Acocks Green was the location for a custom-built factory which made parts for the Bristol Hercules radial engines. Construction of the factory commenced in late 1936 on the site of Westwood's market gardening business near the canal. The factory was the Rover shadow factory and it was operational by July 1937. Towards the end of the war, the Rover factory began to produce Meteor tank engines, and the Meteorite engine. The factory was visited by King George VI in March 1938. The military connection the factory had made Acocks Green a target for German bombers.