EPW021332 ENGLAND (1928). Scammell Motor Works, Watford, 1928

This fine image of the 1922 works at Scammell Lorries, West Watford, is worth including because of the importance of the factory as a major source of employment from 1922 until 1987.

Alfred & James Scammell built a revolutionary articulated vehicle which was subsequently exhibited at the Olympia Motor Show in 1921. Their restricted London premises proved inadequate for the completion of the new contracts and so they purchased land on Tolpits lane, west Watford, for the construction of a large new factory in the following year, on the south-east side of Watford West station. The initial work force was 60 men. The company survived the 1930s' Depression by building more durable and innovative commercial vehicles and production was further boosted by the outbreak of war in September 1939.



Postwar demand for Scammells' lorries decreased and there was a merger with Leyland in 1955. Just over 30 years later, it was announced that the factory was to close with the loss of 650 jobs. The site is now a residential area, with one of the local roads called Scammell Way.