Memories of Shoeburyness

Happy Days

My father bought a horse and gypsy caravan in the summer of 1946.He borrowed another horse from his brother and was able to take the caravan to Shoebury Hall camp site. He painted 'Happy Days' on the caravan door.We had the caravan there for about six to eight years. 1946-195? We had a bell tent beside the caravan for adults and the caravan was for me, my brother and my sister. We let the caravan and tent for 4 per week when we were not using it ourselves. Does anybody remember seeing the caravan or even the horse 'Old Bill' which we had at the camp only in 1946? We tethered it on Shoebury Common adjacent to the boating lake 63 years ago.

The name of the pleasure boats

There were two pleasure boats operating from the west beach, 'The Prince of Wales' and another, whose name eludes me at the moment.  I think it may have been 'The Queen Mary', but will have to confirm this later.  Up until recently, when they were deemed to be a risk, the manual winches were rusting on the top of the beach near the Uncle Tom's Cabin entrance from between the beach huts.  I moved to the area, in 1953 at age 3, and have recall of many pleasant days spent on the mud, often walking as far as the Mulberry harbour, the beach, and in the caravan site, including many visits to the shop.  At the time, my part of Shoebury then called Thorpe Dene, was mostly unmade roads and lanes, then the closest developement to the sea, barring Percy Garons 'Sea View Homes' for the orphans of Southend.  I have seen the developement of Shoeburyness for the worse, and miss the places where I played as a child, now mostly Housing Association, and Council properties.  Brick production being the mainstay of Shoebury's and Wakerings' early history, and of course the Garrison.  There were Victorian rubbish dumps, that I have dug in the past, and a grey and old coastguards' complex long since gone, near the site of the current Yacht Club.

Good Old Days

I was so pleased to see this photo, as the caravan by the brick building was my grandparents'. We had another one right opposite this one. I had many a happy time on the site. I was born in 1949 & used to be down there every summer until it closed in 1972. My grandparents had them well before I was born. I can remember all the men getting the chairs all in a line, this was the people with tents who didn't know the light shone the through. Us kids used to have water fights, one used to watch for Capt. Townsend to come along. I can remember one year my friend & I were on the site & I never booked us in, the Townsends gave me a right sound off.  We never had electric on the site, or showers, no entertainment but we all enjoyed ourselves. When we used to come along on the bus it used to stop outside the gates, it wasn't supposed to as the stop was just past Church Road. This was a number & in the summer we had the open top bus going to the East Beach. These were the good old days. We used to have some good cricket games as well. Pity it had to close.      

Ring road

This photo is on the ring road on the west side looking north. The sand shingle road leading to the east side of camp was right next to the caravan on the right

Ring road

This is the ring road on the west side of the camp with the camp shop just visible in the background

The rows

This is a view of one of the rows that ran east to west. This is looking east towards the army camp

Ring road

This looks like the road that ran round the camp. The building to the left was the toilet block on the east side of the camp.

