Cavendish Bridge Brewery - A History
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George Eaton, Cavendish Bridge Brewery
John Fletcher & Son established the brewery in 1815 and Fletcher & Son were listed as brewers in 1835. The Fletcher family had been brewing beer in Ripley in Derbyshire. They were shown in the 1830 poll book as John senior and John junior. George Trussell Eaton had taken over the brewery by 1840. He was born around 1821 at Sutton on Hill in Derbyshire and he seems to have been helped in the business by John, his younger brother. The Eaton family had financial connections to the brewing Fletchers of Derbyshire.
In 1846, he was listed as a brewer and maltster. His agent at 23 High Street, Castle Donington until 1855, was a William Clarke, who was also a maltster. Clarke bottled Eaton's beer at cottages in front of his home. However, in 1848 William Clarke was also shown as a maltster and farmer and ale and porter merchant at Cavendish Bridge, when Eaton was listed as a wholesale ale and porter brewer.
In 1884 Eaton was still listed, with William Hemsley the clerk at CBB. Eaton’s home was shown as the Pastures. However, in June 1884, his widow Julia, née Sandford, was re-married to James Roney-Dougall. The latter had come to learn the brewing trade, but after his marriage was later ordained and became the local vicar.
In September 1896, Offiler's Brewery Ltd, which had gone public in 1890, bought the Cavendish Bridge Brewery. This was financed by the issue of £20,000 preference shares and a £65,000 mortgage debenture. They doubled output at CBB, to serve the Offilers’ Leicestershire pubs and to continue supplying the strong presence in Loughborough and Quorn. The main Derby brewery was still run by Henry Offiler.
Around this time, the CBB still had an agency at Ashby, then run by Mrs Ann Cox the victualler at the Waggon & Horses.
The minute books for the Offiler's Brewery Ltd’s Board at the turn of the century seem to devote more time to CBB than to their own Derby concern, perhaps representing the continuing management need to assimilate the two businesses. At this time, Offilers’ balance sheet valued the business at £304,263, with a net profit £20,105 in 1899, paying 6% on A&B preference shares. However, in 1900 there was a call of £1 per £5 Ordinary share (£4 paid) to cover payments on the CBB debenture trust account and they were looking to issue the balance of 3,318 unissued shares. The strength of the business was shown in that these were to be issued at a £2 premium, i.e. £7. The 9th Offiler's Brewery Ltd’s AGM on 30th November reported that CBB was “now moving along very nicely”.
The trustees for the debenture were Sir Thomas Roe and Sir Henry Willmot, both from families which seem to have had other brewery connections. There was still some involvement with the previous owners e.g. transfer of debenture stock from Thomas Eaton to a Sarah Barton. Similarly, the following year a WJ Eaton offered the Old School House, Cavendish Bridge to Offiler's Brewery Ltd for £300 but they declined to purchase the building. Around this time, a George Henry Eaton was at the Brickmakers in Leicester, but this was owned by Brunt, Bucknall & Co.
In February 1899, J Marsden, described as the Head Brewer at Offiler's Brewery Ltd (actually at CBB) left to take an appointment with the Trinidad Brewery Company in the West Indies. His successor was a WA Crane from Warwicks & Richardsons at Newark. The 10th AGM on 30th November stated that the business was “growing enormously”, requiring further investment of some £6,000 at CBB and Derby. However, one sad note was the death of George Offiler on 3rd November.
In 1899, they were working on the water supply, and the following year saw £37 for new water mains and £24 for repairs to the chimney and new lightning conductor. The workforce at CBB presented George A Matterson, the Head Brewer at Derby, with an aneroid barometer and thermometer as a wedding present in 1900.
In March the Budget increase in duty of 1/- per barrel was passed on to the trade; however, the response from the Loughborough tenants was a circular arguing that this war tax should be abolished or divided between the parties. The Offiler's Brewery Ltd’s Board instructed the company secretary, Mr Brown, to respond stating that both were impossible. In September 1901, they received a letter from the Leicester & District Off-licensed Association, complaining that the tax had been charged to the tenants, but not to the free trade. Around this time Offilers had offices at Campbell Chambers, Campbell Street in town.
The 1900 AGM on 19th November saw James Cumberland, who had taken George Offiler’s place as chairman, reporting an excellent year, with profits of £22,165. He stated that when the business had been founded in 1890, it had assets of £75,019 and these were now worth £321,978.
Breweries were of course still reliant on horse-drawn transport at the turn of the century; although, around this time the Brewers’ Journal included articles about the growth of motor traction vehicles. Hence, a new dray for the Leicester agency cost £30, and a cart horse for CBB was £39. Old horses at CBB were sold:- a grey cart mare for £9 19s 6d, bay cart horse £21. At these prices, they were presumably for further use rather than the knackers yard!
