Norman Boats

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Norman boats are small

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

cabin cruiser A cabin cruiser is a type of power boat that provides accommodation for its crew and passengers inside the structure of the craft. A cabin cruiser usually ranges in size from in length, with larger pleasure craft usually considered yachts. Many ...

s built in the 1960s, 70's, and 80's, by Norman Cruisers Limited of

Shaw and Crompton Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which contains the town of Shaw and lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines. It is located north of Oldham, south ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Norman Boats were started in 1959 by Ernie Wheeldon. The business started in Shaw Lancs, then moved to Isherwood Street in Heywood Lancs, then back to a new site in Shaw. Other factories were added in Royton and Heywood, and the business expanded into manufacturing windows and windscreens for both Norman Boats and other customers under the name of North West Windows Ltd at the Heywood factory. They also made boat canopies and upholstery under the name of North West Marine Trimmers Ltd at the Padiham & Lancashire factory, where they also made boat trailers (Speedmaster Trailers). At the height of the business in 1971-1973 the business employed approximately 200 people, approximately 120 in boatbuilding and approximately 70 glass fibre laminators, of which approximately 30 were female. Norman Cruisers were in the top three largest pleasure boat builders in the UK, Westerley Yachts being the biggest. In the 1970s approximately 65% of boats were exported. Principal markets (in order of volume) were the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, France and Sweden. Boats in the Netherlands were imported by Internaut of Rotterdam and were sold under the name of "Inter", hence the 20 was the Inter620. The business ceased trading in December 1979, the

Winter of Discontent The Winter of Discontent was the period between November 1978 and February 1979 in the United Kingdom characterised by widespread strikes by private, and later public, sector trade unions demanding pay rises greater than the limits Prime Minis ...

, and restarted in 1980. New models were introduced: 24, 27 and 22 wide beam but the moulding shop was destroyed in a fire in 1982, destroying most of the moulds and the business never recovered. Some moulds were re-built and when the business finally ceased, these were sold and marketed under other names, such as the Atlanta 24. Also some designs were copied and made into hybrids. Mr. Wheeldon once estimated that approximately 7,000 Normans were built. Norman Cruisers went bankrupt in the 1980s. Many examples of their product range are still in use, and can be seen on British waterways and across the world. Our Haven2

Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham British boat builders