Jellicoe Square

Shoebury Hall Farm was owned by Capt H R Townsend RN and his wife Margaret I think.  There was also a daughter Pamela.  They were like the country squire and his family.  Their house was between the church and the camp site.  I recall going inside the house once with Dad.  He was one of the oldest campers on the site after all.   Captain Townsend could often be seen riding round the camp on his bike making sure that all was well and the campers were not getting up to any mischief.  The Townsends were treated with great reverance and they reciprocated.
I remember one occasion on a hot summers day Dad and Uncle Steve were larking about.  They were chasing each other about dressed in womens coats and scarves on their heads chucking buckets of water over each other.   Capt Townsend nearly received the contents of one bucket when he came cycling round the corner of one caravan.  
This I am certain was Jellicoe Square looking north.  I recognise the chalet in the corner and St Andrews church in the background.  This is where my parents had their caravan from about 1958 to 1966/7, the reason for my input on this website.  Mum and Dad had been camping at the site since before the war.  They were married in 1935 so it was at from then on at least.
Our caravan was to the left of this photo and behind the camera.  There was a shingle/sand road running through the square from east to west.  I think there were four squares in all.  Along one side of the road were 3 large wooden huts interspersed at regular intervals.  In these huts were kept equipment for the day to day running of the camp site.  In the early days prior to the caravan they had a large tent which would be put up at the start of the season and taken down at the end and then stored in one of the huts The one to the left of our square from my earliest memory was used firstly to store all the equipment that the campers could hire by the hour day or week e.g. bikes and radios.  The bikes consisted of three wheelers, bycycles and those tandem things that are still used today on some caravan sites.  In the 60s the hut housed a full size snooker table that campers and the men who used to maintain the site could use.  
When we had the tent the pitch next door to us was rented by my Aunt (Dads sister) & Uncle and my two cousins.  I was the youngest of three children so had plenty of company.  Just beyond that chalet and to the right was another Aunt and Uncle (Mums brother) Gert and John they too had been long standing campers.  In later years another Aunt and her friend bought a caravan in the square nearest the toilet block on the east side of the camp.  Later still another Aunt and Uncle (Mums brother bought a caravan in the same row as Gert and John.  Sadly that Uncle, Steve, was taken ill on the site and did not recover.  
In the same square as us were the Horne family and John and I were friends for years from my earliest memory until the site closed in the late 60s.  In those early days when it was mostly tents we had to be careful when coming back late at night not to trip over the guy ropes as there was no lighting whatsoever only faint glows from the Tilley lamps in the tents.
The site was pretty basic then not like todays caravan sites.  There was no running water, one had to go to one of the taps scattered about the site and bring it back in a metal jug.  Hot and cold.  We used to wash in our shed next to our caravan. The toilets were situated in two blocks one on the east side of the camp the other on the west and it was a fairly large site.  I would often go and get the water from about the age of ten.  I learnt never to spill it especially the hot.   Cooking and lighting were by calor gas, no electrics.  We did have a camp shop that sold all you could want really.  Bread, Bacon, Ham, Cheese, Milk, Sweets, Comics and Ice Cream.  In the evening one of the men from the shop would go round the site shouting Evening News and Standard.  In the 60's at the start of the Beatles and Stones era they even got a jukebox much to the annoyance of the shop staff as we teenagers were forever grouped round it playing the same stuff over and over again.  We never vandalised anything or caused trouble though.  We dare not.  We did not want to.   
The camp was closed in the early 70's I think and is now a housing estate.

The boating pool

The boating pool at Shoebury Common was a must visit every weekend I was there.  In later years they had canoes and we used to sit up on the top of the canoe at the back and not in the cockpit.  Never fell in though.  Would not be allowed nowadays in this health and safety culture.  Just at the back of the pool was the putting green.  You can see the hut where you used to pay and get your clubs and balls from on the right hand side of the photo.  Think it had 9 holes but we neve got round without racking up a huge score.  I think this area has now been landscaped.   

Uncle Toms cabin

Behind these beach huts was, and as far as I know still is, Uncle Tom's Cabin.   Here you could get cups of tea and so on.  The original was constructed mainly of wood, an old brown colour.  It was replaced I think in the 60's by the glass and brick one that was still there on my last visit a few years ago.  How it got its name I know not.
Me and my mate Johny Horne often walked along this prom especially in the early to mid sixties looking for girls.  That shelter could tell some stories.

The Pub

When Mum & Dad went to the pub, which was not very often, I would stand outside with a bag of crisps and a lemonade and patiently wait.  They were never in there long anyway.  I think there was a family bar there as well which sometimes we would use.  Opposite the pub was Dolls cafe where we would usually go and have dinner when we arrived at Shoebury and also on Sundays if we were there for the week.  It was owned by husband and wife Frank and Doll.  I remember once I did not eat all my dinner and Frank chased me all over the bit of green opposite with the leftovers in a paper bag.  Always a warm welcome though.

West Beach 1948 - 1966

This beach was the one we used to make our way to on a regular basis when we were staying at Shoebury Hall Farm campsite. We used to take the boat trip out to the Mulberry Harbour. Cannot for the life of me remember the name of the boat now. Seem to recall there were two operating at the same time.