Second donation to our industry project
British Lead is one of the oldest companies in Welwyn Garden City...
Though to quote from the address given by Mr. W.M.Albury, the Managing Director in 1982 at the company's 50th year of trading "Of course in lead industry terms BLM could well be termed a mere stripling since others have been in the business a lot longer... I think in future we had better refer to ourselves as 50 years young rather than 50 years old"!
The picture above shows what would become the factory site being farmed c1928 with the Shredded Wheat factory in the background. The factory in Peartree Lane began operations in 1932 and is still working today producing lead sheet and lead flashing for the building trade both in the UK and abroad. The company is proud of the fact that it has many long standing members of staff some of whom have been with the company for over twenty and even thirty years.
The Divisional Director Joss Campbell has kindly allowed us to scan some company archival material for the Trust's Where Do You Think We Worked? project. These include a collection of photographs and a copy of British Lead Mills 50th Anniversary Company Seminar. This latter item includes a short history of the company given by T. Boon & D.L. Morris and a short presentation entitled 'Lead - whence it comes and whither it goes' by A. Suttie. Click on either item at the end of this article to read or download.
The photograph above is an image that was donated to the trust a couple of years ago from another source about which Joss was able to fill in some details for us. It's "the original Brightside mill at BLM and the picture must have been pre-war. It not only shows the casting tray but also the pipe press at the end before the building was extended".
A Short History Of British Lead Mills by T.Boon & D.L.Morris