Site: J. Lyons war memorial - second location (1 memorial)
UB6, Oldfield Lane North
The J. Lyons war memorial was moved here from its original location in 1968. It was here located at the newly built tea factory.
This Lyons factory site was officially opened in July 1921. Initially it occupied only the land to the south of the canal but in 1926 the land to the north of the canal (now the industrial estate around Auriol Drive) became available so that was also acquired, though not developed until later. In 1954 the northern part of the site was developed and became known as Bridge Park.
"In 1967/8 a new tea warehouse and distribution centre was built on the remaining parcel of land which was sandwiched between the north side of the canal and the southern boundary of the Bridge Park factory. Both the new tea warehouse and Bridge Park factory had their own entrances onto Oldfield Lane North; the former being known as Auriol Drive. Although the Bridge Park factory and tea warehouse properties abutted, their was no official access from one to the other except by Oldfield Lane North."
This 1938 map very clearly shows the site before it expanded northwards. The best we can find showing the development to the north is this 1944-1973 map. From the description, the tea factory must be the most south-eastern of the 3 large buildings on the north side of the canal. It seems likely to us that the memorial was placed at the entrance to the site, visible from the road, so that is where we've dropped our pin.
The business began faltering in the 1960s and eventually the Greenford site was sold off 1998-2002. So, in 2001 the memorial was on the move again, this time to its current location, the Hammersmith Cemetery.
Source: Lyons which has a lot more information and photos of the site.
