Tiptree, Essex

My Granddad Stevens

Years ago my grandad had a small garage and workshop at the side of the Du-Cane Arms. My dad was born there and went to scool at Great Tottom. My grandad is buried in Great Braxted Church and my nanna is there too. In the last few years dad  (Anthony Percy Stevens who died in 2005) was buried also in Great... [more]

Freddie Holmes' garage

I attended the primary school, just down the Maldon Road from the garage in the photo, which was run by Mr Holmes.  The sweet-shop behind the pumps was popular with us kids!  Headmaster of the primary school was Mr Herbert Lewis, a Welshman known to us as "Pop".  He maintained discipline - and our attention! - with a bundle of rulers... [more]

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 (... [more]

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... [more]

Wickham Bishops Born and Bred

In 1950 I was born on a cold winter's night to my mother Rosemary Jesse, at 'The Black Houses', Kelvedon Road, Wickham Bishops, built by architect, designer and socio-economic theorist Arthur Heygate Macmurdo. I had an older brother Neil and a sister, Christine. My mother had lived her childhood at Goldhanger, another delightfully unique part of Essex, bringing forth many joyful... [more]

A real English village

My parents moved to Wickham Bishops in 1948 to help friends run the village Post Office Stores which sold everything - stamps, paraffin (you brought your own can and it was filled from a barrel at the back), vinegar (as for the parafin, it came from a barrel out back), cheese portions cut from huge cheeses wrapped in linen, and loose... [more]

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... [more]