Street Plates 6

We begin the latest batch of street plate accounts with something which we do NOT know. That is what the street plate above is more brief than usual. But first to locate the road.  Historically it was a part of Beastneys Farm where the farm homestead was in Hill End Lane.  Locate Liberty Walk at the country end of Camp Road, having passed Windermere and Lynton avenues; and reach the green before the junction with Ashley Road and Drakes Drive.  The hospital authorities had acquired Beastneys in the early twentieth century and used the western end of the farm to construct semi-detached homes for staff working at Hill End Mental Hospital.  It is this authority which was responsible for laying out Bisney Road (now the top end of Drakes Drive), and the layout of houses extended as far as the city boundary which coincided with a farm track in the direction of Hill End Lane close to the farm buildings.  The chosen layout of the homes left a triangular plot of ground unused.  On one side of the space was the track of the 1930 New Camp Estate ending with Lynton Avenue; on the other side the L-shaped formation of hospital houses.

Former home to the 2nd SA Scouts, tucked away behind the houses of Camp Road and
Drakes Drive.  Now Liberty Walk houses.
COURTESY TERRY SWAIN

When the 2nd St Albans Scouts were searching for suitable accommodation to replace their occupation of Camp School for their meetings, the hospital authority offered the little triangle for a typical scout hut (a second hut was later added, being transported from the upgraded Bunch of Cherries PH in Hatfield Road.  The 2nd Group later shared accommodation with the 16th SA Scouts in Oakdene Way.  Having relinquished their little site the question of what purpose it should next serve was solved by the appearance of a small collection of homes.  For the first time the access track received a name: Liberty Walk.  The only puzzle was to discover the reason for electing this name. Is it hidden within the details of the developing company, or perhaps a random title the developer had ticked off from a pre-arranged list?  I'm afraid, I'm still pondering, and so if you can enlighten us, do please respond and let us know!

When travelling around by car to different parts of the country you may have noticed other suburban locations having the name Lyon Way  and perhaps spotting the nature of the buildings nearby. Factories.  Factories, except many may have been converted into car sales showrooms, retail warehouses or even churches.  Switch back to many of the crowded towns  before the 1930s; often a rag-bag mix of small converted houses, industrial yards, back street workshops and factories accompanied by their own noises, access difficulties, parking problems and queues of reversing giant trucks around tight corners.

Call them trading estates, industrial estates or business parks, the concept of leasing or selling
ready-serviced easy-to-erect industrial buildings came from the brain of Ronnie Lyon, and
his name is all over those he developed between the 1950s and 1970s.

Larger-than-life Ronald Lyon, who had run successful scrap businesses pre WW2, made good profits taking advantage of the desperate war-time need for "useful materials", and acquiring and re-selling portable buildings for factories which had been bombed during hostilities.  When post-war planning required inner town factories to be moved and improved on the outskirts, Lyon came to the fore and developed estates of serviced warehouses "ready to go", even finding a way of transferring grants normally entitled to be claimed by the factory owner but not the developer.  Ronnie Lyon's business empire failed on more than one occasion as he switched to new enterprises. It should be said that Lyon was not the first arrival at the Butterwick Trading Estate; a timber merchant and Smallford Planters were earlier plot owners. But there will be few in the business world who were unaware of businessman Ronnie Lyon.

You may be forgiven if you have never discovered The Sidings.  It is at the quiet end of Ellenbrook Lane leading towards a former  railway Halt along the equally former Hatfield and St Albans Railway (now Alban Way) where there had not originally intended to be a stopping point.  But the developer of nearby homes shortly before the First War requested such a Halt so that his potential new owners could take the train to Hatfield Station.  There is no evidence of there having been working sidings on either side of the line at Nast Hyde, although there may have been a temporary siding not appearing on an Ordnance Survey map.  

