Since 1964 I have worked in Brimsdown the industrial area of Enfield to the East of the borough. The North South Route had not long been built. This is a road running from East London to exit near the M25. Before this the only accesses were at the level crossings at Brimsdown and Ordnance Road Rail Stations which meant the area was somewhat isolated. A rail siding carried goods to and from Delta Metals and there was access via the River Lea. In fact we had one chemical delivered from Germany to Columbia Wharf where it was offloaded from the barge by the Scotch Derrick crane onto a lorry for the final mile.
Brimsdown and Eastern Enfield have always been neglected by the council whether Labour or Conservative and I have always felt that manufacturing industry tends to be looked down upon in Britain and small companies such as mine are always overlooked even though, collectively they contribute around 65% of both employment and GDP.
Imagine my surpise and delight when a Festival of Industry was announced in Enfield. It is a joint venture between Enfield Local History Museum and the Create Enfield cultural team. The museum displays industry Past Present and Future and I am delighted Fisher Research Ltd. is featured along with Chela Ltd.
Create Enfield brought together arists of all persuasions to create individual perceptions of industry in Enfield. In my case I put a call out to poets in Enfield Poets for poems industrial. These can be read and heard at Poetic Voices. Those by Christive Vial and me are from personal experience and the others are reflexions on industry. All very interesting and I hope that you like them.