An opportunity for diversification of the town’s workforce

It is well known that during WW11 the woodworking skills of the furniture industry workforce in High Wycombe were in big demand for the manufacture of aircraft components. It is not so widely appreciated that this was also the case in WW1. So much so that in 1917 the Government were appealing for 25% of these craftsmen to be selected to work on the manufacture of aircraft. But they were to be employed elsewhere, not in Wycombe. Obviously, the owners of the furniture firms were not keen on this proposal, believing that these craftsmen, once they had moved away from the town, would not return and their skills would be lost to the industry. Clearly however they appreciated the commercial opportunities which aircraft production offered, and the opportunity to diversify their businesses.

Therefore, in August 1917 it was proposed by the furniture manufacturers that aircraft production should be established in High Wycombe. The scheme was to be administered by the Government’s Department of Aeronautical Supplies, under the local supervision of a Lt. Bentley. Within weeks Messrs Birch & Cox of Queens Road, Cecil Smith of Desborough Road, Walter Skull of London Road, and E. Gomme Ltd had agreed to participate in the proposal. As an example of the priority which the participants gave to the scheme, it was reported on 30th November of that year that William Skull had produced the first aircraft wing.

A new company, Wycombe Aircraft Constructors Ltd. (WAC), was established as an associate of the Aircraft Construction Company of Hendon. The directors were Mr G. Holt-Thomas, Mr H. Burroughes, and Mr G.A. Peck, with capital of £50,000 in £1 shares. Offices were taken at 57 London Road, stores in the High Street, and timber yard and sawmill in Oxford Road. It was planned that a staff of qualified instructors would be available to instruct the local labour force in the technical details of the work.

It was soon realised that a weakness in the Wycombe company was its inability to assemble complete aircraft, due to the lack of a sufficiently large factory. Therefore, WAC contracted with the Wilfey Company from London to build a new factory at Bellfield, specifically to assemble complete aircraft from the components produced by the many factories around the town. The area chosen comprised 22 acres in extent, which was ‘that laying between the railway in the south and Great Tinkers Wood in the north, with Hughenden Road marking the eastern boundary. A very steep escarpment formed the western boundary.’ Bellfield at that time, or Bell Field as it was then known, was used for allotment gardens.

Bellfield Works, as it became known, consisted of two factories, built along a north/south axis on each side of Hughenden Avenue, at that time a cul-de-sac. Building No.1, of 115,000 square feet, was a three-bay factory with unequal spans and very heavily buttressed end walls. In the eastern wall a very large doorway provided an exit for completed aircraft. Building No. 2 was a smaller unit of 40,000 square feet, which was intended for the production of aircraft propellers by a predominately female labour force, who it was felt should be segregated from the male workforce of No.1 factory. It had six bays facing east and was said to have been so positioned to avoid reflections from the pitched glass roof inconveniencing the occupants of Hughenden Manor. Because of the rising ground this factory was built on two levels, with the two lower bays nearest Hughenden Road and the other four bays about four feet higher. In front of the two lower bays a small office lean-to building, with a boiler house beneath, was constructed. The remainder of that elevation was closed by full height sliding doors. Associated with Building No.1 and fronting on Hughenden Avenue, an imposing administrative block completed the factory.

The buildings become redundant

The two buildings were completed, a Company Secretary, General Manager and several key men were appointed, and from April 1918 adverts began to appear in the BFP for the workforce. But following the Armistice on November 11, 1918, neither building ever saw aircraft production. They became redundant and were eventually purchased by Wycombe’s entrepreneurial businessman Alec Stacey who ran a motor engineering business in the railway arches at Frogmoor. Building No. 1 was used to produce the prototype of a prefabricated bungalow intended for use by local authorities. One prototype was displayed on the grass triangle in front of the administrative block. Apparently, this scheme was unsuccessful.

Proposals to use the Bellfield Works for municipal purposes came to nothing. The next scheme to be considered was for a railway goods depot to cope with the increased trade of the Wycombe furniture manufacturers. The Mayor approached the Great Western Railway for a connection to be made from the main railway line, but this was declined on the grounds of cost. However, Mr Alec Stacey decided that the scheme was sound and financed a spur to serve both buildings at a point just to the west of the viaduct between the Bellfield and Oxford Roads. To reach the two factories the line passed through a new cutting, the spoil from which was spread over the Bellfield area. This resulted in one side of the river bank being many feet higher than the other. Work on the Harrisons’ factory, which included the No. 2 building, in the early 1990s uncovered a stretch of this spur line.

The buildings become productive

After a long period of inactivity, on August 7, 1927, building No.1 was sold for £25,000 to Messrs. Broom & Wade Ltd. for the production of air compressors. At the same time, it was reported that No.2 was to be occupied by Messrs. H.E. Scrutton of Kingsway, London. They were said to be manufacturers of lightweight bodies, saloon and Pullman coaches, buses, lorries, ambulances, and even hearses, but no reference has been found to such a firm in Kelly’s Directories of the time. It is believed that they were acting as Agents for the Gilford Motor Company of Holloway Road, London. Gilford’s factory of 15,000 square feet was not only far too small for their rapidly expanding business but had very difficult access onto the main road. Also, the location was quite unsuitable for the testing of vehicle chassis.

Gilford purchased No. 2 building on December 19, 1927, and also acquired a further two acres of land beyond the Tinkers Wood boundary. At the time they did not manufacture vehicle bodies, but with the potential offered by their new factory decided to set up their own body-building subsidiary. Therefore during 1929 the first two bays of the factory were doubled in length using some of the extra land, so adding a further 13,000 square feet. The Wycombe Motor Body Company Ltd was set-up, and allocated the upper four bays, thus splitting the factory in two. To provide access to Hughenden Avenue doorways were made in the end walls. Due to the relatively low headroom of the factory body production was limited to single deck vehicles, with one exception. This was when Gilford embarked on their experimental low-height, front wheel drive double decker. There was just sufficient clearance in No.3 bay, but the doorway had to be raised in order for the completed vehicle to exit.

During their tenure of No.2, Gilford enjoyed cordial relations with their Broom & Wade neighbours. Gilford employees used the Broom & Wade canteen’ and the weighbridge was used by the development staff for vehicle weighing. While at High Wycombe, Gilford’s made a major impact on the passenger vehicle market, but their tenure was short lived. They suffered a severe cash flow crisis, forcing them to relinquish the factory and move to smaller premises at Park Royal in 1933. Mr Wade attempted to acquire the factory to expand his production, particularly of small mobile compressors. But Harrison’s the printer of St Martins Lane in London had just won the Post Office contract for printing postage stamps. They were seeking larger premises, and the High Wycombe factory was acquired.

The far-sightedness of the Wycombe furniture manufacturers in 1917 was thus responsible for bringing two major employers to the town, but not for manufacturing the products for which the factory was built. When viewing the area at the present day it is hard to credit that one press report in 1918 referred to the ‘massive Bellfield Aerodrome’. And that a well-known aviator Captain B.C. Hucks gave a flying display on April 20,1918, for the benefit of those employed in the aircraft industry, after which he landed at Abbey Park. Further ascents were then made, on the first of which the Mayor of High Wycombe Mr O. Haines accompanied Capt Hucks.

For a detailed history of the aviation industry in the town see the book ‘High Wycombe’s Contribution to Aviation’ by David Scott and Ian Simmons.