History With Hils
The Old Harboro’ Rubber Company Building
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Described as ‘an eyesore’ in recent years, this Grade II-listed Victorian-era building on St Mary’s Road was once a flour mill and later a bustling factory utilised during the First World War and Second World War.
Originally built around 1860 as a steam-powered flour mill for John Bland, it was known as Blandford’s Mill. In 1894, the building was obtained by the Briggs family who initially owned a boot-making workshop in Leicester. With the acquisition of the factory, the Briggs family founded the Harboro Rubber Company, which specialised in boot and shoe soles, rubber pedal blocks for bicycles and cars, and buttons (see ‘Treasures at the Museum’ for more information on the buttons!) As the manufacturing process for creating rubber required water, the move by the Briggs family to the former flour mill adjacent to the River Welland was ideal. During the First World War, the factory received the local nickname ‘Dainite.’ This was because the factory was said to operate continuously both day and night. The nickname has become synonymous with the Harboro Rubber Company, in fact their rubber shoe soles are still sold today under the brand ‘Dainite.’ By the time the Second World War began, over 200 people were working for the company. The war also meant that rubber became hard to produce as the materials often came from Japan, an ally of Germany. As such, the factory began producing synthetic rubber instead. In 2006, after well over a century, the Harboro Rubber Company relocated from the old factory to the Riverside Industrial Estate. Since then, the red-brick building with its white-brick arches and blue-brick décor has remained empty and dilapidated. With its boarded-up windows and foliage creeping in, the factory has certainly seen better days. But as an iconic Harborian building with such a deep-rooted history, it still has so much character and desperately needs a new lease of life. Hopefully, in the coming years, we’ll get to see that happen. |
Issue 16
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