Street Plates 7

 Here is July's little collection of St Albans' street plates, each with a story to tell, together with a brief explanation which might be added to the plate at the end of the street – at least in our imagination. The streets are, of course, very real. but their designs are created especially for this blog. Before we launch into this month's group we should remind ourselves that most of us have experienced attempts at locating  a road but failed to locate any plate which identifies its name.  Perhaps the authority never got round to it, or the walls or fences to which one might have been affixed were removed at a point in time – the plate disappearing with it.  Councils now seem to treat such replacements as an avoidable cost in these dire financial times.  Perhaps we should collectively record this data on missing plates ourselves so that our own council can take action when appropriate.

Meanwhile ...

The 1930s housing developments at Marshalswick were, as often occurred, interrupted by the war emergency, during which changes of approach were not unusual.  The developer T F Nash resumed the house building in the 1950s; meanwhile St Albans' City Council took responsibility for a swiftly increasing waiting list for council houses, and pressed ahead with developing land which Nash would have taken forward under pre-war plans.  It was therefore responsible for the naming of roads at the higher end of Marshalswick Lane. Chalkdell Farm.

Second generation street plate while a surviving first generation plate giving direction to different
groups of house lay hidden and out of shot under a hedge nearby.

Mindful of its civic and community responsibilities the authority wished to recognise Robert Runcie in his St Albans' role as Bishop of St Albans.  Runcie (1921-2000) would, of course, later be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.  

You are fortunate if you are selected to have your name attached to one road in your home patch, but in this case the Runcie family were accorded the honour of "owning" three roads in the vicinity.  In addition to Runcie Close you will find Dean's Close and Bishop's Close.  Of his three posts Robert began as Dean of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

While formal connections have frequently been forged between towns and cities in the UK and counterparts in other regions of Europe; less often in America, Africa or Asia, the novelty became more common in the post-war period.  A town's twinning is often found on signs marking the entry to the city, town or village.

Walk along Colney Heath Lane and you might discover this!

Along an Avenue approach to Bossy sous St Yon you will come across it twin community 
at Colney Heath.

Colney Heath Parish Council developed such a connection in the early 1980s.  Its relationship was both formal and inclusive, with the district of Bossy sous St Yon, south of Paris.  In recognition of this bond of friendship two small developments, one on each side of Colney Heath Lane, were named after their twin community.  There is an unusual story to be told among Colney Heath citizens about friends and acquaintances while pausing at one or other of the street plates!

Only three roads extend eastwards from the centre of St Albans and can historically trace their routes well beyond the city boundaries.  There's London Road, of course; and Hatfield Road, even though the latter changes its name as it crosses the boundary towards Hatfield.  Finally there is Sandpit Lane, which begins its activity at Stone Cross just beyond the historical boundary of the city.  Along this ancient route – thought to be a roadway linking other Roman settlements, including Welwyn. Archaeology confirms small settlements en route, as at Hall Heath.  Although the route continues under a different name towards Coopers Green, the original named road turned southwards towards Smallford, now renamed Oaklands Lane.

Sandpit Lane provides occasional clues to former quarries, either for sand or chalk.  Here
is the cottage close to the Midland Railway known as Dell Cottage.  On higher ground at Hall
Heath is a more modern development called The Dell.  The reason for it naming can be
discovered at the rear of the site.

The historical connection will be found in the name of the road, whether it is named Sand Pit Lane or Sandpit Lane.  Evidence exists of old quarries from which sand, or sand and gravel, was dug and carried for building, other structural purposes, or for filtering.  Activity which may have existed for many centuries.  No doubt negotiations with a number of land owners were periodically confirmed when specific projects were required.  Today's quarrying of gravel is, of course, of a significantly larger scale.

Part of the story of Camp Hill and the historical connection with the Camp refers to former military training.  However, the field on the south side of Camp Road and historically part of Cunningham Hill Farm, was relinquished around 1912 when a rubber factory, on land at London Road and also owned by the Verulam family, was seriously damaged by fire.  A replacement factory was established opposite the cottages at Camp Hill.  Rubber processing was later moved to the factory estate at Porters Wood and the Camp Hill site became available for residential development under town planning rules.

On the site of the former Rubber Works is Dexter Close.

Perhaps references to previous occupation might have been transferred to the homes now on the site, but this being a private project the overall name comes to be known as Dexter Court.  There is no local connection here however; Dexter appears because Dexterfield Limited is the name of a North London development company responsible for the project.  The three blocks are separately named Gatcombe Court, Cheltenham Court and Dorchester Court.  So, once more, no local connections that are obvious.

 

A private road off Sutton Road spent decades without a name plate and, if appears, without a name.  On a large plot of ground between Hedley Road and Cambridge Road the land was acquired in the early 1930s for possible development for entertainment use as a skating rink.  At the same time a similar centre was created at the former Ver Hotel site at the bottom of Holywell Hill.  The council felt one skating rink was sufficient and the land was for a time used for commercial vehicle parking, including for Pickfords Removals vehicles. (Note: this fact has yet to be verified).  Later, factories were attracted, and are still there, but since the access road is on private land a post war decision to name the road was made, presumably for postal and delivery reasons.

