By Tim Newbery - click here to contact me -  Click here to sign the Guestbook

This website is dedicated to the Osram GEC Lampworks Wembley and the GEC Wembley Estate. I have rebuilt the site for 2006 to make it easier to navigate and added more images. Also as most people have broadband these days I have made the images bigger and better quality. There is also some other interesting stuff such as the "Fowler Osram" train that used to move goods around the Wembley estate on the railway system. Also have a look at the "Information" page to see a layout of the estate from Google Earth in 2000 the links and key should give you an idea of how the estate was laid out. The site is best viewed in 1024x768 resolution.

The Osram GEC Lampworks was located on the GEC Estate in East Lane Wembley. Now all that remains of the vast complex are the buildings that once housed the training centre and engineering workshops where the production equipment was made. These buildings are now the home to a Bus company. Most of the huge factory was demolished in the mid 90's and the once beautiful sports fields and social club are now housing estates. In its heyday the whole Wembley estate was dedicated to the art of making Light Bulbs (Lamps to give them their correct name - bulbs are actually just one component of a Lamp - the glass container). Various buildings on the site produced the many different parts required to make a Lamp. Osrams prided themselves in making the best Lamps in the world and were the first company to mass produce Filament Incandescent Lamps.

Sadly in the early eighties things started to go wrong for the company and their empire gradually collapsed. First the workshops that produced the equipment used in Lamp manufacture closed then the industry leading training centre closed. Finally production on the site ceased altogether. The massive factory (the same size as the Queen Mary!) had at one time been the largest open factory floor in the world. Over a third of a mile long with a vaulted glass roof this hot and noisy environment was my home for six years.

I was an Apprentice Electrician for four years and then a factory engineer for a further two. This apprenticeship was and still is recognized as one of the best in the industry and has stood me in good stead on countless occasions. It was a wonderful environment and I remember those days as some of the best in my life. At the time my hobby was photography (in those days Video was pure science fiction). I took many photo's of the works and also had the good fortune to get hold of some old archive pictures which I saved.

I have often wondered how best to use these pictures as they are now a piece of history especially as so much has now gone forever. Nowadays I work in the computer industry and this is also my hobby so it seemed fitting, owing as much as I do to Osram, to create a web site to remember Osram as it was.

This site is still very much a "work in progress" and I hope to add to it as and when I get new material and have the time. If you have any images or info that you would like to let me add then please get in touch.

Please add your comments or suggestions on the site to the new guestbook page here.

Kevin Edmonds - for his technical assistance with this site.

James D. Hooker - for sending me the "Lamps In The Making" Booklet

Ken Forman - for his support and "spreading the word"!

Colin Grimes - for supplying many of the images of vintage Osram lamps - check out his website here.