Fleetway's Lost Treasure Trove Warehouse

 

I completely forgot to mention why that ex Fleetway board member contacted me!  He asked me whether I knew where Warehouse S was located?  Let me explain.  

I used to meet up with Fleetway Managing editor Gil Page at least twice a month or we'd chat on the phone.With one comic proposal Gil commented that he would love to see it go ahead but that the board were not in favour of launching new titles -at the time they estimated it cost £20,000+ or a comic launch which was mainly a free buffet and lots of drinks for journalists who might write a one item on the matter.  "We have two warehous4es full of racks floor to ceiling with artwork from the 1940s back" he to0ld me.  

Interestingly, I had asked two editors at the time where all the original art was kept as it certainly was not at Fleetway's rundown offices., None of them knew. When I asked Gil about this I was told that an old warehouse had water leakage and it was while going through all the artwork to make it safe that they found large amounts of original art had "gone missing" and the only people with access to the warehouse were editors. Apparently the board of directors who were not interested in using old material were still incensed that their employees had been helping themselves.  

It was decided to use a new warehouse with more modern tech locks and that had security coverage (a couple guards who were on duty during day and overnight) so that nothing else went missing. Gil and the board knew where the warehouse was but not the editors. Here is where things get complicated.

There was a board discussion and someone suggested that a fire or accident could wipe out the archive -after all it was all bone dry and dusty paper dating back to the 1940s (perhaps earlier based on Amalgamated Press material being stored). The stumbling block was money. No one wanted to authorise buying a new warehouse for material they were not using BUT was important enough for them to keep safe. One board member had property and that included several warehouses and one could be sold to the company "in perpetuity". It was a low cost so they went ahead.  Gil told me this was called "warehouse S" -the "S" for secret.

Now I believe most of the old board of Fleetway are dead apart from two and neither was that interested in Warehouse S or its location -until the fella who contacted me went through some old papers and realised that somewhere in London was a warehouse still full of "tons of artwork". Gil Page passed away and the other board member recalled the warehouse was still there with its stock but neither could find any reference as to WHERE it was. Papers had been burnt as no longer relevant and once all the messy selling of the company had done its work.  

Hence asking me if I knew or Gil had mentioned where it was?  So, somewhere in London is a modest old warehouse with comic pages going back to the 1940s (possibly 1930s) and it's there if anyone wants to go on a quest. If I had the time and money I would be tracking that place down right now!