The West Street Works, Erith

Assembly of the Vox Continental

The West Street Works on the left, a shot from the later 1960s.

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In November 1964, the music trade press reported that "The completion of a new three-storied factory in Erith, Kent, marks a new stage in the success story of Jennings Musical Instruments." In actual fact the building itself was not new. Built in the late nineteenth century, it had been acquired by Burndept Electronics after the war and used for the manufacture of military and domestic telecommunications equipment. When JMI started running out of space in a serious way in 1964, Royston Industries, which owned both Burndept and JMI, arranged for JMI's expansion into the building - so in terms of its being "new" it was only really "new" to Jennings. Royston of course did not neglect to charge rent. Fitting out, announced in April '64, took around seven to eight months.

Music trade press, 3rd November 1964.

In terms of "first fit": the Research and Development Department, Guitars, Organs, packing materials, and storage were on the top (second) floor. On the first floor: a number of assembly rooms, though most of that floor was still occupied by Burndept. Dispatch was on the ground floor, along with amplifier assembly and finishing areas (where the chassis were given wooden cases, serial numbers, and so on).

On 1 December 1965 fire broke out, destroying the whole of the top floor. Fortunately the rest of the factory was saved, though a good number of consignments waiting to go out were damaged by water. Following the fire, the manufacture of organs and guitars moved back for a time to Dartford Road and into another building owned by Burndept a short distance away.

The top floor of the Works on fire, December 1965.

The pictures below are stills from a segment of film filmed in the Organ Department in early 1965, that is to say shortly after JMI had moved in and before the fire ravaged these rooms.

Note that the white overalls have "JMI" on their breast pockets.

At the rear, the resistor array (fixed inside the organ at back underneath the generator modules); the key contact assembly in the middle; and the looms connecting one to the other (and eventually to the generators). Painstaking work, but still a good deal more to do towards the completion of a finished organ.

JMI also demonstrated for the cameras the closing and securing of a Continental keyboard. The organ is likely to have had a serial number in the 1400s.

The generators/dividers are protected by a corrugated cardboard sheet.

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