The
A C Ford Story
A brief history of Dudley's famous street lighting manufacturer.
By Claire Pendrous.
Contents:
Introduction.
Arthur Crawford.
Lawley Street Premises.
Why A C Ford?
Edward Farmer.
Eddie Austin.
Peartree Lane.
Castings
and customers.
Product diversity.
Lantern
manufacture.
Sodium
lanterns.
Fordac.
Further
developments.
Fibreglass
columns and the impact test incident.
Overseas markets.
Roger Farmer.
Decline.
Brian and
Jane Wilde.
Birmingham City
Council order.
Dudley Row.
Churchfield Road.
The end of the cast-iron products
and post-top lanterns.
The ‘Cornwall’ bracket.
A C Ford today.
The immediate post WWII period was a time of great austerity for Britain’s population with food and petrol rationing still in force, and basic public services that had been suspended during the hostilities only just beginning to be reinstated. Due to the diversion of resources into the war effort, the Country’s road infrastructure was in a state of disrepair and had not seen proper maintenance for nearly six years. One such area that was in need of immediate attention was street lighting, much of which hadn’t operated properly since September 1939, and was in desperate need of repair and replacement.
From September 1939, Britain’s street lighting had been effectively switched off, or deliberately disabled because of the wartime 'blackouts'. This combined with the need to shroud vehicle headlights with louvered 'blackout' covers (severely limiting their light output), so has not to attract the attentions of enemy night bombers, had resulted in a dramatic rise in the number of road traffic accidents; emphasising the important roll that lighting plays in road safety. However, even where street lighting had been reinstated both during and after the ‘Dim-out’ period (1944 onwards), most roads were still poorly lit and existing lighting levels required much improvement. Following the War, local authorities around the Country began the arduous task of repairing, reinstating, and upgrading the Country's road and street lighting infrastructure.
In the post-war period and throughout the 1950's, there was also an urgent need for new and improved housing in Britain. From the mid 1940’s onwards, new housing developments began to appear all over the Country, many of which were built on green land sites on the outskirts of existing towns and cities, and all of course required new street lighting.
This was a time of great opportunity for the companies that designed and manufactured electrical street lighting equipment. And for anyone involved at a higher enough level within those companies would have seen for themselves the sums of money that local authorities were having to invest in repairing, maintaining and improving the Country’s street lighting infrastructure.
Enter Arthur Crawford
In 1945, Arthur Crawford was a Technical Engineer of the REVO Electrical Company in Tipton, Staffordshire (Now part of the West Midlands). It is thought that Arthur had worked at the Company for a good many years and was much involved with their product development work. Like many manufacturing businesses of the period, REVO had been involved with the war effort, producing munitions such as hand-grenades, but in peacetime it could now return to its normal business activities of producing electrical products for the commercial and domestic markets, which included the manufacture of a wide range of street lighting equipment.
Arthur undoubtedly saw the business opportunities that existed within the industry in supplying new street lighting apparatus to the British and overseas markets. But crucially, he knew that with a little entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with his technical expertise and his unique in-sight into the industry, he too could profit from manufacturing and selling his own cost effective street lighting equipment in to these markets.
Arthur Crawford was born in April 1889, and is seen here as a young man in the early part of the 20th Century; sadly, little is known about his early life. Picture courtesy of Jane Wilde.
Now in his mid 50’s, Arthur wasn’t a young man, and the position that he held as a Technical Engineer at the REVO gave him and his family a reasonably comfortable living. The decision to go it alone in a new business venture in the immediate post war period couldn’t have been an easy one, but he obviously weighed up the risks, and felt confident enough to forge ahead. So in or around 1945 he started work on developing street lighting products for his new business, and began producing the necessary patterns for the castings that would be needed to manufacture the cast metal fuse boxes and lantern bracket assemblies that he intended to produce.
Arthur Crawford
proudly poses for the camera with his daughter Mary at her wedding to Edward
Farmer in 1947. Picture courtesy of Jane Wilde.
At the time Arthur was living with his family in a house in Oakham Road, Dudley, but in setting up his own rival business, he would need his own affordable premises that better lent themselves to the production of street lighting apperatus. Suitable premises were found in Lawley Street, Dudley, which was in actual fact an old terraced house with a workshop at the rear of the property; the house being used as the office.
