Tag Archives: Rowan Road

Manor Road

In this 1913 OS Map, Manor Road was the name of the road at the northern edge of the Urban District boundary, and continued along past the Streatham Park Cemetery, then south towards Mitcham Common.

1913 OS Map

1913 OS Map

1913 OS Map

1913 OS Map

Parts of the road were renamed, after this suggestion in 1926:

From the minutes of the Mitcham Urban District Council
Highways, New Streets and Buildings, and Lighting Committee
Tuesday, 14th September, 1926

6. MANOR ROAD.

— Read letters from the Battersea District Post Office and the Streatham Park Cemetery Company suggesting the renaming of Manor Walk and a portion of Manor Road in order to prevent confusion.

Resolved to recommend, That the following names be adopted :

Manor Road, from Commonside East to a point 300 yards north-east of Willow Cottages ;

Northborough Road, from Manor Road to Croydon Boundary, and to be numbered from the Croydon end of the road ;

Rowan Road, from Manor and Northborough Road to Wandsworth boundary opposite No. 31, Greyhound Terrace ;

Greyhound Terrace, from Rowan Road to Lilian Road.

Newspaper Articles

191 Manor Road – from the Mitcham Advertiser – Thursday 20 October 1927

“A BIT O’ LUCK.” The True Tale of a Mitcham Cupboard, Not Exaggerated.—(Official). Mrs. Arkle, the wife of Quarter-master Gunner Arkle, came over from Chatham to Mitcham to see the new house her officer husband had bought from the Tamworth Park Construction Company. It is 191, Manor-road, ~ In the course of her inspection Mrs, Arkle placed her purse containing 30s, in Treasury notes and a few coppers on the top shelf of a cupboard. Workmen were in the house all the time, Two days later, when about to return to Chatham from London, where she was staying, she missed the purse and only remembered after an effort where she had laid it “I hurried back to the house,” she told the “Advertiser,” and found workmen still at work there. I asked one if he had seen a purse, and from the bhewildered exsression on his face I knew he had not. then looked in the cupboard and to my great delight, for money is money when you are paving for a house, and we are only poor people, the purse and its contents were exactly where I had left them. It was a marvellons bit of luck, I think.” “You are sure it was not £100,” said the “Advertiser” representative. Mrs, Arkle had just been told that an imaginative contemporary had accused her of leaving £100 in the house. Her reply was too poetical for these pages.“Another great myth exploded” chuckled her sailor husband.

World War 2 Connections

No. 78, 2nd. L/T. W. ROWNTREE joined the Home Guard
No. 127, Cpl. H. PLEDGE joined the Home Guard 15th October 1940

Civilian Casualties

17th October 1940
Mary Ellen KING, aged 56

22nd June 1944
Frederick William BAKER, aged 64


Minutes of meetings held by the Mitcham Urban District Council are available on request from the Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.

Maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Smith Meters, Ltd.

Rowan Road

Electric and Gas Meters

Source:
Borough of Mitcham List of Factories,
Town Clerk’s Department,
July 1963.
Available at Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.
Reference L2 (670) MIT


Norwood News – Friday 20 January 1961, via British Newspaper Archive

U.G.I. METERS DIVISION
(Proprietors: Smith Meters Ltd.),
Rowan-rd.,
Streatham Vale,
S W 16.
CLERICAL—FEMALE
SHORTHAND TYPISTS
CLERK TYPISTS
SUM LOCK OPERATOR
HOLLERITH PUNCH OPERATOR
HOLLERITH VERIFIER

Hours: 8.45 am. to 5.30 p.m.
Monday to Thursday.
8.45 a.m. to 5 p m. Friday.

Please apply :
PERSONNEL OFFICER.
Tel. Pollards 2271.
(Bus Nos. 118 and 130 stop at works.)

News Articles

1968

At Smith Meters Ltd., Rowan Road, the production manager,
Mr. John Allan, said that production had come to a halt.
“The factory is completely stopped,” he said.
“ We employ 2,000 and almost every one is on strike. A very
small number have come to work, and this is insignificant.
“ There were pickets outside this morning, but there was no
bother. This is a national strike,” he added.

Source: Mitcham News and Mercury, 17th May, 1968 page 1

1962

NEW CENTRE FOR THE HAPPY FACTORY

Mr. Norman Smith, chairman of Smith Meters Ltd., Rowan Road, at the opening of the firm’s new dining and recreation centre last week, said: “This building is a sign of the great success the firm has had over its many years.”

The centre incorporates a small hostel, two dining-rooms, a central kitchen and a confectionery kiosk.

A plaque on the first floor landing was unveiled by Mr. R N. D. Bruce, Chairman of the South Eastern Gas Board, who performed the opening ceremony.

Afterwards the 50 guests toured the new block. In the kitchen much interest was shown in the modern equipment, among them automatic potato peelers and mashers, electric dish washers and the latest cooking ranges.

The party, which included Mr. Robert Carr, M P. for Mitcham. Alderman D. Chalkley, Mayor of Mitcham, Mr. T C Battersby, president of tho Institution of Gas Engineers, and members of the Board of United Gas Industries, also toured parts of the main factory.

At the luncheon held in one of the new dining-rooms Mr. Smith said the success of Smith Meters had grown from the fact there was always a happy atmosphere in the factory. “We believe in looking after our staff well, giving them good food and good working conditions.”

He reminded his audience of the early days of the company. “When it was first started,” he said, “there were only a handful of people on the staff. The week’s wages for all the staff were similar to one man’s weekly wage today.”

Mr. Smith paid tribute to those responsible for building the new block. It is a very fine building and the architect and builders should be praised.”

Smith Meters factory in Rowan Road, Mitcham, is one of a large group of factories connected with United Gas Industries Ltd.

The Rowan Road premises are the headquarters of the U.G.I. (Meters) division which controls factories in Belfast, Edinburgh, Exeter, Leicester, Manchester, Kennington and Dunblaine. There is also a factory in New Zealand.

Smith Meters was founded in 1834 and established in Snow Hill, in the City of London, moving to Kennington in 1865. In 1929 an additional factory at Mitcham was built.

The company now employs about 2,300 people, 1,750 of them at the Rowan Road factory.

Among the products made by the division are gas and electricity meters, coin switches, and food processing and catering equipment.

Source: Mitcham News and Mercury, 18th May, 1962 page 15


Maps

 

Smith Meters was in the Lonesome area of the Mitcham Urban District, as can be seen on this 1933 map.

 

1933 OS map

Aerial photos from 1947:
1947 Smith Meters 1

1947 Smith Meters 2

1947 Smith Meters 3

1947 Smith Meters 4


Kenneth Marsh, who served in the RAF at end of WW2, worked for the Department of Energy and eventually was based at the United Gas Industries (UGI) in Rowan Road. He was responsible for certifying the accuracy of gas meters made there and at nearby Smith Meters.

1970s – Ken Marsh’s office at UGI

1970s – testing rigs at UGI

from a 1961 diary


Maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.