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Austin’s of East Ham and Barking
Eric Feasey
The apartments shown above , on the east bank of the River Roding, replace Austin's East Ham Barking Branch. The following link is to a Pathe Newsreel called "Barking Wood Fire Inferno 1960-1961"
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/wood-fire-inferno/query/Barking
During the Second World War Austin built Western lady 11 (RML542). In their leaflets it states it was built by Austin's East ham, but of course it was built at their Barking factory where they had a slipway into the river. See the following link:
http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/WesternLadyFerryService.html#anchor3282109
My first job was at Austin's East Ham. After leaving school in the late 1950s, and becoming a carpenter I went to the Barking Abbey Road factory where Austin’s made curtain walling. Complete panels for the front and backs of houses were made at this site. I went to their new Centenary Works, that was built on the site. The area is near where the Wellington Mill stood. The area is now the Barking to Woodford relief road (A406), Tesco's and its car park.
Although Austin’s of East Ham was once one of the biggest national joinery manufacturers it had financial problems in the late 1960s and then ceased trading leaving all companies in the group vulnerable. This included Shanks, which was closed in 1970.