Banner Lane facts for kids

Banner Lane office tower, around 2009. This building was later taken down.

Banner Lane was once the home of a very important factory in Coventry, England. During World War II, it was a special "shadow factory" run by the Standard Motor Company. Its main job was to build powerful Bristol Hercules airplane engines to help with the war effort.

After the war, the factory changed its focus. In 1946, Standard Motor Company took over the site to start making Ferguson tractors. These tractors became very famous! Later, in 1959, the tractor business became part of Massey Ferguson. Banner Lane then became Massey Ferguson's main place for building tractors until 2002. After that, the factory site was turned into new homes.

A Secret Wartime Factory

In May 1939, just before World War II began, the Air Ministry (the government department in charge of air forces) needed a huge factory to build Bristol Hercules airplane engines. Construction started later that year on a big, empty piece of land outside Coventry.

This factory, known as a "shadow factory," was one of the largest built by the government. It cost about £1.7 million to build and set up. It had over 1 million square feet of space! Luckily, the Banner Lane factory was fully working before the big bombing raids on Coventry in 1940, known as the Coventry Blitz.

The Standard Motor Company managed the factory, using their skills to help build these complex engines. Some parts were even made at another factory nearby. The Hercules engines were very powerful, with 14 cylinders and a special design. They could produce a lot of horsepower, helping planes fly fast and strong.

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  The Banner Lane factory building.

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  A Bristol Hercules engine on display, showing its inside parts. The engine was about 1.3 meters wide.

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  An example of the engine on display at the Prague Aviation Museum, Kbely.

By the time the war ended in 1945, the Banner Lane factory had built more than 20,000 Hercules engines! Standard Motor Company also managed the production of other important wartime items at a nearby factory, like parts for Bristol Beaufighter and De Havilland Mosquito fighter planes.

Making Tractors for the World

A Ferguson TE tractor, a popular model made at Banner Lane.

After World War II, the government no longer needed the Banner Lane factory for airplane engines. But a new opportunity came along! In 1945, the Standard Motor Company made a deal with Harry Ferguson, a famous inventor, to build his new tractors in the UK.

Standard Motor Company rented the Banner Lane factory for £36,000 a year. The plan was to build up to 500 tractors every day! From mid-1946 to the end of 1947, over 20,800 new tractors were built. At its busiest, more than 6,000 people worked at Banner Lane. In just 10 years, the factory produced over 500,000 Ferguson TE tractors!

Later, there were some disagreements between Standard and Ferguson. In 1959, Standard Motor Company stopped making tractors. Harry Ferguson's company had joined with another company to become Massey-Harris-Ferguson, which was later shortened to Massey Ferguson. On August 31, 1959, Massey Ferguson took full ownership of the Banner Lane factory.

By the year 2000, the factory was huge, covering 1.8 million square feet. It was making over 70,000 tractors each year, with most of them being sent to other countries. However, Massey Ferguson started building more tractors in other places, especially in Beauvais, France.

The company decided to close one of the factories to save money. It was harder to close the French factory due to government and worker pressure, so Banner Lane was chosen. The tractor production line at Banner Lane closed on Christmas Eve 2002. The very last tractor, number 3,307,996, was completed that day. The factory continued some work into 2003, finishing partially built tractors and sending parts to the French factory.

The End of an Era

After tractor production stopped, the enormous job of taking down the factory began. The final part to be demolished was a tall, 16-story office tower. It was taken down on July 8, 2012, using special explosives.

Now, a new housing area called Bannerbrook Park stands on the site where the factory once was. There are plans for about 1,000 new homes, along with shops and a school.

A special memorial to Massey Ferguson and the tractor production has been placed on the site, remembering the factory's long history.

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