Good Times
A Memory of South Ockendon.
My parents moved into a prefab in Foxglove Crescent when I was 2. They were still assembling them and German prisoners of war were building the foundations. Compared to my nan's house they had everything, including an electric fridge which was unheard of then. The only problem was that in the winter everything froze solid inside, windows, wardrobe doors etc because they were all metal. We used to go to the village to buy broken biscuits and yesterday's bread and cakes. There was a village school which I attended in 1948 and got the cane on the first day. I don't think they liked Prefab kids. I stayed there until Mardyke School opened and then went to Ockendon Lennard County Secondary School on the new Aveley Estate in September 1954. The Headmaster was Mr Ernie Barratt, apart from him I seem to remember most of the teachers would cane you as soon as look at you. Mind you there were 50 kids in a class then, even so there were a couple who nowdays would've been locked up. I did a paper round from the age of 11 for a Mr Phillips, who had a shop in Stifford. Mardyke Hill was a killer in the winter with a full paper bag on your back. It was a great time and place to be a kid growing up. I remember the freedom, the fields, Bluebell Wood, Sandpit down Buckles Lane, Mr Jarman's farm, the village copper who knew all of us, putting 6 inch nails on the railway track so the steam train would flatten them (mad I know), scrumping, pea picking and the 370 bus. And as I grew older there was Grays for cinemas, the Kursal at Southend, Royal Oak and Knight of Aveley pubs, the Youth Club and Catholic Church hall for dances (even Romford on occasion). Great friends, laughs and incredibly good-looking girls. Plus of course looking back, summers were perfect and the snow never turned to slush (it seems compulsory as you get older!).
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It was interesting to read your reminiscences of Mardyke. I found yours and other stories because I googled Hewitt Sports Teacher Mardyke School for some reason. You must be 2 years older than me, because you left in 1954 and I left in 1956. I know Foxglove Crescent and the prefabs because every Saturday morning I had to walk from our house in Broxburn Drive over the railway bridge to South Ockendon and buy our Sunday joint at the village butchers. My Dad liked a shoulder of lamb which the butcher knew had to cost slightly less than 10 shillings. In summer before the Knight of Aveley was built we took our visitors to the Dog and Partridge in North Stifford, usually walking as we had a lot of nice dry weather in those days. I was often on the bank of the Mardyke fishing for tiddlers and newts. Bluebell wood was good for finding chestnuts to eat and conkers to fight with other kids in the playground at Mardyke. We liked to do piggyback fights in the playground but it was forbidden after some accidents. We were never caught putting nails on the railway line, cracking the porcelain insulators on telephone poles with our catapults and collecting fresh putty from the windows of the new blocks being built on Broxburn Drive. We were told that the railway police were looking for us, as well as the nightwatch man on the building site. A lot of the families living in Broxburn Drive were from East London and some kids later went to borstal. Fortunately in 1956 I went to Palmer’s in Grays and was separated from the Broxburn rowdies. I started at Mardyke in early 1952 soon after the opening in late 1951. My best teachers were Mr. West and Mr. Jeffries. The best lookers were Miss Wright a tall blonde and Miss Griffiths not so tall but wore a tight green jumper. I can still see it. I didn’t learn much from these 2 young ladies, but they were a motivation! Great times, school and environment for us kids making a start in the world. My email if you or anybody else wants to write: john_f.davies@bluewin.ch. Regards, John