New Vicar For Dovercourt

A Memory of Dovercourt.

My father was inducted as the new vicar on 31st December 1949 at All Saints Church. I was just nine at the time but I retain some dim memories of a packed church! My dad stayed at Dovercourt until his retirement in 1976. I have many memories of Dovercourt for that period. I loved the West beach where I often used to take the dog on long muddy walks. Often as kids we would walk 'down town' to Woolworths or Candy Corner, usually in search of roughly the same things. Beach Stores though was the place where you could get something 'off coupons': a sort of Crunchy Bar without the chocolate. We were away at school and I was terrified of girls, but used to gaze soulfully at Jennifer in the choir in the hope she would notice me. She never did.
We had three cinemas in those days. I remember my dad taking us to The Quatermass Experiment, rated X, at the Regent, and telling them I was 16 when I was actually 15. Well done Dad!
Dovercourt was a lovely place to grow up in but, like many young people, I didn't really appreciate this at the time. Later when I took my own kids there years later I appreciated it more. Both my mum and my dad died in 1992 and are buried in All Saints churchyard.

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