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Alan Savage

I left Broadway School in 1937 at the age of 14. I got a job straight away at Standard’s service/spares division opposite the cinema in Fletchamstead.

In the repairs department I was to collect and file on tallies all the piecework, with the respective details of work done and wage claim in cash. From these the respective repair jobs were costed up. On occasions it required chasing up jobs as customers waited for their bills.

We had two trips to London service departments per year – travelling by company bus (Social Dept). The London crew visited us in return and we played cricket and football matches together – they were free and wonderful days out.

We were given the chance of a tour of London by the Londoners.

Captain Black – as he was then known (later elevated to Sir John Black) was the big boss of the company. He was a stickler for discipline but a very fair man. I graduated to costing and sometimes estimating and invoicing.

Called into the army in 1942, I served until 1947. Returning to the Standard I went back to my old job but some time later to spares – or scheduling parts.

 We became Standard Triumph and I well remember travelling by bus to Banner Lane to view the new Herald car.

However, in about 1976 the whole situation had changed. The motor trade was going downhill, production at Canley had stopped and the company requested volunteers for redundancy. I volunteered and departed.

By then I had been with the company for 39 years which included my five years in the army – agreed by the company as counting towards retirement benefits.

Standard also had a fine boxing team and I enjoyed many displays at Canley and Banner Lane. I enjoyed my time at Standard.

Alan Savage,  Southam.

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Canley Works

THE STANDARD Canley works came to be built when the founder of the company, Reginald Maudslay, felt he needed to break away from restricted sites at Bishopsgate Green and Much Park Street.

A series of A-framed sheds were constructed in 1915, the three earliest being fronted by a substantial red brick office building, the Ivy Cottage. In these workshops large numbers of First World War fighter planes were produced before the Armistice.

Continue reading “Canley Works”

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Standard Triumph Monument

At 12 noon on 16 April 2000, a monument to Standard Triumph was unveiled on Herald Avenue, on the site of the old Canley factory in the outskirts of Coventry, just behind the Standard Triumph Recreation Club – the last remaining original building of the factory complex. The unveiling was performed jointly by the Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of the City of Coventry, Cllr Mrs Joan Wright, and Harry Webster CBE. Cllr Wright was herself a past employee at Canley and Harry Webster was their chief engineer from 1954 to 1968. 

Honorary president, Graham Robson (who ran Standard Triumph’s motorsport department from 1962-1965), was master of ceremonies on the day and TR Register chairman, Ian Evans, gave a vote of thanks to all the contributors. Dave Lewis and Chris Cunnington, who between them made the whole project possible, were presented with an inscribed piece of lead crystal as a sincere thank-you from the TR Register.

Continue reading “Standard Triumph Monument”

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Charles and John Macartney

The story of two men who both worked for the same company – by one of them. The book is divided into two parts.

The first part deals with the life and career of Charles Macartney, who joined The Standard Motor Company in 1921 as a mechanic in the Coventry Service Department. After two years, he became ‘mobile’ on his 1915 Triumph motorcycle, visiting customers around the country and repairing or servicing their cars at their homes. This was long before the days of a franchised dealer network to undertake such work. By 1928, Charles became the Company’s Service Manager.
 Continue reading “Charles and John Macartney”

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I worked at Standard Triumph…

Online register and memories of ex-Standard Triumph Employees

We have developed a new initiative to collate and document info on ALL the ex-employees from Standard/Triumph over the years – from our sister site (www.triumph-herald.com) have been sent so much info, which isn’t necessarily Herald related, but is so important we thought it all needed to be saved some how – hence this new site.

We’d love you to get involved…
What’s the Idea with the Database?
Fascinated with stories from ex-employees from Standard, Standard Triumph and Triumph, we thought we would collate and document as many of these memories. We’d love you to get involved by adding as much or as little information as possible to the archive. Ultimately, we’d like a list of every worker, the years they worked there and which department, or part of the factory.

This, we appreciate, needs to start somewhere – so perhaps you can help with a name Smith, John for instance – it gives us something to aim for.

Submitting Details
You can submit details online using the form and by clicking the Submit a Name link. Here you can add a name (Surname first please) and any information you may have – department, service years etc etc. Finally you can add your own name – you may be submitting on behalf of someone else. Then click on Submit.

You can submit as many names as you wish – you may have worked in the same department with Steve Smith, John Evans and Bob Jones, so you can submit their names either independently, one for each submission, or as a list in the description, and we’ll pull them out, to list on their own.