The former Co-operative Dairy vehicle maintenance works fronting onto Sutton Road.
The road emerging in named Pickford Road serving other works buildings on the site of
a proposed skating rink but then used for the storage of commercial vehicle.

The Village Green

 Back in 1921 was posted a summary of the District Council's Conservation Area (CA) character statement for Sleapshyde, one of just three CAs in our East End. (See this link). This week I have returned to Sleapshyde as there was one element largely missing from the post from 2021: The Village Green.

The historic eastern Sleapshyde where three little roads meet at the red circle.  Here is the
village green. The road north-west from here leads to the Plough PH; the road past the farm
eastwards emerges at the bypass; and to the southwest the post-war homes connect
with Smallford Lane.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

Of course, we all have our own interpretation of what such an open space might look like.  In fact, I'm not sure it would be appropriate to label Sleapshyde Village Green as open space.  Certainly it is at the focus of three converging roads; from the north and the Plough PH; from the south and the imposed dualled carriageway; and from the south-west giving access to Smallford Lane via the post-World War Two housing, much of which was erected by former builder Ernest Stevens.  And where they meet is a roughly semi-circular grassed area which you might also describe as a form of roundabout – but a tiny one and not very round.  Vehicles can often be seen parked on the outside of two of the converging roads, especially on the pond side.

The well has been sealed and the pump – minus its operating
arm – would continue to enable water to be drawn.

The first modern lighting pole has begun to carry signs, and warn of Sleapshyde's
Neighbourhood Watch.

Probably the busiest time for this little green was during the period before modern houses arrived, and before a piped water supply.  For the green contained a well, which was later capped and converted to a manual pump.  The pump is still present (nicely green) although its pump arm has been removed so that water cannot be taken from the well.  The second improvement arrived with the metalling of the road surfaces for the green became hard edged with granite kerbing stones.

The old lamp post serves to carry its share of traffic signs, and in spite of the kerbing, drivers
still manage to mount onto the grass.  The first modern lighting in an early post-war design.

The tree, although gaining height, is still some way from the soon-to-be-hidden pump.

The timber communications post has arrived and the Plough's A board now has a more
restrained direction panel. Sleapshyde's street lighting is now LED.

Next to arrive was street lighting: a single lamp standard, which may, from its design, have been from the 1920s or 30s.  No other lighting had been brought to the village until the post war housing was put up, and no lighting crept along the road to the Plough or along the narrow farm lane towards the bypass.  When the first of the modern street lighting arrived, a tall 1950s lantern style, and placed at the opposite end of the green, the decapitated original post was repurposed because until then there was nothing to suggest this was the village of Sleapshyde.  An oval-shaped metallic sign with the name of the village printed in medieval style script (similar to Agincourt) on both sides, straddled the top of the post.  Intriguingly, the descender ("tail") of the letter p is missing on one side!  I notice from Google Streetview that the sign plate was missing for a while a few years ago, but was later restored.

One side of the village sign ...

... and a "sleepy" p on the other.

The electricity people made a more recent visit to the green to remove the 1950s street light and replace it with a rather short post-and-arm with an LED head.  But by this time the telephone people (presumably Openreach) had also made a visit with a timber pole for phone wires to keep the street light company.

It may have been the parish council which determined that a little greenery would go very well on the green, and so planted a tree, supported by a stake.  This has grown considerably in recent years such that it is difficult to spot the former pump – which is, of course,  also green.

Every year or two something changes.  Here I spot two new Plough direction signs (and
somewhere there is a third next to the footpath signs).  And the village sign has been known to take
absence without leave, though not here.

It is probably barely twenty years ago when the first sign made its way onto the green.  So now there are two footpath finger signs attached to the present street light post.  Actually, there is now a third to guide visitors to the Plough restaurant and public house.  On both sides of the village sign post are traffic signs for the benefit of motorists; there's a circular "keep to the left" arrow, and on the back of that is a rather larger square plate announcing "no through road".

You would have thought that is quite sufficient for one little green space, but the Plough had a more-or-less permanent A-board announcing selected menu items.  More recently they thought the venue wasn't sufficiently identified, so a low-growing direction sign –  double-faced of course – has been driven into the ground at the street lamp end.

Of course we haven't quite finished, because where there is an opportunity for taped posters which can be wrapped and taped around metal posts someone will tearfully announce a missing cat, tell the locals about a meeting in the hall, or remind residents of a local event or, on behalf of the council, issue a planning notice.  All life is there.

A village green is, after all, a multi-purpose space, even one as small as the one at Sleapshyde.

Rats: the fuller story

 This summer many locals of Fleetville have been informed of the completion to the Rats' Castle public house upgrade, and an announcement made by the new owning company, of a renaming of the establishment to the Old Toll House.

One of many versions of the pictorial hanging sign outside the Rats Castle as artists 
attempted to imagine the story behind the title.