Travellers operating from the agencies worked on commission. However, to obtain a position, they had to put down a £100 cash security on which they would receive 5% interest, with an average commission of £2 per week. Offiler's Brewery Ltd were looking to expand their Leicester office and initially looked to extend the lease with the owner, Mr Winterton. The role of such agents was crucial in both developing sales, maintaining quality and acting as early forms of market research. At this time, the Burton brewers were looking to expand their trade and agents played a vital part, not least having information about the credit worthiness of local landlords. Bass had loans of some £1m at the turn of the century and the Journals were full of victuallers going bankrupt.
The new owners of CBB were also looking to upgrade the estate e.g. a proposal to give up the Lord Nelson at Loughborough for a new hotel on the Toothill estate. However, this was turned down by the licensing authorities. This did not prove too much of a difficulty, since CBB formed an agreement with the local Midland Brewery Company, not to tender for the Toothill estate, because insufficient new houses had been built. They were also offered for £2,800, the Old English Gentleman, which they seemed to be leasing and which was selling some 4 barrels per week.
To match the increased output, CBB was investing £110 in a new brewery copper from Briggs & Company. The brewhouse was of course steam powered; hence in 1901, they were ordering 100 tons of gas coal at tender between 16/3 and 19/1 per ton, as well as 300 tons of “hard” brewery coal at 14/8 from Mr Cowlishaw. The following March they also invested £290 in a new boiler, together with £42 for a second-hand one and £61 for a steam driven yeast pump and new yeast press.
However, they were obviously concerned about their distribution area, since in 1902 when Carr & Company of 178a Derby Road, Nottingham, applied for an agency to sell CBB beer, they were turned down. Offiler's Brewery Ltd did not want to establish a buying agency at Nottingham. Interestingly, they also declined to supply the 26 pubs of the Derby business of Pountain, Girardot & Forman Ltd, although they did take this contract in the 1920s. Despite this reluctance, they produced a trading profit of £21,765 for 1901.
September 1903 brought a new wooden mash tun from Messrs Buxton and Thornley for some £221, as well as new yeast backs. The emphasis on new methods of controlling brewing, particularly in terms of the yeast, can be seen in a contract with Messrs Matthews & Lett of Burton. This was to analyse 2 samples of yeast from each brewery per week.
The assistant brewer at Derby, Mr F Allen, received an increase in salary from £150 to £175 per annum. However, brewing at CBB was not doing so well, with Henry Offiler, the joint MD reporting numerous complaints from customers and that he had to stop the beer from going out. The CBB brewer was given 3 months salary in lieu of notice and in the meantime, Henry would oversee brewing there. Henry’s annual salary as joint MD was some £1,000. Mr Crane the brewer at CBB declined to offer his resignation and was dismissed. Mr JR Pick of CBB received a £5 bonus for his help whilst there was no full-time brewer. Mr George Peach also received a £5 bonus for the extra work involved with his malting on commission at Pountain, Girardot & Forman Ltd. It is interesting to see the continued involvement of the Peach family in malting.
Another set-back to Offiler's Brewery Ltd was the death of Mr James Cumberland in October, the Chairman of the business. He was replaced by another member of the board, James Cooper. The following year, the Company Secretary, Frank Brown, also died.
In September 1904, JR Pick’s hard work was further recognised when he was appointed assistant brewer at CBB, on a salary of £3 per week. To help, W Wright, a tun room man, was appointed as working foreman on 30/- per week. Henry Offiler would continue to supervise operations at the brewery. October brought investment in a new refrigerator from Munstons for £160. In January 1905, the problem of the brewer at CBB was resolved when Mr Guy Thompson, from the Nottingham Brewery Company, was appointed the manager. He was given a salary of £200 per annum and a cottage at the brewery. Another newcomer from Nottingham was Mr Shearer from Home Brewery, who was appointed as the Company Secretary. CBB would seem to have been operating the Burton Union brewing system, since in May 1905 they bought 24 union casks and fittings from Z Smith, their neighbours across the river at Shardlow.
From 30th September 1905, all fully licensed tenants were to be tied for wines and spirits.
The continued popularity of bottled beer, particularly from the nearby Burton brewers, led to trials with filling machines for carbonated beer. The trials were successful and two machines purchased.
