Gutta Percha, Rubber and Tyre Manufacture
Gutta Percha is a plastic like material made from a particular Malayan latex, it cannot be vulcanised which reduces its usefulness somewhat but for many years it was important as an electrical insulator. Gutta percha is a solid at temperatures below 60 degrees Celsius, above that temperature it can be moulded to shape and it melts at about 100 degrees Celsius (the temperature of boiling water). Gutta Percha was widely used as electrical insulation for wires and cables. You may therefore see references to firms with Gutta Percha in their name, most of which were engaged in the manufacture of electrical equipment and insulated wiring (there was one large British firm called the Gutta Percha Company). The development of materials such as polythene in 1933 reduced its importance in electronics. Electrical equipment was expensive and hence was often shipped in closed wooden cases.
Its other claim to fame was as the covering for golf balls, for which it was only slowly replaced by plastics after the 1960's. The inside of the golf ball was a ball of thread or rubber with a core of latex, Golf balls were often made alongside other rubber products at a works and the scale of manufacture means that a rubber works would be a viable option on a model railway.
Rubber is made from an oily white sticky gum called Latex obtained from the tropical tree Hevea Braziliensis, it also occurs in other plants such as dandelions, but not in commercially viable quantities. No one knows why the plants have latex in them. To keep latex fluid Ammonia is added hence iron tanks must be coated and brass must not come into contact with the liquid (which 'eats' the copper in the brass). From the 1950's on special railway tanks were used for bulk latex but more often latex was shipped in wooden barrels and later in suitably coated steel drums.
Fig ___ Bogie latex tank (introduced in 1949)
Latex is not terribly useful as it comes from the tree (its main commercial application was in glues) but if treated with acetic or formic acid it changes into rubber. This treatment is usually done in the producing country so most rubber is imported in thin rolled sheets (even in the 1960's only about 10% was imported as liquid latex). The rubber was bound together in bales or blocks about 3 feet (90cm) square by 15 inches 38cm thick, and wrapped in hessian with steel bands around them, these were heavy (a difficult lift for one man).
Rubber was named in 1788, when a chap called Priestly found he could erase pencil marks by rubbing hard with a block of the stuff. In 1824 Charles Macintosh (1766-1843) used rubber dissolved in coal tar to coat cloth, by having two layers with the rubber solution pressed between them he produced the first rubberised (waterproof) cloth which was lighter and much more flexible than the older oiled cloth (called 'oilskins').
This simple form of rubber becomes soft and sticky at summer temperatures and brittle in winter which limited its usefulness. In 1839 the American Goodyear invented the Vulcanisation process, adding sulphur to the raw rubber and heating it, this produced a more stable material and allowed the production of rubber goods. With around four percent sulphur you get soft rubber of the kind used to make balloons, in the range twenty to thirty percent sulphur you get 'hard rubber', used to make the cases for motor car lead-acid batteries, car tyres, mouthpieces for musical instruments, electrical fittings (it was used and an insulator until replaced by bakelite) and bowling balls. The really hard stuff has various trade names including Ebonite (intended to as a substitute for ebony wood) and vulcanite. Because it is brittle it has been replaced for car batteries by carbon-black filled polypropylene.
In the 1840s the British chemist Parkes found the carbon bisulfide was a good solvent for rubber, and its use spread rapidly. Unfortunately health and safety legislation was non existent and workers exposed to the vapours for long periods ended up paralised (in the 1880s there was much debate about exposing the workers to this gas but it was the fire risk it presented that prompted action to be taken). In the 1850s a chap called Hancock, based in Manchester worked out how to make moulds for rubber, first for solid object and later for hollow ones. In 1830 the UK imported about 23 tons of natural rubber a year, by the begining of the 20th century imports had reached 24,000 tons.
Reclaiming rubber became a practical proposition in the 1890's, the old rubber goods are chopped up then soaked in a solution of water and caustic soda to dissolve any fabric. The rubber itself can then be washed, strained and re-used. It is not possible to remove all the sulphur so the reclaimed materials is of poor quality and although it is cheaper than new rubber by the 1960's only seven or eight percent of rubber goods were made of reclaimed material, its uses being limited to soles and heels for shoes and other similar applications.
