to carry on the work". By the end of the war "the impression of inscrutability conveyed by the gaunt impressive is cancelled out by the feverish activity inside." Besides biscuits, Spratt's Works was also producing dogs', cats' and birds' medicines, bird seed, dog shampoos, and toilet requisites for animals. There was also a dog-show department during this period, possibly owing to James Spratt's initial 14-year-old assistant, the future dog show founder Charles Cruft. After the imposition of purchase tax on pet food in 1969, the factory closed down. The derelict years (1970-1985) The warehouses were derelict for some years until they were redeveloped between 1985 and 1989. As local lore has it, dog fighting took place years ago in the basement. The Foundry House was derelict, with tape left on the windows from The Blitz and great globs of toffee on the floors left by Appleton's (wholesale confectioners who had occupied the building after Spratt's). Originally, the courtyard was cobbled throughout. Colman's Wharf was occupied by Gina Plastics until sold for development in 1988, at which time there was a huge industrial bay outside Studio5, on what is now part of the car park. The space at the canal end of the floors of Colman's Wharf was much larger than now, as there was no interior staircase, nor was the present lift shaft part of the building, as large hoists were in use before its development. The ceilings had huge grid works of iron sprinkler pipes complete with large taps and fixings, and the doors that now open onto balconies and those overlooking the canal were of the stable door type, glazed in the upper part and solid in the lower part. The windows are original except for some of those in studios on the third floor facing the City. The conversion project (1985-1989) The complex was split into studio workshops (live/work units) and sold by JJAK (Construction) Ltd as empty shells for leaseholders to fit out. The first building to be converted was Limehouse Cut. The studio sizes vary between . The building was featured in the Sunday Times in June 1986 and again in 1989. Back in 1986, the studio - "part workplace, part home" - had no status in planning law. At that time, residents of the building included the Queen's tapestry restorer Ksynia Marko, a packaging firm, Roger Law of Spitting Image, sculptor Michael Green and