Another Face of Leyland

by Michael Plunkett (Torque 71)

Here and there, sandwiched between the thousands of glass plates in the Leyland Photographic Archive depicting all those highly varnished lorries and buses posed prior to delivery, there are scenes showing people, places and events, relevant at the time but which may now seem of little interest in the context of Leyland vehicle design and development. Not So! These plates provide a unique picture of “Leyland” during the formative inter-war years; waist-coated management, clothcapped workforce, local events and views of bleak, stone-set paved urban streets, small corner shops beneath factory walls, all caught in the forty shades of grey (or sepia) defined by black and white photography.

These images are as valuable as those in the better known Hulton and other collections recording Social History, so to give them an airing it is proposed to reproduce one in each forthcoming issue of “Torque” with a brief caption to explain the relevance to the Leyland “World” as it really was at the time.

		Produce from Australia, on display in the Leyland Canteen building in Thurston Road, Leyland, in July 1928. (BCVMT L005142)
		“Buy Australian Produce” posters were displayed in the windows of new buses being delivered from Leyland. These two were a Titan, possibly bound for Sydney, and an LT1 Lion for Scottish Motor Traction in July 1929. (BCVMT L006520)

“Torque” has recently featured the export of Titan TD1 double deckers to Australia between 1929 and 1931 so it seems appropriate to continue the Ozy theme as an introduction to the proposed series of Archive photos. Indeed the Australian economy was in need of stimulation during the 1920s and much effort was made to promote their exports; not only lamb and wool but tinned and dried fruits and wine – so called Australian Burgundy!

Leyland Management had always seen the Commonwealth, Canada, South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand (as well as South America) as a potential expanding market and has successfully exported Trucks mostly of the heavy “subsidy” type, well suited to work in the tough conditions of climate and terrain with scant servicing available. But, they had failed to respond to repeated enquiries for smaller capacity, less expensively engineered vehicles such as were being strenuously promoted by American and other manufacturers, offering favourable financial deals and fast delivery. Only the Leyland Cub was eventually aimed at this market but it still could not compete with the simpler, cheaper models typified by Morris Commercial of Bedford.

However, the first generation Lion and Lioness had found overseas customers, notably South Africa and in small numbers elsewhere but, encouraged by the immediate success of Rackham’s Tiger and Titan on the Home Market, Leyland renewed and diversified its publicity for the new passenger models, especially with regard to Canada and Australia, including featuring displays of Commonwealth products as may be seen (profusely!) in the first of these Archive Photographs.

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