My parents moved to Canvey from Edmonton in the summer of 1957.
My Grandparents and two uncles had lived on Canvey through the flood of 1953. We often had come down to visit them for the summer holidays. My Grandparents lived in a house called Sansovino in Trevia Ave. It was pulled down in the 1970s to make way for the supermarket at Lake Side corner.
I spent my last school year at Canvey, summer of 57 to summer of 58, coming from an all boys school in Edmonton to a Co Ed school I found very interesting.
Having left school and tried my hand at bricklaying. I did my apprenticeship at Dauntless Boat yard, by the bridge.
In 1965 I married Susan Smith (Doreen) and emigrated to New Zealand.
I took the photo so of course am not in it. Some names in the memory bank Susan Woolston, Shirley ?, Barbara ?, Frank Saul, Graham Flynn, Mrs White. Any help with names ?
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The lady sitting down far right looks like my sister Patricia Morgan (nee Shaw).
The girl 3rd on the right front row, is named Janet Philby, she worked at Neales the Bookbinders on the Long Road. She lived in Rainbow Road,and married a boy from there. Think his name was Dave Merry. she had a son David he was a teacher at the school in Leigh Beck. She is now sadly deceased, she was a very nice girl.
I can confirm that the girl on the far right in the front row is Pat Shaw, next to her is Betty Stevens. They were my close friends all through senior school.
Both Pat and Betty went to Municipal College in Southend and I started work when we all left school in the summer of 1958.
The girl the other side of Mrs White is, I believe, Valerie Guyatt who lived in May Avenue. Behind her is Barry Stevens, no relation to Betty. The small boy behind Mrs White could be David Maguire.
Mrs White taught English and French and was our form teacher for a couple of years. She was a lovely lady and a very good teacher.
Having a newly built school, that was spacious and fresh, surrounded by playing fields, for our final year was a nice way to end our school days.
I left the island when I married in 1970 but returned regularly over the years to visit elderly family and friends. Sadly that has now come to an end.
Your photo, Alan, brought back many happy memories, thank you.
My sister Sylvia Mayhew is the Second on the left at the back, she 3 years older than myself, we moved to Canvey late in in 1953. My Nan lived down Gainsborough Avenue right next to Billy wells where he kept the horses.
I still live on Canvey but my sister lives in Swansea
I take it your house backed on to Billy Wells Bob , because Billy lived in Gafzelle Dr.Was you the family that had a fairly big boat in your garden you were repairing.
Hi Tony and Robert
I think you must have moved into that that bungalow next to Billy Wells’ field before the Hutt family. Roy Hutt was my brother Trevor’s best friend, his Mum was German and they moved to Germany where Trev met up with Roy in the late 60s. From the photo I remember your sister quite well but although I remember your name I am sorry for the moment I can’t put a face to it. If you still live on the Island and I have been knocking around delivering bread for all those years I’m sure our paths must have crossed many times.
There is a photo of the bungalow on the Archive behind a flooded pony field, not sure if it’s 53 or freshwater flood of 68. 😀 Graham.
Hi Graham, that is the name that i was trying to think of [the Hutts ] I bumped into one of the Hutts in Thundersley in about the 90s when i was delivering skips, he had retirered by then by was doing a bit of part time gardening for people.I can always remember when there were repairing the boat there Heath Robinson idea of bending the planks to put on the boats. It consisted of a long piece of hollow steal, erected at an angle, one end was capped then filled with water, a fire was set alight unerneath it and lengths of planking slid inside, when the fire got hot enough it caused the wood to bend to the desired angle they wanted.
Hi.
Recognised my mate Ken Harding on the back row far right. He is Australia now so I e-mailed him to confirm and he sent back some more names: Back row far left was called Murray, just arrived at the school from S.Africa (got a feeling I know him as well , his Dad was manager for Mac Hayes ,coal merchants and building supplies).
Back row 3rd from left: Brian Smith
Back row middle: Frank Saul
Back row 3rd from right: Alan Bateman
Middle row 3rd from left: Maybe a boy called Parsons, he couldn’t remember his first name and next to him, Dave Edmunds but Ken says he is not sure!
Hope these are right but are as accurate as I could understand them from Ken’s e- mail. Graham.
Hi Tony and Robert,
Re my previous comment about the photo of what was ‘ Hutt’s bungalow’ ‘ it was from the 1968 fresh water flood and there is a new build on the site but Billy Wells’ bungalow is still there you can just see a bit of it on the left!
Graham.
Sorry another update! Ken has now changed the name Bateman to BEARMAN !!!🙂 G.
I wonder if Jean Nunn might have confused “David Maguire” with my brother Peter Maguire? I think he was in the same year as this class, but we both agree that the boy indicated does not resemble the young Peter. He believes the photo may be of another class in his year. Moreover, we are unaware of another “Maguire” family on the Island at that time, although we could be wrong about that.
lady standing in the middle is my darling mum Barbara Nash (then Britnell). Sadly died in 2004, but a lovely shock and surprise to come across your photo, so thank you for sharing.
Hi Graham, its Roy Hutt who moved to Germany in the 70s. Yes, my father Robert Hutt and my uncle who I was named after build from scratch a boat in the garden. They built the boat using the clinker method. Each plank was steamed in a long pipe. The planks became pliable and they were bent round the ribs of the boat, then fixed with copper screws. This wasn’t just a labour of love but a financial project. When the boat was sold my dad and mom had enough money for a down payment for a new bungalow in Weel Rd. As a child I lived in a massiv bunglow in Gainsbough Ave. The house had a wooden frame covered in corrugated steel sheets. Cold in winter, hot in sommer. I think the house had 12 rooms, one being a large dining area. Here lived my grandad and nan my uncle and his wife, my mom, dad and myself. Our neighbour was Billy Wells who had a large piece of ground where his ponies ran around, Billy used to have a pony ride business in Sommer near the Casino. Hope Trevor is still around as kids we had lots of fun. Memories are good but get dulled in the fog of time.
I believe the girl in the middle front row is my mum Carole Thomson now Carole Cobbold.
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