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Westwood Works 1903-2003 |
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This section provides a record of the development of Westwood Works from 1904 to 1992. The Site Plans show how the factory grew and how the role of individual buildings changed over the years.
For completeness, we are seeking a Site Plan dated in the 1950s/1960s, i.e. before the construction of the 1975 Office Building.
The first Factory on this site was built in 1904. This is the local press coverage:
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The railway can be seen to the right of the construction work, while what will become Westfield Road runs along the bottom of the shot. |
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These photos clearly show the 1908 Office Block as a single storey building. The first sections of the Machine Shop and Fitting Shop bays were in place. These were progressively lengthened westwards in 1915 and again in 1926. Some of the windows in the gable ends overlooking the railway can be recognised as having survived until the site was cleared in 2003. |
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Showing the Directors' Garage next to the front entrance to the 1908 Offices. A second storey was added to these in 1918. |
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This photograph would have been taken following the re-building of the Works after the Great Fire of 1922 |
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At this time, the Main Works Yard and entrance was sited between the Despatch Dept., later "Y" Bay, and the west end of the Machine/Fitting Shop bays. These photographs were taken before any of the Plate Shop bays were erected, to the west of the factory only allotments being visible. At the north end of the site, what came to be the Motor Vehicle Workshop, and Pattern Stores (Much later - Customer Services Workshop, Spares and Assembly) can be seen but not the Pattern Shop - not built until 1922 (and extended in 1929). |
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By now the "Black Shed (erected in 1922) can be seen at the far north end of the site. At the west end of the site, the Main Works Entrance had been moved to the other side of the Despatch Bay after the Machine/Fitting Shop bays had been extended in 1926.The first of the Plate Shop bays were built in 1935 (P2 and P3 bays) - the L70 bay was added in 1938 and P4 not until 1946. To the west of the factory there are still allotments but RAF Westwood can clearly be seen. This was opened in 1932. The Airfield was placed under care and maintenance in 1948 but for two years, British Airways used it as a helicopter base for a regular mail service. From 1958 to 1963, Baker Perkins, Mitchell Engineering and Mitchell Construction used part of the Airfield and remaining hangars to house their Company Aircraft. |
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 1950: Site view |
Another superb aerial shot of the site (kindly loaned by Bob Woolley). It is relatively easy to date as it shows the first bay of the new Experimental Department (completed in 1949), but there is no evidence of the Boiler House and chimney (built in 1951). By the time that this photograph was taken Westwood Airfield had been in a "care and maintenance" state for two years and, but for the absence of any aircraft or vehicles, still looks in very good condition. The verandas are still in evidence on the 1933 multi-storey office block - it is thought that these disappeared in the mid to late-50s. There is an impressive number of railway wagons in the company sidings and allotments cover more of the site than do the manufacturing facilities. |
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A particularly fine shot showing the broad expanse of RAF Westwood still intact but devoid of activity. The afternoon sun gleams on the brand-new Apprentice School and highlights all of the buildings along the Westfield Road frontage. The Plate Shop is now complete as is the Experimental Department. To the right of the Apprentice School can be seen the "Old" Canteen but the 2-storey Personnel building has yet to be built so the Surgery/Medical Centre must still be housed in the buildings between the Main Works Entrance and the Directors Garage - the open door of which shows up very clearly. The Clocking-In Station and the Cycle Sheds are to the left of the Main Entrance.The areas used for Car Parking - in front of the multi-storey office block and to the right of the Apprentice School - are dwarfed by the space taken up by cycle sheds. |
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The accommodation for RAF Westwood is still in evidence but Westfield Road, and the housing on the right hand side has still not been developed. The Apprentice School can be seen in the middle distance (built in 1953), as can the new Boiler House and chimney which was erected in 1951. Alongside the Apprentice School can be seen the first Apprentices' Sports Ground. The first part of the Experimental Department (1949/1955) is visible in the top LH corner of the photograph next to the Marston Hut (1946). |
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A view of most of the site which had by now grown from the original 10 acres purchased by F.C. Ihlee in 1903 to over 40 acres, including the allotments in the northern-most corner. The site now filled virtually the whole area from Westfield Road in the south, to Freeman's warehouse in the north and from the railway in the east to the line of Saville Road in the west. |
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Prominent in the centre of this shot can be seen the "Old" Canteen (1941), with, between it and the Apprentice School, the 17,000 gallon water tank which was installed in 1941 to act as an emergency supply in the event of enemy action during WW2.Just to the right of the "Old" Canteen is the white, single storey Tarslag building. This was used in later years as a Snack Bar/Canteen. |
