I've stayed many times at the Village Hotel in Canley and only discovered it
was the site of the Triumph factory by the mere 3 or 4 Triumph photos on the
wall of the pub. There's little physical evidence of the factory anywhere and
the only building still standing is the Standard Triumph Worker's Social Club
- or union hall, which is kind of ironic because labour unrest was one or the
factors behind Triumph's demise.
Besides the street names reflecting the names of Triumph cars, the site is
also commemorated by a rather small stainless steel plaque on a pedestal
placed on a sidewalk - listing all the names of the Triumph clubs who
contributed towards its placement - my local Manitoba club is listed on the
plaque.
I've walked the streets around the site in Canley and talked to some of the
locals about the factory. It's truly strange that for a people so preoccupied
by history, there's little fondness or nostalgia for this factory that once
employed so many.
If any of the members on the List make it to Coventry, I highly recommend the
Coventry Transport Museum. It truly does capture the rich engineering and
manufacturing history of that region and you can spend many hours amongst
their varied exhibits.
It's really sad to realize that the source of many of our valued LBC's closed
not with a bang, but a whimper.....and little physical evidence of its
existence 20 years later.
On Thursday, July 6, Blake Discher copied us on this
"Automotive News"
article....
"On Aug. 26, 1980, Canley built its last car, a
yellow Spitfire, ending 50
years of car production at the plant. In the late 1980s, the land was sold,
the buildings were razed, and an industrial park was built. Then came a giant
Sainsbury's supermarket and numerous American junk food emporiums.
.......The next stop was the Coventry Transport
Museum. A wall in the
museum lists every company that ever built a bicycle, motorcycle, car or
commercial vehicle in Coventry and their suppliers. The list has 136 names.
Some - such as Daimler, Sunbeam, Hillman and Humber - are recognizable to
Americans."
Brian Lanoway
1973 TR6
Winnipeg
=== This list supported in part by The Vintage Triumph Register
=== http://www.vtr.org
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