Crewe Works erecting shops bite the dust

A large section of Crewe Works is disappearing with the demolition of two former erecting shops to make way for housing.

Number 10 shop was being knocked down in early July, with No. 9 shop – birthplace of the LNWR ‘George V’ 4-4-0s – due to follow.

The LNWR George V Steam Locomotive Trust had hoped to pay a final tribute to the site; with the front end of its BowenCooke 4-4-0 on display at the nearby Crewe Heritage Centre (SR493), it mooted the idea of posing the assembly outside the building.

Said trustee Paul Hibberd: “In that way, we could have celebrated a locomotivebuilding tradition going back almost 200 years but, alas, it has not happened.”

However, it is by no means the end of railway activity at the works, confirmed Will Tanner of Bombardier, the owner of the site: “Some of the long-unused areas of the site have been sold off for housing, hence the demolition, but the rest of the site is very much still active.

“The modern-day Crewe Works employs around 320 people, working as a servicing site for wheels and gearboxes, traction motors, and bogies from rolling stock on the UK rail network.”