Landers Bakery

Another well known business missing from the Mansfield skyline.

A view of the bakery site located off Woodhouse Road near the railway bridge.

Note the ‘Red Seal’ symbol on the silos; this was also printed on every loaf if I remember correctly.

The Landers Bread Van was a familiar sight around Mansfield and the area at this time.

Who are the Drivers?

 

 

 

CHAD M2188-12
The Bakery site Feb 1981
CHAD M2183-35
Landers Van 1963
CHAD 2631
Landers Drivers 1963
CHAD 2631

Comments about this page

  • Hi, I worked at Landers bread as a van boy from 1962 to 1965, my driver was Frank Digger Townrow and we delivered to Sutton in Ashfield, Stanton Hill and Teversal.

    By Dereck Johnson (15/11/2023)
  • Luxury Loaf in Bidston, Birkenhead – the building was previously occupied by Vernon’s (Football) Pools. It’s now the HQ of Park Hampers.

    The late shift female workers at Luxury Loaf used to swim nude at Gautby Road boating lake, opposite the bakery, after work during the hot summer nights of 1976. I was one of them…

    By Jayne C. (12/08/2022)
  • This is great history, does anyone have similar details of workers etc of Moore’s Luxury Loaf bakery in Salford ?

    By Frances (14/09/2020)
  • Were the supervisors at the Skerton Rd. facility mostly called Tony? I found a list of supervisors once on this site or another but I’ve lost the information. I’m interested up until 1955.

    Thank you

    Genevieve

    By Genevieve Rainey (17/05/2020)
  • I worked at Landers from 1968 till it closed, I worked inside the bakery in the bread slicing department. I was a charge hand looking after 5 slicing machines,and 6 staff, we worked 12 hour shifts,days and nights.
    Looking back I enjoyed working there.
    Hi to everyone who can remember me.it was a long time ago.

    By Dennis Cassidy (10/10/2019)
  • The Landers Vans pictured above reminded me of the days when I worked there from late fifties to ’63. In particular I recall the signwriters who did wonderful work creating the ‘ear of corn’ logo’s etc as depicted.  These were very skilled men who were a pleasure to watch, no transfers in those days, not for Landers vans anyway. They would apply the gold leaf for the corn, and complete the signwriting all by hand.

    Barry Goodall and Lenny Perret, (both talented signwriters), back then immediately spring to mind – artists in the true sense of the word. They were also a laugh a minute! Long time ago but not forgotten by any means.

    By Steeve. C. (16/05/2018)
  • My brother Terry Strawbridge worked there I think in the 50s

     

     

    By Anne Burridge (14/01/2018)
  • Im not an ex employer of Landers, but I was remembering the fact that we used to have a delivery van come round our estate in Grantham in the 70s. Our delivery driver was a guy called Doug Rooke, he went on to run a small shop in the town, I remember he used to bring our lovely bread in his white overalls, I believe his van to have been a leyland FG type vehicle that you could walk on and off of at the back. I remember buying sweets and cakes from Doug, I believe Doug may have passed now I’m not to sure. Does anyone remember Doug Rooke?

    By Dave Nettleton (09/12/2017)
  • Lovely to read all these stories- does anybody remember my mother who worked at Landers Audrey Wild? – I have fond memories of popping down to Landers for a cake ?? etc from there and seeing mum working in the wages department 

    By Paul Wild (09/12/2017)
  • I worked at Landers Bread from 1959 to ’63 and was employed on the vehicle maint side (in the garage). I was involved with much of the mechanical stuff and also the body repair aspects. Reading Pete Stevens post above was quite a surprise as I worked closely with his father Clarence who was very helpful to me in those days. Clarence could turn his hand to most things either garage, paint shop or coachwork on the trucks etc. He certainly enjoyed a laugh or two during the course of the working day and was a pleasure to know! 

     

    By Steeve Cee. (10/09/2017)
  • Yes, that’s correct about Moores. They were at Fitzwarren Street Salford, with newer bakeries later at Birkenhead and Ossett. Moores came into British Bakeries fully in about 1970. The output of Salford bakery was very similar to that of Landers, with an identical plant output per hour capacity. The bigger bread oven of the three at Moores Salford had what can be described as a giant microwave element to reduce the baking time, (an American idea), but it was never used because the Bakers Union would not agree to it. the only time it was used was during the Bakers’ strike of 1978 when management was working the plant.

    By g edge (14/01/2016)
  • I will correct the notes on Moores Luxury loaf, it was in Salford Lancashire, and opened two new bakeries, one in Birenhead and one in Ossett Yorkshire. These were independent bakeries and at that time not associated with any other bakery. 

    The were eventually sold to Ranks Hovis Mcdougal, when the (here?) brothers were ready to retire, without children to carry on the business.

    By Jeannief (20/12/2015)
  • In 1959 I had a job there painting the offices on nights. I remember helping myself to freshly baked small Hovis loaves. Sliced down the middle and with a generous spread of butter they were like food for the gods.

    By Anthony W. Allsop (09/10/2015)
  • My father worked for Brooks Biscuits from the mid ’50’s till Brooks Beatties Biscuits was closed down in the late ’70’s. He was on regular runs from Wythenshawe to Chesterfield and on to Old Leake near Skegness, so I guess he also delivered biscuits to Landers as well. I remember being with him in the mid ’70’s when he delivered to Marks and Spencer’s in Chesterfield when their loading bay was on Knifesmithgate, but the warehouse was on the top floor due to the planned access road at 2nd floor level, which never came about (thankfully).

    By Peter Procter (03/07/2015)
  • Hello Christopher, I am guessing your Grandfather and friends worked in the bakery and not on sales. Unless they worked on the Retail  (Bakers Boy) side of the bakery sales. I was at Landers then, but cannot recall their names. Alan Curtis

    By Alan Curtis (18/06/2015)
  • Hi everyone, my grandad was called Louis Pilter and he was Hungarian, he started working at Landers in 1957 with another Hungarian man called John and another English man called Johnny Carr, does anyone remember these names? 

    By Christopher Gordon (17/06/2015)
  • Thanks Alan for answering my question. I left the UK for New Zealand in 1958 and thought that the takeover over Stevens and Whyllie was soon afterwards but didn’t hear about it until many years later.

    By Iris Tolley (03/06/2015)
  • Alan may correct me but it was Moores of Salford trading as Moores Red Seal and after there closure [?] Landers used there Danish wrappers to use the stock, the only Luxury Loaf produced by Landers was a Landers Red Seal Luxury Loaf which was an idea of Peter Gradwell the Bakery Manager I understood, which was the forerunner of the bright white  loaves produced by Kingsmill and Hovis.

    By jim cairns (05/05/2015)
  • I remember J.L.Moore’s Bakery at Bradford and Ossett,  They did produce Moore’s Luxury Loaf. I feel they became part of British Bakeries in 1952. It was at this time or a little later, that Moor’s were extended to a second bakery by taking over the old mill by the water at Ossett. I remember many trainee managers coming to Landers for their management training, also there were two with me on a training course at Donhead  House in Wiltshire. I think that was in 1967.

     

    By alan curtis (05/05/2015)
  • Does anybody have any information/ photos of Moores Bakery (Luxury Loaf)? I believe it featured prominently during the periods mentioned above.

    Jeannie

    By Jeannief (01/05/2015)
  • Henry Allison became the night manager for the bakery, he had a neat trick of always jiggling his keys in his white coat pocket, so you could hear him coming, so no problems for him. I remember getting a phone call from him about four in the morning and me being rather abrupt [as you would ] and him being the perfect gentleman. They where short of drivers so short Jim the general manager was there trying to find drivers to operate the rounds. Henry was a true gentleman and nothing seemed to phase him.