Left: One of the Company’s first products was this simple pole clamp and bracket assembly, with an AC42 dual-pole fuse box. Signed JBC, this pencil sketch was oddly drawn on Sunday 7th April 1946 and is thought to have been drawn by Arthur’s son, Burt Crawford. Note that the drawing is headed A C Ford Ltd, so it’s likely that A C Ford had been registered as a limited company by this date. Right: On the following day (Monday 8th April 1946), JBC created this drawing showing the sectional view of a refractor dome and of a refractor bowl; requesting the customer to quote for their standard size's. There is no further reference to these glass products, and it is not known if they were ever produced. Pictures: Courtesy of Jane Wilde.
Left:
The cover of the November 1951
Street Lighting Equipment catalogue showing the Lawley Street address. Right:
Also from same 1951 catalogue are some of the early brackets shown
with AC4
switch-bodies that could be used as either
a column top mounted fusebox, or manually operated rocker-switch. Pictures: A
C Ford (Dudley) Ltd.
Employing just a handful of people including his son Burt,
as the Company’s draughtsman, Arthur began developing and eventually
manufacturing his range of street lighting brackets, pole clamps and associated
equipment in the hope that he could capture a slice of the lucrative post war
market that was developing in street lighting renewal. And so by early 1946, A
C Ford Ltd was born.
Lawley Street,
Dudley still exists, but the original buildings that once graced the street
where Arthur Crawford started his street lighting business have all long since gone.
Why was the Company named A C Ford?
The story goes that like anyone with a fledgling business, Arthur was keen to remain employed, at least in the short term until his business picked up. To do this, Arthur needed to hide the fact that this new rival business belonged to him, so to throw his employers off the scent he created the name A C Ford. The 'A C' Standing for Arthur Crawford, but the 'Ford' being an alias, and for a time it allegedly worked. However, it inevitably came to light that Arthur was the man behind this new rival street lighting business, and not surprisingly Arthur Crawford and REVO parted company soon afterwards.
It’s interesting to note at this point in time, that some of these early A C Ford brackets and fittings were almost indistinguishable from contemporary REVO products of the day, even down to the ornaments that were used to embellish the brackets. This suggests that Arthur may have even used some of the existing castings from REVO products to produce his early moulding patterns, but with minor alterations? It’s quite possible that many of these street lighting products may not have been registered designs, but as one of REVO’s technical engineers, he may have had knowledge of this kind of information, and could have taken advantage of such a situation?
Left:
Many
of A C Ford's early brackets and control boxes bore a striking resemblance
to contempoary REVO products. Middle: A REVO ornate
bracket without control box.. Right: A similar looking spigot
mounted REVO control box, but with a plain bracket.Pictures: Claire Pendrous
Collection
Enter Edward Farmer
Born in 1923, Edward Farmer heralded from Lancaster, but grew up in Morecambe, Lancashire, where his father had bought a bakery business in the Town. Before the war (WW2), Edward helped his father run the family bakery, but Edward also had an interest in things of a mechanical nature, and in his spare time learnt how to repair watches and clocks through a friend of the family.
Edward Farmer seen
here following his retirement in 2000. Picture courtesy of Jane Wilde.
During the War, Edward enlisted with the Royal Navy, leaving his native Lancashire and moving to the South Coast, where he was stationed and later served as a ship’s engineer. It was during his service in the Navy that he met and courted Mary Crawford; Arthur Crawford’s daughter. After the war, Edward left the Navy, and he and Mary eventually married in 1947, setting up home in Dudley, and where Edward eked out a living from his skills as a watch repairer. Knowing that Edward had served as an engineer in the Navy, Arthur asked Edward if he would like to join him at the A C Ford factory to help run and develop the factory workshop; allowing Arthur more time in the office where he needed to be to run the business. Edward accepted and joined the business in 1947/8, within a few years he became a Director of the Company, along with Arthur’s son Burt Crawford.