In 1905 Guy Thompson the brewer was to marry and, as a result, was to take the house occupied by the CBB chief clerk, Mr Dickin, the latter presumably being single. However, in January 1906, the MD drew attention to the decrease of trade at CBB and the unsatisfactory condition of some of the beers brewed. The MD was to investigate and speak to Mr Thompson, who was to attend the mashing in the early morning and to follow through the process. Perhaps his marriage had affected his dedication to the brewing!
The Derby brewery seemed to be operating successfully, since Mr Matterson the Head Brewer received an increase in his salary to take him to £450 per annum. However, in December 1906, the assistant brewer there, Mr Allen, resigned. Amongst the 100 applicants for the post was Arthur Hill Wicks (possibly Willis), 52 Kirkstall Avenue, Leeds. This successful applicant was the son of Mr Hill Wicks previously the brewer at Cavendish Bridge. His career included one year with his father at the Exeter Brewery, a year at Russells of Gravesend and he had spent the last 15 months as assistant brewer at the Kirkstall Brewery, Leeds, producing some 1,200 barrels per week.
In 1907 they agreed a new malt contract with Pountain, Girardot & Forman Ltd. Presumably this was for the Derby home-brew pubs. However, in the November they were looking to sell some of their own properties. This was perhaps not unconnected with requests from the bank to reduce the overdraft on the property account, as well as its decision to raise the interest rate to 5%. The Board was also considering issuing further preference shares to raise cash.
Problems continued with brewing at CBB, when on 8th September 1908, Guy Thompson’s resignation was accepted. He had been appointed Head Brewer at Smith & Company, just across the river in Shardlow. Mr HA Willmot from Sir William Dupree’s brewery at Portsmouth (see Portsmouth & Brighton United Breweries Ltd) was appointed in his place on £200 pa. Given that a Willmot was one of the CBB debenture trustees, there may have been a family connection. However, the following year, when Mr Hill Wicks (shown later as Willis), the assistant brewer requested an increase in salary, this was turned down because of the unsatisfactory trade at the time.
The trading difficulties had also caused the Chairman of the Leicester licensing committee to comment about the prevalence of the “long pull”, i.e. selling over measure. He also stated that any giving away of sweets or price cuts would lead to the licence being lost. A sound economic response to poor sales! Offiler's Brewery Ltd had agreed with other members of the local trade that there would be a minimum price of 4d per quart.
Licences were crucial at this time, as the authorities began to use the powers granted to them by the 1904 Compensation Act. For example CBB lost the licence for the Anchor at Thringstone, with compensation of £324, of which the tenant would receive £50.
This poor trade had led to the liquidation of another Derbyshire business, the Little Eaton Brewery. This seemed to be a small concern with about 6 pubs and an off-licence, totalling an annual trade of only £1,200. This was mainly in one gallon containers, presumably for home consumption. Offiler's Brewery Ltd bought the business in April 1909, for only £525. Whilst draught beers were still the main sales, bottled beer was continuing to grow in popularity. There was investment in the bottling department at CBB in September 1909 as follows:-
- New Kiefer Filler £110
- Air Pump £9
- Filters £27
- Labelling Machine £50
In contrast to previous directorial concern with buying horses, the year 1910 saw mention of the arrangements for Mr Offiler’s motor car.
Licensing continued to exercise management attention. The increase in excise costs led to the Loughborough agency licence being dropped, whilst there was as an attempt to change that at Leicester from wholesale to retail. However, there were difficulties with the local authorities about the practicalities involved. There was also the new manufacturing tax of 12/- per barrel, leading to increased costs for CBB of £270 and Derby £476. It is difficult to translate these amounts into barrelage, since various offsets were possible. Nevertheless, they do indicate that CBB was probably only around half the size of the Derby brewery.
Nevertheless, whilst horse drawn drays limited distribution, CBB still had a role to play in supplying the southern trading area in Leicestershire. Hence, September 1910 saw investment of £150 in a new boiler and the following year £370 was spent on a new roof for the brewery.
Perhaps surprisingly, there does not seem to have been much trade in Ashby, although in the October a Mr McCarthy offered the White Hart with a trade of about £600 at 20% discount on sales. It is likely that the town was mainly supplied by Brunt, Bucknall & Co’s nearby Woodville brewery.
The year 1911 saw the trade gradually improving, perhaps linked to the celebrations for George V’s coronation. There would be improvements at Derby to reflect the increase and the brewer there, Mr Willmot saw an increase in salary to £275. Nevertheless, the Board declined to purchase Hill’s Cromford brewery.
Things were not quite so happy at CBB, where two of the travellers died within days of each other in early November. Then on 11th January 1912, Richard Finney died aged 70. He had joined the Offiler's Brewery Ltd’s Board at the time of the purchase of CBB. This was given as 22nd September 1896 and it seems likely that Finney had been running CBB at the time.
