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View of the estate and the downs

Prominent in the middle distance of the first photograph, is the playing fields of Warmdene School, with the Mackie Estate beyond it up to the base of the Downs.

Although outside the area under survey, the Hollingbury factory estate provides work for many Patcham residents.

A photograph of the Factory Estate, Hollingbury c.1960
From the private collection of Martin Nimmo
A view of the Mackie Estate and the Downs.
Photo sent by Martin Nimmo 25-01-03

Comments about this page

  • The Industrial Estate. Do I remember this right? When you come past the Asda car park on the main road the Asda car park is much lower than the road, like at the bottom of a cliff. I remember an old factory building there which had its roof level with the main road and there was a car park on the roof which was accessed directly from the main road. Is that right?

    By Cliff (11/01/2012)
  • I think you are talking about Underwoods typewriter factory, one of the earliest factories on the estate.

    By John Snelling (02/10/2013)
  • Hi Cliff and John, I lived close to the factories in Hollingbury from 1951 until 1954 and later was employed in the Maintenance Dept. of Underwoods from 1953 to 1963 when the factory closed. In my job, I went up on the roof many times, but cars were not parked there. They had cut into the side of a hill when the building was contructed and the factory roof was level with the road running behind it. When they were built in the 1950s the factories were considered to be ultra modern, with plenty of glass. I migrated to Australia in 1964, but have been back to Brighton many times and it was sad to see all those factories have now disappeared.

    By Dave Brazier (03/10/2013)
  • Nice view from Braybon Avenue in the top photo, Martin. You can still enjoy a similar view today, but you need to walk a little further down on the other side of the road towards Court Close to avoid the trees that have grown up in the last fifty odd years!

    By Alan Hobden (03/10/2013)
  • Dave/Cliff/John, up to the mid 1960s I suspect that few or no cars were on the roof because “workers just did not have cars”. I worked over the road at CVA/KTM throughout the 1970s and 80s when the roof of ITT Creed (the old Underwood building) was full of cars. Over the road, KTM had options to extend their factory right out to the road and beyond, however they never managed to extend, but this meant there was plenty of land for parking as the workers became more affluent. ITT Creed on the other hand had little or no land for parking, I guess at the time of building, parking was just not considered. In fact I recall a 1966/67 Argus story (I have a cutting somewhere) about the parking problem on the estate. I suspect that the ITT Creed roof was then brought into action as a car park, and was fully utilised!

    By Peter Groves (03/10/2013)
  • In fact, and further to my last comment, if you look closely at the view over the factories, cars can be seen on the roof of the Underwoods/Creed factory. I estimate that this photo is dated between 1963 and 1967. The Kearney & Trecker assembly factory was constructed around 1967, and it is not in the photo, so its earlier than 67!

    By Peter Groves (03/10/2013)
  • I worked at Creeds in Hollingbury from 1975 to 1985. My first memory of the factory was about 1963 when my dad (who worked there at the time) took me to the Christmas party one Saturday afternoon. He took me through the factory to the canteen and the strange thing is that when I started there 12 years later, nothing had changed, the canteen was exactly the same! I worked upstairs on the assembly floor and I remember it was so hot in the summer (especially 76) that they had to paint the windows on the roof green to stop the sun coming in. Mind you, it was then absolutely freezing in the winter! Yes, the cars were parked on the roof and I always remember 2 minutes before the bell went at the end of the day everyone would start to approach the doors, then there was a mad dash to the cars because there was only one gate to get out into Crowhurst Road so if you left it late it took ages to get off the roof. My family had a bit of a history on that site as my mum and nan worked at Underwoods and my dad worked at Creeds.

    By Paul Clarkson (04/10/2013)
  • Underwoods then Creeds.
    My late husband worked in both late 50’s to 1960.
    I worked opposite in Talbot Tool Com.as an accounts asst. Age 17-18. to 1960.
    Before the factories were built it was fields.
    My grandfather had a small holding there with horses and pigs. Unknown to me my husband helped out there when he was a boy.
    Thanks for the memory.

    By Christine Martin (27/04/2021)

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