John Allen & Son machines from Oxford were exported worldwide
An open day for visitors at John Allen’s in 1951 It occupied a site on the corner of Hockmore Street and Rymers Lane. Most of Hockmore Street was removed to make way for the Cowley shopping centre (now Templars Square) and Between Towns Road was extended to the Rymers Lane junction. The firm was established in 1868 by Walter Eddison and Richard Nodding. John Allen arrived as manager in 1887 and 10 years later, bought the business from the Eddison family for £13,000. It was run by three generations of the Allen family. In 1919, after being demobbed following First World War servic...
Source: oxfordmail.co.uk