During
our
initial
research
there
was
a
void
in
the
early
years
from
when
Ditchburn
bought
the
rights
to
manufacture
Jukeboxes
from
the
Hawtin’s
Brothers…
to
how
Ditchburn
finally
arrived
at
Dock
Road
in
Lytham,
as
the
home
for
the
company,
many
weeks
of
hard
work
by
the
Ditchburn
Project
has
unearthed
some
new
and
surprising
information
about
Ditchburn
Equipment
Ltd.
Many
thanks
to
Arthur
Phillips
for
his
inspiration
to
look
more
deeply
into
this,
and to find the answers.
The Very Start …
1947. Ditchburn Equipment Ltd. Engrs Preston New Road Marton Blackpool.
Geoffrey
Norman
Ditchburn…
using
his
£10000
severance
pay
from
Rowe
Brothers
in
Liverpool,
bought
the
rights
from
the
Hawtin
Bothers
to
manufacture
the
Music
Maker
MK2
Juke
Box
(
Automatic
Phonograph
as
GND
insisted
it
be
called)
in
December
1947,
he
based
the
company
for
the
next
few
months
at
the
original
workshop
that
Hawtin’s
had
used
to
build
the
Jukeboxes,
on
Preston
New
Road,
Marton.
near
Blackpool
this
is
documented
in
the
1947
phone book and it shows they both shared the same telephone number.
1948. G N Ditchburn Blue Hills Links, Hey Rd, Hoylake. Wirral.
Geoffrey
Norman
Ditchburn
lived
at
Hoylake
on
the
Wirral,
and
we
wouldn’t
be
surprised
if
he
was
finding
it
hard
to
commute
the
80
miles
each
way,
everyday
from
his
home
to
Blackpool
and
back,
so
he
decided
to
look
at
a
base
for
his
company
closer
to
home
and
found
one
in
the
in the centre of Liverpool and by the end of 1948 this became the new home of Ditchburn Ltd.
1948 - 1952 . Ditchburn Equipment Ltd 19 Old Hall Street Liverpool.
The
new
HQ
for
Ditchburn
was
to
be
within
a
magnificent
building
at
19
Old
Hall
Street,
Liverpool
,
once
the
home
of
the
famous
late
1800s
“Royal
Cafe”
this
was
to
be
Ditchburn’s
manufacturing home for the next few years.
The Royal Cafe, 19 Old Hall St. from 1888. 19 Old Hall St as it is in 2019
1952. Ditchburn Equipment Engineers Ltd, Freckleton St ,Lytham, Lancashire.
It
was
at
the
beginning
of
1952
that
Ditchburn
decided
to
move
his
growing
operation
from
the
Centre
of
Liverpool
back
to
the
quiet
area
of
the
Fylde
Coast,
its
not
really
known
what
brought
on
this
decision,
but
most
likely
it
was
due
to
the
high
overheads
of
the
centre
of
Liverpool,
and
probably
to
do
with
an
agreement
with
Mr
Ditchburn’s
ex-employer,
Rowe
Brothers
regarding
the
manufacture
of
office
partitions
within
a
certain
radius
of
their
factory,
or
possibly
that
there
was
a
shortage
of
Engineering
skills
in
this
area
at
the
time,
although
it
has
also
been
said
that
it
was
possibly
because
Mr
Ditchburn’s
wife
liked
the
Lytham
area
and
thought
it
would
be
a
nice place to live… and as we all know the wife is always right…
1953.
Ditchburn Equipment Ltd (Sales) 17 Morefields Liverpool.
GND
decided
than
rather
lose
his
key
staff
when
moving
from
Liverpool
back
to
the
Fylde
Coast
he
would
retain
them,
by
opening
a
sales
office
a
short
distance
from
the
original
Liverpool
HQ,
this
office
remained
open
until
the
1960s,
I
was
alway
curious
about
my
Mk2
BTH
Jukebox
amplifier
as
it
had
the
label
shown
below,
it
seems
this
label
must
have
been
designed
around
1949,
during
the
transition
between
moving
from
Blackpool,
to
Liverpool,
and
the
planning
of
opening
a
London
Depot
which
didn’t
actually
open
until
late1953,
at
the
time
of the Label design there was no mention of Lytham, i guess thats when the wife stepped in.
The new Liverpool sales office in 1953
1954.
Ditchburn Equipment Ltd (Engrs), Dock Road Lytham.
By
1954
Ditchburn
had
outgrown
the
Freckleton
St
factory,
and
it
was
decided
to
move
everything
over
the
old
Lytham
Laundry
on
Dock
Road,
the
Freckleton
St
factory
was
not
sold
and
would
be
later
utilised
when
the
company
grew
yet
again.
It
was
also
during
this
year
that
Ditchburn opened their sales office at Terminal House in the Centre of London.
1955.
Ditchburn Equipment Ltd 202 Garscube Road Glasgow.
The
Ditchburn
company
was
moving
at
a
rapid
pace
and
more
machines
were
being
operated
across
the
whole
of
UK,
so
it
was
felt
necessary
to
have
a
depot
in
Scotland
to
cover
the
northern regions.
It was about this time in 1956 that the Freckleton factory was also back in use by Ditchburn
Everything stayed this way through to 1958 when another service depot was then required
1958 Ditchburn Equipment Music Makers 161 Horseley Heath Tipton Midlands.
The West Midlands Service Depot
1959. Ditchburn Equipment Ltd 47 Bank St Glasgow
The Glasgow office moves into a shop premises on Bank St which would be its home for the
next 9 years it would eventually move but not far away.
The Glasgow Ditchburn office as it is now in 2019
To Be Continued …
Coming soon….
Liverpool phone directory 1949
Liverpool phone directory 1950
Liverpool phone directory 1951
Where in the World was Ditchburn
The Timeline History of the factories and depots of Ditchburn