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South Ockendon
South Ockendon photos
Displaying the first of 37 old photos of South Ockendon. View all South Ockendon photos
South Ockendon maps
Historic maps of South Ockendon and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all South Ockendon maps
South Ockendon area books
Displaying 1 of 18 books about South Ockendon and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of South Ockendon
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of South Ockendon.
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Good Times
My parents moved into a prefab in Foxglove Crescent when I was 2. They were still assembling them and German prisoners of war were building the foundations. Compared to my nan's house they had everything, including an electric fridge which was unheard of then. The only problem was that in the winter everything froze solid inside, windows, wardrobe doors etc because they were all metal. We used to go to the village to buy broken biscuits and yesterday's bread and cakes. There was a village school which I attended in 1948 and got the cane on the first day. I don't think they liked Prefab kids. I stayed there until Mardyke School opened and then went to Ockendon Lennard County Secondary School on the new Aveley Estate in September 1954. The Headmaster was Mr Ernie Barratt, apart from him I seem to remember most of the teachers would cane you as soon as look at you. Mind you there were 50 kids in a class then, even so there were... Read more
Born in Celandine Road
I was born in 64 Celendine Road on 8th April 1954. I know the girl next door was called Gail because that's what I was going to be called, but mum and dad chose Wendy. I was 8 months old when we moved to 81 Shannon Way,Aveley and I lived there until I married on the 23rd June 1973.
Mardyke Primary
I went to Mardyke from 1952 to 1956. I believe it opened in 1951. It was a big change from the cramped east end. At first we only had the 2 asphalt playgrounds because the big playing field hadn't been made yet. I can remember class mates Alan Parkinson, Paul Lambillion, Barry Halsey, Pat Wyatt, Clive Vellacot, Brian Crudgington, Mary Davis and a few others. Teachers included Mr. Jeffries, Mr. West, Mr. Hewitt, Miss Wright. Headmaster was Mr. Childs. Anyone remember those times?
Mardyke School
This photo is of Mardyke School in Cruick Avenue, South Ockendon. I lived in Elwick Road just 100 yards around the corner and attended Mardyke (Infants and Juniors) between 1954 and 1960. The photo has been taken from the main school gates in Cruick Avenue and the infants' playground is shown. The flower border to the right of the pavement in the foreground was always stocked full of roses. It was a great school and I very much enjoyed my time there - Mr Smith was my form teacher in my final year (1960). Others in my class included Terry Rampling, Robert Lees, Peter Cecil, Malcolm Smith, Marilyn Mayger, Linda Kindell, John Banyard.
Memory Lane
My family used to live in Celandine Close, number 20 from 1959 to 1964 where we moved to Carnach Green. I have two brothers, David and John Colley, the three of us went to Benyon School then on too Sommers Heath and Culverhouse. My memories of Celendine are very poor but I do remember my neighbour having geese, I never did know why. We went to Grays by train, green it was. We had sherbert from the little shop next to the alloment. Llife was so simple then. If anyone wants to contact me through this site my name is Ann Colley.
HAPPY DAYS
We lived in South Ockendon from 1957 until the 1960s and they were the happiest years of my life. My father was Mr Edward Bailey who was caretaker of Benyon School and the family lived in the school house, Mum, Ann, David and me Joy. Dad was a lay reader at St Nicholas Church on the green and he was in the choir and Church Warden too. I went to school at Benyon and then Culverhouse, had a wonderful childhood and now in my sixties look back over happy memories.
South Ockendon
We too lived on this street, half-way down on the left in fact. I remember the Spicers, I used to babysit Christopher.
My Place of Birth
I was born in one of those prefabs halfway down on the righthand side, number twenty three in fact. My mum and dad must have thought they`d gone to heaven, moving from a blitzed east end tenemant with a shared outside toilet to a detached "bungalow" with its own facilities and garden I remember the road just as in the picture: empty of cars. My dad was one of the first to get a car, well a van in fact, a Ford 100e. He bought a bench seat out of a trolley bus in a scrap yard to put in the back so he could take the family out.
