The Singer Car Centenary Celebration
Canterbury Street
Those visiting Canterbury Street also had a treat, Colin Borley bringing to life the remaining facade and internal ornate wooden staircase of the old factory, which are now listed monuments and part of Singer Hall, providing student
accomodation for Coventry university. Fortunately the students were on holiday, so we were able to park in
Gazelle Close - Vogue Close is nearby. You could almost feel the vibrations as Colin described how the whole area shook as Big Bertha, the 700 ton press, stamped out the chassis side rails. Then Colin produced the picture below, which was taken in the late 1920s from very close to where we were standing. The
picture belongs to Lewis Francis, of Broad Lane, Coventry, and shows his cousin Arthur Etherington second in from the right at the very back of the picture. Directly in front of him stands Andy Boyle, a footballer who played for Coventry City. Arthur worked at Singer in his youth, taking home about £2 a week.
This is the Senior production line at the time Singer was moving towards mass production.
