Article on Steelway by Prof. Carl Chinn - Express and Star page 1 of 2

1. 22 Express & Star, Thursday December 30, 2010
The Carl Chinn page
Jack’s long
a firm that
M Black Country
ORE than a year ago,
Black Country Memo-
ries highlighted the
history of the long-established
and important Wolverhampton
firm of Steelway on the Bilston
Road.
Memories
This pioneering company manu-
factured the UK’s first pedestrian
safety barriers, which were in-
stalled in July 1934 at the busy
junction of Princes Square in the
Dr Carl Chinn
town. After this launch, a second installa- received by Steelway from New Scot-
After an accident there involving a tion was carried out three days later land Yard. It read:
boy, council officials had sought a on March 22, 1935, at Whitechapel “Now that the coronation is a mat-
means of protection to stop pedestri- Crossing for the Metropolitan Bor- ter of history, I should like to express
ans walking off a blind corner into ough of Stepney. my thanks to your firm for the effi-
the path of motorists. This was a remarkable achieve- cient way in which you met the de-
They approached Steelway, which ment for a relatively new business mand for barrier material.
then designed the safety barriers in which had only been founded in 1928 “As you know the barriers were of
consultation with Edwin Tilley, the at the Queensgate Works site in unusual design, which required spe-
chief constable, and Mr H B Robin- Wolverhampton by C W. Goodyear. cial attention by you in manufacture.
son, the borough engineer and sur- Innovative They proved most satisfactory, and I
veyor. have not had any complaints regard-
The barriers were a resounding Three years later it had merged ing them. This is a matter of satisfac-
success and quickly the company with F Hammond & Co, a noted man- tion to all concerned.”
gained national attention for its pio- ufacturer of handrail standards – and Some of the parts were used again
neering product. now it was hitting the national head- for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth
On March 19, 1935 Mr Hore-Bel- lines. It continued to do so. II in 1953.
isha, the Minister of Transport whose In 1937 the innovative Wolver- A pioneering enterprise in indus-
name is recalled in the Belisha bea- hampton company manufactured the trial metalwork access, Steelway be-
con, inaugurated London’s first sockets and detachable uprights to came well known and highly regarded
pedestrian safety barriers at Britan- form crowd control barriers for the for its flooring, ladders, stairs,
nia Crossing, Camden. They were coronation of King George VI. After handrails, guardrails, and platforms.
also supplied by Steelway. the event a letter of appreciation was It continues to be held in esteem for
Left, one of
the Steelway
dinners, per-
haps the 1953
welcoming
party for Fred
Willetts, who
had just
bought the
company.
John Carrier
is the chap
with the
glasses on, sit-
ting at the
left-hand
table, second
from the left.
Right, one of
the Bennett
Clark photos of
Princes Square,
Wolverhamp-
ton, in about
1934 showing
the UK’s first
ever pedestrian
safety barriers
which the com-
pany supplied
free of charge
to Wolverhamp-
ton Council as
part of an ex-
periment. This
is the photo
that stirred
Shirley into
writing in
about her
father.
Jack was in the Home Guard during the Second World in an indoor shelter on the floor of our front room. We
War because, as Shirley explains, “he was in an essen- lived at 140 Bushbury Lane until it was demolished in
tial war-time occupation”. She thinks his unit was the 1970s, when my parents moved to Pendeford (to
based at Dunstall Race Course and recalls that “he be near me). I remember him polishing the buttons on
talked about a look-out post for enemy aircraft. I was his uniform using a special guard which fitted round
born in 1939 and my very first memory is of sleeping the buttons to stop the polish going on the uniform.”