Basket Works Etccirca 1943 1960

A Memory of Thornton Heath.

Contributor Mr Sosgez remembers basket weaving in Thornton Heath. This was almost certainly Tom Mason Ltd in Norbury Road. It was run by Mr George Newton and occupied premises that had been a United Dairies depot and stables. The shop front was in Norbury Road next to Mr Cowell's newsagents and barbers shop, with the works stretching quite a long way back with a side entrance letting out onto the lower end of Moffat Road. I remember the place very well as my best mate, Mr Newton's son Roy and I would play there, climbing up into the stacked cane high in the roof. The water in those tanks, used for soaking and softening the cane, smelled awful and produced a horrid looking scum. Mr Newton told us (I think with tongue in cheek) that this was similar to recently discovered Penicillin and had healing powers! One worker I remember was a young Polishman called Jan. Mr Newton had many business interests including the wireworks two shops away which produced lampshades of various types trimmed and finished off by many (mainly women) outworkers. His last project, before his death in 1960, was running a small fleet of tankers delivering Esso paraffin called N.E Oils (Newton Electric) which,when spoken, sounded as ANY OILS. This business carried on, run by Mrs Newton and son Roy into the middlle 1960s. I had a brief spell driving the aged tankers in the very severe winter of 1962/3. Another shop in Norbury Road was Summerhayes the chemist, which still displayed those large distinctive glass containers of mysterious coloured fluid, the trade symbol for chemists.