    By jim cairns (12/04/2015)
  • Hi Tom, Yes, I did know a Henry in the bake house, cannot bring to mind his second name. Don’t forget I left Landers at the end of 1966, to go to a British Bakeries, a Bakery in Lancashire.. I do remember Charley Strutt,  Wyn Wheeler,  oh and another man from inside by the name of Granville. He was a scream. he played the Knick Knacks, and the Spoons. Put them in front of me and I would remember most of their names. If Charley was short staffed, I often went inside the bakery to help out. I cannot praise all the staff enough over the years.. Totting the years up it must have been the same Henry, albeit 49 years ago.  The camaraderie amongst the workers in  those far off days, factories included, were unbelievably happy fantastic days.

    By alan curtis (10/04/2015)
  •  Alan, In the Chad March 25th Obit section, there is reference to a Henry Allison, retired Master Baker for 30 years at Landers aged 90. Did you know him?

    By Tom Shead (09/04/2015)
  •  Iris I can tell you it was in the very early 60’s, probably 61, that Lander’s Bought Whiley’s Bakery in Woodhouse.  Geoff Whiley, came to Lander’s as a Van Salesman. I knew Geoff quite well. Unfortunately, Geoff has died recently. I used to go to Whiley’s because Lander’s used the old Whiley’s Bakery to bake the cakes.  

    By Alan curtis (06/04/2015)
  • I wonder if any of you very knowledgeable people can tell me when Landers Bakery took over a bakery in Station Street, Mansfield Woodhouse. It would have been called Stevens & Wyllie, the Stevens part was a great uncle of mine. Many thanks.

    By Iris Tolley (05/04/2015)
  • Alan, yes it was a surprise to see the photos on the website and brought back lots of memories. I remember dad going to Leigh, Wigan and lots of other places where the Landers boys were working. To the end of his life he always wore the watch he was given by them all when he left Mansfield in 1957, in fact I still have it!  Vicki

    By Vicki Fearn (04/02/2014)
  • Vicki , I cannot believe you have turned up on the ourmansfieldandarea site.There are a couple of photographs on the site that your father and Eddy are on. It was 1949 that I was Ken’s vanboy on the Shirebrook Round. Ken was fantastic, and very easy to learn from. I know he was sorry when I was ” Called Up “. Ray Clarke followed me as his vanboy, he too did very well from Ken’s tutoring. I recall your mother as being an extremely good cook and at the end of the round we would stop outside your home on Mansfield Road, Warsop to enjoy a delicious dinner cooked by her. The last time I saw your father was when he visited me at the bakery in Leigh, Lancs.  I recall him telling me that British bakeries had gone from 1200 bakeries to less than 1000, and for me the writing was on the wall. My Best Wishes, Alan

    By alan curtis (30/01/2014)
  • Hello Alan,  I remember many of the people whose names have cropped up on the web sight, my parents often spoke of them. I used to see Eddie and Doris Heald regularly until they moved from Bramhall to the north east but I rather lost touch after that. I remember meeting Ray Clarke at a bakery “do” in Scarborough in the 1960’s. I live in Cheshire, but go back to Mansfield from time to time to visit family. Regards. Vicki

    By VickiFearn (29/01/2014)
  • Victoria Fearn! What a pleasant surprise. How are you young lady? It must be 60 years, I think you were about 8 years old. How nice for you to remember me. What a lovely family you all were, your mother Stella and father Kenneth. You are correct in saying Ken taught me to drive, he made a fine tutor, for I passed first time in a Landers Van full of bread on a Friday Afternoon. It would be lovely if you had some old photographs of the old Landers Days….How nice it is you commenting on the site. Alan

    By alan curtis (28/01/2014)
  •  

    I was very interested to read the memories of people associated with Landers Bread, especially those of Alan Curtis.  My father was Ken Fearn, the van salesman who gave him the driving lessons! My father, retired in the early 1970’s and I’m sorry to say died in 1995.

    By Vicki Fearn (27/01/2014)
  • Diana. Did your father also work at Landers ? Alan

    By alan curtis (03/07/2013)
  • My mother Betty Davenport worked in the bakery offices during the 60’s she was definitely there 64/65, does anyone remenber her?

    By Diana anderson (28/06/2013)
  • The boy in the photo with Dennis Davies is my husband Peter Phillips, he is 65 years old now. He still has one of the photo’s.

    By pauline phillips (27/06/2013)
  • The van boy in the picture with Dennis Davis was me Peter Phillips around about 1964, after a shop owners daughter wrote a story at school about her favourite delivery men to the shop.

    By peter phillips (27/06/2013)
  • Hello Peter and Pauline, My memory is still good ,I remember Peter as a Van Boy. You may have accompanied me at one time. I also remember Denis very well, is he still around? Were you with him when he got lost in the fog at Nottingham and started to walk back to the bakery ?? Luckily the Fog cleared !!!! Alan

    By alan curtis (27/06/2013)
  • Hello Tom, very pleased to hear the play is into the rehearsal stage..and we wish you all success…Regarding the clothes the inside bakers wore in the bakery…Their shoes were their own, comfortable old ones…they wore white T shirts for tops, and white trouser bottoms..Many bakers wore white aprons for protection against any grease…Of course everyone had to wear a white hat…Management had to wear a white overall coat….see the picture on this site….Landers Very Large Cake…Alan Curtis.

    By Alan curtis (25/09/2012)
  • Re my comment left on 5th July, thank you for your fascinating comments. We’re into rehearsal now and have done a lot of research surrounding the bread industry at this time. The play is set in 1975  Would workers of that period wear there own footwear, or did they have work shoes or clogs etc?
    What clothes would the following have worn? Oven man, Tinner up, Mixer, Prover, 1st Oven Man and Chargehand? Thanks in advance.

    By Tom hadley (17/09/2012)
  • Hello again Simon,many thanks for your comments….you are exactly right about the modern bakery methods of baking….I did know about the untouched by hand bread making…It first started at Landers with the dough , after the vibration of the dough, rolling down the chute ,straight into the bread tins…It was a long time before they mastered the method of the bread coming off of the oven without the hand balling….I did quite a bit of that when I was called upon to help out , ” and it aint half hot “. In my comment, I was describing to Tom how it was in the early 70’s…Sorry if I mislead you.

    By alan curtis (11/07/2012)
  • My uncle Paul Leivers worked at Landers for several years during the 70’s. I too have worked at a bakery… a Warburton bakery for 18 years as a maintenance engineer.The process of bread making that Alan mentions has hardly changed since the times of Landers but it has become highly automated these days from start to finish. You mentioned having to remove the bread manually from the tins at the oven exit, this was known as “hand balling” the bread from tins. How ever now days we have depanning machinery to remove the loaves and place them onto conveyor systems. The quality of bread has come on so much over the years due to modern technology and premium ingredients along with the technical departments who develop new products. From start to finish a loaf is not touched by a human hand throughout the process which takes 4 hours from starting as flour and water to the finished packaged product. Here is a very interesting link to a video of one of our factories and gives you an idea of how its all done now. I’m sure you old Landers workers will still be able to relate to the process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0tupj7xJpo

    By Simon Leivers (08/07/2012)
  • Hello Tom, If you stay on this site and log onto 1/ Why a Giant Cake? and 2/Landers sweep the Board you will see that the tops they wear are white T.Shirts, white trousers and white hats. The inside bakery management would wear a smock. If the operatives were handling hot tins or trays, they would wear hessian square gloves. In a modern bakery everything had to be spotless. When taking the hot bread off of the oven,the operative could wear a white singlet instead of a white shirt or T shirt. Nevertheless, the whites soon got dirty in the environment. Alan Curtis

