Nothing is know of the origins of the little N.W. lathe save that it appeared, price £2 : 15 : 0d, at the 1923 Model Engineer Exhibition in London on Stand No. 1  taken by the distributors Thorn & English, Engineers and Tool Merchants of Chandos Street in Slough.
The N.W. was 18" long overall. with a 12" bed, a 23/8" centre height, could hold  8" between centres and, unusually for a cheap, small lathe of the time, had a hole though its plain-bearing headstock spindle--though only of 3/8" diameter. The simple carriage was driven along the steel-bar bed by a 3/8" diameter Whitworth feedscrew set below the bed's centre line and supported at its tailstock end by what looks to have been a rather flimsy bracket.
A single, swivelling slide rest was fitted, mounted on a tall boss formed as part of the carriage. Carrying a 3-step headstock pulley designed to accept a round leather belt, the headstock spindle would have run in simple plain spilt bearings with lubrication through flip-top oilers. Unfortunately the distributors offered no countershaft, or other drive system, thought no doubt the sort of impecunious enthusiast at whom the lathe was aimed would not have found it too difficult to make one up from scrap.
Both carriage and tailstock would seem, from the illustration, to each have had a slot-head screw at each end - presumably bearing against some sort of pad in an effort to line everything up.
If you have an "N.W." lathe please do make contact..