Before The Town Centre Was Built ...
My family came to Basildon in 1957 as part of the overspill from London. My late father was a toolmaker and was offered a job and a house.
Money was tight and we made out own entertainment. Collecting wood from the fields where the town centre now stands, fruit picking from the cleared lots waiting for development.
When the shops started being built (my memory is that Woolworth was the first opened in that first block) we would go down there to watch them being constructed.
My mother had to use the only shops available which was Staceys Corner (I think) and all the different vans that would visit individual streets.
Both my parents became teachers - Mrs White at Manor and Bryn schools and Mr White at Nicholas.
I am proud to have been involved with Basildon since the very beginning of its development and to watch its growth into a vibrant town.
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RE: RE: Before The Town Centre Was Built ...
I went to Bryn and Kingswood school in late 1960s early 1970s. I remember a piano teacher called Mrs White because she used to relay stories of wartime, like the day she came home from shopping and found a German paratrooper hanging from her chimney! Only I cannot remember which school! Maybe she taught at both. She was a lovely lady though, with a shock of white hair!
Comment from Janet Barnard on Saturday, 30th April 2011.