An aerial photograph of the Price Brothers & Company Limited joinery works situated off Station Road, Penarth borrowed from the book 'I Could Have Told You' [1410] and specifically within a chapter entitled 'Timber.' The date of this image is not specified but seems to be similar to the above photograph, hence, c.1929.
A section of the accompanying text is of interest because it states that : 'During the War, (a reference to WWI - 1914 to 1918), the firm was making parts, possibly whole aircraft. It's difficult to think these days that the aircraft used in the War were wooden framed aircraft, using hardwood for the struts and softwood for the fuselage. After the War was over, they seem to have gone back to joinery, but joinery associated with the building trade.'
This descriptive text summary by Mr. H. Ponsford, the author, seems to me to coincide with the dates 1918 to 1919 for the operation of the Cambrian works ; so maybe the Cambrian Aircraft Construction operation became integrated within Price Brothers & Company Limited and was operational within the existing joinery works in Station Road. Many local people and companies contributed to the War effort.
Further research established that the Cambrian Aircraft Construction was originally formed in 1917 by prominent members of the Cardiff timber trade, including Messrs. David, Demery, and Morgan Reed. The workshops were located at Tyndall Street, East Moors, Cardiff where they built wings, ailerons and undercarriage components for D.H.10 aircraft. [016]
The availability of high-grade timber and woodworking expertise made the local trade ideal for aviation component manufacture and in common with many other companies, in support of the First World War effort, contributed its skills and facilities in the manufacture of airframe components or aircraft assemblies under Ministry of Munitions contracts.
In early 1918 Cambrian Aircraft Construction expanded its operations to Station Road, Penarth.
During wartime operations women were employed by the company but at the end of war, as the industry contracted and surviving men folk returned home, female workers were substituted with discharged servicemen often amid pressure from trade unions.
The Armistice of November 1919 brought to an abrupt end aviation contracts. After the war there was a lack of civilian aviation demand and coupled with the loss of Ministry of Munitions contracts the business became unsustainable. During September 1919, the local press reported that the company's workshops at East Moors were scheduled for closure and the Cambrian Aircraft Construction Company was liquidated by the end of that same year.
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