The little tucked-away residential estate consisting of The Sidings, Haltside and Crossbrook.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREETVIEW

Nevertheless, during the post-war period when temporary housing was required for large numbers of contractors working on the New Town of Hatfield, several caravans were parked close to the track next to Ellenbrook Lane.  They lingered for sometime before permanent houses eventually occupied the space and the short roads connecting them were imaginatively named The Sidings, Haltside and Crossbrook – the latter recognising that Ellenbrook Lane passes over the Ellen Brook nearby.  If you are searching for former railway sidings on a map in this location you may be unsuccessful.

We have already discovered past substantial military officers of notable rank in one road on the London Road Estate: Haig Close, and others will follow.  But possibly the most notable seafarer of all was Francis Drake; an explorer and circumnavigator reaching vice admiral and then admiral in rank, and being knighted into the bargain.  It is, we suppose, natural that those tasked with naming the roads in the post-war period would allocate Drake to one of the key roads, not a minor Close or other cul-de-sac!  So Drake is a section of the formerly named Ring Road.  Being a Devon man there is no known evidence of and connection with St Albans, but he sports his name on a street plate in recognition of his stature, bravery and discovery.  

Initially called Disney Road it was a short cut-de-sac lined with a number of the hospital
houses for Hill End.  With the arrival of the London Road estate the road was extended to
London Road and renamed Drakes Drive.  It was a key length of the Ring Road, although
London Road is as far as the concept reached.

However, he is yet another controversial figure from the early slave voyage era.  So, what should we read into that; men's names have been hidden away for less.  But it should be acknowledged that credit is due to the huge benefits he and others brought to seafaring, navigation and world geography.

Well, Homewood Road is almost straight, but it links with Woodstock Road all the way
to Fleetville.  A number of the trees among the homes nearby formed part of the original
Home Wood.

Until the opening up of the Marshals Wick estate in the late 1920s Sandpit Lane was the northern limit of access until reaching Marshals Drive; and even this had been inaccessible until the building of New Road (later Marshalswick Lane).  The opportunity of making a  connection between the Hatfield Road, Sandpit Lane and through the newly developing Marshals Wick presented itself.  Today there would probably have been much objection about destruction of trees through the woodland on the estate, although it is doubtful if there was much public visible access to understand what was going on, and in any case some of the woodland had been selectively removed while the Marshalswick House was still in occupation.  As is known, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so appeared an almost- link road to connect Sandpit Lane and an adapted Marshals Drive.  The steadily reducing woodland – which would continue to be lost for some time as homes went up, gave its name to the new street: Homewood Road.  Home in the name referring to the Wick house.

So, there we are, five more roads added to our list, although on this occasion we are still wrestling with one account, although the story of its location is happily accountable.

Ready for a Change?

 You may have wandered around the quiet solitude of Hatfield Road Cemetery when your eyes glance across the grass to the serried, but sometimes wandering lines, of headstones; then pause as you recognise a name.  But you are not certain whether the name you noticed is from the same family you recalled.

Tools of Blow's craft inscribed on his circular headstone.

Here is one along a path to the south of the cemetery.  It is an appropriate name on which to focus as work continues to upgrade what is now the former Rats' Castle public house, for here is the grave of a former industrious architect, Percival Cherry Blow, born in St Albans in 1873.  And yes, this was a neat  amalgam of his father's and mother's families.

Percival attended St Albans School, and qualified as an architect from Kings College, London.  Appropriately, his first commission was in Catherine Street from his first base at former Montpellier House now 7 London Road.  From here he designed many houses in St Albans and Harpenden, working up to include expansion buildings at St Albans School, industrial structures and the Headquarters building of Ryders Seeds in Holywell Hill – now Samuel Ryder Hotel.

The imposing Holywell Hill HQ of the former Ryders Seeds business.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Blow was an early influence on the former Alpha cinema in London Road which was later reconstructed to his design.  Following a disastrous fire in 1927, he yet again designed its replacement, the Capitol.  It is this building you will be visiting if you enjoy a cinematic experience at the Odyssey.

Factories aplenty came his way during the First War, but also a widening of his design experience into shops, halls, banks and public houses.  The former Sainsbury shop in St Peter's Street was his, to be followed by a dozen similar edifices for the same company. Clearly this was a profitable sector to be working in; having been commissioned for one commercial building for a multiple, if successful a string of further addresses would often follow.  Barclays Banks were notable – by this time he had offices above Barclay's High Street branch.