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By this time the Holdings Building (1966), but not its overhead link with the Apprentice School (1970) can be seen. The two storey building in front of the "Old" Canteen is the Welfare/Personnel Block built in 1966, the ground floor housing the Medical Centre. The first Apprentice Sports ground has been moved to the north end of the site and the large Works Car-Park has been sited behind the Holdings Building. |
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A vertiginous view of the whole site, taken at the end of the '60s. Westfield Road runs along the bottom of the picture. The shadow of the 1933 Office block falls across the Machine Shop and the cluster of buildings around the main Works Entrance (discussed below) show up clearly. Behind the Canteen and below the Plate Shop can be seen the large Static Water Tank. |
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Shows the Main Works Entrance prior to building the 1975 Office Block. The roof of the "Old" Canteen and the 2-storey Welfare Building are in the lower RH corner. The Despatch Dept. ("Y" bay) is to the centre left with a cluster of buildings that housed the Sports Club Office, Medical Comforts and Hairdresser to its right. The red door of the Fire Station can be seen at lower centre. The building with the white patch on its roof at centre left was the Spares Office, with the Spares Stores behind it, This building was, up until the early '50s, the Clocking - in Station. The "L" shaped building to its right, fronting onto Westfield Road housed the Printing Division before it moved in to the 1975 Office Block. |
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 Post 1975: Aerial view of Site |
A superb aerial shot probably taken soon after the 1975 Office Block was completed. The car park to the West of the site has not yet encroached on the Apprentice Sports Field. The photograph shows clearly the 1970 additions to the rear of the Holdings Building together with the bridge between the Holdings Building and the new Management Training Centre above the entrance to the Apprentice School. |
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This shot shows the full extent of the Westwood site just prior to closure. The site now covered more than 40 acres. The Main Car Park fills most of the west side of the site, the Apprentice Sports Field having been progressively pushed back over the years to the northernmost end. The Pattern Shop can be seen to the centre right of the photograph - the black building of 5 bays with its gable ends facing the railway - the "Black Shed" is to its right against the railway boundary. To the left of the Pattern Shop is the Foundry which marks the approximate position of the outer security wall of HMP Peterborough. The new Prison, therefore, occupies only around half of the original site. The area between what was the Pattern Shop and Westfield Road is currently being turned into a landscaped area to be adopted by The Peterborough City Council as a public amenity. Click here to see some superb aerial photographs of the development of the Netherton Estate. Westwood Works, Westwood Airfield and the surrounding area can be seen clearly. These photographs are displayed with the kind permission of the Netherton Neighbourhood Association. |
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This site plans below show the situation over the years. The building names are as of that time. Inevitably, over time the use to which some buildings have been put has changed. If other site plans exist showing the site at an earlier date, we would be pleased to see them.
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To maximise legibility, we have deliberately made the 1991 plan larger than 800x600 pixels, so you will need to scroll around the full image using your keyboard's arrow keys or the on-screen horizontal and vertical scroll bars.
Can you help to fill in any missing dates? If so, please see this page for instructions on how to contact us and we'll update the captions. For more views of the offices and factory, see the Awaiting the Developers page.
One of the images above depicts the rail crash which occurred just north of Westwood Bridge on the 1st September 1955. The 3.50pm Kings Cross to Leeds express was accelerating away from Peterborough North Station when it suffered a complete fracture of the front bogie frame. Broken parts came into contact with the track causing progressively more damage. The train was travelling at 20 mph by the time that it had reached Westwood Junction, where points connected the Great Northern main lines with the former Midland Peterborough to Leicester line. The locomotive was completely derailed and the two leading coaches fell onto their sides.
Luckily, due to the low speed, only five passengers were injured, four of whom were detained in hospital. The loco crew were not injured, nor were the signalman and telegraph lad in Westwood Junction Signal Box a few yards from where the locomotive came to rest.
The Baker Perkins' works fire brigade and ambulance volunteers immediately turned out, cutting a large hole in the lineside fence through which they passed ladders and blankets. The passengers were provided with tea in the works canteen.
Clearing up after the accident was achieved remarkably quickly with the main line being opened to traffic by 9.20am the next morning. (The photographs were taken by the late Geoff Steels - a Senior Draughtsman at Baker Perkins - and are published here with the kind permission of Peter Waszak and Brian White of "Nene Steam" Magazine. We apologise for the poor standard of these images - this has nothing to do with the quality of Geoff's original photographs).
For the steam buffs, the locomotive was the unique W1 Class, built as the famous LNER Hush-Hush steam engine No.10000 in 1929 with an experimental high pressure "Jarrow" water tube boiler and rebuilt into a conventional streamlined locomotive in 1936. It was repaired and returned to service soon after the accident, finally being scrapped in July 1959.
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