Publications
C.V.A./Kearney & Trecker, by Peter Groves, published 2003 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 33, article, pp.10-22, ISSN: 0263-5151) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506531] Download PDF
Abstract:The Hove based Machine Tool Company, known for much of the twentieth Century as CVA, was founded at the end of World War I. Its headquarters for over 50 years was in Portland Road, Hove, near the bottom of what is now Olive Road, on the site currently occupied by Seeboard Energy. Commercial activities operated from this vicinity prior to 1918.
CVA/Kearney & Trecker Machine Assembly Plant, Eaton Road, Hove, by Peter Groves, published 2007 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 37, article, pp.24-28, ISSN: 0263-5151) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506535] Download PDF
Abstract:Hove machine tool manufacturer CVA was once one of the largest manufacturing employers in the area. At its peak in the 1960s over 2000 staff were employed at seven locations around the Brighton area. One of these locations was the Machine Assembly Plant in Eaton Road, right in the centre of Hove.
CVA at Coombe Road, Brighton, by Peter Groves, published 2008 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 38, article, pp.38-39, ISSN: 0263-5151) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506536] Download PDF
Abstract:In the spring of 1917, the question of training soldiers disabled in the First World War arose. As a result of a successful pilot scheme, work started in 1918 to build a special factory in Coombe Road, Brighton, opposite Preston Barracks. The factory was known as the Bernard Oppenheimer Diamond Works, and was the backbone of a large undertaking, where the war disabled were trained to polish diamonds. The factory was one of the largest in the Brighton area. In the early days among the names of important visitors were General Smuts, Lord Haig, John Galsworthy and Mr. Horatio Bottomely. Of particular interest was the well-equipped clinic, specially set up to deal with the employees, many of whom had lost limbs and needed specialist treatment.
The factory was acquired by Hove Machine Tool manufacturer CVA in 1945. CVA had expanded in the post-war period, and the old diamond works was one of a number of factories they acquired in the Brighton area in the 1940s and 1950s. CVA used the factory for a number of its departments, and it was home to many projects, fractional horsepower motors, drill chucks, lathe chucks and, surprisingly, domestic appliances.
The factory was acquired by Hove Machine Tool manufacturer CVA in 1945. CVA had expanded in the post-war period, and the old diamond works was one of a number of factories they acquired in the Brighton area in the 1940s and 1950s. CVA used the factory for a number of its departments, and it was home to many projects, fractional horsepower motors, drill chucks, lathe chucks and, surprisingly, domestic appliances.
Hollingbury and the Airbus, by Peter Groves, published 2011 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 41, article, pp.33-38, ISSN: 0263-5151) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16389/41] & The Keep [LIB/506538] Download PDF
Abstract:Many schoolboys of the early 1980s were well aware of and fascinated by the true story of huge aircraft wings being manufactured in England and then flown down to Toulouse in France for assembling into the Airbus. However, both the schoolboys and the majority of people in Brighton will have no idea of the connection between Hollingbury and this intriguing fact. It will surprise most residents and visitors alike, that the city of Brighton, best known for tourism, conferences and entertainment, was involved at all with this story.
Hollingbury Industrial Estate: Toolmaking and the changeover to Decimal Currrency, by Peter Groves, published 2012 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 42, article, pp.16-19, ISSN: 0263-5151) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16389/42] & The Keep [LIB/506539] Download PDF