Ryder's Exhibition Gall adjacent to the company's HQ.  The building is being prepared for
another fresh owner.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREETVIEW

Having designed Ryders Seeds HQ, Ryder called him back to design its Floral Exhibition Hall, which has recently gone back under scaffolding once more.  In Fleetville countless pub-goers have crossed the threshold of the Rats' Castle at the Sutton Road corner, and he also designed the hall for St Paul's Church.

Although he was a member of Trinity Church, Beaconsfield Road (though many will located in Victoria Street, but it's the one with the spire), his own funeral took place at St Paul's in 1939.

It is a testament to the quality of his designs that so many of his designs remain in the ground even if their owners have changed many times over.

Percival Blow cooperated on the above building's predecessor, before taking full control on this
cinema and which today we know in its upgraded form: The Odyssey.

Blow was an early influence on the former Alpha cinema in London Road which was later reconstructed to his design.  Following a disastrous fire in 1927, he yet again designed its replacement, renamed the Capitol.  It is this building you will be visiting if you enjoy a cinematic experience at the Odyssey.

The above – will soon morph into ...

... this.  Same architect, same public house, but anticipated new name.  Miraculously 
when a photograph is not quite the real thing, the scaffolding can easily be
dispensed with!
COURTESY STAR PUBS

If you would like a first-class book on the topic, St Albans & Hertfordshire Architectural & Architectural Society (SAHAAS) has published the book St Albans Architect Percival Blow by Patricia Broad, Sue Mann and Jonathan Mein.  www.stalbanshistory.org

Ballito Anniversary 2

 Last month this blog alerted its readers to the news that Fleetville's largest and most successful company would have been celebrating its centenary had it still been operating today.  Unfortunately, the Ballito Hosiery Mill had been taken over by Courthauld in 1967 and was promptly closed.  Courthauld clearly benefited commercially from taking on Ballito, and it is believed to still retain ownership of the latter's archive.  But in this year of 2025 will it celebrate the centenary of one of its own successful component companies, whose brand it was keen to retain?  We will see.

A pre WW1 photograph of Thomas Smith's Fleet Printing Works, later to be acquired by 
Ballington Hosiery Mill (Ballito).

In 1925 Fleetville was still young.  The former and equally successful Fleet colour printing works, had an equally large and vibrant work force,  the majority of who lived locally and sometimes more than one per household.  Its operational peak was 1913 and by the end of the First World War, not only had its ceased to exist, but the building was government-owned, overseeing a company it had been responsible for installing there; specialists in experimental submarine optical technology.

The fully utilised Ballito site post WW2.

So, by 1925 Fleetville had continued for the best part of a decade without a major employer, although of course this opened many opportunities for new entrepreneurial businesses many of which also  thrived.  When news spread of a new employer for the former Fleet Works it must have created quite a stir of excitement.  

House building extended as far as Beaumont Avenue, but behind the main road development was still patchy.  The width of Hatfield Road remained as it still is today on the approach to the Crown junction, and a footpath only existed on the north side, which was, after all, where all the shops had been created.  Street lighting was poor by present day standards, and the Rats' Castle public house had yet to replace the former little shop and house on the corner of Sutton Road.

Ladies' silk stockings had been imported from the United States and were widely distributed and sold by Ballito's Kotzin brothers from their City of London headquarters.  However, the retailing price of the product suddenly leaped as the government imposed an import tax on luxury goods, which at that time included silk stockings.  The solution the brothers devised was a manufacturing base in the UK, in the form of the recently vacated telescope factory.  A huge single storey building with a vast largely unimpeded open space with the exception of fire break walls.

An early improvement was the provision of meals for staff.

Above and below: representative groups of employees in the early post-war period together with
a list (not shownhere) of those still serving in the Forces at the time.

