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The
waitress service did not return after
WW11, but all the teashops were in dire
need of overhall after a period of wartime
and minimum maintenance. The cafeteria
counter had to get rid of the old Hot
Section - a honeycombe of steam heated
pidgeon-holes with an opaque stainless
hinged flap hiding the dished food behind
from the customer.
The
counters were modernized with open Bain
Maries with food in water heated pots and
counter staff would portion the food out
as it was asked for. At first the Teashops
were changed out over a weekend - starting
Friday night and openning again on Monday
morning. The engineers continuously
working in 12 hour shifts. However after
about six months the health of the
engineers began to suffer and the
modernization was changed with the use of
a Temporary Counter being installed first
and the Teashop remaining in business
although an area was cordonned off by
large white dust sheets for the work of
installation going on behind. Usually at
the same time the kitchen was modernized
with a Conveyor Washing Machine in place
of the old style Soaking System for
washing crockery and cutlery.
Heating
and ventillating was often installed at
the same time and Fresh Air and Extract
ducting and large fans to move the air put
in place.
There were
two departments involved in the
refurbishment. The Engineers (of which I
was one) designed the equipment and
supervised the engineers working the
alterations. Secondly, the Construction
dept. who managed the building
alterations. A section of the Construction
Dept was the Shopfitters who set out the
position of the counters and the design of
the shop front and internal wall cladding
and decorations.
America
was still a world away but D.E Klue made a
trip to New York in the early 50's and
reported on service and counter styles he
visited. I remember doing sketches of
counters for his report.
Most of
the counter and kitchen equipment was
built at the Park Royal works in batches
of a dozen. The scheduling and costing of
equipment prior to delivery was most
thorough as the omittion of one item could
cause much delay.
All
Teashop refurbishment work was managed and
coordinated by D.E. Klue. The Construction
Dept was headed by -. Morris and the
Shopfitters Dept. by Len Velluet, Phil
Hartnett and Andy Sandford.. Air
conditioning design was planned by W.H.
Smith. Supervision of engineering work in
Teashops was by Ron Olliffe and Ted Tozer
and electrical work by Tom Jordan.
Plumbing John Wise. Design and scheduling
was by # and Denis
Packham.
Fitters on
teashop refurbishment and fitting out new
teashopsduring the 50s were: George
Torkinton, Jim McCarthy, Mick Forest,
Charlie Arundel (SMW)
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