Description:This photograph shows most, if not all of the staff of the Bagnall's Castle Engine Works in Stafford. This was the occasion of a presentation of an illumintated address to Gordon Bagnall and his wife. Bagnall is on the left sitting in a chair - apart from those sitting on the fences, he is the only person not standing. To his immediate right with the prominent beard and holding his lapels is Sam Price. It is probably George Fletcher, the Chief Clerk, wearing a boater and also holding a lapel to his left. The other man wearing a boater some distance to his right is Richard Gordon Bagnall, and on his right with the cloth cap, waistcoat and tie, is W.S. Edwards, then a very young man.
Image and information from 'Bagnall's of Stafford', by courtesy of Mr. Allan C. Baker, co-author with the late T.D. Allen.
W.G. Bagnall Ltd. was established in 1870 in Castle Street, Stafford. Bagnall's first locomotive was produced in 1875, the company going on to produce machines for collieries and overseas plantations. Eventually Bagnall's was manufacturing powerful locomotives for some of the world's most important railways.
In 1951 Bagnall's merged with Brush Traction Ltd., and in 1959 the firm was sold to W.H. Dorman Ltd. Two years later they were taken over by the English Electric Co. and production at the Castle Street works ceased.