Strata were manufacturers of a wide range of products encompassing handlebars, stems, pedals and brakes among other items and were based at Newbreck Mill, Oldham, Lancashire.
This was a Victorian cotton mill that had been leased to various companies after cotton production had ceased there in 1933.
During WW2 a company named Fieldings Ltd operated from this location, making parts under contract to the Air Ministry for AVRO and Short Brothers. There can be little doubt that they manufactured aircraft components for AVRO as the Chadderton plant was close by, where more than 3,000 Lancaster Bombers were produced.
The earliest reference I have found to Strata is from an advertisement in ‘Cycling’ from December 1946.
At the cessation of hostilities contracts for war work dried up and many engineering companies were forced to find alternatives to stay in business. Fieldings Ltd commenced the manufacture of metal kitchen furniture in 1946 but this was short lived, possibly due to the government imposing a heavy tax on these products, and sales collapsed. I suspect that it was around this time that The Strata Engineering Company was formed and manufacture of cycle components commenced under the ‘Stratalite’ brand name.
