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The Dixons Building
It was built by Forder & Company in 1885 as an extension to their
horse-drawn carriage works, located in the two storey
building to the left. By the early 1890s Forders were
suffering from financial problems and so the building
was sold to Thomas Reade on the 1st December, 1893 and
then passed by conveyance in 1908 to Reade Brothers, a
local firm of manufacturing chemists, making patent
medicines for both people and animals, as well as paints and
varnishes.
In 1959 Reade Brothers put the
buildings and the adjoining houses in Cleveland Road up
for sale, at a selling price of £40,000. By this time
the buildings and the houses were quite run down and so
S. J. Dixon and Son Limited made an offer of £21,000.
Dixons had been looking for some premises that were
larger than their current building in Princess Street. The offer was accepted in September
1960 and the newly restored building opened in December
1961. The neighbouring houses were demolished in 1978 in
order to create the much-needed car park.
In 2005 Dixons moved to premises
near the top of Old Heath Road, beside the railway
embankment. The building was empty for ten years until
Dixon's return in 2015. Dixons continued to occupy the
building until 2020. They are now based at Carvers in Little's Lane.
The building in 2001.
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The building on the corner
of Hospital Street, until recently occupied by
S. J. Dixon & Son Limited, was previously
occupied by A. Bellamy & Company Limited, a
manufacturer of food products, specialising in
high quality prepared materials for use in the
bakery trade. The most well known
product was Mello-Mallo, a delicious cream filling, often
regarded as the best available. Other products included
Abcol lemon curd, Abcol Bakewell tart mixture, Abcol baker’s
couverture, Abcol marzipan, Chocolate Seft, Vera-Choc, Abcol
flavouring essences, and Krevol synthetic cream. The building
included a spacious factory, a laboratory and offices. |
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The building in Hospital
Street. |
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In the middle is the old Forder
& Company factory. |
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A view from August 2013
when the building was empty. |
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The building in 2017 after
Dixon's return. |
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Another view from 2017. |
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Return to
the
Newmarket etc. |
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Return to
the contents |
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Proceed to the
Royal Hospital |
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