Description: Rolls-Royce Ltd's motor car works on Nightingale Road looking north from what would later become the intersection with Addison Road.
The factory had opened on 9 July 1908. Covering a 12-acre site initially, the works later expanded substantially, extending up to the railings on the left and also across to land on the east side of Nightingale Road. Indeed construction work can be seen to be ongoing left of centre and very shortly work would also start on the Commercial Block, a lengthy range of offices that fronted onto the road in the right distance, completed in 1912.
From 1915 aero engines were also manufactured and in due course these became the mainstay of Rolls-Royce's production in Derby with car manufacture being moved to Crewe in 1946. Eventually the original Rolls-Royce works became outmoded and after a century of operation it was closed in 2008, production being transferred to nearby Sinfin. The factory was then demolished but the Commercial Block survived, having been Listed Grade II in 2009.
This photo was taken by Derby-based postcard producer F W Scarratt and was number 426 in his series. It was submitted as part of a commission received from Beatrice A Sidley who ran St Dunstan's Post Office at 468 Osmaston Road; the original negative envelope is inscribed '5 negs of Rolls Royce to choose from' (these comprise DCHQ010164-DCHQ010168 inclusive).