After Ralph's premature death in 1950. His son, Bramley, continued with the landscape garden business that his father had established. As Ralph Hancock and Son, Bramley continued to exhibit for a number of years at both the Chelsea Flower Show and at The Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition. He continued to win Gold Medals (1953 and 1957) and his designs featured in publications such as The Illustrated London News, Sport & Country and The Sphere as well as local and national newspapers. He also established Hancock Industries as a formidable player in the garden accessories business as well as diversifying into the import, manufacturer and retail of aluminium glasshouses. Hancock Industries continued to work out of their offices and showrooms in London's Knightsbridge, as well as their wrought Iron works near Lingfield Surrey. They also purchased in 1949, Wells (Merstham) Ltd (Surrey), an established landscape gardening business, based just over 12 miles from Lingfield. Bramley traded under that name as well as Hancock & Son, Hancock Aluminium Glasshouses and as Hancock Industries. The show garden, established by Ralph, near Hook, Hampshire also flourished. This postcard, from the 1957 Ideal Home Exhibition, displays some of the wrought iron work produced at Hancock Industries ironworks in Lingfield.  Another postcard, below, shows that Wells (Merstham) Ltd also exhibited at the 1957 Ideal Home Exhibition. The garden looks remarkably similar to those designed and built by Ralph and Bramley. And, appears to utilise some of the parent companies wrought iron.  Hancock Industries, as Bramley Hancock, also applied for and were granted a Patent for a new type of window opener for their glasshouses. A delightful brochure was produced to illustrate the wrought iron, and accessories, which were available to order directly from Hancock Industries. Although not dated, the brochure appears to have been produced either shortly before Ralph's death or soon after, possibly in 1951? The attached PDF files represent the 36 pages of wrought iron and other garden accessories made by their very own blacksmiths. N.B. All PDFs are approximately 8MB in size.       In 1982, Hancock Industries Limited ceased trading and were officially wound up in 1987. Bramley Hancock passed away in August 1989. Wells (Merstham) Ltd was wound-up in 2013, although the company had actually stopped trading many years previously. |