The Buck’s Horn at Loughborough was closed and the licence transferred to a new off-licence at 31 Curzon Street. This was despite an initial objection from Marstons PLC. Further problems arose at Leicester, where the police objected to the renewal of the licences for the Warwick Arms and the Warwick Castle. The Board accepted that closure was likely, but anticipated that they could use the money received from the Compensation Fund for rebuilding the Wilmot Arms at Derby. In the event, they did not receive the anticipated £2,400, but only about £1,800.
In line with the previous tie on wines and spirits, James Gutteridge, the tenant of the Lord Nelson at Loughborough, was given notice to quit for buying his spirits elsewhere. However, the notice was subsequently withdrawn.
A sign of the times was the arrival in June 1913 of a Foden steam motor. The following year saw the purchase of another Foden and a motor car for Mr Brown, the Leicester agent. In expectation of further closures and compensation, 5 of the Loughborough houses were revalued as follows:-
- The Blue Boar, Rushes £1,600
- Wheatsheaf, Bedford Square £1,750
- Green Man, Swan Street £3,000
- Old English Gent, Ashby Road £2,210
- White Swan, Wellington Street £1,750
In fact, most seem to have survived possible closure. Investment at Derby allowed four old fermenting vessels to be transferred to CBB. The improvements there were probably helpful in absorbing the small increase in capacity needed to cover the extra sales resulting from the eventual purchase of Hill’s Cromford brewery in January 1914, for £7,250. A new second assistant brewer was H Cecil Offiler.
In July 1914, Hugh Nelthorpe Sutton, who had family links with the Pountain, Girardot & Forman Ltd, died. He had replaced Richard Finney as a member of the Board. However, greater problems came when September brought the outbreak of war. The initial impact was on the workforce, as employees volunteered for the forces. The business patriotically supported them. The 4 boys who left from the bottling department were given £1 each, whilst the wives of serving men received some 5/- or 6/- per week and a coal allowance of 12/6. Mr Willis the brewer also went on active service, although he received an allowance of £5 per month.
The war does not seem to have had a major impact on the business. If anything, the minutes of the Board meetings become rather terse, with little comment on how the business was operating, nor on how the war was progressing. Still sales seemed to be reasonable and, despite increased taxes, they were also able to raise the prices. To help cover the vacancies, JH Warton, previously brewing in the Stroud area, was appointed assistant brewer at Derby.
There was also a gradual expansion of the estate e.g. 3 pubs at Spondon, but this seems to reflect increasing concern for the Derbyshire trade. However, in 1918 the Chairman James Cooper was increasingly absent from meetings because of illness. Indeed, on some occasions, the meetings were held at his house in Moseley, Birmingham.
In March 1919, FDK Willmot was to succeed J Wainwright as the maltster at CBB. The latter, aged 70 had been with the business for 48 years, which would shows he had been there from the days of George Eaton. Willmot was also to be an assistant brewer, with a salary of £200 pa.
However, the post-war period was beset with “difficulties which the company had had to meet”. Nevertheless, a new appointment in May 1919 as assistant MD and director, was HC Offiler, the son of the MD. He had been “specially trained for brewery management”.
In July, an expansion of the CBB maltings was agreed. This doubled the capacity from 35 to 70 quarters. The work cost some £5,579.
In March 1920, Mr Hill Willis left after 15 years service to become the Head Brewer at Hardy and Hanson of Kimberley. His replacement was Vivian Bailey, who came from Worksop and Retford, where he had been involved with producing some 1,500 barrels per week. Another member of the family joined the firm, when FR Offiler was appointed as motor traffic manager at £375 pa. In June the Foden 3 ton steam wagons were sold for £550 each.
On 3rd May 1921, after his lengthy illness, James Cooper died aged 78. He had been a director since the formation of the company and Chairman for 18 years. William Hart became the new Chairman.
That year GA Matterson, the Head Brewer, celebrated 25 years with the business. This shows that he had joined in 1896, suggesting that he may have started with CBB, before replacing Mr Offiler at Derby.
In June 1922, Offiler's Brewery Ltd were given the opportunity to convert eight of Pountain, Girardot & Forman Ltd’s home brew pubs in Derby to brewery supply. However, this had to be postponed because of objections from the tenants. Nevertheless, they were supplying Pountain, Girardot & Forman Ltd’s other houses and this attempt to cease brewing in the pubs was to presage the events of later years.
