epw001677 ENGLAND (1920). Collingwood Road and Gas Works area of Sutton, Sutton, 1920

Approx 200 yards to the left of these gasholders was 299 High Street- the offices of The Sutton Gas Company, later to become the Wandsworth & District Gas Company. On being Nationalised in 1948 it became The South Eastern Gas Board (West Surrey Division), for whom I worked as a clerk in the Sales & Service Department. Circa 1960 we were transferred en bloc to the Epsom offices at 19/21 East Street, leaving the Sutton site as more or less a gasholder station. The Sutton offices and the adjacent Station Engineer's (etc) houses were later destroyed to make way for the Eagle Star tower block. Gone were noise, the soot and smells of coal gas manufacture- along with the cameraderie of the works and office staff.

Bill Mallion 1 April 2014