A Walk From Wickford High Street Down The Rettendon Raod

My name is Kevin Mears, I lived in Wickford from my birth in 1958 until I got married in 1980. I shall describe my memories of Wickford in the 1960s and 1970s as a couple of walks around the Wickford area. This walk starts where the Southend Road joins the High Street I start my next walk down memory lane. Starting to walk along the Rettendon Road towards Rettendon there was a cake shop and newsagents on the right and on the left the Swan pub. After the junction with Swan Lane there was a garage and a hardware store where my mother worked for a little while. The shop was made out of wood and burnt down sometime during the late 1960s. Behind this was a playing field and opposite a new row of shops. Further along on the right was the Carter and Ward offices and next to that the entrance to the Memorial Park. The entrance was along a road way, through some gates, across a bridge over the river Crouch. There was a path that led between a two rows of trees. Each tree had a dedication plaque to a soldier who died in the First World War. Several hundred yard further along was the playground with two sets of swings, a slide, roundabout and one of those cone shaped things that spun round a oscillated in and out while you sat on it. Behind that was another playing field with a big mound, next to the river. We used the to race our bikes down the mound as fast as we could and had to stop before going down the river bank, not always successfully. In this area was the original Play Leadership hut where you could borrow stilts, footballs, cricket sets, bats and balls, all free. Next to that was a small wood, again we used to race our bikes around the paths within the wood. Returning to the Rettendon Road and proceeding east you eventually came to Runwell Church, which was supposed to have the devils claw marks on one of the doors, though I failed to ever find them! A little further along on the opposite side of the road was a pub called the Quart Pot. This article concludes my stroll down memory lane and the environs of Wickford.