54-LeeM
Lee Magnum
A well-known business in Steventon was Lee Magnum, originally a blacksmith it had moved into general engineering as well by the 1950s. When Dick Dewe started work here at the age of 14, he was paid the princely sum of £1 per week.
Founder Freddie Lee went to trade show in the 1920s and when he returned that evening, he designed a machine for making concrete blocks by hand. These proved very popular in the third world with Nigeria buying many thousands. The first forklift truck for use on building sites was also built here.
At it’s peak more than 25 people worked at the factory which sadly closed in about 1984.
