Boyhood Reminiscences

A Memory of Hornchurch.

I was born in Vicarage Road and went to Rainsford Way Primary School. This was near the Hornchurch Bus Garage and us boys would watch the big red Routemaster buses swinging round in that tight space with screeching tyres.
We used to play in the streets or have dens in our gardens. We would climb trees in Harrow Lodge Park and get chased by the Parky. We had to keep a look out for the Teds, who would throw boys into the boating lake. My father made me a box-cart out of pram wheels and bits of board. Our shoes were the brakes - so, they got well and truly scuffed. Crossing the main road at speed, unable to stop, meant the soap box was thrown on top of the garage and I got spanked for trying to liberate it.
Rocket cap bombs were thrown up in unison to explode in the road - they were confiscated. We went through the roller skate craze, the cycle craze, collected car numbers - boring! Then we all caught the train spotting bug. We were in between the ex Great Eastern at Romford and The ex London Tilbury and Southend at Hornchurch. The trains that passed through Romford were mainly electric but the LTSR was still steam with lovely tank engines and frequent trains to spot.
We would think nothing of walking miles for a good vantage point. The footbridge near May and Bakers at the Chase near Dagenham East Station was great - but a bit smelly from the chemical output from the factory. The family that owned the Chase did not like trespassers and their sons used to hunt you down on horseback if they found you.
One of my great mates was Dan, a boy from the Cottage Homes which was situated between the Bus Garage and Harrow Lodge Park. He was big-hearted, nothing troubled him and he taught me to fight - so I could hold my own against the bullies.
One of my class mates asked Dan what it was like not to have a mother and Dan said, "Give over, I have five mothers!"
I don't remember many fat children, sweets were still partly rationed. I remember a few poor children who had suffered with polio.
When I was eleven we moved to Wingletye Lane - still in Hornchurch and I had to walk a mile and a half to school at Dury Falls Secondary school. Opposite our house were fields leading down to the River Ingrebourne and if you were polite to the farmer, he would ignore the swings you built over the river. The farmer didn't like these new-fangled tractors and used horses to plough the heavy clay fields.
I remember the 1963 winter in Essex where we had snow fall on Boxing Day and it was still there at Easter. A blizzard lay against the rear of our house and we had to dig our way to the coal box. No fun for parents but endless fun for children. But, after several months of sub-zero temperatures, even children grew to dislike the ice and the cold. Our neighbour was a barrister called Arthur Sackville Hulkes. He had a law practice in Hornchurch and my mother was his secretary. He was a very kindly man and encouraged me to play in his garden. He had a lake, a tennis court, bee hives and the best of all places for a young boy with imagination - a large underground air-raid shelter. We used to play war games and practice escaping from the air hatch - those were the days!