I was most interested to see the picture of the old diamond factory in Coombe Road, Brighton (Letters, October 30). I watched the renovation when passing on the bus.
It looks nothing like it did in the Thirties, when I worked for Allen West & Co in the neon department. We put a huge hairpin-shaped neon sign on the top south corner of the roof. The brackets were there until the renovations, on the Lewes Road side. The sign was one of a number made for a neon beacon at Croydon aerodrome.
I also helped in making drawings for trolleybus, tram and train controllers. We made electric light meters and time-switches as well as heavy gear.
The original building was erected in the early Twenties for disabled First World War soldiers by Oppenheimers, the diamond firm, as was the second block on the other side of Coombe Road.
-Eric G Turpin, Paddock Lane, Lewes
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