In 1935 Ranalah Coachworks Ltd. was established, in the Merton Borough of London, to take over the business of coachbuilders John Charles & Co.; "Ranalah" had been a brand name used on some of the car bodies made by John Charles & Co.
The primary business of Ranalah Coachworks was initially in building car bodies, which went on chassis manufactured by other makers. They are of interest to this Vintage Machinery website because they also manufactured English wheels, also known as wheeling machines or paneling machines, which are used to form compound-curved sheet metal components. The design of the Ranalah English wheels were based on a patent granted to John Liston Dalrymple in 1937. The Ranalah English wheels are well respected and remain popular with coach builders and others who need to perform this kind of sheet-metal shaping. Ranalah also manufactured a deep-throat riveting machine.
By 1940 the business name had changed to Ranalah Ltd. and the firm was busy with the war effort, making sheet metal parts for aircraft. Manufacture of English wheels and riveting machines would continue as well. We have also seen English wheels based on the Ranalah patent that were manufactured by Brighton Sheet Metal Ltd. of Brighton, Sussex.
Ranalah English wheels seem to have been manufactured for some decades. More research is needed to uncover the later history of this firm and to understand the relationship with Brighton Sheet Metal Ltd.
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