    By alan curtis (05/07/2012)
  • Hello again Tom, further to help you with the set.If it is a modern bakery, the dough would come down a shute, into or placed into, the bread tins. The bread tins would be in banks of four fixed together.The four tins would be placed into what can only be described as a large letterbox type opening at one end of the travelling oven. This was a continuous feeding of the oven. The modern ovens by 1975 were like long metal offices without doors , but had small windows at strategic points to view the progress of the baking loaves. At the other end of the long travelling oven,there was another letterbox opening where the perfectly baked bread came out . The operative , wearing the hessian squares to protect his hands from the hot tins. had to take the tins from the oven, knock the four tins onto a stainless steel table where the bread would slide out and be placed onto a rack to cool before slicing. Because of the heat, he was allowed to wear a singlet. If it is not a modern bakery, then the ovens might have been long plate ovens that rolled in and out of the wall where the gas oven was situate.The size of the oven plate was such that it held over 200 bread tins at one time. Around the inside of the bakery, there would have been a lot of very large, very clean shiny mixing bowls on cast wheels. These were used to mix the dough , and when mixed, would be covered with a large canvas sheet and left for the dough to rise..Best wishes and Good Luck….. Alan Curtis

    By alan curtis (05/07/2012)
  • Hello I’m a professional set and costume designer and I’m currently designing a production of Richard Bean’s play Toast for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. It will be performed in October this year. The play is set in a bread making plant in Yorkshire in 1975, I wonder if anyone might have any photographic archive of factories and workers that I might be able look at as reference for this period of bread manufacturing? I look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes. Tom Hadley

    Please leave a comment or contact the Editors if you have information.

    By Tom Hadley (04/07/2012)
  • Have been trying to find clues as to when Percy Lander started in the bakery business in the old bakers shop opposite the Black Bull Public house. I know that the 1920’s were known as the ” Home Baking Years ” when all families baked at home. I know that many housewives used his ovens for baking their bread. I wonder if John Vanags would be kind enough to look in the Linney’s Directories for 1934 and 1935 to see if the Landers family popped up on Woodhouse Rd. / Mansfield Rd. / or York St. as a Bakery.

    By alan curtis (15/02/2012)
  • I do believe this could well have been a first !!!! In the early 1950’s. Self service shops were beginning to become very popular and profitable for the owners.One reason being a reduction in staff…It could well have been the Co-op that lead the way for the change in the family shopping habits at that time. It did not take Landers long to convince the High St. stores, such as Woolworths, Marks and Spencers, also the British Home Stores, of the advantages of carrying bread. I recall the “Top Brass” from M & S. visiting the bakery to give their consent… Also at that time, we supplied Woolworths with trays of sliced sponge sandwiches about 7 inches across, along with large tins of cream and a spatula ( a flat wooden server ) to put a large blob of cream onto the base of the sandwich and and then place the top half of the sandwich onto the cream and base….They retailed at 9d each and people queued up for them. Whilst I was salesman on the Beeston round, I supplied the Beeston Woolworths, and as with all the large stores, (although sort of against the rules,) it was sale or return to them… One Bank Holiday, they over ordered and finished up with a lot of bread left after the holiday . When I arrived to deliver after the Bank Holiday, the Manager met me telling me that they would not require a delivery that day as they had a lot of bread left over. I said that I would have to change it . He then told me it is all right, he had put it in the freezer over the holiday…I was astounded, At that time it had never been heard of before . Stale old bread was always a major, huge loss to any bakery, and had been for years. I checked the bread from the freezers , which felt and appeared all right. And on my next delivery the bread had all been sold. To my knowledge this was the first time any sliced bread had ever been frozen… and sold. It did not catch on…and since the Chorley Wood Method of baking, bread now a days does not go stale or hard as quickly as it used to do….Sliced bread that is…

    By alcurtis (02/01/2012)
  • For those of you who were born after world war 2. You may not know that bread was rationed from 1946 and de-rationed in 1948…I can just remember it, but can only have at a guess that after the war had ended, there was a great influx of people returning from the war which included many of the English alleys which did include many Europeans. There would also have been very low stocks of grain, and the English wheat at that time was not the best for bread making. Other items that were rationed during the war were:- Butter : 1940 to 1954. 4oz per week per person. Meat : 1940 to 1954. 1s:10d worth per person. Cheese:1941 to 1954. 1oz per week per person. Sweets: 1942 to 1953. Coupons. Clothes: 1941 to 1949. 66 Coupons a year each. Bacon : 1941 to 1953. 4oz per week per person. Petrol: 1940 to 1950. Coupons. Tea :1940 to 1952. 2oz per week per person. Margarine.1940 to 1954. 4oz per week per person. Lard : 1940 to 1953. 2oz per week per person. Sugar: 1940 to 1954. 8oz per week per person. Strange but true…. A pair of boots / shoes were 7 coupons, and a pair of socks were 3 coupons….Children went through these two items like no ones business….No wonder the Cobblers did well in those days..

    By Alan Curtis (21/12/2011)
  • I spent many years as Vanboy, Salesman, Superviser and Salesmanager… Each occupation as enjoyable as the next, but one of the most enjoyable was the time I spent doing a survey of the small bakeries in Lincolnshire…What a fantastic time that was…One might think that these hard working gentlemen, who themselves, at the time were struggling to make a living, would not wish to see someone from a large bakery group….Wrong !…They made me so welcome, these men who worked half the night and most of the day, welcomed me with open arms, talking about their business, and how hard times had got for them…Soon the kettle was on in their old baking oven, and we were drinking tea from two old mugs with brown stains that had seen many brews of tea that had quenched many a dry mouth whilst an old piece of hessien cloth had wiped sweat from a heated brow. .. I have seen coal miners, furnace workers, Foot plate train drivers, believe me , these bakers were right along side these people for hard manual work… To some of these bakers we were someone who could relieve them of the hard work and pressure that had become a common hazzard of the small baker. It was a way out for many, some preferred to soldier on… to those who didn’t, we would supply the bread in their own wrapper whilst they concentrated on baking their rolls and cakes…I fear that after the demise of the large bakeries, many of these small bakers also perished….I often smile to myself when I go into a supermarket and see the small ovens that are in their pretend bakery departments… I think of the proper bakers that used to be dotted around our wonderful England

    By alcurtis (12/10/2011)
  • Hi Jim. Thanks for the info regarding Allens bakery. I have often wodered what happend too them. The landers driver and Milanda driver met up at Scoth Corner and exchanged vans. Cant remember the Landers drivers name though.

    By Alan King (05/10/2011)
  • Hello Alan, yes, I can remember you at Landers, both times. A good friend of Ray Clarke’s, Digger Townroe became ill, and so was moved from Round 7. When a little better, he took over round 3. A lot of changes happened during the expansion of rounds in the 1950’s and 60’s. I recollect doing a lot of canvassing in Corby, we also had a retail Agent in Corby, selling Milanda bread and scotts pies and morning rolls. I recall stopping at a cafe in Oakham and enjoying tea and toast when canvassing. I also recall seeing the schoolboys from the Oakham School looking very smart in their straw boaters coming out of school. As you say – Great memories !!!

    By alan curtis (02/10/2011)
  • The baker Allens, was Fowlers and Sons Peterborough Ltd and it became MP Peterborough. Then 16 shops were transferred to MP Nottingham after the closure of Peterborough. As for the scotch bread coming from Milanda Bakery in Glasgow[became Milanda Red Seal], a wagon left Landers and met up with the Milanda wagon some where on the A66 and rather than transfer the loads they just swopped wagons much easier and quickly and of course as Alan King says most of it went to Corby because of the influx of scottish families due to the steel works.

