ROF Patricroft facts for kids
The ROF Patricroft was a special factory in England that made important things for the country. It was called a Royal Ordnance Factory, or ROF for short. This factory was in a place called Patricroft, which is near the town of Eccles in Greater Manchester. It was built right next to a railway line and a canal, which made it easy to move materials and products.
This factory used to be an engineering company called The Bridgewater Foundry. It was started by two clever people, James Nasmyth and Holbrook Gaskell. They used to build locomotives (train engines!). By 1938, they stopped making trains but still made other machines like steam hammers. The government, specifically the Ministry of Supply, took over the factory in June 1940. They wanted to turn it into a Royal Ordnance Factory because of World War II. Experts from the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich helped get it ready. The factory officially opened as an ROF in February 1941.
The factory had a main building that looked a bit like a square mill, which people called The Tower. There were also other buildings around it, including a place where machines were made (a machine shop), a foundry (where metal is melted and shaped), and a blacksmith's shop (where metal is hammered into shape). ROF Patricroft kept working until the late 1980s.
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What did ROF Patricroft make during the war?
ROF Patricroft started during World War II to help the main Royal Arsenal factory. About 3,000 people, both men and women, worked there during the war. They made important parts for weapons.
One of the main things they made parts for was the Bofors 40 mm gun. This was a very important anti-aircraft gun used to shoot down enemy planes. The factory also made welded parts, especially large oil tanks. These tanks helped steam locomotives run on oil instead of coal, which was very useful during the war.
Why did ROF Patricroft close?
In 1984, ROF Patricroft, along with other Royal Ordnance Factories, became a private company called Royal Ordnance Plc. This means it was no longer owned by the government. Later, in April 1987, a big company called British Aerospace (BAe) bought Royal Ordnance.
Not long after, in 1988 and 1989, the Patricroft factory and another factory in Enfield Lock were closed down. The land was then sold so new buildings could be put there. Before it closed, Patricroft was also very important for making rocket motors for different types of missiles. These included missiles like ALARM, Harpoon, Sea Wolf, and Sea Dart. The factory had developed very advanced ways to make parts for ammunition and missile systems.
Patricroft was also skilled in special manufacturing methods like advanced flow forming, Electro Slag Refining (ESR), and vertical forging. They even made gun barrels for the Chieftain tank using these methods. Today, the old Royal Ordnance Factory site is a business and technology center called Nasmyth Business Centre.
See also
Images for kids
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Http://www.transportarchive.org.uk/printobject.php?rnum=T1654&searchitem=factory&mtv=T1&pnum=1
A picture of The Tower from 1967.
