Cravens

Cravens was the commercial name associated with a British engineering and railway-manufacturing business whose origins lay with the Craven brothers in 1853. William and John Craven began as engineering manufacturers in Manchester, producing large machine tools for railway and industrial workshops. The enterprise later expanded into cranes and railway equipment, and in 1866 entered railway wagon construction at a time when railway companies increasingly commissioned rolling stock for owners and operators outside their own systems. A third brother, whose earlier work had included architecture and timber dealing, subsequently joined the business. The company moved from Dawson Croft Mill in Salford to larger premises in Osborne Street, Manchester, in 1863. Continued growth led to the development of the Vauxhall Works at Greg Street, Reddish, near Manchester, by 1900. The site covered approximately 25 acres and became a major center for machine-tool production. At its peak during the First World War period, the Reddish operation employed as many as 1,500 people. The original Osborne Street works closed in 1920, while the business continued to operate through several specialized premises. Cravens became particularly associated with railway carriages, wagons, wheels, axles, springs, buffers and related components. Its customers included British railway companies and overseas operators. Nineteenth-century contracts included carriage work for the Cheshire Lines Committee and the South Eastern Railway, wheel and axle orders for the Great Northern Railway and North British Railway, and railway equipment supplied to markets including India and South America. The company also built luxury and sleeping accommodation, including a large palace car for the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway. Its output later covered coaching stock for pre-grouping railway companies, the post-1923 grouped companies and British Railways, as well as vehicles for underground systems. Cravens adapted to changing railway technology. Its work included electric and diesel multiple-unit vehicles and, among its notable products, vehicles for London Underground and British Railways. One of its final major railway orders was a 1963 contract for 55 mainline coaches for Córas Iompair Éireann in Ireland. The company also completed a royal train for Peru before its railway rolling-stock activities were absorbed by Metropolitan-Cammell in 1966. The business was diversified through acquisitions and disposals. In 1928, Craven Brothers acquired machine-tool interests associated with Armstrong Whitworth, Joshua Buckton & Company and Thomas Shanks & Company. Its crane division was sold to Herbert Morris of Loughborough in the same year and transferred there in 1931. In 1939, Cravens acquired the Victoria Works in Denton from J. Knight & Hale, where diesel oil engines were produced. During the Second World War, its manufacturing activities included airframe components and equipment for the Admiralty and Ministry of Supply, such as limbers, gun shields, gun mountings, turrets, rocket-ammunition racks, ammunition boxes and armored-vehicle components. John Brown & Company acquired a substantial interest in Cravens in 1919, partly to secure a dependable customer and supplier relationship in railway materials. The company became a wholly owned John Brown subsidiary in 1954, after its name had been restored to Cravens Limited. By the mid-1960s, however, British Railways had become both a major customer and a competitor in domestic and export markets. John Brown therefore chose to withdraw. Metropolitan-Cammell absorbed the railway rolling-stock business in 1966. In 1967, the remaining rolling-stock operation moved into shipping-container production under the Cravens Homalloy name, while the engineering division became Bone-Cravens and produced plastic-extrusion and plastic-moulding machinery. Staveley Industries acquired the company in 1967, but continuing losses led to the closure of the Reddish factory in 1970. Cravens products have continued to attract preservation interest. Former company-built carriages, diesel multiple-unit vehicles and railway cranes survive with museums, heritage railways and preservation groups in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand. The company's historical legacy therefore extends beyond its corporate life: its vehicles remain part of preserved railway collections, while its name is associated with the industrial development of railway rolling stock and heavy engineering in Britain.

Craven Brothers was established in 1853 by William and John Craven at Dawson Croft Mill in Salford. The business initially specialized in large machine tools used by railway and engineering workshops. It moved to Osborne Street in Manchester in 1863 and added railway wagons in 1866. The firm also developed crane manufacturing and became a diversified heavy-engineering enterprise. By 1900 the company had expanded to the Vauxhall Works at Greg Street, Reddish, a large site that became its principal manufacturing base. It retained the Osborne Street premises until 1920. The Reddish works employed up to 1,500 people during the First World War period. In 1919 John Brown & Company acquired a substantial interest, and in 1954 Cravens became a wholly owned subsidiary of John Brown, again trading under the Cravens Limited name. The company's railway work included carriages, wagons, wheelsets, axles and associated components for British and overseas railway customers. It supplied vehicles for pre-grouping railway companies, the post-grouping companies and British Railways, and later produced vehicles for underground railways and diesel- and electric-multiple-unit fleets. Its overseas work included luxury stock for the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway, a royal train for Peru and coaches for Ireland. In 1963 it supplied 55 mainline coaches to Córas Iompair Éireann. Cravens broadened its industrial portfolio in 1928 by acquiring machine-tool interests from Armstrong Whitworth, Joshua Buckton and Thomas Shanks. Its crane division was sold to Herbert Morris and transferred to Loughborough. In 1939 it bought the Victoria Works in Denton, where diesel oil engines were made. During the Second World War the company produced airframe parts and equipment for the Admiralty and Ministry of Supply, including armament-related components and parts for armored vehicles. John Brown withdrew in the 1960s after recognizing that British Railways, once a major customer, was also competing with Cravens in home and export markets. Metropolitan-Cammell absorbed the rolling-stock business in 1966. The following year the remaining rolling-stock operation moved into shipping containers under the Cravens Homalloy name, while the engineering division became Bone-Cravens and manufactured plastics-processing machinery. Staveley Industries acquired the company in 1967, but the Reddish works closed in 1970 after continuing losses. Cravens-built vehicles and equipment survive in preservation. Examples include Metropolitan Railway carriages held by the London Transport Museum and the Bluebell Railway, Irish carriages operated by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, British diesel-multiple-unit vehicles preserved by the East Lancashire Railway, and a Cravens-built New Zealand railway crane undergoing preservation. The company's industrial history is also linked to asbestos use in railway-carriage sound insulation, which later contributed to vehicle withdrawals, remediation issues and occupational-disease compensation claims.

