Jump to content


Archer Road history

Recommended Posts

Does anyone remember what was on Archer Road where Sainsburys is now? Lived round there most of my life and just cannot remember. Someone said it was a bakery? :huh:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I can remember some big chimney(s) being felled in the late 70s / early 80s to give space to build Sainsburys. I think a lot of theta space was for Laycocks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Pickford's refractory works was on that site. Pickfords was opposite where the car dealership is now. However, most of Sainsburys was built on the former Laycocks site.

Edited by fatrajah

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I believe Laycocks filled the whole of the space where Sainsburys and the small retail part and gym are now.

The social club is still across the road.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies, nice to know it wasnt a bakery then :hihi:. Only was told a sort of ghost story involving 3 people dying in the bakery lift :hihi:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Edited by Daven

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The university physics department ran an experimental atomic reactor on the Tesco's site in the 1950s.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When trainspotting at Millhouses station in the mid-1950s I remember a brickworks on the other side of the railway line, and this is confirmed by a 1950s map that shows the "Marriott Wood Brick Works" just where the Sainsbury's building is now. Its three kilns would account for the chimneys that Jon26 recalled in post #2. Here is a comparison of the map and an aerial view from Google Earth. Laycock's "Victoria Works" was a bit further to the right, where Sainsburys' car park, McDonald's etc. are now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The S&E coop did have a very large bakery on its site on Archer road. It was the first building on the right as you went down the cobblestone drive. As well as the Bakery the site had the milk processing and bottling plant, grocery warehouse, butchery and transportation depot for all S&E vehicles including milk floats, hursts, removal wagons and general delivery vans, it also had its own 2 pump petrol station and full mechanical repair garage. Many other departments existed to support the coop on that site, but they were the main ones. A bit before my time, but it also had stables for the horse drawn coal deliveries once the coal was offloaded on their railway siding! Apart from the entrance just off the bend (near Ulverstone Road) there was little indication that the site was so big, apart from the single building which was originally a shoe factory (almost opposite the Laycock sports ground) which is now the only building standing from the whole complex.

The site stretched from the back yards of the houses on Archer Road to the rail lines, and as far along Archer Road as the Shoe factory so it was probably as large in area as Laycocks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

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 by grinder

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.