Celestion loudspeakers
From Dittopedia
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Origins in Hampton Wick
Celestion was born in 1924 in the Hampton Wick, where Cyril French set up a small business to manufacture loudspeakers. French had been approached by Eric Mackintosh for help with improving his invention, one of the earliest cone loudspeakers. French and two of his brothers, Leonard and Edgar, had taken over the Thames Valley Plating Works at 29 High Street, Hampton Wick, and created the Electrical Manufacturing and Plating Company, listed as 'electrical instrument manufacturers'.
The conical paper diaphragm was strengthened with strips of bamboo imported from China. The driving mechanism at this time was a moving-iron balanced-armature type. This was the time of the infancy of wireless, which was viewed by the majority of the population as the modern wonder. The BBC had been formed in August 1922, but actually began radio broadcasting on 14th November, 1922 on 369 meters with the call sign 2LO. After the success of the London station two further stations were opened at Birmingham on 5IT and Manchester on 2ZY.
The Celestion loudspeaker was launched early in 1925 by The Electrical Manufacturing and Plating Company at a retail price of six pounds ten shillings, with a choice of oak, walnut or mahogany cabinet. It was sold as 'The Loud Speaker of Distinction' and was favourably reviewed in Popular Wireless and Wireless Review, April 25th 1925 as 'a high-class instrument capable of high-class performances'. It was Ralph French who devised the ingenious name Celestion with heavenly connotations. He was also responsible for the cabinet designs and advertising. However, Cyril French was the driving force behind the business, which at this time was highly successful and lucrative. An associated company, Constable-Celestion, was formed in Paris, and export by air took place from Croydon airport.
The Move to Kingston upon Thames
With such a burgeoning trade, a move to large-scale manufacturing premises was inevitable. In 1929 Celestion Ltd. moved to a site opposite Norbiton Church at 145 London Road, Kingston upon Thames.
The worldwide recession at this time hit Celestion badly. The first boom era came to an abrupt end and an advertisement in The Broadcaster and Wireless Retailer of April 20th 1935 announced that Cyril French had resigned from the board of Celestion Ltd, leaving Billy Page as Managing Director. French returned to the old site at Hampton Wick to operate as sole wholesale and retail distributor of Celestion products in Great Britain.
A few miles north of Kingston upon Thames, another loudspeaker manufacturer was making similar product. This was the British Rola Company, an offshoot of the Rola Company of Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., which began in 1934 at Minerva Road, Park Royal, London NW10. The two companies were in competition for the home and export markets, and their products were influenced by changes in the wireless receiver market. As the receiver became more sophisticated and smaller, so the loudspeaker began to be housed within the receiver cabinet itself, thus dispensing with the separate speaker unit. To keep in line with this new development both Celestion and British Rola designed and produced a series of smaller speaker units, often to the receiver manufacturer’s specification, and so the market swung over to this new product.
British Rola Limited was registered during 1938 as electrical and general engineers, toolmakers and stampers, and when World War Two broke out they opened up a dispersal factory at Bideford in Devon, in the former garage of Messrs Elliot and Sons. Production for the war effort grew apace with the manufacture of the R.A.F. B3 Vacuum Pump, several thousands of which were produced. These were followed into production by the Rotol Airscrew Feathering Pump, four of which were fitted to all British multi-engined bombers. The final product was the Integral Hydraulic Pump BH Mark IV, and all these items contributed in no small measure to the Forces’ need for reliable battle equipment.
British Rola at Thames Ditton
During World War Two both Celestion and British Rola were restricted to the manufacture of one type of loudspeaker, the utility W-type, these being produced at Celestion’s Kingston factory, whilst Rola made theirs at Ferry Works, Summer Road, Thames Ditton and their other dispersal works at Pans Lane, Devizes, Wilts. The Ferry Works site had previously been occupied by Astor Engines, a manufacturer of steam engines who had used their own generators to power the plant. It is believed that this site was the first in the country to be illuminated entirely by electricity!
With the coming of peace the British Rola dispersal factory in Bideford closed down on 31st January 1946, personnel being transferred to Thames Ditton for the assembly of loudspeakers. Because of the lack of post-war building material necessary for extensions the Thames Ditton factory progress was slow, and the Devizes factory stayed open to ease the problem. Joint Works Managers at this time were Mr. Jack Jones and Mr. Loach. The Technical Director was Mr.Poole. The British Rola motif was a picture of a bird on a branch with the words ‘The speaker you know by ear’. The factory was virtually self-sufficient, producing cones, suspensions, voice coils and transformers in-house.
The extremely hard winter and fuel crisis of 1947 caused havoc to production, and two interesting extracts from the Surrey Comet newspaper for 15th February illustrate this problem:
- In an effort to get production started again, Celestion, Kingston, have bought petrol-driven generators, but yesterday they were still trying to obtain permission from the Ministry to use them and to get the petrol to run them. If they are successful they will be able to bring some of their 240 workers, most of whom are women, back on the job, but at the moment production is at a complete standstill.
