The market in Uxbridge became a vital conduit for London’s food. The town had a great many water mills grinding the grain brought to the market by farmers from as far a field as Aylesbury. Through this, the town was London's main provider of flour. The building of the Grand Junction Canal aided this. It would be many years before the GWR would stop in Uxbridge and so open up the town to industry. In the meantime the town’s clay made bricks for London’s new homes. Later the town would be linked to the London underground system enabling the transport of commuters.
Two companies stand out as the first manufacturers to come to the town:
The Steel Barrel Company was a major producer from steel plate and had a business relationship with Scammell in nearby Watford. It provided parts for Davey Paxman.
The Bell Punch Company made instruments that many of us will remember from childhood. Long before that, they made ticket punching machines. These evolved into the bus ticket machines which conductors would sport on their chests. The technology was developed into ticket machines for the TOTE on first Britain’s and then America’s race courses. From here came the calculating machine sold under the name Sumlock. When I was a young articled clerk, I remember the comptometer operator adding columns of figures at lightning speed on her Sumlock. During the Second World War the company turned its hand to precision instruments for the RAF.
More recent arrivals in Uxbridge are the American General Foods and Coca Cola. Cadbury Schweppes and Bristol-Myers have their head office in Uxbridge.
Further reading:
- Carolynne Hearmon, Uxbridge - A Concise History (Hillingdon Borough Libraries, 1982)
- http://anita-calculators.info/html/origins_of_bell_punch_co_.html
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