Enter Eddie Austin
At about this time the business was beginning to take off, but Arthur was becoming increasingly tied down in dealing with sales and finding new customers, he desperately needed to employee a sale representative to allow him more time with product development and the general running of the business. The man who was eventually employed in this roll was Edgar Austin; known to his colleagues as 'Eddie' Austin. Eddie was given a company car and the necessary leads to bring in new business. Indeed, Eddie quickly took to the roll, and soon began establishing a good customer base. Over a period of time, Eddie was also able to assist in product development, as he became more proficient at understanding the wants and needs of A C Ford’s customers and of the electrical industry in general.
A C Ford employee’s social evening in the late 1950’s. Far left: Edward Farmer. Far right: Eddie Austin. Picture courtesy of Jane Wilde.
By the early 1950’s, it was clear that the business was outgrowing the Lawley Street premises, so Arthur set about looking for a larger factory into which the business could be moved, but one that would also allow the future expansion of the Company. Eventually he acquired suitable premises with offices and land in Peartree Lane, Dudley. By 1955, the business had been transferred to the newly acquired factory, and the work force rapidly increased to 30 or 40 people.
Although A C Ford Ltd manufactured its own brackets and machined its own cast iron and cast aluminium products; it did not have an in-house foundry until about 1960 (a short lived venture that only produced small quantities of aluminium castings). Instead, all iron and alloy casting was outsourced to local engineering foundries in the Black Country. It would appear from Company records that A C Ford Ltd frequently used the services the Cradley Chain Company (later to become Cradley Castings) to produce many of its cast iron products, and also Court’s Foundry to produce its cast aluminium products; having long associations with both concerns.
The Foundries provided A C Ford with the raw castings with which to make its control boxes, spigot caps, fuse boxes, and finials, etc. Where larger production volumes were required, extra moulding patterns had been made, so that several items could be cast in one go; this also reduced costs and kept the Company’s products competitive. Like many small manufacturing companies, A C Ford would often make specials for customers, sometimes casting the names and emblems of these companies onto items such control box doors if requested to do so. Over the next 30 years, British Thomson Houston (BTH), GEC, Sangamo Weston, Venner, and even REVO were to be amongst some of A C Ford’s valued customers.
Left: A 'special' ornate bracket and control box combination that A C Ford produced for British Thomson Houston (aka BTH). However, the lantern is a genuine all 'British Thomson Houston' product, being a BTH 'Rural Enclosed' 80w mercury fitting. Picture: Claire Pendrous Collection. Right: Made from cast Aluminium by 'Court's foundry', is this AC Ford AC260 time-switch box (measuring 5" x 5" x 3 ¾”). The box normally came with a plain cast AC261 lid, but was also made with a special AC262 cast lid complete with flash for Sangamo-Weston. This is a typical example of the many types of 'specials' A C Ford made for other electrical companies over the years. Picture: Claire Pendrous .
Product diversity
Throughout the post war years and into the early 1950’s the product range grew, and by November 1951 the product book listed over a hundred street lighting components. It’s also worth noting that in addition to brackets and cast iron fuse boxes for use in street lighting; A C Ford Ltd also manufactured hot plates and boiler-grills for electric cookers. The post-war boom in new housing developments across Britain saw a significant rise in the demand for electric cookers and other such domestic appliances. REVO had been making electric cookers since the late 1920’s and Arthur, in his capacity as one of their technical engineers, he had involvement in their design and manufacture. The biggest part of these hotplate assemblies was a cast iron body into which the heater elements were fixed, so these items were well within the capabilities of A C Ford’s manufacturing remit. Again, Arthur saw the business opportunity in making and supplying these electrical assemblies to the industry, and indeed the Company produced these products until demand fell away in the 1960’s.
Seen in an upturned position is a typical 'boiler grill' produced by A C Ford Ltd for domestic cookers of the period. Picture: Claire Pendrous Collection.
A C Ford also developed and manufactured a large range of small Watertight tungsten lighting fittings for industrial and domestic use, and many of these remained in production until the 1970’s. Another product worthy of mention is the AC 154 Cutting Fan, which was a ceiling mounted, electrically driven three-bladed fan for use in shops and offices. During the 1950’s and early 1960’s these types of ceiling fans were popular with many businesses and were a common sight in banks, offices and large stores such a Woolworth’s. The fan, which came complete with a regulator to control its speed, was a new line of business that A C Ford explored, but one that it didn’t expand upon. It is not known how successful this product was, or how long it remained in production, but it illustrates the variety of products to come out of the A C Ford factory.
