Tag Archives: Lavender Avenue

R.A. Stephen & Co., Ltd.

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120/126 Lavender Avenue

Instrument Makers
Light Engineers

As listed in the 1963 Borough of Mitcham List of Factories.
Available at Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.
Reference L2 (670) MIT

The company made the Goscut tool, which was used for cutting laminates such as formica, as well as sheet metal.

Wolverhampton Express and Star – Saturday 02 November 1968

A NEW product on the do-it-yourself (and trade) market is the Goscut shear. Pictured above, the shear is shown with the blade in the cutting position for sheet metal, aluminium struts, etc.; centre is the general purpose blade which will make short work of one-sixteenth inch plastic laminated sheeting and is equally effective on hardboard, vynil, thermoplastic floor tiles, rigid p.v.c. sheet and many other tough materials; on the right is the shaping blade for circles and bends. ” The Goscut is made by R. A. Stephen and Co., Ltd., Miles-road, Mitcham, Surrey, and retails at 37s. 6d. complete with the three blades.

Belfast News-Letter – Friday 17 April 1970

 

Goscut deal

James Neill Holdings has agreed to acquire R. A. Stephen and Co. of Morden, Surrey. for approximately £400,000. Terms will be the equivalent of 5s 8d for each ordinary of Stephen, whose board recommends the offer. Morgan Grenfell and Co. owns over 82 per cent. of Stephen and will accept. Stephen manufacturers the Goscut tool used in the cutting of laminated plastic, metal and other building products, and also produces dosimeters and radiation measuring devices.

In the Daily Mirror, Saturday 07 October 1972, the Goscut tool is advertised as a James Neill product:

GOSCUT 2001 The clean-cutting tool that’s as simple as scissors. On a fully illustrated, instructive display card. Only £1.70* at all good hardware stores. A JAMES NEILL PRODUCT From Europe’s leading hand tool manufacturers *Rec. Retail Price

Ad from 1973 gives address as Miles Road:

WOMEN REQUIRED
FOR
MACHINE & ASSEMBLY WORK
40 hr. week. Starting at £17.30, plus time keeping bonus.
Long service pay. Canteen facilities. Sick pay.
R. A. STEPHEN & CO. LTD., Miles Road, Mitcham, Surrey.
Telephone: 01-648-1668.

Mitcham Model Laundry, Ltd.

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Laundry that was at 52 Grove Road, Mitcham.

Also a shop which was at 38 Monarch Parade, as shown in this ad:

1952 ad

Text of ad:

MITCHAM
MODEL
LAUNDRY

THE Laundry
THE Service

Grove Road
Mitcham Phone MIT 0858

38 Monarch Parade
Mitcham Phone MIT 2131

1934 ad


Text of ad:

The Laundry, The Service
Open-Air Drying Grounds
close to Lavender Fields

Mitcham Model Laundry

Grove Road
Mitcham Common

Telephone:
Mitcham 0858

Proprietor:
J. WILLÉ

News Articles

Mitcham Advertiser, 14th June, 1956

GUTTED LAUNDRY SOON TO REOPEN

Partial resumption of work next week

MITCHAM MODEL LAUNDRY, swept by fire last week, is to start work again on a reduced scale next week. Many of the employees, most of whom are women, will be offered their jobs back. The laundry employs a staff of 100.

Some of the employees found other jobs when they heard about the fire. Very few of the other employees will lose their jobs.

Some, doing a small amount of piece-work, may be stood off, Mr. Leonard Cole, a co-director of the firm, told “The Advertiser.”

Very few Mitcham families have been inconvenienced by the fire. Most of the “family” laundry had been washed and despatched before the fire, Mr. Cole said. Much of the remainder was loaded ready to be distributed.

Most of the laundry destroyed came from six factories which had contracts with the laundry, and from three hotels.

“None of these has been seriously inconvenienced, because they obviously do not send all their wash to us at once. All their loss will be made up on insurance, and most of them are content to leave things as they are and are not transferring their custom. Service will be resumed next week,” Mr. Cole said.

£200,000 damage

On Tuesday the electricity was laid on once again. One rotary ironing unit has been salvaged and will be working again after repair. Three others were destroyed. The cause of the fire which destroyed £200,000 worth of equipment and property, is not known.

The property destroyed included 2,000 army sheets and 1,000 bundles of army laundry, all contract work from Southern Command Headquarters at Hounslow.

The fire broke out during the early hours of Wednesday morning last week. Five bays of the laundry building were gutted. Teams of firemen from five districts fought the blaze for six hours to bring it under control.

A comment on the YouTube channel about this fire :-

We lived in Lammas Avenue but I was too young to know about the Laundry fire. My mother used to speak about it when I was older! Seems it was quite a blaze as her brother saw the light in the sky from his home in Lavender Avenue and drove over to see it on his Matchless motorcycle! – Matchless to go see a fire!