Developing the machines to make rubber products took time, surgeons rubber gloves (made from very thin sheet rubber) only appeared in the 1890's. Rubber is used for making hot water bottles, bathing caps and the like but a larger proportion is used to coat fabrics, rubber hose, rubber drive belts, boots, raincoats and hospital sheeting. Rubber can be made into a continuous tube by forcing it through a die and the tube can then be cut to produce rubber bands.
Dunlop's pneumatic tyres (for his son's bicycle) of 1867 were made by hand, modern pneumatic bicycle and motor vehicle tyres are made from rubber coated fabric, these days about 70% of all rubber produced goes into tyres (discussed below).
In 1830 British exports of rubber goods amounted to about 30 tons, by 1840 this had increased to over three hundred tons and expansion then was rapid, over two and a half thousand tons by 1860, eight thousand tons by 1870, thirteen thousand tons by 1870. In the 1890's plantations were established to produce rubber and by the time of the First World War Britain's exports of rubber goods totalled about a hundred thousand tons a year. The one million ton mark was reached in the late 1930's, this had doubled by the 1950's and more than doubled again by the 1960's.
The British rubber industry is (in the mid 1980s) the largest and oldest in Europe, the biggest firm being Dunlop. By the 1950's there were about three hundred factories operated by two hundred companies, London and the North West (mainly Liverpool & Manchester) had about a hundred factories each, there were fifty or so factories in the Midlands, twenty in Scotland and thirteen in Wales.
Modelling a general rubber goods factory
There is not really any such thing as a 'rubber factory', rubber and latex are used for a wide range of goods, latex forms the basis of more types of glue than any other material for example. The manufacture of rubber goods requires no special buildings, the processing of rubber involves grinding, mixing and heating so a fairly large building with roof ventilators and a chimney or two would suffice. The nature of the goods produced would determine any additional facilities and would greatly influence the nature of traffic to and from the factory. For example water proof clothing would involve deliveries of cloth and large well lit workshops where the treated cloth was cut and sewn into clothing. One regular product for larger works would be rubberised conveyor belts for use in coal mines and other industries, these were ruberised canvass cloth strip, amything from one to four feet in width and formed into large heavy rolls. The rolls were dark grey in colour, secured with steel bands and lifted using a bar through the centre (would require a crane to lift them).
The Metcalf Models 'mill' building would serve for a larger rubber works, the chimneys shown below were both at the former Dunlop G.R.G (General Rubber Goods) factory in Manchester, the buildings behind being former mills which became part of the works (all now re-built as designer micro-flats).
Fig ___ Chimneys at the Dunlop factory in Manchester.
A smaller rubber goods works is another candidate for low relief buildings with a single siding, most rubber works seem to have been three or four stories tall, however for modelling purposes where height is a problem you can get away wth a two storey building as shown below. The suggested building has a large sign made of individual letters supported on a metal frame above the platform and a smaller version on the roof of the end building, if you leave the sign off the factory could be producing just about anything. The United Rubber Products Co is just a made-up name. I have added a crane at the near end of the loading bank to relieve the monotony a bit, this would normally be swung in against the wall out of the way.
Fig ___ Suggestion for a small rubber goods works
Vulcanising of rubber is done today in large cylindrical metal chambers called autoclaves typically fifty foot long by four foot in diameter and capable of withstanding high temperatures and pressures. The process uses high pressure super-heated steam to heat the material in the chamber so you will need a large chimney or two.
Incoming cargo to a works might include barrels or drums of latex or possibly (for a larger works than the one shown) tanker loads of the liquid form after about 1950 (there was a fleet of 48ft bogie tanks for latex operated by Henry Diaper Co of Liverpool as sketched above). You might also see plywood boxes of gutta percha, bundled sheets of rubber, metal drums or glass carboys of acids, barrels or metal drums of sulphur and other chemicals and possibly caustic soda for re-processing old rubber. Additional traffic might include reels of yarn, rolls of sloth, coils of metal wire (especially for motor tyres) and other goods associated with the firms products, and of course coal for the boilers and possibly coke for a 'producer gas' plant.
Synthetic Rubber
Synthetic rubber was developed by Germany during the First World War, this was methyl rubber, based on dimethylbutadien. In the late 1930's the Germans again looked at the problem and invented the styrene based Buna rubbers. The Americans developed Buna further, calling it GR-S (Government Rubber-Styrene) and this became significant when the Japanese took over most of the rubber growing countries in east Asia. The Americans had developed Neoprene in the 1930's but this was less suitable for motor car tyres than the Buna.