    By jim cairns (01/10/2011)
  • Just discovered this site. It is nice to have my memory refreshed about people that worked on the sales team. I worked for Landers twice for a while. I took over round three from Digger on the Kirkby round about 1955/6 until I left. When I worked there again sometime in the mid sixties, I had the Corby round. Left bakery at five am and didnt get back till three. I had van No 296. It was the largest of the fleet. Ken Land also did the Corby round He delivering bread to the steel works canteens etc. (Stewart & Loyds) and other shops about Corby. I used too deliver to a baker in Oakham on my outward journey then onto Corby. There was a baker in Corby (Allens). he had eight shops, and I had to have the bread delivered by eight am. Had keys for each shop. We had Scotish bread come down from Scoland (Milanda) I had too deliver bread to shops in villages on my way back finnishing at Oakham. I still have my Landers tie. Great memories.

    By Alan King (30/09/2011)
  • If I had to select a decade that provided the biggest changes to the baking industry, it would have to be the 1950’s, followed very closely by the 1960’s. The 1950’s were a decade when everything seemed new. The corner shops seemed to be making a good living, housing estates were growing at a very fast rate. Jobs were plentiful, one could leave a job on a Friday night and start a new job on Monday morning, it was that easy. There were very few cars. and most folk walked everywhere, or had to catch a bus to get to their destination.

    Prices during the 1950’s were very stable’ and it was a time when “Made In England” meant that it was well made, and reliable. The wages were not high, but things were reasonably inexpensive. It was a time of innocence and everyone seemed to go about with a smile on their face. Paper boys and milkmen would go about whistling whilst doing their work. It was a great time to be alive. We had recently won a war that had lasted nearly six years, everyone seemed happy and proud to be British. Innovation was prevelant.

    With this came additional growth in the Bakery industry, and because of this growth, the big boys in the industry made additional profit from the growth, and began to swallow up the smaller fry. This was another way of expanding their business. The coal industry and the car industry were the two main industries, and it seemed that in my opinion, the unions of the business’s could have chosen different shop stewards. It was a time when these industries were doing extremely well in both growth and pay, nevertheless, the union leaders wanted more for their members, and as my mother used to say at the time, “We all have to go to the same market”. And so it was to be that want and strikes came into the lives of many workers. Something that management had to get used to, and of course, any increase in pay meant an additional increase in the product. With the Retail Pricing being in force by the government, any price increase had to be sanctioned by them and became national news. Especially the household bread! If you were a salesman at Landers in the 1950’s, you had a lot of fun and laughs. You had a very good job, met lots of people, you belonged to a family of people who felt exactly as you did about Landers bakery, you fell in love with Landers, and were very proud to belong.

    By alcurtis (23/09/2011)
  • People fall into three categories. The Satisfied….The Dissatisfied….The Unsatisfied… Just as two and two make four, so it is that management, office help and production workers have no jobs, and no smoke pours from the smokestack, unless orders are pouring in from hard-working salesmen. One of the greatest assets a saleman can have, is enthusiasm for his job…Enthusiasm for his job is the quality that makes him willing to pay the price for succeeding in that job….For many the price is too high… If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from his angle as well as from your own… These words of wisdom I was taught at Landers in the late 1950’s…

    By alan curtis (09/09/2011)
  • Great comment Graham, Glad someone saved some records Thank you for verifying my comment about W.J.Barton.. Although I did visit many of the Bakeries in the 60’s.also the old Rank’s Flour Mill at Hull..( Nothing to do with the J Arthur Rank’s film industry ). It was after world war two that the large bakeries really came alive. Before that there were hundreds of very small bakers making a living by supplying their wares by horse and cart, by a bread box on the front of a trycycle, and by a butchers type cycle with a basket on the front. All unwrapped of couse at the time. Graham is right of course when he talks of Garfield Weston Being the biggest of the big three. He owned miles of the wheat fields in Canada, and so had the best of the flour. A good move for him was the formation of A.B.Foods. When Tesco started their Supermarket Empire, Mr. Cohen would only allow A.B.F. Bakeries to supply them. This did not go down very well with the corner shops A.B.F. supplied. There is an old saying ” Time will tell “, and so it was to be, most corner shops met their demise. I’m sorry, but I dislike the word ” Rationalisation “, immensely. I am of the old school, and my glass is always half full. How sad for Wonderloaf, it was such a good loaf of bread. I’m sure if Premier Foods decided to relaunch the brand it would once again become a brand leader.

    By alan curtis (31/08/2011)
  • I believe that W.J. (Jack) Barton came from a baking family with a large plant in Dagenham, supplying Essex and East London. As Alan states Jack Barton’s expertise was in retail sales (shops and door to door van sales) rather than in wholesale production and selling, which was the strength of the Brookes Group. Jack Barton built up the retail side through companies such as Duncan Foster (Manchester), Halfords (Bradford), Silvios (a high class retail operation in Manchester) and of course other bakeries such as Landers that had its own chain of bakers’ shops.

    The formation of the big three ‘Milling-Baking’ groups started in the late 1930s with Garfield Weston, a Canadian who founded Associated British Foods (ABF). Weston started his empire by acquiring biscuit factories and then bread bakeries. Flour mills were added to his business portfolio from the 1950s and his business philosophy had a different emphasis to his major competitors.

    Weston was a ‘baker-miller’ rather than a ‘miller-baker’. It is fair and true to say that he bought many of the larger and more modern bakeries at the time and was never afraid to invest money in them. He also tended to leave the original owners in charge of both his bakeries and flour mills. As Weston acquired his bakeries and flour mills then major flour millers such as Ranks and Spillers started to lose serious volumes of flour sales, so they started to buy bakeries in response.

    McDougalls flour acquired a few plants and called them British Bakeries, and then Ranks bought the Brookes Baking Company, later all coming together under the Rank Hovis McDougall grouping. Spillers was third in the bakery buying race being left with a portfolio of generally smaller and outdated plants, which eventually led to its downfall in the late 1970s. There were one or two notable exceptions in Spillers (Wonderloaf) with plants such as Blanchards (Watnall), Frears and Blacks (Leicester) and Bosomworths (Bradford).

    I worked for Spillers Milling from 1981 for 10 years and the wounds from its Wonderloaf / Homepride bakeries failure were still deep and raw. Going back to about 1974 before rationalisation in British Bakeries started these were the bakeries in Northern Region and their bread production volmes weekly in sacks of bread produced. (A sack was equvalent to 280lbs of flour and made 216 saleable 28oz (800g) loaves. Harveys Wigan (Red Seal) 2,300 sacks + 300 bought in from Ben Worsley Brookes Old Trafford (Mothers Pride) 2,000 sacks Almonds Wythenshawe (Energy Bread) 1,850 sacks including production for MP Stoke Mothers Pride Rotherham 1,750 sacks Birkett & Roberts Stoke (Champion) 1,700 sacks (includes own label for M & S) Almonds Bradford (Energy Bread) 1,700 sacks including Halfords Shops Moores Salford (Luxury Loaf) 1,650 sacks (Part of the group but not in it) Landers (Red Seal) 1,600 sacks J.W. Thompson Chesterfield (Mothers Pride) 1,500 sacks Mothers Pride Liverpool 1,450 sacks winter, (1,750 sacks summer with North Wales resort trade) Birkett & Bostock Stockport (Champion) 1,400 sacks Mothers Pride Stoke 1,300 sacks plus bought in from Almonds Wythenshawe Moores Ossett (Luxuryloaf) 1,100 sacks (Part of the group but not in it) Leger Bakery Doncaster (Red Seal) 1,000 sacks Lancashire Cash Bakery Blackpool (Mothers Pride) 800 sacks winter, 1,200 sacks in summer holiday season. Ben Worsley Darwen (no group brand) 800 sacks including 300 sacks for Harveys) Wrays Scarborough (Mothers Pride) 450 sacks winter, 800 sacks summer holiday season Dytes Cleethorpes (Mothers Pride) 400 sacks winter, 650 sacks summer holiday season Halls Wigan (no group brand) 400 sacks Guests Leigh (no group brand) 300 sacks Duncan Foster Manchester (shops bakery) Silvios Manchester (high end shops bakery) Whenever possible any extra production was given to Old Trafford bakery to keep it viable. It had a capacity of 3,500 sacks per week.