• 1970

  Reddish factory closes

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  The main Reddish factory closes following continuing losses.

• 1967

  Diversification into containers and plastics machinery

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  The remaining rolling-stock activities become Cravens Homalloy, while the engineering division becomes Bone-Cravens.

• 1966

  Rolling-stock business absorbed by Metropolitan-Cammell

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  Metropolitan-Cammell takes over the railway rolling-stock operation.

• 1961

  Irish coach contract awarded

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  Córas Iompair Éireann awards Cravens a contract for 40 standard-class coaches.

• 1954

  Becomes wholly owned by John Brown

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  The company becomes a wholly owned John Brown subsidiary and resumes the Cravens Limited name.

• 1939

  Victoria Works acquired

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  Cravens purchases the Victoria Works in Denton from J. Knight & Hale.

• 1928

  Machine-tool acquisitions and crane divestment

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  Cravens acquires several machine-tool businesses and sells its crane division to Herbert Morris.

• 1919

  John Brown takes a substantial interest

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  John Brown & Company acquires a major stake in Cravens.

• 1900

  Vauxhall Works expansion

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  The company expands into the large Vauxhall Works site at Reddish.

• 1866

  Railway wagon production begins

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  Craven Brothers expands into railway wagon construction.

• 1863

  Move to Osborne Street

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  The growing business relocates to larger premises in Osborne Street, Manchester.

• 1853

  Craven Brothers is founded

  [1]Cravensen.wikipedia.org

  William and John Craven establish an engineering business at Dawson Croft Mill in Salford, initially making large machine tools.

A heavy-engineering and railway-equipment manufacturer serving British railway companies, government wartime procurement and overseas rail operators. Cravens combined machine-tool expertise with the construction of railway vehicles and components, and later diversified into containers and plastics machinery.

• Railway rolling stock · 1866

  Railway carriages and coaching stock

  Cravens built passenger carriages for British railway companies, British Railways, underground systems and overseas operators. Its work ranged from ordinary coaching stock to dining, sleeping and luxury vehicles. The company produced stock for successive generations of British railway organization and supplied a substantial order of standard-class coaches to Ireland in the early 1960s.

• Railway equipment · 1866

  Railway wagons and components

  The company manufactured railway wagons and a broad set of railway components, including wheels, axles, tyres, springs and buffers. These products were sold to domestic railway companies and exported to markets including India, Argentina and other parts of South America.

• Industrial machinery · 1853

  Machine tools

  Machine tools were central to the original Craven Brothers business and remained an important division after the company expanded into rolling stock. The Reddish operation was described as producing heavy and smaller machine tools, and the division continued until 1966.

• Material-handling equipment

  Railway and industrial cranes

  Cravens developed workshop and railway cranes alongside its machine-tool and rolling-stock activities. The crane division was sold to Herbert Morris in 1928, although Cravens-built railway cranes continued to be used and some examples have entered preservation collections.

• Railway rolling stock

  Diesel and electric multiple-unit vehicles

  In response to railway modernization, Cravens adapted from conventional coaching stock to diesel and electric multiple-unit vehicles. Examples associated with the company include vehicles later classified in British Rail fleets, several of which have survived in preservation.

• Shipping and transport equipment · 1967

  Cravens Homalloy containers

  After the railway rolling-stock business was absorbed, the remaining operation shifted toward shipping-container manufacture under the Cravens Homalloy name.

• Industrial machinery · 1967

  Bone-Cravens plastics machinery

  The engineering division that followed the railway business operated as Bone-Cravens and produced machines for plastic extrusion and plastic moulding.

• 1975

  Asbestos exposure and contaminated railway stock

  Asbestos slurry was used as sound insulation beneath railway carriages during construction. Former Cravens employees later developed asbestos-related diseases, and compensation claims were brought by some workers and families. Asbestos discoveries also contributed to the withdrawal of standard-stock vehicles and delays in replacing affected cars.

  Source

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• 1967

  Diversify after rolling-stock absorptionStrategy

  Background

  The company's traditional railway-carriage business had been transferred to Metropolitan-Cammell.

  Action taken

  The remaining rolling-stock activities moved into shipping containers as Cravens Homalloy, while the engineering division became Bone-Cravens and entered plastics-processing machinery.

  Aftermath

  Staveley Industries acquired the company, but continuing losses ultimately led to closure of the Reddish factory.

  Source

• 1966

  Withdraw from railway rolling stockStrategy

  Background

  British Railways had become both a major domestic customer and a competitor in Britain and export markets.

  Action taken

  John Brown withdrew and Metropolitan-Cammell absorbed Cravens' railway rolling-stock business.

  Aftermath

  The remaining operations diversified into shipping containers and plastics machinery before the Reddish factory closed in 1970.

  Source

• 1919

  Accept John Brown investmentM&A

  Background

  John Brown viewed Cravens as a sound investment and as a way to secure a cooperative customer for railway-materials production.

  Action taken

  John Brown & Company acquired a substantial interest in Cravens.

  Aftermath

  John Brown eventually made Cravens a wholly owned subsidiary in 1954.

  Source

• 1866

  Enter railway wagon manufacturingStrategy

  Background

  The original engineering business operated in a period when railway companies increasingly purchased or commissioned wagons for other owners.

  Action taken

  Craven Brothers added railway wagon construction to its machine-tool and engineering activities.

  Aftermath

  Railway rolling stock became the company's defining line of business and later included carriages, multiple units and specialist vehicles.

  Source

1. 1Cravensen.wikipedia.org