Today the most important synthetic rubber is S.B.R. chemically this is Butadiene-styrene copolymer, the butadiene is obtained from oil, shipped in railway tank wagons, the styrene is obtained from benzene which comes from coal tar.
During and after the second world war natural rubber (technically polyisoprene) was increasingly displaced by synthetic rubber or Neoprene, produced from chlorine (originally derived from petroleum oil) in a process developed in 1945. Less flammable and reactive than natural rubber it is vulcanised with metallic oxides rather than sulphur and has usefully different chemical properties to the natural product. It can be shipped as a solid or (in steel drums) as a liquid.
Synthetic latex has much finer particles and is mainly used in 'latex' paints.
Motor Car and Lorry Tyres
In 1888, while watching his son ride a tricycle, John Boyd Dunlop noticed his discomfort whenever he rode over cobbled ground. He decided that the tricycle's solid rubber tyres were to blame. He wrapped the wheels in thin rubber sheets, glued them together, inflated them with a football pump for a cushioning effect - and created the first commercially viable pneumatic tyre. Dunlop patented the idea, giving his fledgling Dunlop tyre company a head start over competitors who had already recognised the tyre's many advantages. Ten years later, Dunlop's invention had almost entirely replaced solid tyres other than for heavy vehicles. In 1889, Dunlop opened its first bicycle tyre plant in Dublin and its first factory in Birmingham just two years later.
It was the French firm of Michelin who first applied pneumatic tyres to motor vehicles, these were developed and used from about 1896, by Panhard & Levassor and other French manufacturers.
In the U.S.A. the first pneumatic motor tyres were of a single tube type made by the B. F. Goodrich Company in 1896 and fitted to commercial vehicles.
The motor tyre manufacturing business developed quickly particularly in France and Germany, in Britain however things got off to a slow start, not least because of the restrictions placed on motor vehicles. Up to 1900 British tyre manufacture was confined to cycle tyres, car tyres as were imported from the Continent. By 1902 however a complete range of British-made tyres was on the market.
During the following decade the motor manufacturers, accessory manufacturers and traders began to form associations for the protection of their position, such as the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders in 1902 and the Motor Trade Association in 1910. The latter body (later renamed the British Motor Trade Association) was formed to enforce the policies of the other associations.
In the 1920s the 'giant' pneumatic tyre was developed for use on lorries and imports (particularly from America) increased dramatically. From 1925 to 1929 about 70-80 percent of all rubber produced went into the motor trade, much of it to make tyres. The U.S.A., then producing seven-eighths of the world's motor cars, accounted for about sixty per cent of world production. In 1929 the Depression began, motor car production slumped and demand for rubber generally hit an all time low. During the 1930s, prompted by the over supply, the motor tyre companies developed a range of pneumatic rubber tyres for agricultural vehicles (which had used steel wheels or solid rubber tyres up to this point).
In a motor tyre raw rubber usually amounts to about fifty per cent, of the weight, and the approximate percentages of the other materials are: compounds thirty five per cent., fabric twelve and a half per cent, and metal wire one and a half per cent. Vital to the use of rubber as motor tyres are sulphur (acts as the curing agent during vulcanisation), zinc oxide (induces resilience), anti-oxidants (reduce absorption of oxygen which degrades the rubber) and carbon black (which toughens the rubber making it a lot more hard wearing and resistant to heat). Without carbon black a tyre's life would be reduced by three quarters.
Companies producing rubber goods and tyres in the UK
This is just a small selection, the intention being to demostrate the range of companies, and products, associated with this industry. Given the number of firms that have existed it is perfectly reasonable to set up your own firm for a layout should you wish. Most rubber works were set up near a docks, London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh all had substantial industries but there was also a large rubber industry in Birmingham. There were also works near to smaller docks, which average sized ships of the time could use, such as those in Leyland, supplied from Preston docks. If you are modelling Rutland a rubber factory would be less likely.
Dunlop Rubber Co. Ltd. Dunlop was the largest UK rubber company and produced more than a third of the pneumatic tyres made in the United Kingdom. The first factory was set up in Ireland, a further factory was then established in Birmingham by 1902, trading as Dunlop Rubber Co. In the 1890s they ran into difficulties and their operations in Autralia and Zew Zealand were sold off, along with the right to use the brand, and remain a separate entity today. In 1918 they built the giant 'Fort Dunlop' tyre factory in Brimingham, at one time the largest factory in the world. The factory was built in stages, the big building familiar to drivers on the motorway, was only put up in (I think) the 1930s, as it was built in open land, some distance from the town, they laid on passenger barge services for the workers. There wre a number of railway sidings run into Fort Dunlop from the nearby main line, I understand these ran under a series of apex roof sheds to the right of the building (looking at the front).
