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"When we came to Putney in the 1970's, Sainsbury's was on the High Street about 3 shops back from the corner of Werter Road."Yes, apparently the old Sainsburys was at 109 PHS. It was open from 1955 until 1974. The shop had been bought from Coppen Brothers, who had run it from 1888."Incidentally the old maps show sheet metal workshops on the other side of the High Street at the back. Any information on those?"That area looks interesting. It is under the Exchange now. It is called Premier Place and in 1910 and 1921 there were several firms who produced (assembled?) small numbers of cars based there. The firms were West London Scientific Apparatus Co. Ltd (!!), Putney Garage Ltd, and Doran, Taggart and Co., motor engineers. I obviously need to look at later directories to see who the sheet metal works may have been, but Premier Place does seem to have been a site for related businesses.Just found this:-From THE LONDON GAZETTE, 26 AUGUST, 1949LOCKE, John Leonard, 130, Village Way, Ashford, in the county of Middlesex, CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER, and lately carrying on business as "A.L.P. Construction Company" (described in the Receiving Order as The Alp ConstructionCompany), at that address and until recently also at part of Premier Metal Works, 18-26, Premier Place, Putney High Street, London, S.W.15.Court—WANDSWORTH, No. of Matter—5 of 1949, Date of Order—Aug. 19, 1949. Date of Filing Petition—April 4, 1949.Premier Place was entered via an alleyway beside 102 Putney High Street, it seems. So now I wonder how finished cars got out? Maybe assembly was somewhere else, or there is another way in.

David Ainsworth ● 747d

“A saw mill!  Never would have guessed that. Was the site just vacant afterwards, until the supermarket was built?”Currently as far as I can see, after all, one company was on that site between 1873 and 1973. It was:-T H Adamson & Sons, Builders. There is a collection of their material at Wandsworth Heritage, running from 1861-1973. Reference number D150.I assume that the business finished when the collection ends, as the site changed hands around 1973?From the Heritage catalogue:-"T H Adamson and Sons was founded around 1790 in Chiswick, by Thomas Adamson, and was re-named T H Adamson and Sons in 1852, by the original founder's son, Thomas Henry Adamson, with works at Putney, Chiswick and Ealing. The Putney works were at 129 Putney High Street, the site of Essex House [late 16th century], which was demolished in 1872. As well as general building works, the firm also carried out decorative works, and had a showroom at 145 Putney High Street. They were responsible for the stonework on the Cromwell Statue in Westminster Hall Gardens and the Gladstone Memorial on the Strand, as well as repairs to the Clerestorys and the construction of a new Rose Window in Westminster Abbey. The firm worked on several churches, including All Saints, Putney and Trinity Church, Streatham, as well as the Regal Cinema in Putney and Westminster School."It seems that there was an entry to the site originally via 129 Putney High Street, but also from Werter Road (site now nos 2-6). The 129 PHS entry would appear to have been through the left side part of what is now the Mountain Warehouse shop (higher up the wall is the date “1873”), and the shop appears broader than the others.I guess that the "saw mills" description on the map came about as the Adamsons’ site did have a wood store and a joiners’ shop (certainly around World War One). Perhaps the business changed focus.

David Ainsworth ● 751d

It has been mentioned here quite recently, but let's remember the E.M. Forster story again:-"The machine stops" (1909)"The story describes a world in which most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth. Each individual now lives in isolation below ground in a standard room, with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine. Travel is permitted, but is unpopular and rarely necessary. Communication is made via a kind of instant messaging/video conferencing machine with which people conduct their only activity: the sharing of ideas and what passes for knowledge.The two main characters, Vashti and her son Kuno, live on opposite sides of the world. Vashti is content with her life, which, like most inhabitants of the world, she spends producing and endlessly discussing secondhand 'ideas'. Her son Kuno, however, is a sensualist and a rebel. He persuades a reluctant Vashti to endure the journey (and the resultant unwelcome personal interaction) to his room. There, he tells her of his disenchantment with the sanitised, mechanical world.""Finally, the Machine collapses, bringing 'civilisation' down with it. Kuno comes to Vashti's ruined room. Before they both perish, they realise that humanity and its connection to the natural world are what truly matters, and that it will fall to the surface-dwellers who still exist to rebuild the human race and to prevent the mistake of the Machine from being repeated." (Wikipedia) (Yeah, I know, that's a part of the Machine)

David Ainsworth ● 758d