Then and Now: Pine furniture company was set up on old brewery site in 1973

Mowbray’s brewery was on the west side of London Road, writes Ruth Crook of Grantham Civic Society.

It had been established in 1838, trading as Mowbray, Robertson & Burbidge’s Grantham Brewery and moved to Commercial Road by 1842.The offices were situated at 58 London Road in the 1920s.

Mowbray & Co. Ltd were registered 1888, acquiring Mowbray & Co and Burbidge & Hutchinson, wine and spirit merchants. Later in 1905, they also acquired Dawber& Co of Lincoln and were acquired themselves by J W Green Ltd in 1952, when their name was changed to Flowers Breweries. They eventually closed in 1964.

Roy Walker’s Pine Furniture shops were established in 1973 and their Grantham shop was opened on the brewery site on London Road. They had another shop in Newark, before opening a large manufacturing base in Sutton on Trent.

All the furniture was made from yellow Quebec pine, by ‘environmentally friendly methods’, by their 30 strong workforce. They advertised that all items could be made, finished and delivered to the customer’s home within two weeks.