Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Wartime relics found in bomb shelters are now on display at Bruce Castle Musuem
" A treasure trove of wartime relics discovered in air raid shelters in Tottenham has been unveiled.
The items were found under the Hale Village development site, once home to the Harris Lebus furniture factory, and were put on show last week at Bruce Castle Museum, in Lordship Lane.
Second World War helmets, stretchers, glue bottles, pencil drawings and racy graffiti had lain in the forgotten shelters for more than 60 years.
Kim Stabler, who oversaw the recording of the site for English Heritage, said: “Only every now and then do we stumble across a site that is very special and this is — because of its scale and magnitude it’s very interesting.
“Photos cannot convey the stinking atmosphere and the water, awash with rusting Home Guard helmets.”
Hale Village developer Lee Valley Estates ordered the archeological study, which unearthed a complex network of tunnels. These protected Harris Lebus workers from German bombers and have lain untouched since 1957.
The factory had a major role in the war effort and produced aircraft like the Mosquito, as well as gliders and munition boxes.
Oliver Lebus, grandson of Harris Lebus, said: “Because of the scale of the factory it would have taken people many minutes to reach the air raid shelters, so other shelters were later built above ground for each workshop. After that, local people were always welcome to take shelter in the underground tunnels.”
Henry Jacobs, a photographer commissioned to cover the event, was given his first job by the factory in 1962.
He recalled photographing more than just the furniture, often taking pictures of weddings between the workers.
Jon Polledri, group managing director of Lee Valley Estates, said: “Tens of thousands of people in north London would have worked for the company over many decades and it’s great to see how interested their descendants are in this amazing piece of the Hale’s industrial history.
“We are very proud to record this significant piece of archaeological research for the local community.”
Not quite Harringay but still jolly interesting
Article by Dan Price of the Haringey Independent
The items were found under the Hale Village development site, once home to the Harris Lebus furniture factory, and were put on show last week at Bruce Castle Museum, in Lordship Lane.
Second World War helmets, stretchers, glue bottles, pencil drawings and racy graffiti had lain in the forgotten shelters for more than 60 years.
Kim Stabler, who oversaw the recording of the site for English Heritage, said: “Only every now and then do we stumble across a site that is very special and this is — because of its scale and magnitude it’s very interesting.
“Photos cannot convey the stinking atmosphere and the water, awash with rusting Home Guard helmets.”
Hale Village developer Lee Valley Estates ordered the archeological study, which unearthed a complex network of tunnels. These protected Harris Lebus workers from German bombers and have lain untouched since 1957.
The factory had a major role in the war effort and produced aircraft like the Mosquito, as well as gliders and munition boxes.
Oliver Lebus, grandson of Harris Lebus, said: “Because of the scale of the factory it would have taken people many minutes to reach the air raid shelters, so other shelters were later built above ground for each workshop. After that, local people were always welcome to take shelter in the underground tunnels.”
Henry Jacobs, a photographer commissioned to cover the event, was given his first job by the factory in 1962.
He recalled photographing more than just the furniture, often taking pictures of weddings between the workers.
Jon Polledri, group managing director of Lee Valley Estates, said: “Tens of thousands of people in north London would have worked for the company over many decades and it’s great to see how interested their descendants are in this amazing piece of the Hale’s industrial history.
“We are very proud to record this significant piece of archaeological research for the local community.”
Not quite Harringay but still jolly interesting
Article by Dan Price of the Haringey Independent
Tags for Forum Posts: wartime history, bruce castle, museum events
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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Louis Lebus, arrived in Britain in 1840 from Breslau in Germany (Poland since 1945) and set up a workshop in Whitechapel in 1857. The firm moved to Tottenham in 1900. They were one of the main suppliers of mass produced furniture from the 1930s to the late 1950s. I guess many, if not most Harringay homes had Lebus built 'dining room suites'.
Most of the wood for the manufacture was taken to factory (which in 1947 was claimed by Lebus to be 'the largest furniture factory in the world') by barge along the Lea. Close by was the very large Bamberger (another german jew) timber yard, which burnt down in 1966.
In both cases, I have often wondered about the surnames of both men. Lebus is a town about 120km east of Berlin (now in Poland) and Bamberg is of course in Bavaria. It was often the case, that when immigrants arrived in Britain, they were asked for their names and not being able to speak English, often misunderstood and gave the name of the place where they came from instead. That's the reason that many immigrants were called Berlin as in 'Irving Berlin', Berliner, Hamburger, Bamberger etc., etc., -
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