The A C Ford AC154 Cutting fan. Picture: Claire Pendrous Collection
Interestingly, during the mid to late 1950s (date unknown) Arthur Crawford patented an air cushioned rubber mat that was designed to be set into the roadway at traffic light controlled junctions, the idea being that traffic passing over the mats activated the traffic light signals control systems overriding the automated switching system and giving priority to traffic at quite times. Although A C Ford never manufactured the device, it did win Arthur official recognition for his invention. The switching device was eventually manufactured and perfected by companies in the traffic signal industry, and was to be the forerunner of the sophisticated traffic light relay control systems used today.
Since the late 1940’s, Arthur Crawford had been looking to add street lighting lanterns to his expanding product range. At the time, both tungsten and mercury lighting was still being widely used in street lighting applications on Group-B road installations; i.e. minor roads and side roads. His first lantern; the AC242 open refractor lantern, is thought to have appeared in about 1952, and could be used with either tungsten, or mercury lamps. Photographic evidence would suggest that A C Ford supplied GEC (and later Philips) made control-gear to operate these lanterns with mercury lamps, should control-gear be requested by the customer. Shortly after the appearance of this first lantern, came the AC250, which was basically the AC242, but modified to allow the use of a glass outer bowl that fully enclosed the lamp. These lanterns were to be the first in a range of similar lanterns to be produced by AC Ford, the most popular and long lived of these fittings being the AC352 open refractor lantern, which was a large brimmed version of the original AC242 lantern and remained available until the late 1960’s.
Left:
The
long lived AC352 lantern was developed from the original AC242 lantern.
Picture taken from the 1968 A C Ford street lighting brochure.
Since its invention and commercial introduction in 1932, the low-pressure sodium lamp had been gaining in popularity with many local authorities across Britain for main road (Group-A) street lighting applications. By the early 1950’s, major manufacturers like GEC and REVO had long been producing lanterns for use with low-pressure sodium lamps, but during the 1950’s demand was substantially increasing. Clearly, this was another opportunity that couldn’t be missed and so by 1955 the Company had developed a small range of 140w low-pressure main road sodium lanterns of a modern design, with an aluminium canopy and moulded plastic bowl, with bonded refractor panels. These became the AC480-484 range and were offered with, or without integral control gear. These new fittings are believed to have been first shown at a lighting engineers conference at Folkstone in 1955. In terms of quality and design, they were as good as anything the major manufacturers were offering at that time, but would be the Company’s only foray into the manufacture of main road street lighting lanterns.
The superb AC480
140-watt SO/H low-pressure sodium lantern complete with an SO/H sodium lamp. Picture Claire Pendrous Collection.
In 1956, a small range of 60w low-pressure sodium lanterns were added to the product range (AC700/702), complimenting the larger 140w sodium fittings. But these bulky 60w lanterns appeared to have been quickly superseded by the smaller and more compact AC710-716 (45/60W) and AC840/842 (60/85w) range of lanterns that were being offered by 1958. Interestingly, A C Ford produced their own plastic bowls for the sodium lanterns, and also produced a small rounded plastic bowl for their later AC730 lantern.
The A C Ford display stand at the 1955 Folkstone Street Lighting Conference. Picture Claire Pendrous Collection.
‘Fordac’appears to have been a trading name that A C Ford Ltd used to sell their lantern and fibre Glass column ranges under, but possibly not their brackets? Evidence would seem to suggest that it was used from the mid 1950’s until the early 1970’s. It may have also been used in connection with items intended for export; especially as the name ‘A C Ford Limited’ doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like the name ’Fordac’. Indeed ’Fordac’ was cast into the tops of the canopies of company’s range of sodium lanterns. If this is so, could there once have been a heathly export market for the low-pressure sodium lanterns? Conversely, many of the smaller tungsten/mercury fittings such as the AC730 and AC850 generally had A C Ford cast into their canopies, or in the case of other models, no name at all! Any information to clarify this matter would be most welcome.
