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The History of Gamleys:
1919 to the present day... Gamleys was founded in 1919 by the original proprietor, Bill Lord as a chain of toy shops mainly located in the south of the United Kingdom with a head office in Hove, near Brighton. The name Gamleys was thought up by Bill Lord who wanted to mix the names of the two most famous London stores, Gamages and Hamleys. Unlike many of its rivals such as Toys "R" Us, Gamleys operated smaller shops in high streets and shopping centres rather than larger super stores. Because of this different approach to business it had managed to survive for decades. However, in late 2007 and through the first half of 2008 a number of Gamleys stores closed down and in August 2008 rival chain The Entertainer, purchased the Maidstone and Brighton stores, leaving only the Bromley store which finally closed its doors in September 2008. After almost 90 years of trading, Gamleys Ltd finally went out of business. The brand lay dormant for six years until 2014, when the owners of the Brabazon Group purchased the online assets of the former toy shop, and merged these with their own merchandise imprint. They then adopted the Gamleys name for the combined team because of its better recognition and famous history. |
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Brabazon, Bristol and related memorabilia:
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Auto Review AR70 Bristol Cars
Edited by Rod Ward In order to explain how the Bristol aircraft firm began to make cars, this book pulls together the stories of a number of iconic characters and companies in British transport history. In 1910 Sir George White set up various companies, including a bus building concern in the City of Bristol, and the firm which became the Bristol Aeroplane Company. This concern produced many successful aircraft, but was expecting a drop in orders for aircraft and aero engines at the end of the Second World War. Wanting a product to fill their factories, Bristol cast around for alternative activities, including car-making. Archie Frazer-Nash made sports cars under his own name, in earlier years having set up GN with H R Godfrey, who later founded HRG with two other partners. Frazer-Nash and Godfrey went on to produce patented aircraft gun turrets. The Aldington family, who took over the Frazer Nash car company from Archie, imported BMW cars in the 1930s, and were able to secure the design of a BMW car and engine for the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1945 as the basis for a new car. After a short-lived partnership with Bristol, the Aldingtons' firm, AFN Ltd returned to making Frazer Nash sports cars and importing prestigious German cars. AFN also took over the assets of Invicta, but they didn't make any Invicta cars. Bristol Cars were built in the aircraft factory for many years, but after the consolidation of the aviation industry in 1960 the car-making side became an independent company, established by the grandson of Sir George White, along with car dealer extraordinaire Anthony Crook. All of these overlapping and interlocking stories are told here. We make no apology for devoting almost half of this publication to companies and car marques which pre-dated the Bristol car company. We need these stories in order to appreciate the heritage of the classic Bristol car. The 21st century saw the Bristol car company go into administration, but this is not the end? |