A hosiery inspector, part of the quality control department.
Above and below COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS from the book "Ballito: from Peace to War and War to Peace"

As machines were acquired from various sources, and a manufacturing programme devised, experienced machine minders were brought over from the US to train local labour.  Gradually, modest extensions were created for management staff moved from London, commercial and maintenance departments, and facilities for employees – welfare, meals and social halls and spaces.  And eventually there was the inevitable need for additional machine room space to produce new ranges and satisfy demand.  The final prewar improvement came in providing underground shelter space for staff who would be on duty whenever air raid sirens sounded.

Post-war product improvements included the use of nylon fabric, and supporting garment ranges, and the staff benefits provided by purchasing land near Smallford for a sports ground were widely supported.

Illustrations from a selection of Ballot's concessions in large stores around the country.

In a later post we show that nothing seems to last forever and other businesses took a keen interest in the Ballito approach to making and marketing.

VE is Here

 Imagine it is 8th May 1945: we will have been waiting for this day, known only as VE until now. So, until the Prime Minister Winston Churchill, announced it to the world, we wouldn't know which actual day it would be.

So, with all the signatures appended to all the right documents, the day could finally be celebrated. It would be Tuesday.

We kept in our minds the extra time required to complete the documents off Jersey. So, Wednesday, Liberation Day in the Channel Islands.  At last!

That is why these two days are especially significant to remember.

VE AND LIBERATION DAYS HERALDED

The weekly Herts Advertiser on the Friday carried a picture of a throng of happy people gathered in the Market Square on VE Tuesday.

IN THE CENTRE OF THE CITY

COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER

A short report recorded "Large crowds assembled by the lakeside at Verulamium, where the broadcast of the King's speech was relayed, and was listened to with rapt attention.  The National Anthem was sung, and a concert, compered by the Deputy Mayor, Mr R G Thompson, followed."

THANKSGIVING PARTY IN SANDFIELD ROAD

COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER

At what is believed to be the first party in the city dedicated to the returning heroes, many of whom were present, was organised by the residents of Sandfield Road who had prepared for the special event for several weeks.

HOW MUCH DID WE RAISE?

COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER

In all the war years the residents and organisations of St Albans had contributed their own personal funds and property for what was collectively termed "The War Effort".  And as soon as it could be arranged a special outdoor event was held outside the Town Hall, at which various totals were announced, including how many aircraft and ships these were equivalent to.  It must be remembered the highly successful National Savings Schemes, including those specifically for children through their schools.

CLEARING THE MESS

COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER

Amongst the detritus of war locally was this 4,000 pounder which arrived on Roe Green Farm without exploding and had remained in situ since a raid in 1940.  The incredibly brave Bomb Disposal Unit made the object safe before it was removed for eventual detonation ... somewhere!

MEANWHILE, IN OTHER NEWS

The Herts Advertiser was first with the news that the City Railway Station, then located on the city-side of the tracks, would be re-built and enlarged on the Stanhope Road side; and that the bridge itself would become a dual-carriageway structure leading to Hatfield Road.

It would, of course, take three decades for the new station to materialise, and we are still waiting for the bridge and its dual carriageway!  Both demonstrated that the post-war world and its ordinary and super projects to look forward to would only come with our patience, and for others we would have to, as they say, manage our expectations.

Enjoy your VE+80

Long-Awaited Relief

COPYRIGHT CURRENTLY UNKNOWN

 As we have come to understand – and to recall if we were of an age to do so – there was huge anticipation. No-one could say exactly when the war would end, but it just had to be close, close enough to be mere days; hence the tense excitement and a more positive feeling in the air.

Since the earlier days of the war casual conversations has been looking hopefully forward, beginning with phrases such as "When this war is over..." all sorts of promises were being made between each other.  Now the war was indeed nearly over how will life be different on the home front?  Of course circumstances will be better, although no-one imagined now long that improvement will take.  So most people focused of the immediate and short term, for wasn't it those first few day which would set the scene.  Wouldn't we want a party?  Several in fact, for our family, for our street, for those groups and organisations we were part of?  Parties could be had for very little outlay, and many families had been setting aside small amounts of food to enable simple menus to miraculously appear on table whenever it came, and came it did on the 8th May.  Never had so much largesse been revealed in spite of the restrictions forced on us through rationing.  Families found a way, and enjoy ourselves we would.

