W. & A. Gilbey formed in 1857 as importers of South African wine that, with its low Colonial Preference duty, undercut the price of French wines. The Company was persuaded to move most of its facilities from the Pantheon in Oxford Street to Camden Goods Station in 1869, taking over many redundant railway buildings and vaults for warehousing of wines and spirits. 

At Camden it grew into the largest drinks firm in the world. Its premises at the goods station, including the gin distillery, covered a floor area of 20 acres with the bottle and bonded warehouses capable of storing 800,000 gallons. Daily, a whole train, the Gilbey Special, left for London Docks to supply markets around the world. 

Gilbey stayed in Camden for almost 100 years and became a major employer in the area. It moved its operations to purpose-built facilities in Harlow New Town in 1964. The name is now subsumed within the multinational Diageo. 

Peter Darley is Secretary of the Camden Railway Heritage Trust, which he founded in 2007. 

This event was recorded and is available to view on https://youtu.be/6obF1EYjY-4