Before the advent of fax machines, Telegrams were the only method of delivering written messages over telephone lines. ‘Fordac, Dudley’, was also the telegram address for the Peartree Lane factory, However, it would appear that A C Ford (Dudley) Ltd did not continue with the use of the Fordac trading name or telegram address.
Probably one of the strangest looking lanterns A C Ford produced was the AC800/802 Vandal Proof lantern for either post-top, or top-entry bracket mounting. This lantern relied on the lamp being fully enclosed inside what amounted to a vertically mounted metal funnel; the light from the enclosed lamp shining out of the end of the funnel, up into a white reflector plate fixed above it, the reflected light been thrown back down onto the floor below. While the lantern’s design protected the lamp, the light emitted from the fitting was poor and considered dim in comparison to more conventional fittings. Ironically, this method of lighting is still employed today in some examples of modern concept lighting schemes in city centres, although it is done for aesthetic reasons rather than as an anti-vandal measure.
The
AC800/802 Vandal Proof lantern: Picture taken from the 1968 A C
Ford street lighting brochure. Picture: A
C Ford (Dudley) Ltd.
By 1960, the Company were also manufacturing a range of post top lanterns, for use with tungsten, mercury, and sodium lamps (AC762/764), as well as the AC780/782 post-top designs for use with 2ft fluorescent tubes, and a less popular side-entry lantern, the AC790, also for use with 2ft fluorescent light tubes. However, by the end of the 1960’s, fluorescent lighting had fallen from favour for street lighting purposes and its usage was in general decline.
Fibreglass columns and the impact test incident
In 1960, A C Ford patented a method of constructing fibreglass columns using continuous long stands of fibreglass that were wound on to on a revolving tapered mandrel. This method of construction resulted in a very tough, durable, but lightweight column. Two models were made, the AC1000 ‘standard’ column and a narrower AC1030 ‘slimline’ column, but both were some 16ft in total length. The construction of each AC1000 column used 11lbs of glassfibre strand (equivent to 3-miles of glass strand) and 20lbs of resin.
A new installation of A C Ford AC1030 fibreglass columns fitted with AC840 85-watt sodium lanterns are seen in Wednesbury (West Midlands) in the early 1960's. Picture: Claire Pendrous Collection.
To help market this new product and to prove to potential customers how strong and durable these columns were, a test column was set up on land at the back of the factory in Peartree Lane; the intention being to drive a car into the column to demonstrate how these columns would stand up to a relatively low speed impact.
The demonstration was arranged and a photographer was hired from C N F Lewis a local photographic company to record the event. Edward Farmer had volunteered to drive the car into the column, so with everything in place and the small crowd of people gathered in the rain to witness the event, Edward clambered into the Company’s old Ford ‘Y’ car and drove off down the yard. In preparation for his final approach, he made a couple of dummy runs stopping just short of the column. He drove off again down the yard and turned the car around for the final run. Hoping that he’d gauged the distance and approach speed correctly, he revved the engine of the old Ford and dropped the clutch, launching the car and himself on a collision course with the lamppost up ahead.
As the old car bumped and bounced along the open ground, Edward braced himself for the impact, eventually colliding with the column at quite a turn of speed and shattering the lantern mounted on top of it. Seconds later, a shaken and slightly dazed Edward emerged from the car, eager to see the aftermath. Not surprisingly, the front of the car was badly damaged, but amazingly the fibreglass column appeared relatively undamaged, even though the concrete into which it was fixed had fractured under the impact. The photographer, who was recording the event on film, was keen to get some nice close up shots of the damaged car and column, but in standing too close to the lamppost, he was struck on the head by a piece of falling debris from the broken post-top lantern above him. Concussed, the photographer was given first aid at the scene, until an ambulance arrived to whisk him off to hospital for treatment.
A sad end for the
Company’s 1930’s Ford ‘Y’ saloon car following its impact test againt the new
AC1000 fibreglass column. Picture Claire Pendrous Collection.
