COWAN STREET

Yesterday & Today
How we lived then & How we live now
kiwi
Posts: 4836
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:53 am

COWAN STREET

Postby kiwi » Thu Aug 31, 2017 2:30 am

Watkins Bible Bookbinding Factory stood on the site of what is now the children’s playground (Burgess Park). It was one of the area’s biggest factories. At its peak, it bound 1 million bibles a year, employing 400, mainly women, known as ‘folder girls’. It was deemed to offer more ‘respectable’ employment than some other local factories. Suffering World War 2 bomb damage, the factory was rebuilt in late 1950s but eventually closed in 1977.
Watkins’ unassuming factory entrance was in the middle of a terrace at 6-8 Cowan Street, but the factory backed onto Scarsdale Road – both roads which were lost when Burgess Park was created. The factory took up almost an entire block bounded by 4 streets – a larger footprint than Chumleigh Gardens.
WATKINS & CO,Cowan street,Albany Road..jpg
WATKINS & CO,Cowan street,Albany Road
COWAN STREET.jpg
Cowan Street,Albany Road.

kiwi
Posts: 4836
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:53 am

Re: COWAN STREET

Postby kiwi » Thu Aug 31, 2017 2:40 am

Watkins & Co Cowan Street c 1961.jpg
Watkins & Co Cowan Street c 1961
Watkins,Cowan Street. c 1961..jpg
Watkins & Co. Cowan Street..jpg
In the plan above, the Cowan St entrance is at top centre. The yellow squares are post-war prefabs – emergency housing on bomb sites.

kiwi
Posts: 4836
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:53 am

Re: COWAN STREET

Postby kiwi » Mon May 27, 2019 3:47 am

Cowan Street, 1982.  X.png
Cowan Street, 1982.
Cowan Street  1971,No.22-30.  X.png
22-30 Cowan Street 1971.

kiwi
Posts: 4836
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:53 am

Re: COWAN STREET

Postby kiwi » Wed Aug 04, 2021 3:21 am

Cowan Street, looking towards Chumleigh Street.   X..png
Cowan Street, looking towards Chumleigh Street.
Cowan Street looking towards Jardin Street. The derelict Watkin's Bible factory can just be seen on the right.   X..png
Cowan Street looking towards Jardin Street. The derelict
Watkin's Bible factory can just be seen on the right.


Return to “Buildings & Streets”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 83 guests