All My Yesterdays.

Moved to GoldsmithsAvenue in 1950 , Recall the bangs well. Remember the Yates, Bennett, Franklin, Coe, Gladding, Howard and Jennings families. I’m Grant Long-my cousin David moved in when we left in 1958. I have an older brother, Martin and sister Joyce.

Hello Grant. Yes, I remember you and David. I lived next door to the Bridges, Michael, Malcolm and Maureen, then coming towards where I think you lived, the Braybrooks, Janet, Roy and Sterry, then the Allens. I think cousin David had a younger sister. Next I remember are the Terry's. Round the corner stood the Rec, where I used to go early in the morning to pick mushrooms, at the end of August September time. Mr Brown, who lived in the end house next to the Nurses garages opposite the Rec used to try and beat me to it so I ended up getting out of bed earlier and earlier. Would get a nice crop though. Do you remember the Corringham Carnival that used to be led by the steam traction engine owned by Dr Fairy, one of the Lampitts Hill GPs. The engine was kept in the first house past the Nurses garages in Springhouse Road.
As a younger lad, 9 or 10, I was walking along side the tractor and cutters, mowing the Rec grass one day when I misjudged where my right foot was and the iron wheel of the cutting frame ran over it. It was so painful. I had a blue foot for a couple of weeks. Ahh. Those were the days. Rossi's and Bastiani's ice cream. Do you remember the Corona Pop lorry coming once a week? If we behaved we could have a bottle or two. Cheers Grant. Thanks for your comments. Would be pleased if you have any further.

Hi to you all My name is Keith Brett and I have just discovered this website and I too lived in Stanford from1957 in Nursery road when we were rehoused from Eastham. I remember the army camp at the top of the road and the newt pond near Hassenbrook school. I attended Stanford infant school then when abbots hall junior school opened I went there until 1966 then Gable hall senior school.Today I went down wharf road to the sea wall to where we played 50 odd years ago and was amazed at changes there. I can remember the paraffin man coming around our estate in his van and you had to display a letter P in the window for him to knock on your door .So many great memories of a simple but happy childhood..

Hi Everyone. It's great to read your memories which I can adds too. Me and mt twin sister lived on St James Avenue East and went to Stanford Infants school, then across the road to the junior school before going to Gable Hall. We had fields at the back and at the end of the road and would play cowboys and indians in the hedges with toy pistols with caps. Climbing trees and building camps was and everyday event. The fields are gone now, replaced with a school playing field and houses. I can remember the farmer cutting the wheat and burning the stubble which we would try to put out by peeing on it. I later went to Thurrock Tech and helped deliver the Christmas mail when the sorting office was located in the old army camp. Dr Morris and Dr Fairie looked after me when I had an accident and I remember the traction engine which was in every Corringham carnival. I too remember the paraffin man and the Corona truck plus the baker and milkman. How times have changed but all in all a happy childhood also.

Hi Chris. Interesting comments. I know St James Ave East. I used to be the Co-op milkman there. the other company was Partridge Dairies, based in Stanford. This was in the early 60s and I remember the bad winter of around then. It was a Sunday morning when the snow/blizzard started. By the time we got to Balmoral Ave we couldn't get up the hill and had to carry the milk up to East and West in crates. By the time we finished we were soaking wet and freezing cold. We both lived in Corringham so we went home, had a change of clothes, a warm up then back out with family members joining us to help. We finished the round at 5pm. Out of 50 milk rounds from our depot in Grays, we were one of only two rounds to complete that day. It stayed below freezing for 3 weeks and it was probably a week before we could drive up to each avenue, but even then it was very icy. I remember the Poskit family down the bottom end of James East, and the last house on the right had the owner of a brand new Royal Enfield motorbike. He used to bring it out and start it every morning at the same time as we arrived there. It looked and sounded great. We used to go in to the corner shop on James West each morning and buy cakes. Big choux pastry things full of cream and topped with chocolate sauce. I lived in Goldsmiths Ave. We had the Esso Blue man and also the Aladdin Pink man. As my dad was a Shell tanker driver, we opted for Aladdin Pink. We had the same doctors. I did love that traction engine. I wonder where it is now.
It's good to reminisce.

Hi.Then you would have delivered milk to us at No. 28. The Poskit family lived across the road and down a little bit. The very bad winter was 1963 and like you I completed my round but with a hot water bottle tied around my belly - a paper round and then went to school unlike today when one snowflake falls and the school closes. Balmoral Avenue was unmade in those days. The shop at the top of Balmoral was run by the Mr and Mrs Stowell family ( their son and his family lived in the first house in St James Ave West) and I would often be sent there to get my mother a packet of 10 Turf cigarettes. No age limits then and the Mars bars seemed a lot bigger too. We too had a paraffin heater in the dining room with what was probably a 205 litre drum for storage in the garden. Remember when the gas man would call, count the shillings in the meter and give my mother a rebate and collecting any Lucozade bottles to get the deposit back.