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53
(1) No basement bakehouse shall be established anew;
(2) No basement bakehouse may be used as such unless certified by the local
authority under the Factories Act, 1901;
(3) If the use of the basement bakehouse is discontinued for a period exceeding
twelve months, it must not be used again
(4) Every local authority shall examine all basement bakehouses between 1st
July, 1938, and 30th June, 1939, and in every fifth succeeding year.
After the first examination the local authority shall either:-
(a) Certify the bakehouse as suitable for continued use without prejudice to the
local authority's power to revoke the certificate as a result of further
quinquennial examinations or
(b) Give at least one month's notice of closure of the bakehouse.
There is power of appeal to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction against the notice
that the Certificate of Suitability of a basement bakehouse is to cease to have effect
is given to the occupier, exercisable within twenty-one days.
When the first examination under the Act was made in 1939 there were 47 such bakehouses
of which 17 had fallen into disuse prior to the coming into force of the Act.
Owing to the war no survey was carried out in 1944.
The 1949 survey was concerned with 18 bakehouses still in use and in 1954,
certificates of suitability were renewed in the case of 9 such premises. They were:-
(1) 52-54, Dawes Road
(2) 16-18, Greyhound Road
(3) 393, North End Road
(4) 78, North End Road
(5) 96, New Kings Road
(6) 102, North End Road
(7) 26, New Kings Road
(8) 63, Walham Grove
(9) 169, Greyhound Road
Of these, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 have been disused for baking purposes for over
one year and may not be used again, whilst in the case of No. 1, baking ceased on the
24th April, 1959, and is not likely to be resumed.
Following the quinquennial review during the year Certificates of Suitability
were therefore renewed in respect of two premises only -
96, New Kings Road
169, Greyhound Road
Various factors have contributed to the continuing decline in the number of
basement bakehouses in use. Perhaps the most important one has been the merging of
businesses and the resultant concentration of baking in larger and more modern
bakeries at a more economical rate of production.
It is infinitely more pleasant for employees in the baking industry to work in
new bright factories than to spend their working days below ground. It is not
surprising therefore that the two remaining basement bakehouses are those wherein the
occupiers" families play the major or sole role.