Small World

A Memory of Grays.

Relating to the story of Roger Pickett; I also was born in 1952 (January) and lived in Lucas Rd with my nan, Kitty Rayment, and my mum, Joyce, and family from the age of 3. So Roger, we were near neighbours! My maiden name then was Linda Banks. We lived at number 23 Lucas Road, before that we lived in Lenthall Ave, just round the corner. I have been looking at the picture posted on the site; was the big building at the bottom the police station - or part of it? I went to Quarry Hill School (the original one) when I started school and at the age of 9 my mum and dad got a council house in Chadwell, so it was a big move for me. At the age of 11, I passed the 11 plus exam, and went to Grays Tech, as it was known then, at the top of Hathaway Road. When I got married, I moved to Kent, but came back often to visit mum and my nan. I couldn't believe what they did to the town centre in Grays, all those lovely buildings gone to make way for a faceless indoor 'shopping centre' - what was wrong with having individual shops? And where was the State cinema? We used to go there every Saturday to watch the matinee! Grays beach was a favourite spot for families, and there was some kind of swimming pool there. We had to go every week as part of a school lesson, I remember it as being quite run down and freezing cold! I have lived in Staffordshire and Cheshire now for many years, but I still love to remember my home town of Grays, as it used to be... a wonderful old town.