John Jenkins 1938-2022

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing away of our founder – John Jenkins.
One of the foremost Master Upholsterers in the UK, his legacy continues with a global reach.

For Dad, by Grahame Jenkins

My Dad, was so much more than a Dad…

A Family Man,
A Master Upholsterer and
A Bandmaster

There was also my Dad before he became a Dad, and I don’t know too much about his early years, but I do know he had some sad and difficult times. I also don’t know why or how he got into music or why he chose Upholstery when he came from a family of Carpenters, but I do know that once he met my Mum his life changed forever…

Never has there been a more loyal husband, he was absolutely 100% in love with Mum from the moment he met her till the day, recently, that he passed. I can only assume from rare conversations about his past, that this new settled life gave him the drive and ambition needed to set up a business. Doing this when it wasn’t fashionable to do so and took real guts.

Then, a few years later to follow his dream of setting up a private marching band after having been Bandmaster of several Sea Cadet Corps – including Shoreditch, Southend, Wood Green and Tottenham (I believe he even led the Tottenham Sea Cadets as part of the victory parade for Spurs – when they last won the league – you know, when it was still black and white TVin 1961) To this day, unlike Mum and many of our family, I am still unsure if he was a trueArsenal fan or not? But I did get him to an FA Cup final win in 2004 and he was with me at the last game ever played at Highbury Stadium.

One of my earliest memories was going to bed at our home in Burma Road and falling asleep to his Piano playing downstairs in the lounge, he would often do this after he got in from a long day at work. The tune that always comes to mind is Strangers in the Night, which is why we played it at today’s service.

I also know that Dad did his military service in the Royal Corps of Transport. This is where he learned to drive the old-fashioned way and it involved driving massive tank transporters – which I was in awe of as a kid. So years later, when he needed a big truck to go to the United States air force bases for Upholstery work, he’d stroll into Avis Rentals and drive out with one like it was nothing and I remember, vividly, being in the front of some of those trucks and driving to Ruislip or Lakenheath… how times have changed!

Dad had his faults though, he simply could not make a cup of tea without getting sugar and sometimes milk all over the place, despite 80 years of practice! But that’s about it…

Whenever I think of Dad and work, I think of the workshop he had in Stoke Newington Church Street – although he actually started the business in Petherton Road, Islington.

Church Street has so many memories and here are a few that some here today can relate to:

• Dad won a contract with Granada Cushions making footstools and all the family came in to help, I remember my Nanny Rose being there too and it sometimes went on so late that Kevin and I were put to bed on a big lump of foam – I can still smell that foam now!
• Dad trained a succession of Upholsterers there, that went on to spend many years by his side, most notably my Uncle Roy, then Peter Barnes and then Steve Lotts. Peter and Steve were like big brothers to me back then and I remember Dad doing night shifts or ‘ghosters’ as we called them and I’d wake up for school with Peter or Steve asleep in the spare bunk bed!
• Dad liked cakes, Mr Kipling cakes in those rectangular boxes that were tricky to open,and I have an enduring memory from countless occasions, of him using very expensive and razor-sharp fabric-cutting shears to cut straight through the box and contents and tipping them out to speed up the craving…
• Dad would help some of the band kids to earn pocket money by popping in to sweep upthe workshop and make tea. The band kids used to have ‘Bulling’ parties where a dozen band kids would come in with their military hobnail boots and learn how to burn the studs off with a red-hot fork end and then bull the boots with ‘Kiwi’ shoe polish! Nowadays you’d need employment contracts for the pocket money and he’d have been arrested for letting kids use red-hot forks to burn their boots – but we did!It was probably here that he taught a lot of us how to use ‘colourful’ language – or is that just me?
• As a teenager Dad let me have a small space there to set up my first drum kit and he trusted me with a key to let a few friends down to pretend we were rock-stars – we weren’t!
• Dad turned out an amazing array of superb upholstery work from that workshop from refurbishing QE2 Ocean Liner seating to new banquette seating for the main UK breweries & Pubs, his client list was like a who’s who of British business.
• After he moved out of Church Street, he let Kevin use the property for many years, he set up a recording studio and we often had a sleep overs after a Jam session.
• Many years later Dad continued the Upholstery training with people like Andy Mallett, who brought through the next generation of Upholsterers and seating designers along with Dad’s granddaughter Christina, Tish, Steve Rogers and a wonderful team that have taken his legacy global – no wonder then that we received condolences for Dad from all over the world – he really did have a generational and global reach…

Then there was the Bandmaster – The Hackney & Islington Youth Band – ‘The Blues’ 

For a long time this was the love of Dad’s life and I know that Kevin and I often found it tough having over 50 stepbrothers and sisters and I don’t think many realised this, but we made so many friends and had so many wonderful experiences, it was all worth it…

From driving a rag-tag bunch of rough little kids in his Transit Campervan to rehearsals in 1973, with the 8-track playing Country and Western along the way – to being a near 100 strong force to be reckoned with playing at Wembley, the Royal Albert Hall, Fanfares for our late Queen and marching down the Mall like we owned it – yes, Dad made all that happen. He did it for love, he did it for the kids, he certainly did not do it for money – he would often spend his own money and sacrifice many a workday to ensure the band got what it needed… I’m sure Steve Lotts remembers a few trips down to Potters of Aldershot – the Marching Band shop in Hampshire – on a workday! Or making a lot of the equipment needed in his workshop to save money – those beautiful red velour drum slings with gold braid spring to mind.

Dad didn’t drink or smoke or gamble, he used his money wisely and looked after his health, he was a good example to all of us BUT there was one occasion, in Germany, around 1978 where his lack of regular drinking got the better of him. In Malmsheim, the Blues Band and the Malmsheim Brass Band were playing at a beer festival. He got hammered and was ill the next day… the sad thing was, that morning, he was due to be presented with the ‘key to the city of Malmsheim’ in recognition for his work with the youth bands – an amazing honour – but nobody knew he was sleeping it off, so they decided to pin the solid gold badge on me instead, on his behalf, aged 13, and not knowing exactly why my Dad wasn’t there at that point!

Dad was multi-talented as a musician too, he was not only the aforementioned Pianist, but he was a good drummer – he taught me, he made me stick at it from age 8, even when I cried under pressure, and I am so glad he did because being a drummer changed my life for the better and it taught me to persevere in life. He also played the Bugle and surprisingly the Accordion – although we never had those in The Blues Band!

Dad’s musical taste was different… as a kid when everyone’s parents were listening to The Beatles, Hendrix and Pink Floyd, Dad would have Pipe Band records playing, although he did have a few Liberace records that were quite cool!

I know that Dad was very proud to have had an influence into the early musical careers of some of the Band kids, most notably Orphy and Claude, they have gone on to have amazing musical journeys and I thank them both for making Dad proud and continuing that part of his legacy…

Dad was happiest on a Coach, any Saturday evening you like in the 1970’s with family and 100 band kids and helpers on-board, driving home from a band contest, with a couple of trophies beside him.

Finally Dad, thank you for always being there for me when the Grandkids were growing up. You made otherwise difficult times bearable and more often than not, made good times great!

As the years pass, more of us will join you and who knows, we may all end up being able to perform that Great Gig in the sky!

I will miss you x

 

John Jenkins
1938-2022