were totally focussed on these photos

 

It's only years later that I realised ladies didn't have staples on their midriffs.

 

The innocence of youth.