- Over 300 employees at British Rola’s Ferry works, Thames Ditton, will continue for a further week to receive guaranteed wages as a minimum. Previous decision to close the factory if power were not obtainable on Monday has been cancelled because, according to the Works Manager (Mr.J.Jones) the staff have responded magnificently to an "all hands on deck" appeal by the directors. They have been clearing up following building work on the factory, and making wireless transformers with the help of a concrete mixer driving an air compressor. Ninety per cent of the firm’s loudspeaker output is for export.
In July 1948 Celestion ceased production at Kingston upon Thames, and production machinery and personnel moved to Thames Ditton as a consolidation of the two companies. The company title became Rola Celestion Limited, and Celestion was adopted and registered as the trade mark for the company’s product.
As the post war market evolved and product demand was established, it became evident that the new wonder - television - would account for a large number of loudspeakers, although of course the radio speaker market was still strong. As the television population grew, so did the need for speakers for them and the Thames Ditton production lines were fully engaged meeting the manufacturers' deadlines.
Another change in fortune came about during 1949 when Rola Celestion Limited was acquired by Truvox Limited, a company based in Wembley and well known for its Public Address loudspeakers and systems. These covered the whole spectrum of this market and included such units as horns and loudspeakers for cinemas and many acoustic devices for the Forces which Truvox had developed and produced during World War Two. The new Company was now owned and chaired by Mr. DD Prenn and the Head Office situated at Mount Street, London, with the joint Managing Directors, Billy Page and Jimmy Tyrrell, and Technical Director Arthur Young resident at Thames Ditton. This brought the Public Address loudspeaker systems into the Celestion range, where they were further developed by demands from the new petrochemical and allied industries.
With their ears continually to the ground and their eyes on the market, the Thames Ditton design and engineering staff produced in 1964 what was to be the first of many notable Celestion hi-fi loudspeaker designs. Utilising the name of its birthplace, the Ditton 10 was launched at a critical time when it satisfied overnight a demand that hitherto had been frustrated. Offering the best possible audio quality from its bookshelf size, it was highly commended for its bass response, a quality that the pundits had always maintained could only be achieved with a large and heavy enclosure.
The Ditton 15 made its appearance during 1966, and confounded the experts with such a low response from a small enclosure. The price was also reasonable, retailing for £28.11.6 a pair. The Ditton 15 was eagerly sought after by the now stereo conscious public, and became the biggest selling bookshelf loudspeaker of its time. This system remained in production for over a decade, during which period about 250,000 were made, and continued in production in modified form as the Ditton 15XR with a slightly extended response range. Around this time Neil McKinlay was appointed Managing Director. Staffing levels at Thames Ditton are estimated at 400.
New site in Ipswich
As the demand for Ditton loudspeakers mounted, production became a problem at the Thames Ditton factory and it was decided that, as expansion at the present site was restricted by the river and road perimeters, a new location was the only obvious solution. Bearing in mind the considerable business that the company enjoyed, and problems which had been encountered with various docks in the London area, the East Anglian area was surveyed and eventually, after an initial plan to settle in Bury St. Edmunds, a site was acquired on Foxhall Road, Ipswich. New buildings were constructed, existing ones modified and the nucleus of a work force recruited using ex-Thames Ditton supervisory staff to train the new employees. Production began in Ipswich in late December 1968.
First into manufacture at the new Ditton Works, Ipswich, so named to perpetuate the original site, were the 12" Power loudspeakers of the G12 type. In the early days supply and distribution raised many problems as a vehicle was despatched early each morning from Ipswich to make the 90 mile run through London to Thames Ditton, carrying the previous day’s production. It then loaded and returned by the same route, carrying back essential components for the next day’s production, enabling the supervisor, charge hand and twelve ladies to meet their schedule.
As the weeks passed the interior of the Ipswich works began to house more and more sophisticated production machinery and more staff were engaged to operate the lines, which were now able to relieve the problems at Thames Ditton in the supply of domestic speakers to the manufacturers.
The production of domestic speakers reached a peak after about three years at Ipswich, and then a shift in the market evidenced itself and a noticeable decline in this product became apparent in the factory. Its place, however, was taken by units for the ever increasing demand for high fidelity stereo cabinet systems, and at this time further expansion took place with the acquisition of a modern assembly plant on the Hadleigh Road Trading Estate on the other side of Ipswich. Ditton Works now concentrated on the manufacture in all aspects of hi-fi component units, Power Range loudspeakers and units in the Public Address sector.
The end of the factory at Thames Ditton
With the surge of interest in hi-fi from the general public, staffing levels reached a peak in January 1974 with a total of 907 employees at the two sites in Ipswich and at Thames Ditton, some of these working night shifts.
Distribution was now wholly carried out from Ipswich by a new fleet of company vehicles, this being necessary for two reasons. The Thames Ditton factory was gradually run down, eventually closing altogether in 1975, and a new marketing policy by Celestion opened up a great many more smaller distribution points instead of the previous few selected wholesalers.
References
Categories: Modern | 1924 | 1975