    In terms of success (Profitibility) the top six bakeries at the time were 1. Harveys Wigan 2. MP Rotherham 3. Thompsons MP Chesterfield 4. Landers 5. Leger Doncaster 6. Almonds Bradford. The biggest loss maker was MP Liverpool. Almonds Wythenshawe was the most modern bakery, being opened in 1962 with a weekly capacity of 2,000 sacks. A third plant was installed in 1966 increasing the capacity to 2,800 sacks. The original Almonds bakery was at Ardwick Green in Manchester which had a reputation for the best range of morning goods in Manchester. The closure of Almonds because of industrial relations problems (and bad management) was a tragedy. It was a purpose-built ultra modern bakery.

    By Graham Edge (25/08/2011)
  • Can I just throw some light on the Linney’s Directory of 1955….It is definitley a printing error, or a mistake..and should read W.J. Brookes… The then owners of Landers Bakery… In actual fact, there was no W.J. Brookes… It was a fictitious made up name. Mr.Gordon Brookes and a Mr. W.J.Barton got together to form the Bakery and decided to use the initials of Mr. Barton, and the surname of Gordon Brookes for the company name….Hence W.J.Brookes……Gordon Brookes took the wholesale side of the business on Skerton Road, Salford……Mr W.J. Barton took the Retail side of the business which was Craigs Pantry,which I believe was on Ayres Road, Salford, at that time….It was at a later date that the bakery had their Head Office on Seymour Grove. Manchester. Brookes Bakery made their own Fruit Slab Cake. Which later became Pandora, and later still was to become Mr.Kippling . W. Beattie, bakers from Glasgow made and sold Bread and Cakes .They made a very good Assortment of Biscuits. They too were taken over by Brookes Bakery, in 1963, and Landers were soon to add Brookes Beattie Biscuits to their list. Brookes bakery and Craigs Panty both did extremely well in the 50’s and 60’s …So much so, the Brookes empire required the Head Office on Seymour grove. and in 1955 British Bakeryies was formed…British Bakeries was actually formed in opposition to Allied Bakeries, who they themselves were growing at an alarming rate. Mothers pride had been sold in the north since 1936, and became a very popular brand. I do have a photograph of Mr Gordon Brookes which I shall place on the site later.

    By alan curtis (22/08/2011)
  • Ken Fearn and Eddie Heald are definitely names from the past and they are long retired. With the rationalisation of bakeries in the group then regional office at Seymour Grove, Old Trafford, closed and a smaller regional office was established at the Almonds Bakery, Wythenshawe, in what had been the Rowlands retail sales offices.

    Also involved on the rationalisation team for sales were Brian Armstrong and George Battersby, I was on the production rationalisation side with Ernie Morgan. Gordon Brookes was the regional director for many years and from the Brookes Group of Companies, which I believe was the originator of the Mothers Pride brand name. Brookes were later acquired by Ranks and then the later merger with Hovis McDougall to form RHM. (McDougalls were the original British Bakeries).

     All these mergers occurred from roughly 1956 to 1962. The original Brookes bakery was at Skerton Road, Old Trafford Manchester and it was a huge site, known then as The World’s Wonder Bakery, and made just about every type of bakery product. The Pandora cake brand also originated here before it later became Manor Bakeries and Mr. Kipling Cakes, with new cake bakeries being opened at Wythenshawe and Stoke. Before the take over by Ranks the original Mothers Pride bakeries in addition to Old Trafford were at Chesterfield, Rotherham, Stoke, Liverpool, Blackpool and Hereford. Later MP branded bakeries in the north were at Scarborough (where I was a trainee with Peter Gradwell), and Cleethorpes.

    When I started my career with British Bakeries in 1968 there were 16 or 17 bread bakeries in the northern region of the company. Nowadays only two of these remain, the Hovis bakeries at Wigan and Bradford.

    By G. Edge (19/08/2011)
  • Landers were supplying Confectionery and Morning Goods to Mothers Pride, Chesterfield from 1964. This was a night run to Chesterfield for one of the night drivers… Regarding rationisation of bakeries… I have previously said..Bakeries in the U.K. had reduced from 1200 down to less than 900…I knew in 1969 that there were to be mass closures of bakeries throughout the country. All the large bakeries were being hurt by the rising costs and the loss of product outlets caused by the rise of the Supermarkets and the change in shopping habits….Funny really, when you think about it…The Supermarkets closed all the corner shops, now they are opening their own corner shops calling them convenience stores, express stores,etc…. I read that the word rationalisation means… A defense mechanism by which your true motivation is concealed by explaining your actions and feelings in a way that is not threatening…Makes you think…I agree with Mr. Edge, that the demise of Wonderloaf bakeries changed many things, and British Bakeries were very lucky to aquire Watnall…What a transition that was for them….. Nevertheless, I could not see Landers not closing or British Bakeries being saved from the clutches of Premier Foods… Can I ask you Mr.Edge…Do you know what happened to Kenneth Fearn, and Eddie Heald at head office? … I also knew Gordon Brookes, and remember Brookes Slab Cake. Before Mr. Kippling Cakes came to be…

    By alcurtis (30/07/2011)
  • When working for British Bakeries at regional office Manchester in the early 1970s I often visited Landers for various projects on the production side. Albert Wood was Factory Manager and I remember Albert Frost very well who would come to my hotel in an evening for a pint with me. He also used to take me to one of the Miners’ Welfare clubs nearby. The one thing I remember about Landers was its helpful and very friendly people. When I was at Harveys Wigan I worked with Derek Godfrey (ex Landers) and I knew Peter Gradwell and George Dean, plus other names mentioned on this page are familiar. From 1977 I was Production Manager at Mothers Pride Chesterfield and Landers supplied all of our confectionery and morning goods. I am still in regular contact with Paul Lennie who was Bread Production Manager at Landers when I was at Chesterfield. Just a point about Peter Gradwell’s comment about the proposed expansion at Landers. When I was at Regional Office I was part of the team that worked on the long term rationalisation of bakeries in what was Northern Area of British Bakeries, with Landers being the southern most bakery in the area. There were indeed plans for expansion at Landers, and also MP Chesterfield, but the demise of Wonderloaf in 1978 and the acquisition by British Bakeries of some Wonderloaf bakeries, including Watnall, resulted in all the former plans being revised and in many cases scrapped.

    By G. Edge (15/07/2011)
  • Does anyone know what year Landers opened in Mansfield? Jodie – Mansfield Museum

    By Jodie Henshaw (06/07/2011)
  • John the proper trading name after 1949 was W. J. Brookes and sons Ltd.

    Jodie, Landers according to every thing I’ve heard and been told over the years is 1913

    By jim cairns (06/07/2011)
  • Linney’s Directorys for 1936 and 1948 have P. Lander, Bakehouse on Oxford Street. Not mentioned in 1934 and 1935 is missing. More missing directories until 1955. The Bakers on Oxford Street are named as J Brookes & Sons Ltd.

    By John Vanags (05/07/2011)
  • During the 1950’s Landers showed the rest of the bakeries how success could be achieved. Head Office at Manchester sent down to Landers, lots of would be managers who had come straight from University for their training. Unfortunatley this did not have the desired affect, as the trainees, when they were sent to another bakery as manager, were not as succesful as Head Office would have liked them to be….It was then therefore, that the decision was made to take Mohammed to the Mountain, and promote the succesful staff of Landers to other bakeries throughout the country…It worked !!! And as verified by Jim, Ex-Landers staff are all over the place.