Their original logo (below left) was simply the company name in a serif font, the Dulop Tyres logo (below right) came into use (I think) some time after the late 1930s. The tyre logo is sometimes printed with a white centre, making it a two colour print, and sometimes in black and white.
In the 1920s cometition in the tyre market was fierce so Dunlop expanded into other areas of rubber goods, they acquired Charles Macintosh & Co, the rainwear makers, in 1925. In 1929 they developed the latex foam 'Dunopillo' matress, which proved popular with hospitals as well as the general public.
After World War Two the Monopolies and Restrictive practices Commission decided that Dunlop, along with Goodyear, Avon, Firestone and Michelin, were fixing prices in the tyre market. The resulting shake up hurt the company, and their decision in the 1960s to develop fabric based radial tyres instead of the harder wearing metal reinforced type saw them loose market to Michelin. In the 1970s Dunlop developed the first 'fail safe' tyres which allowed the car to remain under control even if it had a puncture. Even so the giant works at Fort Dunlop was largely out of use by the end of the 1970s and is now offices and shops.
Dunlop Rubber was bought out by BTR Plc in 1985 and the Dunlop group, producing tyres, footwear, sporting equipment, adhesives, latex foam goods and precision ruber products for industry was broken up and sold off, the motor car tyre buisness was then sold to Sumitomo Rubber Industries (a Japanese firm that was set up by Dulop many years earlier) and was sold on to Apollo Tyres of India in 2006.
The following is from the Dunlop website in 2009:
Simple ideas can change the world. In 1888, while watching his son ride a tricycle, John Boyd Dunlop noticed his discomfort whenever he rode over cobbled ground.
He knew the tricycle's solid rubber tyres were to blame. The solution? He wrapped the wheels in thin rubber sheets, glued them together, inflated them with a football pump for a cushioning effect - and created the first commercially viable pneumatic tyre.
Dunlop patented the idea, giving his fledgling Dunlop tyre company a head start over automotive competitors who had already recognised the tyre's many advantages. Ten years later, Dunlop's invention had almost entirely replaced solid tyres.
In 1889, Dunlop opened its first tyre plant in Dublin and its first factory in Birmingham just two years later. From there, Dunlop's growth from pioneer to successful multinational corporation was swift.
We established operations in Germany, France, Canada, Australia, USA, and production facilities throughout the globe, for example, Japan's first ever tyre plant at Kobe. And with the Dunlop Rubber Company, the company proved itself a pioneer in technology and business.
A proud tradition
By the 1920s, we had developed tyres for cars capable of speeds over 200 mph - heralding our longstanding relationship with motor sport.
We were linked with many high-speed successes, including Sir Malcolm Campbell's 1935 land speed record in 'Bluebird'. During the 1950s - the golden age of motor sport - Dunlop tyres achieved an unrivalled Sixty six Formula One wins with eight world champions.
Our technicians were the first to apply motor sport tyre standards to the tyres of everyday vehicles. This unique approach offered motorists and their vehicles the quality, durability and endurance of tyres designed for the racetrack.
North British Rubber Co. Ltd. This company set up in 1856 at Fountainbridge near Edinburgh, the first Rubber Company in Scotland and the Second in the United Kingdom. They started production of bicycle tyres in 1890, in 1966 it became Uniroyal Ltd (part of Uniroyal Inc).
British Tyre and Rubber Co Ltd - Started out in 1924 when B.F.Goodrich set up a subsidiary in the UK, the British Goodrich Rubber Co. They sold this company to British interests in 1934, when the name changed. They produced tyres under their own brand until the mid 1950s, when tyre production ended they changed the name to BTR Ltd. This company bought out many of its competitors, including Dunlop Rubber in 1985, but sold on the tyre making side of the business. The company now trades as Invensys plc, they make railway signalling and control systems, industrial instrumentation and control systems and software.
