The 2.5" centre height by 8" inches between-centres "Grindturn" lathe was first manufactured by Grindturn Engineering in Shrewsbury during the late 1940s and then, the design having been bought in 1950 by Richard Haighton Ltd. of Canning Street, Burnley as the improved and rather more sophisticated "Cadet". Haighton were not just makers of a small lathe, but a proper engineering company with a long history of successful projects. One interesting machine they made was a perfect replica of the beautiful Harding precision milling machine,  the TM/UM, that they manufactured from approximately 1953 to 1958. Haighton must also have had some influential with the local technical college (and the teachers some considerable sense) for, in the 4th & 5th year of their City and Guilds Machine Shop Engineering course, students had to build a 'Cadet' from castings supplied by Haighton - so at least one lecturer in the department had the right idea.
Early versions of the Grindturn were simple, plain-turning machines without a backgear - and equipped with just a single, swivelling tool slide; the lathe could be supplied for bench mounting with a separate countershaft or fastened to an effective if rather crudely finished cast-aluminium base plate. The base formed a mounting not only for the lathe but also for a particularly neat, 6-speed V-belt drive countershaft unit and the electric motor. The whole assembly was light enough to be considered portable and could, with "suitable permissions", be moved indoors during winter months to share the kitchen table and warmth from the open coal fire or range. The flat-topped, V-edged bed had a usefully large gap (to accommodate a 6-inch faceplate) with the carriage propelled along it by an overhung leadscrew turned by an ungraduated handwheel. Although a screwcutting version of the Grindturn with a dog clutch on the leadscrew was also made, non have yet been found with a backgear.
An obvious development of the original machine, the Haighton "Cadet" was very well built, almost a large lathe in miniature, with an outstanding specification and very careful attention to detail. The bed, held down with four bolts at the headstock end and two at the tailstock, was fitted to a slightly modified, better-finished aluminium baseplate with rounded edges. Later models changed to a much-improved cast-iron plate, the increased rigidity of which played a large part in the lathe's ability to take surprisingly deep cuts whilst maintaining accuracy. As a reflection of its quality, and comprehensive specification, the price of the Cadet in the late 1950s was £44 : 15s : 0d, only £7 : 2s : 6d less (25%) then asked for the 3.5" centre height by 20" between-centres Myford ML7.
A proper backgear assembly and full screwcutting were fitted as standard and the 3/4" x 12 t.p.i. Spindle was fitted with a No. 1 Morse taper nose - where an inadequate No. 0 might have been expected. Simple, split bronze bearings were used and 12 speeds provided (including backgear) from 25 to 1800 rpm. As before, the 6-speed countershaft assembly was bolted to the frame and used proper (if miniature) 3/8" V-belts to transmit the power from the full-size (and hence heavy and reliable) Brook Gryphon single-phase motor (today these belts, now unavailable, are more easily replaced by 8 mm round ones, heat-welded to the right length). In place of tumble reverse (which is difficult to engineer satisfactorily on small lathes) a dog clutch was fitted to the headstock-end of the 0.5-inch diameter, Acme-form leadscrew. Because the leadscrew nut was "full", and could not be disengaged from the carriage, the clutch was an essential fitting - and also eliminated the chance of making errors when re-engaging the drive during screwcutting. Of 30 D.P. the changewheels were arranged in a rather unusual way with, picking up from the headstock-mounted gear, a pair of gears on a fixed stud (only pre-set clusters, permanently riveted together, could be used) a situation that made selection of gear sets awkward. The drive then passed to an ordinary swing bracket arrangement upon which gears could be changed. Although not confirmed, it would appear that the lathe was supplied with only sufficient changewheels to provide a single rate of fine feed, the standard arrangement being: 24t/60t, 30/60 and 20/80 to give a 20 : 1 reduction and a feed rate of 0.005 per rev. As every change of pitch required a different gear on the end of the leadscrew, the owner was faced with the expense (if a full screwcutting range was needed) of buying an extra 15 changewheels. The situation was made worse by the design of the leadscrew end - its machined boss required every gear to have a matching section on its rear face.
On the Grindturn only a single swivelling top slide had been fitted, but Haighton improved matters considerably by including a proper and very well made compound slide assembly.  Although the top slide could be swivelled through 360°, and fixed in one of two positions (complete with degree marks engraved round each socket) the makers did not, oddly, think fit to include a T-slotted slide -  nor to offer one as an extra. Another enhancement was the fitting of clearly engraved, zeroing micrometer dials to the 1/4" BSF feedscrews (the Grindturn had had non) and proper "balanced" handles in steel. Unfortunately, later models appear to have taken a step backwards and were equipped with cheaper die-cast dials and handles; if profits really were so slim, using steel instead of bronze for the slides' end plates might have been a better move. As a further cost-cutting measure, the rather fine spoked tailstock handwheel was replaced by a plain, full-circle type. A 4-way toolpost was included as part of the standard equipment along with full enclosure for the changewheels - and a semi enclosure for the headstock drive belt. 
Of remarkable weight and strength the No. 1 Morse taper tailstock could be set over for the turning of slight tapers and had an unusually large handwheel, a point often neglected on miniature machine tools.
Although described as, "Completely self-contained and portable" the large base-plate and full-size electric motor meant that the all-up weight (even with the aluminium support) approached  42 lbs and it was certainly not as easy as the makers claimed to: "Turn your kitchen table into a workshop". When fitted to the 70 lb cast-iron base it was most definitely not easy to move around, especially when the large Gryphon motor was included - and doubtless Er in do'u'ers (or, as our much more perceptive  American friends would say,  SWMBO) would have had a thing or two to say about the matter, especially if asked to help carry it back to its storage in't' 'cole'ole.
Very early models seem to have been finished in either a very ordinary plain grey or, as an amazing contrast, in a remarkable "craquellee" black-and-white finish not unlike that given to the quite different German Hommel machines. Later machines changed to a wonderful crackle-black finish (used until the 1950s to indicate a machine of quality) and one example of the Cadet that the writer found several years ago was still resplendent in this finish which had lasted remarkably well. This particular example ran almost silently, with the heavy bed plate adding such enormous stiffness that it was, as a consequence, capable of taking extraordinarily heavy cuts for so small a machine. If you find a Grindturn or Cadet don't be tempted to take it off the mounting foot, the lathe really will work much better left as it is.
More Cadet and Grindturn photographs can be found here and here.
The special paint required to produce the original finish may still be available from: mail@spaeth-schwarz.de..