Happy Cavendish Road children whooped with joy at their party at the Cecil Road end of
their road.

Flags and pendants would appear as if from nowhere, even decorations from Christmas. Almost none of it was newly purchased; it mattered not that they showed signs of age.  There were no inhibitions either from switching on the radios (or wirelesses as they were known), playing records, and playing various musical instruments.

Another half-built road was Woodland Drive, but once again, food materialised from an
unknown number of kitchens so that children could enjoy a party and entertainment. 
Floodlights were fitted to the front bedrooms of the homes behind so that the grownups 
could sing and dance in the evening.
COURTESY THE CLEMENT COLLECTION

Even though Longacres was a far-from-completed road, there were still enough children
to make a party table halfway along the roadway.
COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER

In towns and cities, large and small, formal ceremonies were held, and squares and streets were filled with both sombre moments for those whose family members were lost or remained on station in a thousand places across the world; and lighthearted dancing embraced all in their happy tearfulness; grown-ups and children.  At the same time portrait photos and lighted candles occupied prominent positions in the front windows of many houses.  Wait in hope.

Not every road had a street party, but children at Fleetville School helped
and a VE party was held for them in the hall – this is the hall of the infant
school today.  We hope everyone enjoyed themselves.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

As the days proceeded, there was a recognition that clothes we had worn throughout the past few years had to do still more service on our backs for there was no sudden appearance of affordability just because The Peace had arrived.  The "making do" we had become so used to, would need to continue, perhaps for several years, worn both with resignation but also with a modicum of pride.  New products joined the rationed list and much as those ration books we took with us to the shops were detested, we continued to recognise the system was acknowledged to be as fair as could be managed under the circumstances.  Children could not be absolved from their responsibility either; several years would pass before sweets "came off the ration", and toys relatively aplenty before the war, remained seriously absent afterwards.  Clothes and toys alike were all essential contributors to the "hand-me-down" generation.

In the immediacy of the relative European Peace, we would do our best to keep a smile on our face.  Shopkeepers would compete with each other to dress their windows for the momentous occasion; each display making much of the letters V E and the colours blue, red and white.

Access to beaches was denied to all throughout the war. We would have to remain impatient
until beaches, as here at Eastbourne, had been cleared.
COURTESY EASTBOURNE HERALD

Much work would be undertaken in the months and years ahead to clear debris from bombed buildings, restore roadways, reconnect seaside piers and open up beaches. We put up with the periodic irritation of detonating and making safe unexploded devices – we became so used to cleared areas following redevelopment ground works to discover yet another UXB (unexploded bomb); and eighty years on such events still occasionally interrupt our lives.

Roads with only one entry, as here at Arthur Road, could be more
adventurous.  A piano was moved into the middle of the road for a sing-song
to accompany much eating!

At least, for the few days following the declaration and the days surrounding celebrations we settled into an excitable mood and considered the long-term but unsteady expectation of a better world.

Street Plates 5

 We have reached month 5 in our series on the east end's street plates of an imagined design, in which we summarise the meanings behind the names, and add additional detail; we could never fit a full paragraph on the signs themselves!  Many of us enthusiastically admit to always discovering a street name's origin; others of us resign ourselves to never having bothered.  For those in the second group at least they will then have been given an explanation without the effort!

As land was made available for development along the southern side of Sandpit Lane from the Midland Railway eastwards in the early twentieth century, it was at the behest of Earl Spencer.  Roads leading southwards from Sandpit Lane include Clarence Road, Churchill Road, Park Avenue and Woodstock Road North.  Between The Dell (detailed on another occasion) and Woodstock Road had been built three homes on spacious plots.  The first was Little Wick, later renamed The Bungalow, lived in for a short time by Christopher Miskin of the well known St Albans family.  Next was a property having three individual names, each being retitled by their respective owners: The Grey Bield, Sudbury and Kenmure.  Between this and The Dell was a largely wooded plot built for and owned by Mr and Mrs William Page until the beginning of the Second World War.  Mr Page was a furniture trader latterly in St Peter's Street, St Albans.