Charles Macintosh & Company - Macintosh invented the rubberised raincoat in the 1820s and these were produced at the family owned textile mill in Glasgow. In 1830 the firm merged with Thomas Hancock of Manchester (who was also experimenting with ruberised fabrics), Hancock patented a method for vulcanising rubberised cloth in 1843, which made the raincoat a far more practical proposition. In the 1860s this firm purchased an existing cotton weaving mill in Chorlton-non-Medlock and over the years they bought several of the surrounding mills (many of which were interconnected by private underground railway systems). The mill has an iron frame with brick infill and is supported using cast iron columns. In 1925 the firm was taken over by Dunlop Rubber but in the mid 1990s the Glasgow factory was bought out by Daniel Dunko, who re-established the Macintosh brand as an up-market range of waterproofs (which proved popular in Japan).The giant Manchester factory closed in the first years of the 21st century.
James Lyne Hancock Ltd - India Rubber manufacturers Established in 1820 by Thomas Hancock, the first person to manufacture India Rubber. Based in Manchester, in 1830 the firm merged with Charles Macintosh & Company, however the firm was registered under the above name in 1912. By the post war era the large Manchester factory was part of the Dunlop empire (it was closed down in the early 21st century)
Sherborne Rubber - Established in the mid 1930s to produce custom rubber mouldings for the engineering and electrical industries they also supply the motor car industry with rubber components. They have operated factories at several locations in the UK, including Birmingham, Leyland and Manchester.
James Quin & Co Set up in Leyland in the 1860s, in the 1870s the company name was Mr Quin's Indian Rubber & Hosepipe Works (which would look rather nice set into the brick work of a building). The firm made a wide range of rubber goods, including rubberised linnen hose pipes for the fire brigade and the intriguing 'elastic steam rope, round or square, with core in the centre'. This firm became Leyland Rubber Co in the 1880s and in the 1890s they merged with the Birmingham Rubber Co and Stanley Morrison & Co Ltd to form the Leyland and Birmingham Rubber Co.
Leyland & Birmingham Rubber Co - Formed by the amalgamation of the Leyland Rubber Co (formerly Mr Quin's Indian Rubber and Hosepipe Works) and the Birmingham Rubber Co in the 1890s. Operated a factories in Leyland (and presumably in Brimingham). They merged with British Tyre and Rubber (by then trading as BTR Ltd) in 1969. I believe the Leyland works closed in 2002.
Stepney Spare Motor Wheel Co - Initially based in Llanelli (on Stepney street) the firm was set up by Tom and Walter Davies in the 1890s, originally as a hardware business with a side line in assembling bicycles. The bought a car and ran a car hire service and when it had a puncture they came up with the idea of the bolt-on 'Stepney Wheel' in 1904. This was a complete spare wheel, carried on a bracket on the side of the car, which could be clamped on to the wheel with the punctured tyre. They marketed it as the ‘Stepney Patent Spare Wheel for Motorcars’ and it proved very popular, within a few years every London taxi was said to carry a Stepney Spare Wheel. By 1910 the company had branches in most European countries and in the USA. After the First World War the Stepney Wheel fell from favour (although the Llanelli factory carried on for many years) and the firm began making motor car tyres (the Stepney Roadgrip’) at a factory at Walthamstow, London. The firm stopped making tyres (or was bought out) in the later 1930s. Tim Whyte supplied most of this information, and also sent in a scan from an advert from a magazine circa 1920, which featured a rather splendid poem in praise of the tyre.
The Stepney Road Grip Tyre
Possesses all that you require.
A flexible tread, with real good GRIP.
Add safety and pleasure to every trip.
For Military works there's non to compare,
runs silent and light as desert air.
Our military liked it because they found
it GRIPPED so well on the battle ground.
On armoured car, with Maxim gun,
a vehicle light or weighing three ton,
when fighting the Turk and fighting the Hun,
it always keeps right till the battle's done.
For Colonial use they stand alone
In temperate clime or tropical zone.
GRIPS on the prarie, veldt, hill and plain,.
Use Stepneys once and you'll do so again.
You just don't see adverts like that any more.
