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Tyburn Road Factories

Curly

master brummie
Anybody familiar with the old factories in Tyburn Road and in particular, the one which straddles the Birmingham & Fazeley canal LINK, to the left of the entrance to Gravelly Industrial Park.

There is currently a discussion about it over in a forum on canalworld.net LINK and from the scant information on the internet, there are suggestions that it was either BIP Tools Ltd OR Birlec (or BEF Ltd), and later, a Rover Training facility. One British Waterways archive does quote Birlec.

Now, I thought Birlec had a factory on the corner of Wood Lane/Bromford Lane, LINK overlooking the petrol storage facility and backing onto the canal.

Did Birlec have two sites in the area? Where was BIP Tools, then?

Can anyone clarify what company occupied this site?

Thks
 
BIP or British Industrial Plastics Ltd Tool Mkrs were at 147 Tyburn Rd (1940 Directory) the Birlec Works Birmingham Electric Furnaces Ltd was at 253 Tyburn Road I hope this helps

Anybody familiar with the old factories in Tyburn Road and in particular, the one which straddles the Birmingham & Fazeley canal LINK, to the left of the entrance to Gravelly Industrial Park.

There is currently a discussion about it over in a forum on canalworld.net LINK and from the scant information on the internet, there are suggestions that it was either BIP Tools Ltd OR Birlec (or BEF Ltd), and later, a Rover Training facility. One British Waterways archive does quote Birlec.

Now, I thought Birlec had a factory on the corner of Wood Lane/Bromford Lane, LINK overlooking the petrol storage facility and backing onto the canal.

Did Birlec have two sites in the area? Where was BIP Tools, then?

Can anyone clarify what company occupied this site?

Thks
 
Dont think Birlec was Wood Lane /Bromford Lane, wasnt that the old Valor works and SU carb factories. more likely further down Tyburn as you say on the entrance to Gravelly Ind Park. It was AEI Birlec when we were there.
 
Dont think Birlec was Wood Lane /Bromford Lane, wasnt that the old Valor works and SU carb factories. more likely further down Tyburn as you say on the entrance to Gravelly Ind Park. It was AEI Birlec when we were there.

Yes, Valor and SU were in Wood Lane, but closer to Dunlop.

Horsencart, has given the definitive addresses of BIP Tools and Birlec. although the British Waterways reference to Birlec (re:- surface water drainage into the canal) does give 325 Tyburn Rd.

Having today driven over the canal at Bromford Lane, I saw the remains of the words 'Research & Development' on the end of the building, so rightly or wrongly, I conclude that Tyburn Rd has the main plant for Birlec and Wood Lane, the R&D section.
 
A quick check in the 1940 directory does appear appear to confirm that Birlec was not in Bromford Lane and Wood Lane, of course that is not to say that they may have been in there in other directory's

Dont think Birlec was Wood Lane /Bromford Lane, wasnt that the old Valor works and SU carb factories. more likely further down Tyburn as you say on the entrance to Gravelly Ind Park. It was AEI Birlec when we were there.
 
I have learned today that one of my club colleagues is a BHF member, but hasn't posted in ages and cannot remember his logon, BUT he actually started work at Birlec, in Tyburn Road, on 27th Dec 1946 at the age of 14. He could not though, confirm any Birlec R&D site.
 
My father was a Draughtsman for BIP at Streetly from 1962 till 1978. He often went to somewhere on the Tyburn Rd, I'll ask him next time I see him. I can tell you that the SU backed on to the flyover for the Rail lines as I worked on that stretch of track from 1973 - 78. I also had a friend who was the chief engineer in the development site of the SU. He could tune an engine up just with a piece of plastic fish tank air tube.
Behind the SU was a test pad for cars/buses. Here we used to watch rookie Policemen driving an old black Austin Westminster around on a wet, oily concrete circle. Occasionally there'd be a cream & blue Corporation single decker sliding around.
Most of these factories were on Wood Lane, others like British Ropes, The Aircraft Foundary, etc., faced onto the main roads. Indeed, the site, until the late 70s was alive with places of work. Its sad now to go along there and see so much of the areas history gone, forgotten, all those lives and their efforts bulldozed in the name of 'progress'.
 
