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Old turnstiles

Andy Holloway

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Joined
Nov 20, 2013
Messages
1,545
now that the old turnstiles have been refurbished and returned to SJP it would be interesting to know their history and when the were first supplied and to whom.
Was it ECFC or did we buy them second hand?

I know some years ago we bought some turnstiles from Arsenal when Highbury was demolished, but are any of these they?

Looking at some of them today i see that they are almost all slightly different in style/decoration, some are more elaborate than others.

The one thing they do all have in common though is that they were made by W T Ellison & Co Ltd, of Manchester. The firm was in a wonderfully named place called IRLAM-O-TH--HEIGHTS!

I'll send a photo of the plate on one of the BB turnstiles on Jungle Path, that is numbered 5003, to Hants for him to post on Exeweb, i'm sure that some people will find it interesting.
 

edindevon

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Sep 6, 2005
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Together We Are Stronger.
Good info about WT Ellison turnstiles here.

http://www.securitysolutionsgb.com/new/continuing-manufacturing-traditions-in-the-northwest/

Ours must be at least sixty years old, probably a lot more than that if we bought them second hand.
 

Hants_red

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May 27, 2007
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League 1
Looks beautiful!

 

Hants_red

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Staff member
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May 27, 2007
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62,068
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League 1
 

edindevon

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Sep 6, 2005
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Together We Are Stronger.
An old Argyle turnstile was on eBay a few months ago.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323248488679?rmvSB=true#vi__app-cvip-panel

Theirs was dated from 1936 and has a serial number of 4880. As ours has a serial number of 5003, then it must be of a similar vintage.

I also found out that one of the reasons WT Ellison went out of business was due to the Public Convenience Act of 1963, which, at the time, banned turnstiles in public lavatories. Apparently this made up a large chunk of their income. Also, very few new sportsgrounds were built in the WW2 era.
 

eurogrecian

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Apr 13, 2004
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Location
Near Geneva, Switzerland
Looks beautiful!

"Rush preventive"!
Love it!
 

Brazzerie

New member
Joined
Jun 26, 2021
Messages
1
I recently found a Deluce's Rush Preventive Turnstile plate buried in my garden that has an error in the typeface. It says "RJSH...." instead of "RUSH...." -

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qEpMhv0xl2uSCSqGsfW4QNDaI00h_dWE/view?usp=sharing

Is this of interest?
 

Martin Weiler

Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
567
Yes - the Exeter City FC Museum would be very interested in your plate Brazzerie. Do get in touch.

The current issue (GT 105; Summer 2021) of the always superb ‘Groundtastic’ Magazine has a 7 page article on the history of turnstiles, with much of the focus on W.T. Ellison and Co.
 

rightwing

Well-known Exeweb poster
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
5,997
Location
Plymouth
now that the old turnstiles have been refurbished and returned to SJP it would be interesting to know their history and when the were first supplied and to whom.
Was it ECFC or did we buy them second hand?

I know some years ago we bought some turnstiles from Arsenal when Highbury was demolished, but are any of these they?
Neil le Milliere was responsible for acquiring the ones from Arsenal. From memory I think we might have paid £500 for them but Neil would give the definitive answer. Our own were in use when I first started supporting City in 1953........they looked old then!!!
 

Colesman Ballz

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Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
14,854
Neil le Milliere was responsible for acquiring the ones from Arsenal. From memory I think we might have paid £500 for them but Neil would give the definitive answer. Our own were in use when I first started supporting City in 1953........they looked old then!!!
The ones from Arsenal were far more modern, I remember them being stood in a corner of Red Square before they were put to use.
 
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