Blasts from the past
Circa 1955 B-L 4-6-2 A1 BR green Flying Scotsman 60103 Nuscale. PAT HAMMOND
Famous son of Northampton
W J Bassett-Lowke was without doubt one of Northampton’s famous sons. His name lives on at Bassett-Lowke Drive in the Upton area of the town and he has also been commemorated in a steel sculpture alongside Macintosh on a portrait bench placed alongside the River Nene near a Sustrans cycle route that runs from Beckets Park towards Upton in the town.
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The company moved out of its Kingswell Street premises in 1984 to new accommodation in Harvey Reeves Road. Anne Ritchie continued to run the company in addition to her other business industries. In 1989 the business was sold again to Nigel Turner, a Northampton businessman. Turner was best known for his interest in fairground and agricultural machines, which had led to the creation of Turner’s Musical Merry-Go-Round, near Wootton, Northampton. It was a popular night club attraction incorporating fairground rides and organs attracting thousands of visitors during its period of operation between 1983 and 2004. During this time Turner employed the services of Marcel van Cleemput who had been responsible for designing Corgi cars for more than 30 years before leaving to start his own design company. Turner only owned the company for
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January 2017
a couple of years before selling it on to Acorn Models owned by Wellingborough businessman, Ken Robinson, in 1991. The company moved to 99 Sanders Road on the Finedon Road Industrial Estate in Wellingborough. In 1993 the name was once again prominent in model shops following the introduction of short-run O gauge whitemetal models of steam road vehicles. These included a Burrell-type traction engine, Clayton steam wagon, Burrell-type steam roller, and a London B-type bus. The name was acquired in 1996 by Corgi Toys. Four years later the name of Bassett-Lowke once again appeared on a model locomotive box with the release of a live steam 2-6-0 Mogul announced at the London Toy Fair. The range continued to be developed by one of the company’s designers, Len Mills, until 2004 when development temporarily ceased resulting in
Len moving to ACE Trains in a similar role. Production restarted with the company working closely with ETS in the Czech Republic which manufactured much of the output. In 2008, Hornby acquired the Corgi brands and with it Bassett-Lowke. Hornby went on to develop further models. However, Bassett-Lowke products did not generate the volume sales demanded of Hornby group products and production ceased in 2012. For the time being the company name of Bassett-Lowke lies dormant despite being one of the most famous names in the model railway industry. ■ For further information
The Bassett-Lowke Society is an active organisation which meets on a regular basis to operate Bassett-Lowke trains visit www.bassettlowkesociety.org.uk