With the first residents now comfortably moved into their new Lakeshore apartments and more to follow, we thought it would be a great time to host an exciting and nostalgic event for the ex-employees of the original Wills Tobacco Factory.

The event will be held on the evening of Thursday 13th September and will be a fantastic chance for old employees to re-visit happy memories of their time working for HD and HO Wills, meet old colleagues and see how the building has been redeveloped since the 1970’s. The invitations for the tour, via the Imperial Pensioners Gazette, resulted in an overwhelming response from those eager to get involved, exchange stories and re-live the history of Lakeshore.

We have already received a number of brilliant stories and photographs from previous employees about their time working in the factory. Many actually met their partners there and one ex worker in particular wrote in about meeting Princess Margaret at the site and how an episode of Dr Who was filmed in the factory!

Ex workers have watched the development with interest, especially those that still live in the Hartcliffe area and wish to see the re-vamp of their old work place and meet old friends. Reading their stories in anticipation of the event has built a picture of Lakeshore’s history and we hope the event can recreate the great community spirit of the Wills Imperial Tobacco Factory workers.

Date: Thursday 13th September
Time: 5.30pm for 6pm tour start
Details: If you are a former or current employee of Imperial Tobacco and would like to attend, please email rsvp@urbansplash.co.uk, quoting ‘Imperial Factory’ along with your name and the full names of any guests.

Tours and events for members of the public regularly take place at Lakeshore, and other Urban Splash schemes across the country. To find out what’s coming up, visit our Events & Tours page.