Greenwood & Batley were a large engineering manufacturer with a wide range of products, including armaments, electrical engineering, and printing and milling machinery. They also produced a range of battery-electric railway locomotives under the brand name Greenbat. The works was in Armley, Leeds, UK.
Introduction
Thomas Greenwood and John Batley first set up their business in 1856, both having previously worked at Fairburn's Wellington Foundry in Leeds. Their first premises, the Albion Foundry, was taken over from Thomas W. Lord. The foundry was located on East Street by the River Aire (Aire & Calder Navigation), however this quickly became too small for their needs and in 1859 they constructed the Albion Works in Armley Road, Leeds. In 1885 the company branched out into Flour and Oil Milling Machinery as a result of the acquisition of the business of Joseph Whitham, Perseverance Iron Works, Kirkstall Road, Leeds. By 1888 the works covered 11 acre and employed around 1600 men. A rail connection with the Great Northern Railway was installed in 1890 to bring in raw materials and to deliver finished products. Greenwood & Batley rapidly became a giant of a company, manufacturing an incredible range of products. Their primary business was military equipment both in terms of machinery to make armaments and the production of components such as bullets and shell cases. They also produced some of the first tanks in the First World War.
An early innovation was the installation of their own electricity generating station, completed in 1894. This allowed machine tools to be electrically driven rather than the traditional common shafts driven by steam. This development was to prove profitable in other ways, as the company was able to provide similar generator stations for both public supplies and industrial applications e.g. tramways, as one of its range of products.
A further acquisition in 1896 saw Greenwood & Batley take over Smith, Beacock & Tannett, Victoria Foundry, Water Lane, Leeds. This company were the successors to the Murray Round Foundry and were principally involved in the manufacture of Machine Tools.
The company became part of the Fairbairn-Lawson Group in the late 1960s; however, trading conditions were not favourable, and in April 1980 the receivers were called in and 480 employees made redundant. The company was bought by Hunslet Holdings for £1.65M who continued to use the Greenbat name for their battery locomotives.
Products
At the start of the twentieth century Greenwood & Batley offered the following products:-
Machine tool department
Every description of General and Special machine [tools] for Railway, Marine and General Engineers, including Hydraulic and other Forging and Stamping Machinery, Lathes, Punching, Shearing, Planing, Milling, Shaping, Drilling and Boring Machines. Bolt, Nut and Screw Machinery. Testing Machines for strength of Material. Wood Working Machinery. This YouTube video shows old Greenwood and Batley screw machines still in use in Pakistan: [1]
Special plants and machinery
For making Armour Plates, Ordnance, Gun Mountings and Ammunition: also for Small Arms Cartridges, Gunpowder, &c., and every description of War Material. Rolling Mills for Metal Coining, Presses and Minting Machinery.
Oil mill machinery department
The "Albion," "Leeds, " and Anglo-American systems for Extraction of every kind of Vegetable Oil including Machinery for Preparing and Decorticating Seeds, Nuts &c.
Today
Today there is no tangible evidence of this once-great establishment except occasional surviving artifacts such as machinery made at the Albion Works that can be found on the secondhand market—an indication of the quality of the products. The only local reminder of the Albion Works is the name of the public house "The Albion" which must have served many a pint to thirsty workers.
Notable surviving examples
- The Steeple Grange Light Railway's main locomotive is GB No 6061, which worked at a number of steel mills. This loco was built from an adapted design, which had a cab that ran in on rollers. However, this was requested to be left off. She has one 5HP motor, a three notch controller and a 24 cell, 48 volt battery, and was saved and first restored by Adrian Booth. Mr Booth who has written a book on Greenwood & Batley, which is very interesting but sadly out of print. The SGLR also owns Ladywash mine No.6, GB No 2493. This loco was built in 1953, and is a standard 3 ton, 10HP design, albeit much modified by Ladywash throughout her career. Spending all her life at Ladywash, she was the first locomotive to be bought by the SGLR. However, due to a lifetime of heavy abuse, the controller being removed and the cost of new batteries nothing was done to her. She was bought by a member, who eventually sold her to another member, who is currently restoring her. She is now off site, with the frame being shotblasted to remove about 20 years rust.
- Leeds Industrial Museum has two Greenbats, both of which also worked at Ladywash. GB Nos 1925 and 1926, Ladywash Nos 4 and 5, were bought by the museum when the mine shut. According to Adrian Booth's book, No 4 was in bits, and a picture of No 5 shows this loco was modified in a similar way to No 6 (frame and cab extensions, new controller). These locos were 4.5 HP, probably a forerunner of 6061 (see above). A picture showing what appears to be the back of No 5 (in front of the sheeted up traction engine) can be found here.
Bibliography
- . Chapters 5 through 7 of Floud 2006/1976 study Greenwood & Batley in detail.
External links
- Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. Greenwood & Batley truck. embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk
- https://www.westlancs.org/ West Lancs. Light Railway
- "Welcome to the Ribble Steam Railway". ribblesteam.org.uk
- Middleton Railway takes delivery of one of the last locomotives to have been built in Leeds. middletonrailway.org.uk.
- Steam Scenes
- "Leeds Engine © MMXXIII". leedsengine.info.
References
- Production Of High Quality Carriage Bolts Using Steel Bars retrieved 29 December 2023^
- {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250913134304/https://pachecoj.com/patterns/weaving/articles/unk_skw2.pdf|date=13 September 2025|title=Machinery for Treating Silk Waste : Spinning Frame/ Screw Gill Roving Frame, Greenwood and Batley, Aug. 7, 1874}}^
- Industrial Railway Society. Industrial Locomotives (18EL) Industrial Railway Society, 2019^