My father was a Draughtsman for BIP at Streetly from 1962 till 1978. He often went to somewhere on the Tyburn Rd, I'll ask him next time I see him.

Probably HERE in Tyburn Rd -- The other Tyburn Rd site has been positively identified as Birlec and all the remains is to identify THIS building which sits between Wood Lane, Bromford Lane and the canal, so as far away from the SU and Valor as one can get, on the opposite side of Wood Lane.
 
I remember the Maddocks and Walford builders yard along Tyburn Rd, wasn`t that fairly close to Birlec? and Tomeys was a bit further up the road towards Bromford Lane.
 
I remember the Maddocks and Walford builders yard along Tyburn Rd, wasn`t that fairly close to Birlec? and Tomeys was a bit further up the road towards Bromford Lane.

I think M&W was the next 'block' along, going east from Birlec. It had/has that long wall and the 'tower' with the name atop. Tomeys does not ring a bell with me, but according to google, they were at 221 Tyburn Rd, somewhere between BIP Tools & Birlec.
 
I'm convinced I remember seeing the name Birlec on the building on the corner of Wood lane and Bromford lane.
 
I am pretty sure Birlec was on Tyburn Road near the Tyburn House pub (but other side of Road) near junction with Kinsbury Road. Eric
 
I am pretty sure Birlec was on Tyburn Road near the Tyburn House pub (but other side of Road) near junction with Kinsbury Road. Eric

Eric, the Tyburn House Pub is on the A38 Kingsbury Road/A452 Chester Road island near to the Jaguar, Castle Bromwich, plant (or, if you like, diagonally opposite GPO Tyburn TEC!) so I'm not sure to where you are referring.

The site I'm now trying to confirm is the factory near to the old Navigation pub (now Modern China) and on the opposite side of the canal where Aston Chain and Hook Works/Delta Drawn Metals was on the corner of Tyburn Road/Bromford Lane (now a Merc Dealership).

I think this was Birlec R&D plant, but cannot yet confirm. Birlec's main site was closer to what is now Spaghetti Jcn. Dave
 
Curly, maybe I have the name of the pub wrong, but I am referring to the junction Kingsbury RD/ Tyburn RD, if you were going along Kingsbury Rd towards Kingsbury, then turned left onto Tyburn Rd Birlic would be on your left ( think). Eric
 
This from the 1940 directory Tyburn Road.jpgI hope it helps



Curly, maybe I have the name of the pub wrong, but I am referring to the junction Kingsbury RD/ Tyburn RD, if you were going along Kingsbury Rd towards Kingsbury, then turned left onto Tyburn Rd Birlic would be on your left ( think). Eric
 
Curly, ignore my last post (15), just checked Google St view, got the pub right but thr Road wrong, i should have said Kingsbury Rd and Chester Rd junction, with Birlic in Chester Road, sorry for confusion. Eric
 
According to the directory it next door? or a part of the compound/ industrial/ estate

Probably HERE in Tyburn Rd -- The other Tyburn Rd site has been positively identified as Birlec and all the remains is to identify THIS building which sits between Wood Lane, Bromford Lane and the canal, so as far away from the SU and Valor as one can get, on the opposite side of Wood Lane.
 
Curly, ignore my last post (15), just checked Google St view, got the pub right but thr Road wrong, i should have said Kingsbury Rd and Chester Rd junction, with Birlic in Chester Road, sorry for confusion. Eric

Ah, I did wonder! You refer then to Hardy Spicer/ GKN Driveline!

Horseancart, thanks for the scan, this should tie everything down for the first part of Tyburn Rd. Strange that they provide a list for 253 tho' when it's a 'thin' strip of land between Tyburn Rd and the Birmingham Fazeley Canal, rather than an 'estate' and didn't number them all individually. Do you have a directory for Wood Lane?
 
The building on the corner of Wood Lane and Tyburn road opposite Esso was the research and develpment for Aeroplane and Motor Aluminium Castings. AMAC were further down wood lane on the same side as Esso. Next door to Esso was Valour. Opposite Esso was Pickfords Heavy Haulage.
 
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