Growing Up In The 50s

A Memory of Southend-on-Sea.

I went to Southchurch High School for Boys after failing my eleven plus in 1948. Tbe headmaster was Mr Haxall a frighteniing person to an eleven year old. A great teacher of history and bookbinding was Mr Bull.
The paddlesteamers were still coming into the pier to take the holuiday makers across to Herne Bay and further round the Kent coast.
The pier was an exciting place for a boy. You could go down access stairs to the lower level that was under water at high tide.
Southchurch High was a socalled secondary modern school where after two years you could take the entrance exam to the Southend Municipal College Technical School on London Road. This was a good technical education for its time giving boys a grounding in both building and engineering skills prior to apprenticeships
Much of my spare time was spent on the Leigh marshes repairiing a variety of old boats of little value. Two Tree Island could be accessed at low tide via the causeway leading to the sewage works. You needed a good pair of wellington boots as the mud was very soft and sticky. There were a goodly number of boats on the marsh at that time as you could moor for free.
After the 1953 flooding of Canvey Island and other areas a lot of coke would come floating into the marsh on the tide having been washed out of peoples coal bins. The coke could be collected, dried and burnt in a 5 gallon drum to keep young boatees warm. That winter was COLD.