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| A series of photos taken by Derek Savory, for Eric Fowell |
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Wearproof Leather Co.
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12 Alfred Street - 1993 Demolition
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The Wearproof Leather Co. was started in the 1880s by Amos Cave, son of John Cave, in what had been the family's coachhouse. The stables were the workshop, the hayloft the leather store and the saddle room was the office. In 1923 the Wearproof Leather Company in Alfred-street was in the hands of his son, Mr. R. P. Cave. Later, this little building was the workshop of Don Winters. He cut out leather washers for local tradesmen, for a variety of purposes. The office, formerly the saddle room, was at the top of the yard, with a large open workshop on the ground floor of the rest of the building. Above the office was the old hay loft. There were press knives of all sizes, presses, a skiver, and punches. A small stove stood in the centre with a kettle, and they would burn the off-cuts along with the coke or bits of wood, nothing wasted. A large tank at the end of the room was for soaking the washers overnight in a waterproofing solution. Large off-cuts of leather were bought from the local factories and some suede. Suede needed to be ironed before it was used, and later Don would take this home for his daughter Marion to iron, and so earn her pocket money! Five presses were driven by overhead belts and tap washers were punched out of the leather. If it was too thick it would be passed through the skiver or strimmer first. That was a very dusty job, long before health safety. The washers were then threaded onto string, counted into dozens for each order, and then hung in the tank overnight, and next day sent off to the complete the order. Other small items such as belts were also made by the company. At sometime the company moved to part of 23 York Road, but probably not until at least 1980.
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