    By alan curtis (26/06/2011)
  • I believe Cliff Dennis was a shops supervisor who ended up as the last shop sales manager at Sylvios Bradford, as for Miss Rawlinson that name rings a bell because Jim Gascoigne went to see her to get a potted history of Landers. I never saw it but he did succeed, and even all those years later he was full of praise for her having encountered her before when he was general manager at Blanchards

    By jim cairns (20/06/2011)
  • The Office Manageress in Percy Lander’s time was a lady whose name was Miss Rawlinson..She did live in Pleasley and was dedicated to Landers. Miss Rawlinson knew what she was doing and stood no nonsense from anyone. In the beginning she told everyone she was right…And usually was…

    By alan curtis (16/06/2011)
  • Much has been said relating to the empoyees of Landers on the pages about Landers Bakery….But it would be very remiss of me not to include the real heroes behind the success story of the Bakery.These were the Management and the Office staff…The decision makers and the people who made sure everything was on track..The management for their skills and enthusiasm which was contagious to the rest of the staff… The Office staff for their expertise and control of a rapidly expanding business. Right from Mr. Percy Lander, to the General Managers that were to follow him, Failure was a word that was never used… If I had to pick one out it would be E.C.M….Ted Morris, who was responsible for Landers exceptional growth…Of course he had the full co-operation of a dedicated office staff…When I first joined Landers ,the office Manager was a lady whose name escapes me..She was there in Percy Landers time, and sometime after… Always had her finger on the button, and lived in Pleasley. The manager who followed, was also first class and a very good office Manager. Everyone knew what they were doing and I cannot ever remember any mishaps at anytime. Cliff Dennis is an office member that stood out. In addition to his work in the office, he also organised and ran, The Cricket team. The Swimming at Sherwood Baths, The ten mile walk events, the Football team and the Darts team.. It didn’t seem like work, we were a family…

    By alan curtis (12/06/2011)
  • Finally just to verify my comments of 1/3/2011. Today on the BBC morning news, there was a news item relating to the soft white wrapped and sliced loaf we all buy today from the Supermarkets…It stated that the soft white loaf of today was first introduced around 50 years ago, and was pioneered by a man named Charley Wood. The new loaf had additional addatives giving it a better texture, softer to the touch, and it also kept it’s freshness longer…I write this because it also coincides with the new travelling oven installed by Landers in 1962, and the soft white bread that was produced from it…I do not know if the travelling oven was also part of Charley Wood’s invention, but it all happened about 50 years ago when Landers really took off….Prior to this, bread only had a very short shelf life, and many shops would only stock bread on a sale or return basis..Stale bread and mould were a big problem to the Bakers in those days.

    By alan curtis (08/06/2011)
  • The Soft White Bread process was known as the “” Chorley – Wood Process”.

    By alan curtis (08/06/2011)
  • Holiday times for any bakery always created their own problems, especially at Christmas time, and bread stocks had to be built up and rotated starting a few days before the holiday period. If this didn’t happen then the 4/5 days holiday period would be breadless. Estimates had to be made by the bakery for the orders that were not available untill Friday evening when the salesmen returned to the office. In the early 60’s, Landers were a very large company,and yes, the bakery underestimated the size of the orders. The Wholesale rounds got their loads and went off on their deliveries, whilst the poor retail Bakers Boys had to wait for their loads.The ovens were started up again, but it was late afternoon before some of them got away,some with only part loads with the promise of the rest being taken out to them. The Wholesale rounds were already returning to the bakery,finished….. One poor lad was still out in Leicester, no bread, and no one to take him the remainder of his load…There was snow on the ground and it was getting dark…My very dear friend Ray Clark and I jumped into a van with the rest of his load and set off to meet up with him… We found him on an estate….and it was now very late… I told him that if he gave us the house numbers, Ray and I would leave their bread on the doorsteps…and he could sort it out with them after Christmas…This we did…I don’t know what time I arrived home from 3.30 a.m. that morning. But I do have a very understanding wife !!!

    By alan curtis (09/05/2011)
  • Hello Jim….Sounds like a Billy Wilson story ? I was at Landers when the incident happened on a very windy day. The man in question, for years, used to collect the waste and returned old bread for his Pigs. Even in Percy’s time. In the early days there was not so much waste, which he would collect in a 15cwt open truck…As Landers grew, so did the waste, which was sent by a large van to Melton Mowbury… The man had been coming with his 15cwt truck for so long that he was allowed to continue to take waste to feed his pigs….Of course when he first started to collect, the bread was unwrapped…but nevertheless it did happen on that very windy day, some of the wrappings blew off in the wind…I believe Landers had their wrists slapped for it. but ..Jim, the rest sounds like a Billy Wilson story. By the way Jim, is Billy still around ? Best Wishes A.C.

    By alan curtis (07/05/2011)
  • A story I was told about Ted Morris was that the man contracted to take the waste away failed to secure his load properly. in those days you could drive down Woodhouse Road all the way down Leeming Street and through the market place on to Victoria Street[?] and out on to Nottingham Road, all went ok till the wagon got to the market place and a good gust of wind showered the area with Landers bread wrappers and the wagon driver was caught and summonsed for a unsecure load Ted Morris not wasting a opportunity for publicity went to court to be a witness for the defence stating that of course landers bread was all fresh daily and the wrappers floating around the market place were proof of this, nothing to do with the case but all good publicity when the Chad came out

    By jim cairns (02/05/2011)
  • In 1950 when the bakery staff and the sales manager Mr Thompson, finally managed to get the bread slicing machine to work in conjunction with the wrapping machine there was paper everywhere. such was the difficulty of operating an old bread slicer….Today, bread is sliced and packed in a plastic bag, In those days it was wrapped in waxed paper. and such was the timing of the operating of the slicer to coincide with the slicing blades and the sealing heaters and the huge roll of waxed paper. The loaves had to have cooled considerably or the blades would tear the inside of the loaf. The heaters would be just hot enough to melt the wax , then procede between two belts for about six feet to allow the wax to seal the ends of the loaf.

    By alan curtis (27/04/2011)
  • At the time of the Supermarket explosion in the Landers area,I believe was 1962. I do not mean the larger estate shops of the time, but the realy large thousands of square feet Supermarkets. I was asked by Brian Taylor the then Sales Manager of Landers, to try and establish our share of what was to become a huge bakery outlet…And so I was to become Landers first Merchandising Supervisor. Our first success was the Elmo Supermarket in Daybrook Nottingham. Others soon followed, Premier Supermarket in Derby. McFisheries in Nottingham…Of course we also opened many more of the smaller estate Supermarkets, they were very good for business….I did try Sainsburys when they opened their first Supermarket in Nottingham. Although I didn’t have any success, I did get to meet Lord Sainsbury…Like all major supermarkets, they all wanted the major brand names. I even turned up at Sainsburys with a small van load of bread on the day they opened their doors in case one of the others did not turn up. I cannot believe how Wonderloaf and Mothers Pride are no longer on the market. They at that time could walk into any new Supermarket….

    By alan curtis (23/04/2011)
  • No strikes in my day Jim, just one big happy family with one aim, to be the best!! Brought about by give and take from all concerned. It really was a very close big happy family. This was transmitted from the original Lander family…And to that end Carole, you can be justly proud of your parents and grandparents…Credit must also be given to their skill in the selection of staff.. Jim, the Jim Gascoine you mention,used to be ( dare I say it) the General Manager of Blanchards Bakery in Watnall. Before they were taken over by R.H.M.. I guess Jim had a lot to offer. A.C.

