Plantation House, Mincing Lane, London! 

On my first Monday in London I left a little early from Fitzroy Square and walked to the Warren Street Tube Station and bought a ticket to Bank Station and walked another 7 minutes to Plantation House on Mincing Lane. There were no smart phones of course, but the London Underground was served by a very well designed, colour coded map which was idiot proof. The travel time from door to door was under 45 minutes.

Plantation House was where Tea and Rubber in particular were traded and the major Brokers had their offices there. I was looking for the office of Thomas, Cumberlege & Inskipp. It was an old, well established firm and easy to find. None of the Partners had arrived but the tea staff was already there.

The Partners at the time were: Brian Macraith, Guy Routledge, Francis Cumberlege, Jock Stewart, and Kenneth Evers. Being Partners all were equal, though Brian Macraith was the oldest and first among equals. Guy Routledge had been Chairman of J. Thomas before Vinod Parekh, so we tended to gravitate towards him. Francis Cumberlege was from the family of one of the founders. He was youngish, the silver hair and good looks made him quite striking. 

Jock Stewart was incredibly wealthy. He was always dressed in a three-piece suit, pin stripe most of the time, and wore a Bowler hat. Kenneth Evers was among the hardest working of the lot. He was pleasant and helpful.  

Out of the lot I found Brian Macraith, Kenneth Evers, and Francis Cumberlege did most of the tea tasting, Guy Routledge occasionally and Jock Stewart never. I was attached to Macraith and Evers but was free to join anyone doing a tasting batch. 

To my relief there were three Indians at Thomas, Cumberlege and Inskipp. It was a practice for a senior person from JT Calcutta to spend a year or two in London, to interact with JT’s UK clients. The person filling that role was Govind Jauhar (GKJ). My counterpart from Calcutta was Vijay Dudeja, who like me was there for a shorter duration. Last, but not least, was Jani Uthup who was a direct recruit by TC&I. His father, a Military officer was on a government of India deputation and had brought his wife, two sons, and a daughter with him. Jani had just finished school at Lovedale, while his brother Ani, and sister Choti continued their schooling in the UK. To my great delight I learned that Jani Uthup was also staying at the Fitzroy Square YMCA. We became inseparable, except on Saturdays he would absent himself. I would like to think he went home to be with his family, though they were not living in London. 

The Tea Room was manned by young people who were tea tasting apprentices. They did not have Tea Boys like we had in India whose job was to set up the tea tasting trays, weigh out the tea samples, boil the water and put out the batches for the Partners to taste, report and value each tea.
After the tasting session we had to clear the trays and take it in for washing, which thankfully was done by a lady employee. This was new for me and Vijay Dudeja, but we soon got the hang of it! 

We were given a book of 3 shillings luncheon vouchers to be used to buy lunch each day. We could get a basic hot meal at the Mecca Bar downstairs for 3 shillings. Or walk across the road to The Wine Lodge for a sandwich and a pint. We judiciously mixed both places in our weekly schedule. 

One of the interesting people at TC&I was Leonard Hobbs, he was the son of the famous English cricketer and captain Jack Hobbs. John was the General Manager of the firm. He ran a well frequented Sports shop started by his father, in the city. I remember getting a good discount for a Squash racquet when I was ready to return. 

London Auctions were quite like the Calcutta ones except that most of the buying was done through Buying Agents. The price per pound was expressed in Shillings, Pennies, Half Penny and Farthing. 

The valuation was always very close to the expected selling price unlike in India where a margin of a few rupees was kept for ‘bargaining’. 

Teas from all over the world came to the London auctions but the largest contributions were from Assam, Kenya, and Ceylon.  

During my stay in London I remember 3 invitations which were memorable. The first was from Guy and Margery Routledge who were kind enough to invite me to their home in the country. I remember going by train and then by taxi to this huge mansion at the edge of the woods. Guy and Margery had brought their Indian servants with them. The wife was the Cook while her husband was the Butler. A couple of locals maintained their beautiful garden. 

I remember sitting at a long dining table, with Guy at one end and Margery at the other. There were no other guests. Margery had a small bell by her place setting. She would ring it when she wanted the plates removed and the next course served. We talked of India, and Calcutta in particular where the Routledges had spent many happy years.    

I understand that Guy played Polo in Calcutta and had played with Prince Philip a couple of times when he came home on furlough. That is what a long holiday was called, which the expatriates were entitled to once in three years. 

Guy also had a couple of Labradors who he took with him on shoots for Quail and Partridge. 

I hope I have given you a glimpse of the life of a Tea Broker of yesteryears. They came from privileged families and had been put through Eaton or Harrow before being ‘sent out East’!  

We once had a surprise visit by Vinod Parekh (VVP). I am sure he was in London a few times each year. He made it a point to invite Vijay Dudeja and I to dinner at the Dorchester where he was staying. These were the traditions of yesteryears where the boss was never too busy to spend time with his juniors and make them feel they belonged! 

The second lunch invitation came from none other than Sir Kenneth Warren, Chairman of the James Warren Group. His son Richard was my colleague in Cochin. Richard had sent a wall hanging for his parents. I called his office to make an appointment to hand this over personally. The telephone operator spent a few minutes asking who I was and why I was calling. Finally, she put me through to Sir Kenneth’s secretary. 

A lady came on the line and told me that Sir Kenneth was at a meeting. I was about to ring off when she asked me to hold and after a couple of minutes came back to say that Sir Kenneth wanted to see me, and would I be able to go over to the office later that week? 

So, three days later I was walking up to the first floor of the massive Warren Corporate Office building. 

I was  let in immediately and after a few minutes with the Secretary,  Sir Kenneth came out to usher me into his office. He would be nearing 80, I thought. He spoke of how Richard had told him about me, our travels together, our common interest in Sailing and so on. I realised that however big a person may be a son’s friend had a special place at the table – because the father loved his son!

Before I left, he invited me to lunch at his home the following Saturday. He wrote down which train to catch, what station to get off, and said that he would have me met. Warren Holdings had some of the best tea gardens in Assam, as well as, warehousing, engineering and other interests. As a Tea Taster trainee from India I was chuffed at the attention I received and the honour of having lunch with Sir Kenneth and Lady Warren. 

I couldn’t wait for Saturday to come by!