Wharfside Way, Trafford Park

Building

Roofed and walled permanent structures.

Asset type

A very rare example of a late 19th- / early 20th-century electrical cable manufacturing works.

Age

‘Messrs W T Glover & Co., electrical cable manufacturers, have commenced the erection of new workshops and offices covering an area of two acres of land in Trafford Park near the Manchester Ship Canal. Mr Nuttall is the contractor for the foundations and Messrs Southern & Sons the builders for the superstructure. The architect is Mr Charles Heathcote, Manchester’ (The Builder, 3 December 1898). The surviving building derives from this initial phase of development, and is marked 'Electric Cable Works' on the Ordnance Survey 1st Revision 1:2500 map of 1908.

Rarity

The surviving buildings are rare remains from an early stage in the development of Trafford Park as one of the first industrial estates in the world.

Architectural and Artistic Interest

The buildings are largely devoid of any architectural embellishment, although the form of the north-light roof to the block at the western end is of some interest.

Group Value

The surviving vestiges of the works has a strong group value with the Manchester Ship Canal and the Bridgewater Canal.

Historic Interest

Walter T. Glover was a commercial machinery agent for the Lancashire cotton industry who was acquainted with George T. James, a Nottingham engineer who had patented machines for the manufacture of cotton braid and cord. The machines made cotton-covered wire used for crinolines and lead strips covered in cotton for use as hair curlers. Glover saw the potential for applying this technology to the electric cable industry and, in 1868, formed the Salford Electrical Wire Works, in association with the Bridgewater Street Iron Works. The company made cotton-covered and braided, insulated copper wires for use on bell, signalling and telephone circuits. In partnership with Henry Edmunds, he then formed the company of Walter T. Glover & Co and, in 1880, began to make and sell cable-making machinery. As trade expanded, the company required more space and in 1880 opened the Springfield Lane Cable Works. During this decade, factories and wealthy private homeowners began to use electric lighting. This required better insulated cables than had previously been made. Glover's started to manufacture cables covered with between one and three layers of rubber strip, waterproof tape and compounded cotton braid. When the 1887 Manchester Jubilee Exhibition opened, Glover's had its own stand and also provided cabling for the lighting of the entire site. This was probably the largest lighting scheme undertaken in Europe at the time, and took ten tonnes of copper. The company began to make cable for underground use. These lead-sheathed cables had copper conductors insulated with oil-impregnated jute wrappings. The company began to patent and sell lead presses for sheathing cables and lead tubes in the late 1880s. They exported to a number of mainland European countries, including Norway and Sweden. The company established new premises at Trafford Park in 1898: ‘Messrs W T Glover & Co., electrical cable manufacturers, have commenced the erection of new workshops and offices covering an area of two acres of land in Trafford Park near the Manchester Ship Canal. Mr Nuttall is the contractor for the foundations and Messrs Southern & Sons the builders for the superstructure. The architect is Mr Charles Heathcote, Manchester’ (The Builder, 3 December 1898). The company had moved to Trafford Park by 1902 and secured the exclusive rights for the supply of electricity to all the roads, streets and premises of Trafford Park, building a power station there, on the banks of the Bridgewater Canal. The company continued to be very successful. It began to make flexible cables for use in mines, a field where its engineers became acknowledged as the world leaders. During the First World War, Glover's made cables for the government war effort. It became a controlled establishment in August 1915. Women were employed in greater numbers during the war and, by 1918, 80% of employees were female. During the war, Glover's set up a piggery on the south side of the Trafford Park site, to help supplement canteen supplies. Glover’s were taken over by Vickers Ltd in June 1919 and, during the Second World War, the company again made cables for the government and the armed forces. As part of the war effort Glover's made HAIS armoured lead pipe for operation Pluto, the Pipe Line Under The Ocean. For six months an average of 1,000,000 gallons of petrol a day were pumped across the English Channel through PLUTO to provide petrol for the Allied invasion forces. The company continued to research following the end of the Second World War and built a thermoplastics shop on the south side of their Trafford Park works, in anticipation of the need for PVC (polyvinyl chloride). It was also making high voltage submarine power cables, used to link centres of population with sources of generation. Glover's submarine cables were used to link England and France in 1959, and the north and south islands of New Zealand. However, although the company appeared to be doing well, there was increasing competition to supply cables. The south side of the Trafford Parks works was integrated into the newly formed Wiring and General Cables Division of British Insulated Cables (BICC). The Trafford Park factory was closed in 1970.

16 May 2023

23 Dec 2021

Find out more about this Asset in Greater Manchester Local Heritage List:
https://local-heritage-list.org.uk/greater-manchester/asset/5897