Florries Stores

A Memory of South Benfleet.

As a child my family moved from Leytonstone, London to Church Lane in South Benfleet.
Memories are sketchey but I remember clearly living in what were called at the time a 'bungalow stores', it was a pre-war pebbledash type building, I can remember my parents extending the bungalow and improving the layout of the shop, and also giving it a new title of 'Florrie's Store's, aptly named after my mother Florence. As I remember, it was a bright yellow fascia with blue capital letters across the front of the shop, very 1960s!
The gardens on these old propertys were huge, especially having been used to living in terraced streets in London. The sense of freedom was immense, it all seemed so spacious. Happy memories are of going to Hadleigh bakery on Saturday to fetch bread for the shop, I can still remember the treat of a piece of hot 'cottage loaf' with butter. I also remember visits with my elder brother to Hadliegh castle and bus trips to 'new town' Basildon. There was also a fantastic toy shop close by called Whites I believe and hours were spent looking at wonderful toys and games.
As all childhood memorys seem the sun always shone and it was a happy place to live at that time, I attended the local school at New Thundersley.
I think money in the area was scarce at that time I can remember my parents complaining of customers coming in wanting to buy one tomato or one egg!
We moved away in about 1969/70, unable to sell the shop outright my father sold a lease on the property and finally sold it outright in the mid 1980s. I believe the whole building was bulldozed and two large houses built on the site.

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