Building record TQ 75 SW 379 - Former Alfred Reader & Co, Cricket & Hockey Ball Factory, Malling Road, Teston

Former Alfred Reader & Co, Cricket & Hockey Ball Factory, Malling Road, Teston as shown on the 4th Edition O/S map. In the middle of the 19C Thomas Martin began making cricket balls in a workshop above the Post Office. When he retired the business was taken over by Alfred Reader who expanded the business and transferred it to the factory. The current factory on Malling Road was built in 1927. The workers at the Reader factory formed their own Trade Union - The Teston Independent Society of Cricket Ball Makers - to represent their interests. It was the smallest Trade Union in the country and was only de-listed in March 2006. Alfred Reader & Coo LTD was aquired by Kookaburra, the Australian cricket ball manufacturer, in 2002.
The factory building has since been converted into a private dwelling as shown on the current O/S map.