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44 Brook Green (Vineyard House) 44 Brook Green, a large office development on the western corner of Brook Green and Hammersmith Road,was the last of the large building projects carried out at Cadby Hall but surprisingly is least documented. It was completed in 1962 and was occupied by, among others, the General Office the Training Centre and Central Buying. The site on which it was built house a single story building which was owned by the company and its yard was used by teashop delivery vehicles to off-load their food trays which were cleaned in the tray-wash on the ground floor of Elms Hose. In January 1968 the Catering Division moved out of Orchard House, Oxford Street, and occupied the whole of the second and fifth floors and part of the first and third floors. The move began in September 1967 when the General Office moved into St Mary's College and Elms House. The Training Centre and the Clinic followed shortly after. Orchard House had been headquarters of first the Teashop Division, and then the Catering Division, since 1930 so it was difficult for some of the staff to re-adjust. Some had spent all their working lives at Orchard House. In the 1970s a two floor, bridge-type extension, was built between Elms House and 44 Book Green across the yard space which separated the two buildings. During 1969 and the first half of 1970 the ground floor was extensively rebuilt with a new entrance onto Hammersmith Road. The work had been carried out by outside contractors under the Cadby Hall Estates & Services Manager Farrel (Paddy) Connors. When it opened on 6 July 1970 as a new Group employment centre (primarily for production and craft workers) it was claimed to be one of the best equipped in the country. Its eye-catching plate glass frontage featured two screens which showed various aspects of production in the Cadby Hall factories. The centre incorporated a modern medical section run by Dr. N. Thornton, of the Medical Department, with two nurses. The front part of the floor-plan was given over to reception and waiting areas which were furnished with contemporary style settees upholstered in gold vinyl and decorated with pot plants. The floor was covered with a black and orange pebble-effect composition which toned with the burnt orange carpet in the interview area. The flooring was being used a Cadby Hall for the first time and was said to be able to take any number of lighted cigarettes without showing a blemish. This was achieved by spraying its surface with several layers of polyurethane. In the waiting area was a revolving drum with screens fixed in the sides showing colour slides of the work available in Lyons Bakery, Lyons Bread, Henry Telfer and Estate & Services. Vacated and let in 1976.
© Peter Bird 2005 |
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