Benfleet Creek

A Memory of South Benfleet.

I was born on a houseboat right near the bridge to Canvey. I don't remember too much as we were only there for 4 or so years. But things I do remember are running round the rail on the boat and falling in, more than once! and getting hauled up by a rope and on the other end was a very unhappy father. And swimming with my sisters and trying to get out before those darn crabs snipped at your feet. I also remember the line up on the Canvey bridge, people and double decker buses alike. I found it quite amusing when I returned in the 1970s to find they had filled most of the creek in as that very bridge was only about the length of 2 Mini Minors. If I didn't have many photos to prove that it was quite a long bridge I'd have put it down to everything appearing bigger when you're a kid. I'm also the proud owner of an oil painting of our houseboat on the creek, given to our family by a local artist named Muriel Swanson. I don't know if she ever did other works but it's nice to have an oil painting of one's birthplace, even if I was born on Benfleet Creek. Quite a few of the photos I inherited are water marked and curled due to the great flood but are still wonderful to have.

A trip down Memory Lane on Easter Sunday is just what I needed.