    By alancurtis (06/04/2011)
  • During the strike in 1979 which some will remember was a long drawn out affair the pickets decided if they couldn’t stop the vans going out then they would search the vans going back in. One of the tail lifts arrived at the gate with three pickets two very tall and one very short, the short one in the middle stopped and look in the back all was well till the two tall lads lifted the tail lift up at a good rate of knots and knocked the middle lad out putting his teeth through his lip and a ambulance had to take him away. During the strike the general manger, Jim Gascoigne, borrowed my escort[company] van and on his return gave me a good going over about my tyres being all but flat and it took Peter Gradwell the factory/bakery manager to settle him down he’d been to pick up salt and there was in excess of 10cwt in my 5cwt van hence the tyres appeared to be flat as Peter pointed out

    By jim cairns (04/04/2011)
  • Hi Jim, I stand corrected. It is/was a house. not a bungalow, cannot remember the name of it. When I joined the staff of Landers, there was no Personnel Officer and I only needed the medical centre on one occasion. A really nice lady was housed there……..No wooden hut where the allotments used to be in my time Jim. It was only used to park the vans whilst the building of the of the large garage took place….The ramp was there though, it had underground heating built into the concrete for the icey weather !!!!…Understandable really, in 1966, Landers had grown from the original 8 rounds in 1949,to 47 wholesale rounds…..Close to 100 Bakers Boy and Agents vans……Plus 18 Cornish Pasties vans… All this from the small beginnings and ideas’ of Percy Lander. The reception in my time started as a wooden 8×6 shed with a window facing the road. This was for the weather protection of the security man…When my good friend Frank Bagley was very poorly, He was taken off of his Kirkby round, and allowed to paint the shed, of course in his own time….A.C.

    By alancurtis (03/04/2011)
  • In 1949. Just about all the salesmen at Landers were ex-servicemen. And most had seen service during the war. This made me smile , because it always seemed to be a battle between the young Mansfield Policemen and the Landers salesmen. I’m sure that in their morning briefings they were told to go out and catch a Landers Driver ! What the young Police didn’t realize was that all the Landers salesmen were first class drivers…All this of course was pre-speed cameras, and the police had to follow you for one tenth of a mile to prove speeding . It was great fun really, on both sides, that is apart from the fine of £5 for speeding….I remember a policeman stopping Eddy Heald once on Sutton Road and asking if he could see his PILOTS Licence….There were many drivers of Landers vans who recieved Safe Driving Awards from R.O.S.P.A.

    By alancurtis (01/04/2011)
  • Alan think I’ve got you this time [ha ha] ? the bungalow you say was personnel and medical ,may have been a different one, but I think it was the three bedroom detached house basically at the side of the reception office that we knew as ivernia but the proper name by the door was ireneia.As for where the cars parked on the ex allotment site there was a wooden building there used as an accounts office nice and freezing during the winter and a sweatbox during the summer and a very exciting entrance and exit up and down the ramp during any snow or heavy frost

    By jim cairns (01/04/2011)
  • Between Oxford St., and the railway embankment to the right of the top picture,there used to be garden allotments. When Landers started their building expansion of the large garage and the new packing room area,they purchased the allotments.They also purchased the older bungalow on the right. This was used for the Personnel Lady and also used as a Medical Centre….The Allotments were on quite a steep slope down towards Oxford street, and so the bulldozers were brought in to level the ground….Whilst clearing the ground they dug up some World War Two food parcels. The parcels contained :- Dried Egg powder, Water Biscuits, Tinned Spam, Pom ( mashed potatoe powder.) …All tinned of course….And still edibble. The war years were a very different story. I have noticed that on the picture of Dennis ,vanboy and van, one can see the concrete retaining wall for the height that the allotments were…..At the rear of the van,one can also make out a parked van on the old allotment area. Before I forget, I just want to say thank you to everyone for taking me back all those years…Special thanks to Jim , and of course, to Carole ( Lander ) Clark.

    By alan curtis (27/03/2011)
  • Alan, of course I knew Fred Harrison and Billy Wilson and if its the same Brian Taylor [a DSM on sales] but most of the names ring bells but my memory is nowhere near as good as yours. As for Fred he ended up living on the Bellamy Road estate I think.

    By jim cairns (24/03/2011)
  • I am still in touch with Eric Gibson. Eric was on round 6 when I joined Landers. We have been very good friends since those early days at Landers. He was promoted to Sales Manager at Harveys Bakery in Wigan, Lancs. He is now enjoying his retirement in Gloucestershire at the good old age of 85….And on the 31st March 2011. He and his wife Betty, cellibrate their diamond wedding anniversary. When Eric joined Landers in 1947. Eric had just been demobbed from the army…When asking Percy for a job, Eric told Percy he had brought his driving licence and papers from the army… Percy Lander replied:- ” I’m not interested in papers lad. Can you sell !!! ” Good old Percy. The rest as they say…….is History.

    By alancurtis (20/03/2011)
  • Hello Alan – you were wondering about Percy Lander’s age – he was born in 1896 and died in 1949 – aged 53. My mum told me what a shock it was for the family when he died. He was a strict father apparently – my mum and Thelma were very much in awe of him. They had to behave themselves well or he got very cross – especially on Sunday afternoons when he like to rest. I believe that my grandmother worked in the bakery in the early days. You are right – she was very elegant and always polite to everybody but nobodys fool.

    By Carole Clark (18/03/2011)
  • Names:- Thanks for the memory jerker Jim…. I knew Brian Armstrong. Knew George Dean very well. I believe he is on a Landers cricket team photograph I have. Not quite sure I can place Eddy Perry, although I must have known him. Could it be him on the Little Gem cake picture? Let me give you a few names. Jack Severns, Johnny Hughes, Albert Frost, Bill Wilson, Brian Taylor, Barry Cannon, Freddy Harrison (Fred used to live in a ” Prefab” next door to a friend of mine.) Roy Hollis, Sam Ball, Fred Place, ( Fred went to a small Wonderloaf bakery in Bolton.) Ray Clarke, Earnie Blackburn, Gordon Betts, Roy Betts, Bill Sansom, Golly, I could go on forever…I do have some older photographs that I will put on soon. A.C.

    By alan curtis (17/03/2011)
  • Allan Curtis states that personnel from Landers spread far and wide my example is while working for Robertsons(Bakers)Ltd in Carlisle the Managing Director Brian Armstong had been Assistant General Manager at Landers, factory. Bakery Manager George Deane had worked in bread production, and confectionery production Manager Eddy Perry had been assistant confectionery production manager at Landers

    By jim cairns (16/03/2011)
  • Hello Alan, Thank you for responding to me personally – it is very warming to hear first hand from people who knew and worked with my relatives. I am fond of family history. I was very close to my grandmother. She taught me to knit and bake! She died when I was 14 – in 1970. Thelma lived with her. She died 2003 – having remained in the family home. My mother – who was widowed early- died in 2005. Thelma married William Laughton – finally in 1997 – he has survived her and remains in the Lander family home. If possible it would be nice to meet and hear your reminisces.

    By Carole Clark (14/03/2011)
  • I’ve been trying to rack my brain as to how old Percy Lander was when he died. He must only have been in his 50’s. Bearing in mind that I was only15/16 at the time, Percy must have been only around 54 years of age, which would make that he would have been born in 1896 ? …. The red seal logo that was printed on the wrappers, was added to Landers Bakery in 1967. This was to coincide with another modernisation launch of Harvey’s Bakery in Wigan, Lancashire, they were both given the Red Seal logo. Having started out as a vanboy,and finishing my employment with British Bakeries as Sales Manager, I have a great deal to thank Landers Bakery for, and what a great grounding for life.

    By alan curtis (14/03/2011)
  • Prior to the modernisation of Landers Bakery in 1962… When the new travelling oven was installed at a cost of around £2,000,000, flour was delivered daily to Landers in sacks… It was at this time, that the first two silos were installed, enabling the flour to be delivered in bulk by tankers. Ted Morris definitely had a sense of humour, for he put Mild on one, and bitter on the other. The new oven produced fabulous bread. The dough was placed in tins at one end of the oven, travelled slowly through the oven, coming out of the other end, producing continuous beautifully baked bread.

