John
Dickinson
set
up
his
paper
factory
in
Apsley
just
outside
Hemel
Hempstead
taking
advantage
of
the
rivers
Gade
and
Bulbourne in paper manufacturing and driving machinery.
John
Dickinson
was
the
major
employer
of
the
area
and
many
can
recount
it's
history
at
first
hand,
or
with
film
and
photographs.
I
visited
an
older
part
of
the
JD
complex
in
the
early
1980's
and
it
had
still
retained
much
of
it's
character
from
a
century
earlier.
The
extensive
rabbit
warren
of
a
site
was
bulldozed
and
given
over
to
the
Kings
Lock
riverside
homes
development
and
Apsley
Retail
Park.
There
is
an
excellent
heritage
Paper
Trail
around
Frogmore
Mill,
Apsley,
but
the
original
JD
group
has
long
gone
to
other locations throughout the UK and world-wide.
I
expect
many
of
the
baby-boomer
generation
remember
being
made
to
write
to
'Auntie
and
Uncle'
using
Lion
Brand
ruled
notepaper,
then
progressing
to
Basildon
Bond
without
ruled
lines
after
mastering
joined-up writing?!
John
Dickinson
Stationery
was
purchased
from
Dickinson
Robinson
Group
DRG
by
Hamelin,
a
major
stationery
manufacturer
based
in
Caen,
France.
More
recently
John
Dickinson
Stationery
was
re-branded
under
Hamelin
and
the
business
relocated
to
a
purpose
built
Head
Office
and
Distribution
Centre
at
Red
Lodge
in
Suffolk.
Groupe
Hamelin
joined
with
its
other
brands
to
form
‘Hamelin
Brands’
and
still
produces
stationery
under
the
name
John
Dickinson.
Basildon
Bond
is
also
available
so
it
is
not
too
late
to
write that letter to auntie and uncle!
