This garage on London Road will interest the motorist looking for fuel or a change of car, but may not get much attention from the average passer-by. There is little now to show that for a significant period of time, this site saw the building of ocean-going boats which were sold to - amongst others - the Russian and Japanese navies.

The Watling Works were owned by Edward Hayes, and he earned a considerable reputation for building small but powerful boats.

To launch them, he had to tow them two miles by trailer to a slipway on the Grand Union Canal at Old Stratford. Clearly, this did not deter either him or his world-wide customers.

To read more about Hayes Boats, click here