Sharp Lines

Although you would not think it today's image is all about toffee. The main building in this shot was actually once the site of the factory for Edward Sharp & Sons - at one time the largest toffee manufacturer in the world.
Edward Sharp (born in 1854) became an apprentice at Springfield Mill (a Maidstone paper manufacturer) where his father was a manager. He was dismissed after he declined to raise his cap to the managing director - Sharp later referred to this incident as "the finest day's work I have ever done in my life".
He then established a grocery business in Week Street, Maidstone and his wife began to make homemade toffee and nougat, which he sold from his shop - but by 1881 he still only employed one man and one boy. He also acted as his own salesman, travelling around Kent by bicycle.
However, the confectionary side of the business prospered considerably and by 1898 he had established a dedicated toffee factory in a former roller skating rink.
The company went on to develop a creamy toffee which was branded, with great imagination, "Kreemy Toffee" from 1910. This led to a new factory, The Kreemy Works, opening in St Peter's Street, Maidstone (where today's image has been taken) in 1912. This meant the toffee could now be sold and distributed nationwide and in just over 20 years (by 1933) the company was the largest toffee manufacturer in the world.
By 1951 Sharps was the foremost sugar confectionary manufacturer in Britain.
One of my favourite parts of this story is that employees were allowed to consume as much confectionary as they could on the premises, but they were never permitted to take any home!
The company lost it's independence in 1961 when it was acquired by the London confectionary manufacturer Trebor. The combined company being named Trebor Sharps. By 1980 the factory concentrated on making Easter eggs, toffee and fudge. 
Toffee manufacturing stopped in 1998 when the brand was discontinued and the factory eventually closed in 2002 with the loss of over 300 jobs.
The factory has had several uses since then and was once home to several small businesses but it now lies mostly empty. The blue corrugated building in the foreground is  currently an indoor climbing venue.