Spitfires to Jaguars!
In June a group of Cardiff Brothers and wives visited the Jaguar Factory at Castle Bromwich. The visit included a 2 hour trip around the assembly lines for the Jaguar XF which is only built to order. All were very impressed with the levels of cleanliness and the efficiency of the plant which employs 3000 but many jobs are carried out by the large number of very impressive robots.
The factory was conceived in 1936 when the Air Ministry purchased the land to be developed by the Nuffield Organisation who was then commissioned to manufacture aircraft for the war effort. Between 140 and 1945, a total of 12,129 Spitfires and 305 Lancaster bombers were built at the site. Since the war the site has been owned by Fisher and Ludlow who produced body panels for the new Morris Minor. In 1953 they became part of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) who later became part of the British Leyland Group (BL). The facility was taken over in 1977 Jaguar cars who have since been taken over first by Ford and, latterly, by TATA the Indian conglomerate as part of Jaguar Land Rover.
The group led by President Chris Archer (extreme right) try to decide who is going to drive home!
cardiff catenians 