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Dagenham
Dagenham maps
Historic maps of Dagenham and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Dagenham maps
Dagenham area books
Displaying 1 of 13 books about Dagenham and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Dagenham
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Dagenham.
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Hummed to Sleep by A Factory
We used to live on what was called The Avenues on the Rylands estate. This was situated behind the Princess shopping parade, so called after the name of the local flea pit where all the kids went to Saturday morning pictures. It later became the Princess bowling alley. It was located on the old A13 New Rd opposite the road that led to the main entrances to Fords. The estate was originally built for the white-collared Ford workers plus foremen and was one of the few private estates in Dagenham. It sounds almost posh now, but believe me it wasn't. The blue-collared workers tended to live on the massive council Becontree estate that Dagenham was also famous for (that and the Dagenham Girl Pipers of course). My dad must have been one of the few dads who wasn't an Irish Catholic (although my mum was) and who didn't work in Fords. But the majority of my mate's dads were and did. During the weekdays at 12 noon the factory would... Read more
Not Much Money But Plenty of Happy Memories.
I moved to Dagenham with my family in 1949. We lived in Cartwright Road off Hedgemans Road. I have memories of long hot summer holidays off from Finneymore Road School. The days were filled with trips to Leys swimming pool, where we would spend most of the day. We would bag of crisps and a hot Oxo drink if we had enough money.
Parsloes Park was another full day out. The large sandpit was the favourite haunt, there were large square concrete blocks built into the pit, we would play 'King of the castle' games, where one would climb onto the block and announce they were king of the castle, only to be pushed off into the soft sand by the new king, this would amuse us for ages. We would eat packed sandwiches, and there was plenty of water to quench our thirst from the water fountain spout. The park wardens wore brown suits, trilby hats, brown leather boots up to their knees, and rode around the park on... Read more
Valence Swimming Pool
I remember Valence swimming pool from the late fifties. I lived in Bushgrove Road and went to Valence School and used to go early on a Saturday morning with my mates to be first in there before the crowds. I couldn't swim, but that didn't matter 'cos I had an old van tyre to keep me afloat (I've still got the damn valve marks in my ribs now). I remember jumping in and not being able to breathe for about a minute due to the temperature (normally about 55 degrees Farenheit, if I remember rightly). It used to be posted on the board outside to let you know what misery you were about to go through. A cup of Oxo and a penny biscuit afterwards soon warmed you up (if you could hold the cup still). I went over the park recently (Aug 2007) and you can still see the outline of the pool in the grass where it's been filled in!! Good memories.
Valence Park
Valence Park swimming pool I remember always being cold. It cost a couple pennies in old money, cup of oxo and a thick biscuit, and the old changing sheds by the pool, 2 foot gap top and bottom of door, freezing, haha. The noise in there - I can still hear it now. What fun we all had, I also remember the bandstand, and Sunday am people reading their Sunday papers, just relaxing, good times. My name is Bryan Cole, I went to Triptons year of 1966, I look forward to hearing from anyone from Triptons.
Church Street And Crown Street
So many years ago but I can remember everything like it was yesterday. Mrs Truman's cafe near the church, just a shed really, the sweet shops, hairdressers, bike shop, cafe, pie and mash shop, my mum ran that pawn shop, I lived above that in 1967, just 2 rooms. Park school we went to. Sparshots think it was called sweet shop so many and now it just breaks your heart to see how bad it is now. The betting shop which ended up as a vets, my dad worked in florist butchers. I was born in Blackbourne Road, my nan and grandad moved there when it was first built, the Walkers, I still think of that as home lol. Remember going up to Arthys the bakers for yeast for school to make bread. The old almshouses down Crown Street. That was the true Dagenham. Dawn Shiston (nee Liddall)
Valence Park And Pool
I lived in Henshawe Road so I could see the pool from my bedroom window. I cannot remember the exact year, but my friend Maureen and I learnt to swim there - no official lessons so Im not sure how, but we did. From then on we spent every weekend and every day there in the summer holidays - home for lunch and back again in the afternoon - buying a monthly pass for 2/6p, however if you reached a certain level at school along with the Certificate came a a full seasonpass. It saved the cost of 4d to get in during the week and 9d on Sundays. The pool would open in May and Close at the end of September I think, the same ladies worked there every year and knew us well. Hot Oxo and a penny arrowfoot biscuit was the order of the day follwoing a swim there. Such happy days, rain or shine we were there, better if it rained we... Read more
Oxo Cubes
The year is approximate, but friends and I used to swim at the pool in Valence Park in the hopes of being competitive. I lived on Valence Wood Road and attended Triptons Secondary School. My best friend at the time was Jimmy Stovell who lived across the street. I have now lived in Canada for over forty years. After swimming we used to purchase an Oxo cube for drinking. I would love to hear from anybody who remembers the pool or Triptons.
Wix Road, Dagenham, Essex
Lived in 2 Wix Road, Becontree, Dagenham until I was 23 from 1951 to 1974. My mum still lives there. Did anyone else out there live nearby? I have fond memories. People were lovely. No complications. Summers were summers and autumn was conker time. Winter was snowballs, and Guy Fawkes Night was amazing. You would make your own guy from an old shirt, trousers sewn together and stuffed with newspaper and put a cheap mask over an old stocking filled with paper for the head and stand outside Becontree station asking for 'A penny for the guy'. I went to Campbell Primary School where I was the top goalscorer and took our team to the final, got beaten by Manor School 2-1. I scored our goal, it was a great moment. There was a large crowd. Dagenham was such a beautiful place in those years, I have such beautifull memories. Had great mates to play with in the street.Hop scotch, hide and seek. We would make our own billy... Read more
