Time for tea: London’s transport canteens

For much of the twentieth century, London’s transport companies provided canteens for staff to take a break, eat and relax. Behind the canteens was a large food supply chain, extensive food preparation and thorough staff training, all required to keep the workforce well fed and fit for keeping the Capital moving.

In the early twentieth century, the canteens of London’s transport companies offered staff nourishing meals at an affordable price despite often basic facilities.  

Canteens at the train works at Acton and the bus works at Chiswick were vast. Food was served from serving hatches at the side room, with daily menus displayed on huge chalk boards. These photos show the large numbers of staff that used the canteens, providing an interesting snapshot of the male-dominated workforce at the time. 

By contrast, it was mainly women who staffed the kitchens where the food was prepared. Cooking the vast number of meals required was quite an achievement given the size of the kitchens.  

Early kitchen facilities were very basic, with equipment often old and well used. The area where food had to be prepared, cooked and served was often small and cluttered.  

In 1933, London Transport (LT) became a unified company with an expanding workforce. From the late 1930s, work began to modernise the canteens across the company. Both kitchen facilities and dining areas were renovated as captured in these ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos. 

Advances in modern technology in the 1950s and 1960s led to the arrival of new washing up machines, can openers and microwaves in the kitchens, all with the promise of making the job easier! 

Canteen dining areas were modernised. New lightweight metal chairs and tables were introduced to make cleaning easier. Air conditioning and heating was also installed around this time. 

As early as the 1930s, dining clubs were created at locations including Baker Street, South Kensington and later at 55 Broadway, London Transport’s headquarters. They offered a more refined dining experience, including tablecloths, cutlery embossed with the dining clubs’ initials and table service. There were lounges for relaxing after dinner.  

The dining clubs were set up by different areas within the company, or associated with London Transport’s predecessor companies, such as the Metropolitan Railway Dining Club. There were clubs created for specific jobs and grades, including a club for administrative and supervisory staff and another for ‘officers’ grade. They were run by committee and published dining club rules. 

There were also two officers dining clubs - one at 55 Broadway and the other at Chiswick Works - that were known as “the officers’ messes”. The protocol was quite interesting. I remember for a number of years when I used to use them that it was essential to wear a tie, and preferably in colder weather, to wear a waistcoat.

Memory of Brian Staines of London Transport officers dining club, 2008 (UGC record 2008/1847) 

By the 1950s, canteens ranged from large halls feeding hundreds to smaller garage canteens and shelters. Mobile canteens – firstly converted buses, later custom-built trailers – also ran across the Capital until the late 1970s, feeding hundreds of workers every day. 

Staff working on the rail tracks of the London Underground and tramways, known as ‘Permanent way’ staff, were also catered for. Canteen staff loaded hot food into metal containers called ‘dixies’, which were then transported out on the lines. 

During both world wars staff had to be resourceful as roles changed, supplies became rationed and London was targeted by bombing. 

During the First World War, around 18,000 women took on new roles in London’s transport. Soon it was women who also used canteens during their break time.

Air raid damage, including that inflicted by V1 flying bombs during the Second World War, devastated many buildings including LT canteens. Staff had to be inventive if they were to keep London moving in wartime.

Here a cook uses an emergency oven built in the grounds of Old Ford Bus Depot during the Second World War. The original canteen premises were destroyed by bomb damage. 

Staff proved to be extremely resilient during the bombing. Olive White, a widow of a tram conductor, worked as a canteen assistant at Nunhead Bus Garage for four years through some of the worst air raids of the Second World War. Although her home was damaged three times, she was absent from work only once. In 1945, White was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for devotion to duty. It was the first time a female member of staff was recognised. 

Before the Second World War, LT had purchased large areas of land for various building work programmes. With many developments paused during the war years, the fertile land was repurposed to grow food to supply LT’s 135 canteens. Ploughing began in 1939, creating farms at Elstree, Northolt, Bushey and Staines. 

By the early 1950s LT’s catering department operated 178 canteens across the Greater London area, providing meals and refreshments for 74,000 staff. Demand had increased threefold since before the Second World War, and canteens began to struggle. LT decided a programme of improvement was needed, concentrating on training, production and facility modernisation.  

The LT Baker Street canteen and training centre opened in 1949 as a centralised training facility for all catering staff. Previously, canteen staff were trained at specific canteens to varying standards. New entrants to the canteen service and those recently promoted could attend a variety of practical courses and lectures at Baker Street, standardising catering service training.  

Qualified instructors provided ‘first-class training’ courses to more than 1,200 employees every year. There were courses in serving meals, preparing snacks, tea making, stock keeping and other kitchen duties.   

The building was modern and spacious, fitted with the latest equipment and a canteen with seating for over 130 on the ground floor. This was much welcomed by the 2,000 staff from the Bakerloo, Metropolitan and Circle lines who had been using temporary wartime canteens.  

Following the Second World War, LT experienced labour shortages. Catering service recruitment posters from the period specifically targeted women, advertising perks such as free meals and travel. 

During this period, LT also ran a direct recruitment scheme in the Caribbean. Many of the women hired during this period went to work in the catering service. Some stayed for many years and went on to supervise their own canteens. 

A key part of post-war modernisation was the Croydon Food Production Centre, which opened in October 1950. Housed in a former aircraft components factory, it was equipped with a butchery, a vegetable preparation division, cook freeze units and a bakery. This was food production on a large scale. Food was prepared and cooked daily ready to dispatch to LT canteens, easing some of the strain on the overstretched facilities.  

Throughout the year, special seasonal items were produced in vast numbers. In 1966, the Food Production Centre made 45,000 Christmas puddings!

The Food Production Centre also produced food for sale under the ‘Griffin’ brand. Items included chocolate bars, tea, coffee, crisps and sausages.  

In the early 1980s, LT undertook a major restructuring of the catering department, citing reasons including changes in eating habits and the rise in popularity of fast food. The Croydon Food Production Centre closed in 1983. Some staff were redeployed to other LT departments, others retired or found jobs outside the company. 

Having a dedicated space for staff to socialise as well as refuel was equally important. Staff magazines shared stories of dinner dances, whist drives (a communal card game) and concerts all held in the canteens. There were debating societies with inter-departmental tournaments, chess clubs and even a stamp collecting section of the Underground Electric Railways Dining Club in the 1950s. 

The ‘LT Catering Queen competition’ was set up in 1949 by Phyllis Hirst. It ran until the early 1980s, and Hirst’s name was given to the cup presented to winners at the annual catering service dance.  

I had a very busy social life at the canteen. There were always things happening such as parties, trips and the annual catering queen contest. I only entered the catering queen competition once.

Memory of Marva Braham of the social life in the London Transport catering department, 2008 (UGC record 2008/637) 

As tastes and eating habits continued to change, coupled with the rise in fast food outlets and coffee shops, the demise of the canteen was somewhat inevitable. In November 1992 LT announced its decision to withdraw in-house catering and put contracts out to tender.  

‘LT Catering’ ceased in March 1993. At the time it still served 30,000 meals daily from 77 outlets. Private firms took over LT’s catering provisions. Of the existing LT catering staff, 70% were offered jobs in the new arrangements, which 25% accepted.  

In today’s Transport for London (TfL), staff restaurants at TfL offices Ashfield House, Pier Walk, Endeavour Square and Palestra continue to provide an important place for staff to take a break and refuel.