Clacton 1958

A Memory of Clacton-On-Sea.

Every year until I was a teenager we spent our annual holiday at Clacton. We stayed at the same boarding house every year on St Osyths Road, it was owned by a lovely motherly character called Mrs Theobald, whose husband Percy was the buyer for Thackers green grocers on Pier Avenue.
The pleasure boat in the picture is the Nemo II which was owned by "Newt" King. My brother and I used to get free rides, as Mr King was a neighbour of the Theobalds. There was great competition for passengers between the Nemo and the Viking Saga (which is still sailing out of Malden).
The structure on the pier was an early roller coaster built out of timber and scaffolding which gloried in the name of the Steel Stella. Under the pier was an ideal place at low tide to go crab hunting.
A copy of this picture now hangs on my bedroom wall by courtesy of Friths and brings back many happy memories.