William Page's furniture store in St Peter's Street as advertised in the Herts Advertiser in 1934.
COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER

Mr Page gave his house the rather interesting name of Monks Horton although the name does not appear to have any local connection, and we are left to assume he had a personal or family connection with the parish of Monks Horton a few miles north of Hythe in Kent.  In modern times it is a largely lost settlement with the parish church of St Peter being far removed from remaining dispersed residential properties.

The parish of Monks Horton, Kent has a scattered population today, and the Church of St Peter,
below, is detached from any current settlement.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

A historic Monks Horton Manor dating from the seventeenth century and replaced by a smaller yet still imposing 19th century building which remains. Further back in time and no longer standing was Monks Horton Priory, the word Monks undoubtedly revealing its former purpose!

Monks Horton House during WW1 in use as a hospital.  It is possible that William Page's
connection with the district, if not this Manor House, began from this period.

Kenmure was left empty in the 1960s and Thomas Stockwell sold Monks Horton a decade later, so enabling a new development of more modest homes with an access drive from Sandpit Lane named Monks Horton Way.

We might imagine the name is similar to dozens of other residential roads, given names reminding us of earlier rural and perhaps romantic periods of history.  And in a way we would be right.  As with many post-war developments at least one of the roads around which the homes are built would re-use the name of the former field sold from a farm.  Again we would be right, but this was not a post-war development.  As the spread of homes along Camp Road gathered pace in the early 20th century, a field from Cunningham Farm was sold by Earl Verulam whose tenant farmer, James Baum, would have a little less to manage after the First World War.  It was a considerable near 25 acres.

The Springfield estate in 1927 when this section of the estate was photographed by the local
press.  Some of the frontages had modest changes of frontage, which enables us to establish
the image below to be the terraces in the above photograph.
COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER.

A much upgraded terrace in Camp Road both by the St Albans City Council and by individual
owners.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

All local authorities were under pressure from 1918 to speed up the number of new homes for future families following a hiatus from long before the war.  And during the passage through parliament of the New Housing Bill Prime Minister David Lloyd George used the earnest phrase "Homes Fit For Heroes" to push through the requirement for local authorities to prepare, plan and build good quality homes for the families of returning troops. Throughout the twenties the bill's details and requirements frequently and irritatingly changed and many authorities, including St Albans were slow to press their proposals forward.  Its second site, at Camp, wasn't in build until the second half of the decade which made occupation a very late H for H.

Cell Barnes Lane extends to the left margin in this 1927 photograph, and Camp Road enters
on the bottom margin.  Where they meet Camp Road becomes Camp Hill.  The Springfield
"Homes for Heroes" lines these two roads, and additional dwellings were added along a new
road called Springfield Road.  Spring Field is otherwise occupied with allotments.
COURTESY BRITAIN FROM ABOVE

Most of the homes built lined Camp Road and Cell Barnes Lane.  Only one new road was laid for this estate, Springfield Road, in recognition of the former Cunningham field commandeered for the H for H scheme.  We need to look again at Springfield on another occasion for a source of water.

A diminutive farming unit of considerable age had existed on the north side of Hatfield Road, Oaklands.  Its entrance driveway left Hatfield Road immediately to the east of the public house now named the Speckled Hen but for most of its life was called the Bunch of Cherries because a cherry orchard belonging to the farm grew behind the public house.

Wynchlands Crescent, earlier adopting the original Winchlands spelling, as was the name of the
name of the farm house.  The home field is bounded with a green line.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

The farm house, still in existence though now a private dwelling was the hub of Winches Farm (spelled with an i).  But when the name had 'lands' attached the letter i was changed to y.  In historical times the name Wynches and Wynchlands invariably showed indications of Middle English.

Part of the Wynchlands shopping parade, with houses further along.

