Brewins was a typical hosiery works in Leicestershire. There were hundreds, if not thousands of these works dotted around the city and surrounding towns of the county. Many are still in business today, with most of them under Asian ownership. I find it interesting that the Asian communities came over from their native countries to work in the hosiery factories, and but a couple of generations down the line many have ended up owning them!
Brewins has a handsome administration building at the front of the works, which looks like a small country manor or large 1930's suburban house than an industrial building. An earlier works stands behind.
Under a flight of stairs, a large section of the companys archives had been tcked away, which had been missed when the works was cleared. The paperwork painted a picture of the works in use, exporting hosiery across the world, rather than us importing it today. Another picture that was painted was the lifestyle the factory owners were living in the glory days. A large box of Mr Brewin's personal paperwork was among the stash. From the huge range of reciepts I could tell you where Mr Brewin bought his clothes, what he wore, where he dined and what he did with his leisure time. He was a keen golfer, and seemed to spend much time presuing the game! Him and Mrs Brewin enjoyed fine cusine at the finest hotels, hosted parties with a great selection of tipple. They took a P & 0 cruise once a year. On one hotel reciept, Mr Brewin bought a single room, but paid for a second breakfast
He lived in a large house in the Leicester suburbs. The rug in his front room was indian, and cost £55! I could go on all day... He lived the life of riley, but sadly his son would not have had it so easy, as the trade started to die and the Leicester hosiery trade wound down.
I must warn, there is a tramp in Brewins who is not the full shilling to say the least. He threw a woman's ring at me ( I assume from a previous victim) and said something about warewolves! I took great delight in howling once I was outside! There is a fortune in "outsider art" in the works though, I might bash some pictures up of that later!
Mr W Brewin
Advert for Brewin's wares, circa 1960's
The handsome frontage of the works
What I assume was an air raid shelter, now full of socks!
A mirror had been broken, revealing an earlier wallpaper than the one around the mirror, it's crazy!
General Office
Brewin's office, in one of the bays from the handsome frontage above
Subtle but attractive plasterwork
Would any works in Britain be complete without...
And the back to backs, from the rooftop
The paperwork stash
I liked this old ad, in amongst the paperwork
Brewins has a handsome administration building at the front of the works, which looks like a small country manor or large 1930's suburban house than an industrial building. An earlier works stands behind.
Under a flight of stairs, a large section of the companys archives had been tcked away, which had been missed when the works was cleared. The paperwork painted a picture of the works in use, exporting hosiery across the world, rather than us importing it today. Another picture that was painted was the lifestyle the factory owners were living in the glory days. A large box of Mr Brewin's personal paperwork was among the stash. From the huge range of reciepts I could tell you where Mr Brewin bought his clothes, what he wore, where he dined and what he did with his leisure time. He was a keen golfer, and seemed to spend much time presuing the game! Him and Mrs Brewin enjoyed fine cusine at the finest hotels, hosted parties with a great selection of tipple. They took a P & 0 cruise once a year. On one hotel reciept, Mr Brewin bought a single room, but paid for a second breakfast
He lived in a large house in the Leicester suburbs. The rug in his front room was indian, and cost £55! I could go on all day... He lived the life of riley, but sadly his son would not have had it so easy, as the trade started to die and the Leicester hosiery trade wound down.
I must warn, there is a tramp in Brewins who is not the full shilling to say the least. He threw a woman's ring at me ( I assume from a previous victim) and said something about warewolves! I took great delight in howling once I was outside! There is a fortune in "outsider art" in the works though, I might bash some pictures up of that later!
Mr W Brewin
Advert for Brewin's wares, circa 1960's
The handsome frontage of the works
What I assume was an air raid shelter, now full of socks!
A mirror had been broken, revealing an earlier wallpaper than the one around the mirror, it's crazy!
General Office
Brewin's office, in one of the bays from the handsome frontage above
Subtle but attractive plasterwork
Would any works in Britain be complete without...
And the back to backs, from the rooftop
The paperwork stash
I liked this old ad, in amongst the paperwork
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