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Birch
Birch maps
Historic maps of Birch and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Birch maps
Birch photos
We have no photos of Birch, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Layer Marney| Lexden Heath| Tiptree| Feering| Colchester| Kelvedon| Fingringhoe| Coggeshall| Tollesbury| Great Braxted| West Mersea| Wivenhoe| Great Totham| Earls Colne
Birch area books
Displaying 1 of 18 books about Birch and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Birch
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Essex memories
Under an American Tank on The Bridge
My mother and I were returning from fetching water from the spring in the pub. Mother was carrying two full pails. As we were crossing the bridge an American tank came round the bend with one of its tracks on the pavement. I was knocked over and ended up under the tank, my foot luckily was under a gap in the track and apart from being stunned I was not injured. My mother was slightly injured as the pails pushed her through the railings, hurting her legs. At the time we lived in the first semi-detached cottage over the bridge as you came fron Birch.
Stanway Workhouse
I have been doing a lot of family research of late. Many of my relations lived in West Bergholt from about 1820 till the present day. Samue Long died in Stanway Workhouse in 1897. I wonder if any one could help me with some information regarding this instituion, and perhaps I could find out more about Samuel. Many thanks, Tony Long
October Gale
High winds and loud crashing in the middle of the night.
Not long after my divorce, moving back to live with my mother and father.
We were woken by crashing of bricks from the gable end of the house. Both mine and my father's cars had been crushed by the bricks. Looking across to Bradwell from the bedroom window, I could see flashes of blue light from the high voltage power cables, as the wind made them clash together.
A very unforgettable night.
Public House (Coach Stop)
During the 1960s I was a representative for a world known vermouth manufacturer and remember calling regularly on this large pub on the main road to Colchester and the Essex coast. The licensee John, and his wife, Marion, became good friends and I spent many happy hours just talking and joking away the hours. The coaches rolled in and were accommodated in a very large room attached to the side of the pub, this mainly served teas and light refreshments in large quantities. Any passengers that required stronger sustenance would wander into the welcoming bars.
The intervening years have affected my memory and I just cannot remember the pub's or the licensee's names and wonder if anyone can supply the answers. I believe Marion moved to a licensed outlet in Suffolk sometime in the 1970s.
Ken Cramer
Homes Boy
I entered White's Children's Home and Mission (known as CH&M) in June of 1945 having come from Surbiton, Surrey. I was 9 years old. The home was situated in Church Rd opposite "The Pond", it is now a CO-OP supermarket. There was a large Georgian house named "The Grove" and a Hall with other buildings, we had a large field to play in, there was also a farm there. There were about 56 children there then, boys and girls. We went to Tiptree Heath School, and the Congregrational Church in (I think) Chapel Rd, now the Reformed Church. We used to be marched two-by-two to school and church. The home was founded in 1899 by Mr Herbert White at South Woodford. Tiptree was the holiday premises and because of the war they had to stay at Tiptree from September 1939 till Easter 1947, when most of the children were moved back to South Woodford. The premises were sold in 1954. When I was there Mr White and his wife with... Read more
Happy Summer Days at The Pool
This photo' reminded me of those carefree summer days when we would cycle from Myland to the pool, leave our bikes, unlocked, in a heap outside, pay our 6d and go to the dank, cold, changing room under the bridge.
The girls had to cross the end of the pool by a boardwalk to their changing room on the other side.
There were high diving boards so the pool was about ten feet deep at the deep end. We discovered that there was a hole in the underwater wire netting beneath the boardwalk where we could dive down to come up under the boardwalk to bang on the boards as the girls walked over,
We spent many hours sunbathing and swimming, later to retrieve our bikes, intact, from beneath the pile.
Sadly, the pool is now closed. I'm sure the modern pools are nowhere near as much fun as that outdoor pool at Colnebank.
Peter Gant.
Colchester
While we were living in Colchester between 1955 and 1958, I was confirmed at this church at Lexden, Colchester. I had little memory of the church, but then while looking through the photos for Colchester I came across this photo much to my delight as this was where I was confirmed. Colchester Castle grounds was a beautiful place to walk through. Every year the Army Tattoo was displayed in the grounds too.
