Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

As we all know S Bourne made the first 250-300 bodies for the Elan.

As I was born in Nottingham I'm interested in findingthe location of the original factory & any photographs of the old factory & if it exists any more. For whatever reason, there is a complete lack of published information on the company.

Here's what I have managed to research so far:
1. S Bourne (Plastics) ltd was what we now refer to as a contract manufacturer, better known for making glass fibre boat hulls. Bournes had considerable success in the 60s & 70s with their "Bourne 35" cruiser boat hull & the GP14 sale boat.
2. The company seems to have gone out of business in 1978 as I cannot find any products after that date.
3. S Bourne made the GRP hull of a bizarre caravan/boat called the CARABOAT, give yourself a laugh & google it.
4. I found an article giving the companies location as Langer, Nottingham. There is a village in South East Nottinghamshire called Langar where there was a USAF/CAnadian Airforce base, but no significant industry & no good transportation links. By chance I used to go swimming in the pool at the CAF base in the mid-60s. By co-incidence Langar is maybe 10 miles away from Tony Thompson's location, I'll drop him an e-mail!
5. Production was switched to in-house production sometime in 1963-64 due to poor quality & delivery.

If anyone has any more info on S. Bourne Ltd I'd love to hear from you, either by posting in this thread, or directly by e-mail to pph <at> lionheartsolutions.com

Robinshaw and Ross, p105, shows the original contract between Lotus and Bourne.

Their address is shown as:

Brittania Works,
Netherfield,
Nottingham

Paddy

That makes far more sense, Netherfield is an industrial area near the river.

Just googled & found a Britannia Court on Victoria Road, Netherfield - a development of 38 flats built in 1984.

Given the liquidation of Bourne in around 1978 it may have been built on the site of the S Bourne factory. I'll have to stop by the next time I am in the area...

God I love Google! Just found this image:



Further description: Ref No: NCCC000469

Town Village: Netherfield

Location: Victoria Road

Title: Britannia Mills

Further Information: S Bourne and Co. factory, built 1902. Also showing Netherfield and Colwick station. Phyllis Louch (born 1915) used to work here (Bourne's Factory) and says you could take a trip to the top of the chimney shown for an old sixpence, in a barrel type contraption.

Date of Image: April 1982

Form of Acknowledgment: Reg Baker

Copyright ? North East Midland Photographic Record. All rights reserved.

And This:


Ref No: NTGM011584
Town Village: Netherfield
Location:
Title: Detail of Britannia Mills, Netherfiled, 1974
Further Information: This textile firm was founded by Samuel Bourne
Date of Image: 02 June 1974

Form of Acknowledgment: Bernard and Pauline Heathcote Photographic Collection
Copyright ? North East Midland Photographic Record. All rights reserved.

So it seems S. Bourne (Plastics) Ltd. was a subsidiary of the original textile company & operated out of the same building. Such Diversification was needed since the textile industry in the East Midlands was collapsing in the 1960s.

And:

Ref No: NCCC000467
Town Village: Netherfield
Location: Victoria Road
Title: Britannia Mills
Further Information:
S Bourne and Co. factory, built 1902. Looking NE from across the railway line
Date of Image: April 1982

Form of Acknowledgment: Reg Baker

Copyright ? North East Midland Photographic Record. All rights reserved.

I really did hit the mother lode...



Ref No: NCCC000468
Town Village: Netherfield
Location: Victoria Road
Title: Britannia Mills, Dated inscription on the pediment
Further Information:
S Bourne and Co. factory, built 1902.
Date of Image: April 1982

Form of Acknowledgment: Reg Baker
Copyright ? North East Midland Photographic Record. All rights reserved.

Ask Jeff to put this in the archive; don't believe I've seen this info anywhere else. Thanks!

Great bit of research, thanks for doing it.

Tim

In fact on Google Maps there is now a Bourne Mews, a new development on the old site:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 5&t=h&z=16

Paddy

If you haven't seen these photos of the Molding of a early Elan then take a few minutes to look over on the GGLC web page.

http://www.gglotus.org/ggtech/elan-body/elan-body.htm

Great to see those pictures of the bodyshell being made -first I have seen in Bournes apart from the one published by Tim Mees (RIP).

The Factory & production pictures remind me of the film "Saturday Night & Sunday morning" which was actually made 3 years earlier in the local vacinity!

I will continue the research & then ask to move this article to the archive as suggested.

paddy wrote:In fact on Google Maps there is now a Bourne Mews, a new development on the old site:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 5&t=h&z=16

Paddy

Yes Paddy, that location ties up very well with the photograph that is across the railway junction.

OK, I was in the area last week so i stopped by to see what the site looks like now & confirm that there is now housing where the Bourne plant was.

Here is the only remnant - reminding us of the past:


Here's a view of the council (public) housing on the site:


And finally I tried to re-produce the shot in the direction of the factory from the direction of the Netherfield Railway station:


As you can see, the factory has gone & the trees have moved in around the station.