Western end of Capel Road

The chance receipt of a couple of photos dating from the 1930s of activity at the western end of Capel Road set regular contributor Peter Williams and his colleague and collaborator Mark Gorman in search of life on that strip of highway from the 1890s until the 1990s. Activity there during that period was very different from that in the primarily Victorian houses that populate the rest of Capel Road today.

The article references several sources that people researching the histories of their properties may find helpful.

The area today

The area covered by this article today is largely occupied by a row of houses built in the late 1990s – see photos below.

Modern houses at the western end of Capel Road (2016)

The history quest began with site photos of a petrol station (see later) located at 10 Capel Road. Half a century earlier, that site had been the location of Manor Farm, run by the Banes family, as suggested by these newspaper adverts from 1899 and 1907.

Barking, East Ham and Ilford Advertiser 18 February 1899

Westminster Gazette 28 October 1907

The site soon became occupied and managed by Thomas Henry Mullins, who gave the address (still known as Banes’ Manor Farm – see photo) for selling a cart (see below).

Banes Manor Farm sign, Capel Road c1907

Barking, East Ham and Ilford Advertiser 31 August 1907

Mullins was a Somerset-born dairyman who lived at 10 Capel Road during the 1911 census. He was one of many country- folk who migrated to towns and cities, maintaining their previous rural occupations. In his case, it was cow-keeping. Several cow-keepers lived near Wanstead Flats until the 1990s, when they let their often small number of beasts graze on the land.

Thomas Henry Mullins - 1911 census - Ancestry

The reasonably prosperous Mullins died in 1916, as this extract from the probate register indicates.

Thomas Henry Mullins - Probate Records, Ancestry

As these clips from the British Newspaper Archives catalogue indicate, the dairy would appear to have been wound up in 1921.

The Gazette - 5 July 1921

It's not entirely clear what happened on the site for the next decade and a half, but by 1937, it featured in a Watsonian Sidecars brochure, selling motorcycle spares. This advert was accessed via an eBay search, which can be an excellent source of images for historical research.

Watsonian Sidecar brochure, 1937

The location was soon converted into Bradley’s Autodrome – a service station, Hillman car dealer, and car repair business. See below.

West Ham and South Essex Mail 06 January 1939

This would have been when the photos that provoked this research were taken. The first is a photo of the petrol pumps, located on the site of the modern houses.

The second is a West Ham-registered car with a number plate dating to the 1930s awaiting a fill-up. A close inspection shows that the service station sold both BP “Ethyl” and Shell products, indicating that the garage was independent and not tied to a sole supplier.

Strangely, the location was described as doubling up as a refreshment room run by Morris James Gregory (see this 1940 Trade Directory). 

1940 Trade Directory

We have no further details of this business. However, a photo emerged recently on Facebook, spotted by a friend of the blog, Tony Morrison, showing these tearooms occupying the site next door, 11 and 12 Capel Road. Unfortunately, it is undated.

A collection of photos in the Newham Archives, dating from 1957, shows that  Autodrome was still an active business. 

Above - 1957 Newham archive photos of the Autodrome, Capel Road

An advert in Commercial Motor magazine from the 1970s suggests was by then trading in Land Rovers and other commercial vehicles.

Commercial Motor magazine, via Google Books

At some time after this notice was placed, the site was taken over and run as a Q8 (Kuwait) fuel station, bearing the familiar logo below. The green posts at the foot of the 2016 photo, above, of the houses now occupying the site were from the Q8 forecourt. They have subsequently been removed. Unfortunately, we do not have pictures of the service station under this badging. We would be grateful to anyone who could supply any.

Q8 logo - on Capel Road service station - 1990s

Capel Point

Tony Morrison’s eagle-eyed skimming of Facebook uncovered a photo showing pre-WW2 1-4 Capel Rd, adjacent to the garage – below.

Front of pre-war 1-4 Capel Point (via Facebook)

These houses were bomb-damaged, and the pictures from the Newham Archive 1957 series on bomb damage clearly show an Anderson shelter at the rear of 1-4 Capel Road.

Back of 1-4 Capel Road, 1957 - Newham Archives

The houses were demolished to be replaced by Capel Point below around 1965.

Capel Point today - source: Google Maps

Footnote. Other articles, by Peter Williams,  about Capel Road can be found here and here.