This crude, but effective test of the column could now be used as a marketing tool to sell the product. Clearly it helped convinced various local authorities around the Country to invest in fibreglass columns, including: Bristol City Council, County Borough of Blackburn, Berkshire County Council, and Otley in Yorkshire to name but a few. Ironically in today’s world, the old Ford ‘Y’ saloon that A C Ford wrote off in the impact test would now be a very much sort after collectors item!
A colour view from
the mid 1960’s showing AC1000 fibreglass columns fitted with REVO ‘Solumbra’
geared post-top sodium lanterns on a new residential development in Westbury on
Trym, Bristol. Picture courtsey of Jane Wilde.
Overseas markets
Not a lot is currently known about the Company's export market, however, it is know that A C Ford did export large quanties of their Watertight fittings to Saudi Arabia, and to Lagos in Nigeria. Unfortunately, It is not know if any street lighting equipment was sold abroad. Any help that would shed further light on this side of the business would be most welcome.
Enter Roger Farmer
In 1971, Roger Farmer (Edward Farmer’s son) joined the Company as an engineer. Roger had completed a engineering apprenticeship with the motorcycle concern Norton-Villiers, where he’s gained an HND in engineering studies, but the early 1970’s, British motorcycle manufacturering was struggling to survive, so Roger joined his father at A C Ford. Roger remained with the Company, until his untimely death in 2002 aged just 50 years.
In 1959 the Associated
Electrical Industries Group (AEI) was formed with the amalgamation of
Metropolitan Vickers, British Tompson Huston, and Siemens Electrical. This huge
industrial giant along with REVO, GEC, and Thorn, made for a powerful and
formidable manufacturing force in the UK, and one that would dominate the
British street lighting market throughout the 1960’s and well into the 1970’s.
All of these major manufacturers had there own loyal customer bases, and not
surprisingly for a small company like A C Ford to have any serious impact on
these established markets, would have required considerable investment, in its
product development and marketing strategy to make that quantum leap. The kind
of investment required would have inevitably meant seeking substantial
financially backing from the banks, or financial institutions, an avenue that
the Company could not, or did not chose to take.
Die cast mass produced lanterns like the Thorn Beta-5 (originally the Atlas Amber Minor) would eventually dominate the UK market for Group-B low-pressure sodium lanterns. Picture Claire Pendrous.
Technology was moving at
a pace now, and there was little room for those who did not move with it.
Products like grill boilers and hot plates for now obsolete cookers were no
longer a marketable commodity. Clearly, there was an unwillingness to further
develop this line of the business, and eventually production of its cooker
related products ceased.
Left:
The popular A C Ford AC850 side-entry lantern.
By the mid 1960’s Eddie
Austin who’d worked for the company since the late 1940’s was still A C Ford’s
Sales Manager, despite his efforts and aspirations to become a Director of the
Company. No longer a young man, he had become disillusioned with A C Ford and
Arthur’s unwillingness to further develop the concern, and with it his career;
Eddie Austin finally left the Company in the late 1960’s. His departure left a
vacuum and was another blow to the business.
By the end of the 1960’s
Arthur Crawford was in his late 70’s and lacked the enthusiasm and
determination he had as a younger man. Despite continued pressure from Edward
Farmer to invest in new ideas and products, Arthur was insistent that they
stuck to what A C Ford did best, and that was to manufacture traditional
lighting equipment, but to an increasingly bespoke market. This lack of
direction coupled with the increased infighting, was to be the death Nell for
the Company; without reinvestment in new products and tooling, A C Ford could
no longer hold on to its existing market place. By the early 1970’s much of the
A C Ford lantern range was obsolete and demand for its remaining products were
in steady decline. This set against a background of industrial and political
unrest in the early 1970’s, rising oil prices, and a sharp decline in British
based manufacturing, inspired little or no confidence in an already depressed
market for British made goods.
In
its time, the AC790 was a
modern and sleek looking fitting designed for use with 2 x 2ft 40-watt
fluoresecent tubes and came complete with integral gear. However, the lantern
never proved very popular and was discontinued by the very early 1970’s along
with the Company's other Fluoresecent lighting fittings.
Whether or not the AC790 would have been a better seller had it been
developed into a low-pressure sodium lantern will never be known.