    By alan curtis (28/02/2011)
  • There are many stories to come out of Landers Bakery. This is one of them. In the early sixties, 1962/3, when a sliced and wrapped loaf was ” One and twopence halfpenney.” Landers installed a state of the art travelling oven. The dough was placed in tins, in the oven at one end. They would travel very slowly through the oven, with windows being strategically placed to check progress. Eventually, the baked bread would come out of the other end of the travelling oven, beautifully baked… This fantastic oven produced a beautiful loaf, a continuous bake, and cost around £2,000,000 to install. And of course, sales esculated…However, like many new machines, one day, something went wrong. Landers were soon on the phone, and sure enough, the oven company dispatched a man to Landers straight away…A quick look at the oven and the man took out a large hammer,hit the side of the new oven with the hammer. “Hey presto” the oven worked. The man left, and everyone was happy…That is, until Landers received the bill of £700. Of course the bill was queried,and Landers asked for a breakdown. explaining the business about the hammer.. .. Back came the breakdown of the bill. Hitting the oven with hammer twice..£50 Knowing where to hit………………….£650 Ouch!!!

    By alan curtis (24/02/2011)
  • My Father Clarence Stevens was a mechanic at Landers and he also worked in the paint shop, I can remember when they first did the Bakers Boy vans. I know he left Pyes to work at Landers. He worked there till his sudden death in 1963. We only lived across the road at the end of Yorke St, No 179. It only seems like yesterday.

    By Pete Stevens (21/02/2011)
  • Hello Carole, it was indeed a privilege to know your grandfather, your auntie, Thelma, and of course your mother Kathleen. Being on the sales side of the business, I was away from the bakery most of the day, nevertheless they were all lovely people. My only recollection of your gran ” Gertrude” was when she arrived at the bakery, getting out of a large black car, looking very elegant. She would always pass the time of day with everyone. I believe she wore a fur around her shoulders, and always well dressed..Your grandfather was a very determined, and very fair man,and therefore very much respected.

    By alan curtis (18/02/2011)
  • In the late 40’s at Landers Bakery, the loading bays and the parking yard for the vans were at the very top of Oxford Street…There was no wrapped or sliced bread. Only the bread as it came off the ovens. The loaves were placed on to wire trolleys then wheeled outside to cool… When cool, the bread was packed onto wooden trays to be loaded onto the vans.The trays were such, they held 24 loaves stood on end, with another 16 loaves packed over the top of them… Each loaf weighed 1.3/4lb. and cost to the housewife at that time was the old Fourpence halfpenny .. When the load had been checked, one would take their van to the confectionery department to collect their cakes. These would be passed through the two open windows which allow you to collect ” Morning Goods ,Cakes Etc. ” It was in the vehicle yard, where Percy Lander had the foresight to buy a very large shed and save what must have been one of, if not the first, Bread Slicing Machines . Percy, and the bakery staff,worked on this slicing machine, and it was probably Landers who first introduced ” Sliced Bread ” to the Nottinghamshire area. Bread was soon being sold sliced with an elastic band around it. but at this time, still Unwrapped…

    By alan curtis (15/02/2011)
  • I have read all this with great interest – I am Percy Landers only grand-child, daughter of Kathleen. I never knew him – I was born 1956 – I think he died early 50’s. I was very close to my grandmother – Gertrude – she died in 1970.Thelma died in 2003 and my mother in 2005. I would be very interested in speaking or hearing any other reminiscences from people who knew any of my ancestors. I have always felt proud to be a direct relation – I have a very old photo of a Landers van and driver -which I will scan in and see if anybody knows the person in the photo

    By Carole Clark (14/02/2011)
  • In regards to alan curtis comments about the workforce at landers the workforce were magnificent at landers despite all the industrial disputes of the 70’s and the changing.

    By j l cairns (14/02/2011)
  • When Percy Lander started his bakery, he allowed housewives to take their unbaked dough to the bakery,and for the price of one old penny..he would let them use his ovens to bake their bread….After the death of Mr. Lander.( I think in the late 40’s.) The bakery was carried on by his two daughters…Kathleen and Thelma Lander. Kathleen looked after the office side. Thelma was more hands on in the bakery . The larger bakeries were soon on the scene ,and it was not long before Landers became part of the British Bakeries Group. ( Mothers Pride Group.)…Having a very good name in the area, and Mothers Pride having a large bakery in Chesterfield, Landers were able to keep their brand name. Competition was fierce, and Landers soon became the “Starship” of British Bakeries. Having said that,many of the people who helped in the growth of Landers, were moved on to other bakeries..It is hard to exaggerate the work that these local people put into their job. The growth of Landers was remarkable.

    By alan curtis (11/02/2011)
  • The driver of the van is holding the vehicle door and is Dennis Davis, the other person is a van boy not known.

    By R.Booth (08/02/2011)
  • I started working at Landers in 1949. My best friend and I Frank Bagley started together there as Vanboys. At that time there were only eight rounds, Percy Lander had recently died and the bakery was being run by his two daughters. Jack Pearson was looking after the van sales side of the business, it was he who took us on. If my memory serves me right it went like this: Round 1 was George Barlow. R2 Wilf Rowell. R3 Archie Walton. R4 Phil Riley. R5 Eddie Heald. R6 Eric Gibson. R7 Digger Townroe. R8 Ken Fearn. Frank Smith was the load and tray checker. Frank always wanted to have a race with me if I would give him a yard start for every year he was older than me. He was 63, I was 15, glad I didn’t take him on!! What a fantastic and wonderful place of work it was, just one huge happy family. Some other names I remember well are: Charlie Strutt. Wyn Wheeler.Terry Wass. Lofty Yates.Ray Clarke. Albert Frost.Sam Ball and Jack Severns. I left in 1966. I was asked to go to another bakery in the North West. We are now enjoying our retirement in Thornton Cleveleys Lancs. but have very fond memories of Mansfield.

    By alan curtis (07/02/2011)
  • I was factory manager from 1976 until closure in 1981. I was made to work out my 4 months notice at Mothers Pride Nottingham as I did not move to Erith on the Thames. I was starting a bakery in Pleasley with my bread production manager. At the time of my move from Mothers Pride Scarborough to Landers bread Mansfield R.H.M.(British Bakeries)Ltd. Intended to Build a new Plant bakery on the land at the rear of the Oxford Street site.

    By Peter Gradwell (26/01/2011)
  • I will be pleased to help fill in any details required.

    By peter gradwell (26/01/2011)
  • I worked as a van lad in 1967 I was 16. I started on round 31 which was Sheffield the driver was John Hiliwell. Stan Jent took over then I moved to round 27 which was Long Eaton & Beeston and local to them. My driver on that round was Roy Wooley then it was Terry Wilkinson. I have fond memories of landers and a lot of customers and the xmas balls they had. I would love some photos of the old lorries such as the old Ford D, the Thames Trader and Custom Cab

    By dennis wysocki (19/01/2011)
  • I worked here during the late 60’s starting as a driver’s mate and then moved to the hygene side of it. One of my jobs was to climb a ladder to the top of both silos to brush out the build-up of flour. No hard hat or health and safety in those days.

    By Ted Grav (18/12/2010)
  • The person stood by the gates is Harry the security manager[known as Harry O], the land rover parked to the right was Pete Hazard the transport managers and the cortina at the back on the left was Eric desforges the sales manager.  This picture was taken after the announcement of the closure, I remember it well I worked there, as for the RED SEAL it was a trading emblem to compete with Mothers Pride [part of the same group] and bakeries with a good name [like Landers] were allowed to keep there name

    By j.l.cairns (17/12/2010)

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