This has re-awakened people's interest in the story of this pub with such an unusual name – indeed it is believed to be unique as a public house monika in the UK.  Various re-tellings of the pub's history have been communicated over time, and those who have not been certain what that story really was have attempted to create their own versions.  The company awarded the contract for the new signage have contacted me to ensure they have an appropriately correct summary for a small interpretation panel which will be affixed to a wall inside the building.

So, what do we think we know?  A section of the Reading & Hatfield Turnpike, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, included Hatfield Road.  Owners of a range of vehicles and animals were required to pay a fee at the Horseshoes, now Smallford, and in the reverse direction at the Peacock public house next to St Peter's Road.  However, no-one was required to pay in order to pass by the turnpike road at what is now Sutton Road.  During the 19th century this was a private track on the boundary of Beaumonts Farm owned by brewer and farmer Thomas Kinder. 

The former structure of the Peacock Public House at the town end of Hatfield Road, at which
point tolls became payable by traffic moving eastwards.  No tolls were due for traffic
moving around the centre of the town.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

There certainly was a toll house near the corner of the track and the Hatfield road; its purpose being to capture what we would understand today on buses and trains as fare evasion.  It was also of benefit to  farmer Thomas Kinder as he was a sometime trustee of the turnpike trust and gave permission for the toll collecting house to be erected on the the edge of Broad Field next to the track.  Not far from here  a small railway bridge was also built to cross his land en-route to Hatfield.  You'll be familiar with this route today as Alban Way.  We believe the toll house was already in place by c1870 – a small, probably single floor structure with a thatched roof.  We say "probably" because no image of the toll building has, to my knowledge, ever been found.

The 1879 OS map shows the turnpike road (Hatfield Road) between left and right, and a farm
track from there towards the bottom of the map.  Today this track is Sutton Road.  The
red circle identifies the location of the  toll house, described as a side road toll house.
COURTESY HALS

So, where would the fares have come from if not from travellers along the turnpike road?  After all, the track was a private one and only farm  vehicles and animals on the farm's own business had rights over it.  Principally, travellers leaving St Albans along the Hatfield road would have paid their first toll, as mentioned above, at the Peacock.  But what if you could take a different route eastwards and return to the turnpike further along the Hatfield road?  Such a route might not have been secure or well surfaced but it might save some money if you were not caught crossing private land.  An apparently popular evasion route began by leaving St Albans along Sweet Briar Lane (today's Victoria Street), Victoria Road, Grimston Road and Camp Road, and out of sight of the Camp Road toll. A track left Camp Lane on the edge of Beaumonts Farm, which today is Camp View Road and Sutton Road.  Kinder would have been aware of traffic using his track and turning onto the turnpike, and he would shared a trustee's concern in the Trust not receiving the tolls which should have been paid at the Peacock!

An equally modest side road toll house a short way along Colney Heath Lane, although
this once, named the Hut Toll House, appears to have clay tiles rather than thatch.

Well, that explains the need for a little toll house in Sutton Road.  So, where does the Rats' Castle come into the story?  The toll house roof of thatch appears to have been the cause; and an infestation of rodents did not wait for the building to be evacuated after closure of turnpike toll payments in 1881.  The name 'Rats' Castle' was being applied to the toll house even in the late 1870s, as indicated by a report of a delivery driver visiting the Rats' Castle with some fish.  So the building had been given a name almost as soon as it had opened.

As to the field in which it sat, the formerly named Broad Field had become informally renamed Rats Castle Field by the 1890s, possibly by individuals who rented its acreage following Kinder's death in 1881 and therefore under looser rental arrangements by his family trust.

On the fourth and fifth lines of the 1891 census enumerator's route summary is written
the only three buildings in the vicinity at the time: "Rats Castle, Cemetery dwelling house
and St Peters Farm House."

And as there were no other buildings in the vicinity until the late 1890s, the name Rats' Castle became a soubriquet by officials conducting the 1891 census!  After all, the name Fleetville had yet to be invented, there not yet being a completed print works until the turn of the century.

The Primrose Cottage and shop which replaced the toll house and almost became a beer seller
in its own right, but was limited to off sales of spirits.
COURTESY DIANA DEVEREUX

As the factories began to go up from 1897 an attractive detached house, named Primrose Cottage, also appeared on the corner, a shop being part of the structure.  We think the toll house was taken down at the same time. Eventually the shop received a licence to sell spirits and for many years a brewery attempted to get an on-licence, although was not successful until the mid 1920s.  Finally, the shop was demolished  and replaced by a public house designed by St Albans' architect Percival Cherry Blow.  The title The Rats' Castle was applied to this, and only this, building; a name which remained, apart from a very brief period in the 1980s when the owners tried out the rather more brief the Castle, which was booted out of touch by locals.

The full name, lasting for just about 98 years, until the entirely understandable replacement recently, in favour of the Old Toll House, for which purpose the original building served.  

But it definitely wasn't the current building; nor was it the previous Primrose Cottage shop; just the the original cheap structure put up to claw back some income from fare evaders!

And of course, when Castle Road was laid out in the 1890s it took its name, not directly from the toll house, but from the field which was carved up to build its houses.

That is probably as complete a telling of the Rats' Castle story as possible based on such evidence as is available.

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.