Time for Elevenses: tales from from the ABC Bakery

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Today, we hear from Joy, who has lived in north London her whole life, and spent part of her career working for Lyons’ tearoom in Camden Town.

Joy started working at Lyons’ when she was 16.

“They called you ‘Junior’ when you first started. It was hard work - I was on my feet all day, from 7 in the morning to 7 in the evening. The Lyons’ branch I worked at used to be where Boots is in Camden Town.”

Lyons’ tearooms, or corner houses as they were otherwise known, were iconic institutions in twentieth century London, offering tea, cake and light meals to customers from 1909 to 1977. They were known for being good value, respectable places to eat, with sharply outfitted waitresses, known as ‘Nippies’ due to their speed and effective service.

“They sold bread and cakes at the front of the shop, and then there was a self-service food section at the back. You could get toast and bacon for breakfast, and we kept tea pots on a roundabout which revolved! Lyons’ tea was some of the best.”

Joy then went on to work at the Aerated Bread Company, the closest rival to Lyons’ at the time, with shops and tearooms all over London. Their main factory was on the site which is occupied by Camden Town Sainsbury’s today.

“We used to make all of the things which were served in the tearooms. I made the pats of butter; I had to turn a handle to pipe the butter out into little dishes. I was on my feet all day. When you finished your shift you had to wipe down the floor where you stood as it had got so greasy from all of the butter! We also made all of the sandwiches, cutting up the cheese and bacon ourselves by hand.”