In November, Frances Reynold was appointed as a director to fill the vacancy from James Cooper’s death. However, on 28th November a further death was that of one of the founders, Henry Offiler, a director since incorporation in 1890. The AGM on the 18th December confirmed HC Offiler as the new MD, with two new directors:- Alderman JG Shields and FR Offiler, the engineering and transport manager.
This new blood immediately showed its changed view, with the directors’ meeting after the AGM deciding to close CBB and transfer brewing to Derby. No doubt the introduction of motor transport, making distribution much easier, and the fight against the rating assessment for CBB, had been major factors in the decision. In 1922 HA Willmott was listed as the manager at CBB.
The 1922 Annual Report stated that whilst “from time to time it had shown good results, owing to diminished trade it had been decided that all brewing could be done at Derby.” (BHS Journal No 48 June 1986 p7). The maltings would continue to operate. On 23rd January 1923, the Cavendish Bridge brewery closed.
The business figures for 1922 were as follows:- Trading profit of £24,103 (down from £31,143), which after interest etc. generated a surplus £10,104 (down from £15,462). This increased the P&L account to £60,012.
Despite the comments regarding the trading position, financially the business looked reasonably strong. Again, one might see the closure in terms of a new management team looking to the future.
In March 1923, a sale of the horses and drays yielded some £704. A Ford van was being used to transport men from CBB to the Derby brewery, to assist with its increased production. Some of the land at CBB was let. Unfortunately, there were still some problems with trade. The February figure of 3,780 barrels was some 2% down from the 3,875 barrels of February 1922. Furthermore, they had to order 100 barrels of Bass and 200 barrels of Worthington in anticipation of shortages over Whitsuntide.
Not everyone was happy with the changes. William Sherar, the company secretary, resigned after the MD asked for reports on the management structure. Still, he did get a retirement allowance of £200 pa. Stanley Brown moved up to replace him. A final change came from the death of Lord Roe, one of the trustees for the CBB debenture mortgage.
Although malting initially continued at CBB, in June the Board decided to look closely at the costings. The figures showed that 2,961 quarters could be produced at 16/3 per quarter. Conversion to electricity would reduce this to 14/10 and if output could be raised to 3,500 quarters, to 14/5. However, Hinde & Company offered to produce 7,000 quarters at 16/6 for English barley and 14/6 for foreign. Offiler's Brewery Ltd agreed a contract for 6,000 quarters and decided to close the CBB maltings. Mr Willmott would supervise until December.
Trading difficulties continued, the June 1923 sales of 4,932 barrels were 437 down from the previous year. Total sales for the twelve months were down 998 barrels. However, July’s figure of 6,170 barrels, was an increase of 1,343 on the same month of the previous year and it seemed that the tide had turned, with continued growth in the following months.
In the October, Mr Abbott of the Victoria Vinegar Brewery in Sheffield looked at the CBB site, but decided that it was too large for their needs. Instead, they bought Stretton's Derby Brewery Ltd’s Kedleston Road brewery in Derby. Peach & Company, the Burton maltsters also looked at leasing the CBB maltings, but this deal also fell through.
The Frederick Stenson of Loughborough properties were on the market, but Offiler's Brewery Ltd declined to purchase. And the following year they decided that Sydney Wells & Sons of Kegworth was unlikely to be worth buying. However, they did buy some Leicestershire property, paying £1,850 for the Plough at Ashby, said to be selling some 3 to 3½ barrels per week.
AC Hinde looked at buying the malting equipment, but decided it was too dear and malting ceased. They received offers to dismantle the brewery and clear the site, but in October 1925, they were actually considering re-opening the brewery to meet improved sales. However, they decided to expand at Derby instead.
In September 1931, a portion of the Cavendish Bridge Brewery, the brewery yard, malthouses, stables, garage, together with any plant and machinery, with three houses, in total some 3 acres, was sold to the Trent Navigation Company of Nottingham for £3,000. In December 1936, the Trent paid £500 for a further 7,094 square yards, with buildings. Around the same time 3 cottages at Cavendish were also sold for £275. The brewery house was demolished in 1955 for the new bridge. However, some of the maltings remain (SK448299).
Anthony Avis in his reminiscences on the brewing industry describes Offiler's Brewery Ltd in the 1960s as “one of the sleepiest brewery companies I had so far experienced, even in an era of comatose management” (Avis p79). In the mid sixties, they were worried by the continual decline in sales from 1954 and in particular the resistance to sales of their mild in Derby. They also noted the continued rise of keg sales and were considering a 21 year agreement with Mitchells & Butlers of Birmingham to supply their houses. Instead they drew up a list of potential buyers for their business and in January 1965 they were sold to Charrington & Co. Ltd.