In a bid to cut costs, A
C Ford had discontinued the now floundering fluorescent lighting range, ended
the production of the fibreglass columns, which were now costing £12.15p each
to manufacture and had consigned outdated products like the AC352 open lantern
to history. But sadly, it was too little too late; the factory was now running
at a fraction of its original capacity, profits were falling and costs were
dramatically increasing. Arthur Crawford was now well into his 80’s and
desperately wanted to retire from the business. Only Eddie Farmer seemed keen to carry on with the business, but with mounting costs and
insufficient orders to maintain the overheads, there could only be one outcome.
In early 1976, A C Ford Ltd finally closed down and its 30-year history had seemingly
come to an end.
In the wake of A C Ford
Ltd’s demise, a phoenix would rise from the ashes. Prior to the demise of A C
Ford Ltd, Edward Farmer had approached Arthur and got agreement from him to
acquire the tools, equipment and the manufacturing rights of the former
business, and to re-start production on a limited scale under a newly created
company, A C Ford (Dudley) Ltd.
Following the erstwhile
Company’s closure, the Peartree Lane factory had been sold to R J Hawkins &
Co Ltd (Steel Stockholders), but Edward was able to persuade the new owners to
rent him part of the old factory back on a short-term lease. Now armed with a
smaller work force, reduced overheads, and a more manageable, but viable range
of street lighting products, Edward was able to quickly start up production
again.
Enter Brian and Jane Wilde
Brian Wilde was a plumber
by profession and had married Jane Farmer (Edward Farmer’s daughter) in 1973.
Tired of the plumbing trade, Brian joined his father in law in the new A C Ford
business venture in 1978. Brian quickly learned the trade, and soon became an
integral and valued member of the new Company, helping to run the concern on a
day to day baisis, as well as developing new ideas and additions to the
existing range. In 2000 Edward Framer retired from the business and Brian Wilde
became the Managing Director of the Company; a position he holds to this day.
Jane Wilde (Jane Farmer), is also a Director of the Company, and fondly recalls
her family's proud association with the concern. Today, Jane greatly
assists Brian in the running of the business. Sadly, Janes father,
Edward Farmer passed away in 2004 aged 81 years.
Brian and Jane Wilde,
two lovely people. Picture by Claire Pendrous.
The Birmingham City Council order
In 1978, further rationalisation of the street lighting range took place, amongst the casualties were the last of the AC710 type small low-pressure sodium lanterns. But at about the same time Edward Farmer struck a landmark deal with Birmingham City Council to supply brackets and AC850 and AC888 80w mercury lanterns to their Lighting Department. Birmingham City Council owned a huge network of mercury streetlighting, and in the past had largely relied on REVO and later it’s successors Relite and Simplex to supply its street lighting lanterns and brackets. This amounted to a considerable number of units per month, and became one of the Companies bread and butter contracts; indeed, it is still current to this day; although high-pressure sodium lamps are used in place of mercury lamps these days.
An AC850 70-watt High-pressure sodium lantern being
assembled for Birmingham City Council in December 2005. Picture by Claire
Pendrous.
Dudley Row premises
1978 was also a year that
brought about new problems for A C Ford, when R J Hawkins Ltd, the owners of
the Peartree Lane factory, informed A C Ford that they would not be renewing
the lease. Hawkins acquired the works for the expansion of their own steel
stockholding business, forcing Edward to look elsewhere for alternate premises.
Edward eventually found his new premises in Dudley Row, Dudley, but they
weren’t ideal, as access in and out of the property was difficult. However,
production was quickly transferred to Dudley Row.
Although production of
fibreglass columns had ended in 1976 with the closure of the old company, A C
Ford (Dudley) Ltd, continued to supply fibreglass columns, which were now
brought in from Plymol Tubes Ltd, of Hoylake, Cheshire, as and when required,
but this arrangement ended in 1982, when orders for the fibreglass columns
finally dried up.
The 1980’s had started on
rather a sad note, when Arthur Crawford passed away in April 1980; he was 91
years old. But the 1980’s would also herald new changes for the Company;
the Dudley Row premises were now standing in the path of the proposed Dudley
Bypass and eventually the factory would be compulsory purchased along with
other surrounding properties to make way for the new road development. Within
12 months of Arthur’s passing, more suitable premises with improved access were
found in Churchfield Road, Dudley, and moves were made to acquire these
buildings in place of the Dudley Row site. By 1982, production had been moved
to the Churchfield Road site and the now dericlict Dudley Row factory was
eventually razed to the ground, when the Dudley bypass was finally constructed
in the mid 1990’s.
