Scammell: The Army Order That Couldn't Save the Factory

For more than sixty years, the Scammell works on Tolpits Lane in Watford built some of Britain's most remarkable lorries: the three-wheeled Mechanical Horse seen in railway goods yards, the hundred-ton tractor that carried steam locomotives by road to Liverpool docks, the Pioneer that served the British Army in the Second World War, and later the Contractor and the Commander tank transporter. In December 1986, the trade weekly Commercial Motor reported that Scammell had been awarded the main production contract for about 1,500 trucks in a new Army supply system called DROPS. Ten weeks later, on 19 February 1987, the government announced in the House of Commons that the Watford plant would close. The usual explanation is that DAF bought Leyland and shut Scammell. The parliamentary record and contemporary trade press tell a more precise story: the closure was announced as part of joint-venture proposals from Rover Group and DAF, which the government accepted; Watford was left out of the new company; its military work was transferred to Leyland in Lancashire; and Rover Group, which still owned the plant, turned down a management buyout and ran the works down. The factory closed in July 1988. Its last lorry was named Evening Star. This documentary follows the evidence from Spitalfields to Watford and beyond: what happened to the order, the factory, the designs and the Scammell name, and what the record still cannot tell us. Sources include Hansard (19 February and 11 March 1987), the Commercial Motor archive, Companies House records, Watford Borough Council planning records and the Brightwells auction listing for the 1929 Scammell 100-tonner KD 9168. The Hidden History tells the stories behind famous names, forgotten companies and the decisions that shaped them. If you enjoyed this film, please subscribe and turn on notifications.