H. V. Burlingham

H. V. Burlingham was a British coachbuilding business based in Blackpool, Lancashire from 1928 until 1960 when they were taken over by London-based rivals Duple Motor Bodies Limited. Duple initially renamed Burlingham as Duple (Northern) but in 1969 they closed their Hendon factory and concentrated production in Blackpool. Duple coach bodies were built in the former Burlingham premises until Duple itself was liquidated in 1989.

Herbert Victor Burlingham moved to Blackpool in 1928 and after deciding to set up as a coachbuilder initially leased premises in Bloomfield Road and Bond Street in Blackpool. Like rivals Thomas Harrington Ltd in Hove and Plaxton in Scarborough, H. V. Burlingham understood that a seaside resort offered advantages for the highly seasonal trade in luxury coach bodies in that the workforce were able to take other jobs during the summer when there was no work for them building coaches. General coach building was the initial purpose of Mr Burlingham's business and the first body constructed was a van for a local butcher but coach bodies were soon the company's main product, initially of the 'all weather' style common at the time which comprised a steel-reinforced wooden frame panelled in aluminium with windows capable of winding fully down and a full length folding canvas roof. An option common on many builders' coaches at the time was a luggage rack mounted on the rear of the roof, but Burlingham were early in offering coaches fitted with a toilet compartment, which was a long way from being the standard fitment in long distance coaches it is now. Burlingham coaches soon began to make a name for themselves and unlike many coachbuilders of the period whose clientele was very localised, Burlingham were soon selling not only to Lancashire coach firms but to Scottish Motor Traction of Edinburgh, Walter Alexander of Stirling and Glenton Tours of London amongst others. Output in these early years kept outgrowing factory space, and in 1929 the original sites were relinquished in favour of a workshop in Bank Road, Marton, which was used until 1931. A factory was constructed at Preston New Road on the outskirts of the town in late 1929. After the Marton workshop was sold further premises were bought in Newhouse Road, these being used both to build components and to repair and recondition bodies.

In 1930 Herbert Victor Burlingham, who had been a sole trader, decided to sell the business to two local businessmen, Richard Eaves and Harry Lowcock. They set up H. V. Burlingham Ltd on 25 November 1930 with a registered share capital of £26,000. after which H. V. Burlingham himself set up in business as a caravan manufacturer in Garstang. Mr Eaves became the managing director and took great pride in motivating the design team. Styles were developed into the era of the saloon coach often now fully enclosed, windows only dropping to half depth and a sliding aluminium or folding canvas roof section optional. Pioneering styling features often appeared on Burlingham designs, including the use of curved sightseeing windows above the main windows. By the end of 1931 there was again pressure on space so a further site was acquired at Vicarage Lane. This was used for body assembly and from then until eventual closure finishing was undertaken at the Preston New Road factory, which also manufactured sub assemblies. Once Vicarage Lane came on stream Newhouse Road was solely devoted to servicing existing bodies.

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