Bathside Boys

A Memory of Dovercourt.

I was brought up at 14, Ingestre Street and always consider myself a Bathside boy. I was very lucky to have my school opposite my front door. Just up the street was Mr.Barneys shop where you could buy 4 black jacks for a halfpenny. There were sherbert flying saucers, rainbow drops - lots of sweets to keep kids happy. One end of Bathside was the railway bridge where, if you heard a train coming, you'd run to the top to disappear in clouds of smoke and steam. At the other end of Bathside was the coke factory. Through the dirty windows men were stripped to the waist toiling away in the heat and grime. One street housed a crisp factory. Up by the park was Kettle's soft drinks - my brother and my favourite was called Kings Cup. Along the sea wall was a scrap metal yard called Skinners. Clothes could be taken there for money by weight - wool had to be separated as you got a better price. In the summer, for a highlight of their holiday, campers at Warners in Dovercourt would walk all the way through Dovercourt and the sea wall of Bathside to go to the pub for a meal and a singalong, then walk all the way back. I still remember all of the men with knotted handkerchiefs on their heads. This was considered fun in those days and people actually enjoyed it. I will never forget when we had relatives stay and they asked us "however did we sleep at night" - we asked why, and they said the trains. This was when goods wagons were loose shunted and they had to be pushed hard to join the waggon waiting down the line. Guy Fawkes was a big thing in those days. For the princely sum of a three penny bit, those over thirteen could carry a paraffin torch in the carnival procession. A great honour then, consigned to the health and safety scrapheap probably now. Harwich harbour would host fireworks. The pier and jetty would be the backdrop of ships and tanks shooting each other in battle all done in fireworks, it was spectacular then, I don't know what people would make of it now. Summertime was spent on Dovercourt beach when the crowds had gone home. A treat would be a trip to the cliff pavilion, an enormous lean-to conservatory with trees and plants complete with birds. In the summer there would be puppet shows and competitions for kids. Concerts were held there. My dad who was in the Harwich & Dovercourt brass band regularly played there. Best thing I liked about this was the spade and bucket shop that adjoined - sold Peters ice cream - yum yum. Such a shame when it was demolished and replaced it with what looks like the upgraded road that should have gone where the road in and out of town should be. It was a far away time, hard times, but thoroughly enjoyable.