Today, the Churchfield
Road factory remains the current home of A C Ford (Dudley) Limited. It is
understood that the premises had originally belonged to the Dunlop Rubber
Company, but had seen a succession of owners before A C Ford’s arrival in 1982.
Picture by Claire Pendrous.
The end of the cast-iron products, post-top lanterns and the AC810 lantern
Manufacture of all cast
iron products ended in 1985, as the demand for these products declined and
costs rose; all cast products being made from cast-aluminium after this date.
The range of lanterns produced was again reduced in 1987, when production of
the ungainly AC800/802
vandal-proof lantern ended due to lack of demand. This left the AC730, AC810, AC850 and AC888 as the
Company’s contemporary street lighting lantern range. In 1990, production of
the long lived AC810 was brought to an abrupt end, when a disastrous fire
befell the foundry supplying castings to A C Ford, destroying many of the company’s
old wooden patterns including the AC810’s patterns. Fortunately, the other
lanterns used gravity-fed metal die-casting moulds and were unharmed in the
blaze.
Production of the AC810 lantern ended in 1990 when
the wooden patterns needed to create the castings were destroyed in a fire at a
local foundry. Picture Claire Pendrous collection.
Over the years, A C Ford
has made many ‘specials’ to customer’s individual requirements, and the
‘Cornwall’ bracket typifies this type of bespoke product. In about 1985, A C
Ford was approached by Cornwall County Council to produce a wood-pole bracket
of a simple and straightforward design for mounting street lighting lanterns on
to telegraph poles. A C Ford complied and produced the bracket (AC
part number not known), and the product
became a steady seller for several years; until eventually the orders suddenly
stopped in 1993. On enquiring with the council concerned, as to what had
happened, Brian Wilde was told that Pudsey Diamond Engineering Ltd of Andover
in Hants (another street lighting manufacturer), was now supplying the council
with the brackets, and they had undercut A C Ford on price. The story typifies
the difficulties faced by manufacturers and the volatile nature of the forces
governing supply and demand.
The “Cornwall” bracket, as supplied to Cornwall
County Council from 1985 to 1993. The pen gives an idea of scale.
Without doubt, A C Ford
have survived through some very difficult times, but despite the Company’s past
ups and downs, it has managed to outlive many of its major competitors such a
AEI, REVO, and GEC by a good many years. In 1996 the company celebrated its 50th
year in business; true testament to the quality and durability of the A C
Ford brand, and of the people behind the Company through the passing decades,
and long my it continue to do so.
An excerpt from the current A C Ford (Dudley) Ltd
catalogue. A C Ford (Dudley) Ltd.
Today, Brian Wilde and
his wife Jane, along with a small but dedicated workforce continue to produce
high quality, low volume production street lighting equipment to order;
capturing a niche in the market for bespoke brackets, lanterns and period
fixtures.
My sincere thanks to
Brian and Jane Wilde and their Daughter Emma for their unending patience in
answering my many questions and without whose kind help and assistance the
writing of this brief history of A C Ford wouldn’t have been possible.
Claire Pendrous. March
2007
All pictures are by Claire Pendrous, or are in the Claire Pendrous Collection, unless otherwise stated.
Please click here to see the A C Ford Product range from 1946
to 1978.
Please click here to see the A C Ford 1968 street lighting lantern
brochure
For enquiries regarding A C Ford’s current products, the Company can be contacted at the following address:
A C Ford (Dudley) Ltd, Churchfield Street, Dudley, West Midlands, DY2 8QX. Tel: 01384 253701, Fax: 01384 457542.
For more information, please visit the A C Ford website at: http://www.acforddudley.co.uk/
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Copyright(c) 2007 Claire Pendrous. All rights reserved.
Please note that all pictures are by Claire Pendrous, or are part of the Claire Pendrous photographic collection unless otherwise stated; none of these images can be copied without obtaining prior permission.