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Layer Breton
Layer Breton maps
Historic maps of Layer Breton and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Layer Breton maps
Layer Breton photos
We have no photos of Layer Breton, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Layer Marney| Tiptree| Lexden Heath| Feering| Tollesbury| Fingringhoe| Colchester| Kelvedon| West Mersea| Great Braxted| Great Totham| Wivenhoe| Coggeshall| Heybridge
Layer Breton area books
Displaying 1 of 18 books about Layer Breton and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Layer Breton
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Essex memories
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.
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.
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
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
Evacuation
I along with my sister and mother were evacuated from Ilford to the station master's house at Tolleshant D'arcy. The railway line had three trains in each direction each day and my sister and myself were allowed to open and close the manual level crossing ( we were 6 and 4 at the time!!). The station had a ticket office ( an old carrige on bricks), a black weighing machine, a waiting room and a coal yard.
I attended the local school and sometimes the local milkman would take me in his pony and trap as the station was some way from the village. We were only in Tolleshant D'arcy for some 6 weeks in the early part of the war, but they were memorable and very happy times.
Huguenots of D'arcy
During the '70s I visited the memorial at Tolleshunt D'Arcy with Gilbert John Olley, his grandfather having settled in the village during the 19th century growing capers on their smallholding.
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
