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209
1906
Town Hall.,
Upper Street, N.
June 8th, 1906.
Dear Sir,
I have to report that I have inspected the whole of the Bakehouses in the Borough, and
have found them to a very great extent in a satisfactory condition. There is no doubt that
owing to the illness of Inspector West, who since last November has practically been unable
to keep them under supervision, that there has been a slight falling off on the part of the
occupiers to observe the conditions as to cleansing, etc., as they have done in previous years.
In my opinion, if the high standard that has been reached in regard to the state of our Bakehouses
is to be maintained, a more frequent inspection should be made, and I would also
suggest that printed instructions should be issued to the occupiers as to the proper use of
Bakehouses and the months of the year that the cleansing, etc., should be carried out. I have
found ironing being done on a trough, clothes being dried in several instances in the Bakehouse,
and in some cases workmen resting on the troughs. Of course, these may be looked on
as small matters, but I certainly think that they should be discouraged. There still remain
a large number of Bakehouses which have not been in use for several years, but as the ovens
have not been bricked up, they have to be inspected for the purpose of ascertaining whether
they have been used, and to do this necessitates a great many visits being paid.
1 am,
Yours faithfully,
JAMES R. LEGGATT,
Superintendent and Chief
Sanitary Inspector.
With respect to his remark that there had been a slight falling off on the
part of the occupiers in the observations of the conditions as to cleanliness,
etc., it should be observed that owing to the illness of Inspector West during
several months in the early part of the year, it was not possible to visit the
bakehouses more frequently. In any case, increasing duties under the Factory
and Workshops Act made it incumbent that some means should be devised for
their more frequent inspection. This was effected later on in the year by
relieving him of certain duties which he had previously carried out, and by the
appointment of a Female Sanitary Inspector to look after the kitchens and
restaurants, a work to which he had devoted considerable time.
With respect to the statement that Mr. Leggatt had found several bakehouses
that were used for drying clothes, it might be pointed out that there is
no power under any Act of Parliament to prevent this practice. His suggestion,
therefore, that printed instructions should be issued to the occupiers, is worthy
of consideration. The drawback, however, is that if they were made the
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