The farm was sold in the mid twenties and the farm buildings leased by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine whose country experimental base moved to Winches.  One of the farm's modest sized fields was sold for housing development in c1926.  Its access road left Hatfield Road, sharing it with the farm drive, and then  emerged onto Hatfield Road nearer the South Drive to Oaklands College.  A "front road" parallel to the houses was partly given over to a parade of shops, the remainder remained more homes.

So, while the farm was named Winches the crescent of houses was named Wynchlands.  In an attempt to be more consistent the farm drive, which leads to further, more recent houses, has also reverted to Wynchlands Farm Drive.  Confusing?

Ballito Anniversary

 One hundred years ago in 1925 the Fleetville district welcomed a new business.  An empty building had been the sprawling printing works of Thomas E Smith and was commandeered by HM Government since 1917, overseeing the tenancy of the Howard Grubb telescope manufacturer.  When that company moved north the spacious factory became empty once more.

This striking building from 1897 had been Thomas Smith's printing works.  In 1925 it became
Ballington Hosiery Mill, home of the Ballito brand.

Within months a fresh name moved in, the Ballington Hosiery Mill, a brand we have come to know as Ballito ladies fashion stockings – and later a range of other garment products.

Advertising posters in the press and on hoardings during the early
twentieth century.

Ballington, with offices and a warehouse in the City of London, acquired and imported cotton ladies stockings from the USA – and the product became even more popular when cotton was supplanted first by silk and still later by nylon.  Following the First World War import taxes were added to a wide range of luxury goods, including the stockings which the brothers Alexander and Charles Cotzin had been bringing in from Tennessee.

Hosiery importers Alexander Cotzin (top) and his brother Charles (above) were responsible
for bringing stocking machines and skilled craftsmen from southern USA to set up
the mill in the former printing works at Fleetville.

In order to circumvent the import taxes the brothers sent skilled engineers to America to source and purchase appropriate machines and equally well qualified machine operators; the intention being to acquire a suitable and empty manufacturing building.  Within months the Fleetville building, where Morrison's Supermarket is today, was being fitted out.  The mill always used the company's trading name, Ballito, although its original legal name, Ballington, was retained, being the Tennessee suburb where its cotton products were historically produced.

The Ballito brand name and typeface became distinctive and near universal from the 1930s onwards.

So far this part of the Ballito account is familiar.  But there is a back-story for the Ballington business which is less well known and deserves to be told for that is also part of local employment and economy, and a level of abuse of labour laws, especially children, still common in the southern states.

The Ballington Mill originated in a suburb of Nashville in a state, Tennessee, awash with cotton mills,  An early mill, the forerunner of Ballington, was at Chattanooga, owned and opened by wealthy philanthropist Edward Gould Richmond (1851-1903).

Child labour at the Richmond spinning  mill in 1910
COURTESY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ARCHIVE

The spinning mills were amongst the thriving cotton growing counties, and Richmond's wealth came via the extensive former slave labour used in the plantations.  Labour was plentiful and cheap elsewhere too at the turn of the twentieth century, and most of the mills took advantage for competitive reasons.  Apart from adults, as many children as possible became part of the labour force at "cent rates".  Such illegal arrangements were kept hidden from the factory inspectors by managers pleading their "just helping out" excuses.  Nevertheless low costs fed their way into the regional economies and made mill managers wealthy.

Such an export market made considerable profits for the young Ballito brand in the years before World War One, and enabled the Cotzins to advertise widely in newspapers, magazines, along railway lines and on the developing bus networks.

Post World War Two employment advertising for Ballito.
COURTESY  HERTS ADVERTISER

From 1925 large numbers of residents living in St Albans at the time, including many migrating here from other locations, obtained good employment at the Ballito works over a period of up to forty years.  And it all began here in 1925.

Further blog posts this summer will explore the progress made by Ballito during that period.  Given that the company was shut down in 1967, over fifty years ago, there will be many "east enders" who will have little or no knowledge of Ballito Hosiery Mill whose tall chimney stack announced the mill's presence along Hatfield Road.