Industrial History Online

Industrial History Online

Percy Shaw's Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd

Description and History of Site:-
The home of the original Reflecting Roadstud, better known as a Catseye, which has saved the lives of countless motorists worldwide since its development in 1935. Allowing the headlights of a car to reflect back from the glass lenses embedded in the rubber housing, installed along the centre line of the road, facing oncoming traffic, guiding the road user around bends ahead. Prior to the Catseye road users had relied on the reflection from tramlines in darkness and bad weather where the polished surface of the tramline reflected the headlight back to the road user. Following the demise of the tram and removal of tramlines, drivers such as Percy Shaw, who lived in Boothtown, Halifax, West Yorkshire, who regularly travelled to his favourite pub in Queensbury, Ye Old Dolphin, which at over 1000 feet (304m) ASL regularly sat in cloud, causing Percy to bemoan the loss of tramlines to guide him home.
One night whilst travelling up Hollins Hill between Shipley and Guiseley, West Yorkshire, he spotted a roadsign with glass lenses embedded in it to highlight the hazard ahead. Percy thought 'those reflectors should be down there on the road, not up in the air', so stopping the car, he 'borrowed' a couple of the lenses to experiment with, an idea was being born.
Experimenting with the glass lenses, he developed the Catseye from a crude upwards pointing device of no use to a motorist, to the design in use to this day incorporating the self-wiping cleaning device, eventually patenting his invention in 1935.
Reflecting Roadstuds Limited were Incorporated on 15th March 1935.

The buildings extant today (2018) consist of the stone built former textile silk mill and post 1930's red brick buildings added by Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd.
By the 1950's the buildings incorporated a foundry for the Catseye cast iron bases, a vulcanising plant for the rubber inserts and a glass manipulation plant for the preparation of the lenses, heating and moulding glass rods into a bi-convex lens and the attachment of the aluminium reflector which sat at the back of the glass lens.
When Percy Shaw was Managing Director of the company, he insisted that all production was carried out in-house at his factory. Today however (2018) the Catseyes are only assembled at Boothtown with the cast iron bases made in India, China or Poland, the rubber inserts in Malasia and the glass lenses in Austria.
Percy Shaw's 1968 interview with Alan Whicker can be viewed here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWEwlp4EJc Percy Shaw was born at Lee Mount, Halifax, West Yorkshire on 15th April 1890. When he was 2 years old, the family moved the half mile to the house at Boothtown, Halifax, in which he would live the rest of his life.
He attended school until 13 years of age. On leaving school he laboured in a textile mill, however with a determination to better himself he took a commercial course at night school. Once completed he applied for a job as a bookkeeper in an office. He found the job boring so he moved to a wire mill as an apprentice engineer making heald wire for weaving looms. He didn't complete the apprenticeship due to the low wage being insufficient to help out with family finances, still living with his parents, his siblings having moved away and married.
During his twenties he had several jobs such as welding, boiler-making and machine-tool construction, all adding to his experience.
In 1912 Percy's father became redundant so he formed a partnership with his son and worked from a stable attached to the family home. They converted the stable into a workshop to enable them to undertake odd-jobs for local residents.
In 1914 at the outbreak of WW1 a local textile mill was contracted to make khaki puttees using special heald wires. Percy was able to sub-contract for the heald wires using past experience. Later the family team were contracted to produce shell noses and cartridge cases for the war effort.
After the war they moved into road and path resurfacing, always ready to spot a gap in the market.
By 1930 both of Percy's parents had died, he remained self-employed, employing several men, laying tarmac drives and paths, even making his own powered rollers, cheaper than the competition. He enjoyed tinkering with mechanical things which led him to motor cars and became one of the first motor car owners in Halifax, a Rolls Royce Phantom 5, which led to him developing the Catseye.
At first he had difficulty persuading Local Authorities to adopt the Catseye for road use, however at the outbreak of WW2 with the blackouts that were imposed, the orders flooded in.

Percy had an inventive mind and a Yorkshire determination, continuing development and improving the Catseye over many years.
He died on 1st September 1976 at the age of 86.


Further Reading and References:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s_eye_(road)
Information made available by Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd, Boothtown, Halifax, West Yorkshire, with many thanks.
1968 Interview with Percy Shaw by Alan Whicker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWEwlp4EJc


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Key Words :- foundry glass reflectors road studs safety

Viewing the Site :- Public footpath alongside road.

Address :- Mill Lane, Boothtown, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX3 6TN
Grid Ref :- SE 08774 26940
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.738772 , Long -1.868461
Local Authority :- Calderdale Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site extant - Protected status unknown
Site Condition :- Site in alternative industrial use
Contributor :- Andrew Garford - 4 March 2019

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Andrew Garford