David Moseley & Sons This firm operated an India Rubber Works at Ardwick in Manchester and was an early entrant into the telecommunications business, initially supplying rubber insulated wires for the telegraph system (which was owned by the Post Office from 1870). When Bell demonstrated 'his' telephone to Queen Victoria in 1878 the Moseley firm decided to go into the telephone business (working with a company called peel Connor) and installed the first line in the UK between two branches of a local business. They supplied many of the early railway telephone exchange systems but in the 1880s their telephone business was bought out by the Lancashire and Cheshire telephone Exchange Co. The India Rubber Works continued to trade however, producing a range of goods, including their 'detachable' motor car tyre, which they claimed could be detached in a 'world record time' of forty two and three fifths seconds! This firm were still selling tyres at the time of the First World War but I have not traced any referenced after that date.
Rubberised Hair Ltd - Became part of BTR. Rubber coated animal hair was widely used as stuffing for furniture up to the 1950s.
Avon India Rubber Co. Ltd. (now trading as Cooper Avon Tyres), based at Limpley Stoke near Bath. Avon started out offering a range of rubber goods for the railways, in 1890 the firm took over a cloth mill in Melksham and started making bicycle tyres, the company then changed its name to the Avon India Rubber Company. Within a few years it was also producing tyres for motor vehicles and the factory buildings now cover more than 28 acres. It was taken over by the American tyre company Cooper at the turn of the century but continued trading as Avon Tyres well into the post war era. The illustration shows the early Avon logo, in this case from a 1930s advert for solid 'band' tyres, used on small electric trucks.
India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Works Company Limited - First set up as a waterproof clothing company in Grenwich they moved to Silvertown near North Woolwich is the 1850s. The firm was listed in the 1890's as Silver's Waterproof Clothing Works, fifteen years later the same factory was listed as the India Rubber, Gutta Percha & Telegraph Works owned by Silvers India Rubber and telegraph Cable Co Ltd (this factory supplied the original cables for Manchester's electricity supply). The Silvertown area is actually named after Messirs Silver who opened this works. There was a station on the Great Eastern Railway (North Woolwich line) not far away and I believe this works was rail-connected, as with many large factories in this heavily industrialised area, the former industrial hub of London which generated much of the town's wealth.
Palmer Tyre Ltd. Started production of bicycle tyres in 1893. They were still manufacturing tyres in the UK in the 1970s and at some point became part of british Tyre and Rubber. The logo shown was used between the wars, by the 1950s the firm concentrated on aircraft tyres (as Palmer-Aero products) the logo remained as just the name in the same font but the lettering was in a straight rectangle.
Henley's Tyre & Rubber Co. Ltd. Set up in 1918 mainly to manufacture motor tyres. They were still manufacturing tyres in the UK in the 1970s.
Leicester Rubber Co. Ltd. Established in 1923 to make motor tyres, this firm was later renamed John Bull Rubber Co. Ltd. They were still manufacturing tyres in the UK in the 1970s.
The British Goodrich Rubber Co. Ltd. Established in 1924 to make motor tyres, this firm was later renamed British Tyre & Rubber Co. Ltd. See above.
Wood Milne Rubber Company Established in the 1890s and based in Leyland Lancashire this firm produced rubber heels, soles and tips for shoes, pneumatic tyres and inner tubes for cars and motorbikes, solid rubber tyres for commercial vehicles, drive belts and golf balls. They were bought out by Goodrich in the mid 1920s (becoming part of British Tyre and Rubber Co in 1934) but the factory remained in use into the 1970s.
George McLellan & Co - Set up the Glasgow Rubber Worls in about 1876, working with rubber and asbestos to produce waterproof garments. By the 1880s this firm had warehousing in London, Manchester and Liverpool.
Grengate and Irwell Rubber Co - Establish in Salford in 1919, made rubber and asbestos goods at works in Manchester and London. Became part of BTR.
Electric Hose and Rubber Co - Became part of BTR.
Bournemouth Central Tyre Company - Became part of BTR.
Hertfordshire Rubber Co - Became part of BTR.
Subsidiaries of foreign companies
Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Co. (Gt. Britain) Ltd. Set up in 1927. They were still manufacturing tyres in the UK in the 1970s.
Michelin Tyre Co. Ltd. Set up in 1927. They were still manufacturing tyres in the UK in the 1970s.
Firestone Tyre & Rubber Co. Ltd. Set up in 1928. They were still manufacturing tyres in the UK in the 1970s.
India Tyre & Rubber Co. Ltd. Actually owned by an American firm, set up in 1928. They were still manufacturing tyres in the UK in the 1970s.
Pirelli Ltd. Set up in 1929. They were still manufacturing tyres in the UK in the 1970s.
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