The Corner Club is no more

Destroyed by fire 9th November 2010

Canvey Island woke up yesterday to the lose of another part of Canvey’s history. The Corner Club, which has been at Smallgains Corner for at least 60 years was at the centre of a fire which engulfed not only the club but Smallgains Timber Yard and the shop at the front. Fortunately no-one was injured in the fire but several homes, which are very close to the site were evacuated.

The Fire Brigade incident report on their website stated they attended the fire around 4.22am:

  • Firefighters are tackling a fire in a woodyard in Canvey which broke out in the early hours today. The officer in charge reports that a building measuring 30 metres by 10 metres is 80% alight. Crews are tackling the fire using two hose reel jets, two main jets and a monitor jet.
  • Update: The fire is in a series of single storey units consisting of two shops and a bar/club and a timber yard at the back.
  • As of 07:30 this morning there are eight crews working on the fire which is now completely surrounded.
  • The entire building caught light and all of the units have been totally destroyed by the blaze.
  • Firefighters are currently using four monitors and three main jets to extinguish the fire which is now fully surrounded and under control.
  • Divisional Officer Bob Wahl, officer in charge, said: “Crews have done an excellent job containing this fire and preventing it from spreading to the nearby homes. It has been a fierce blaze and the buildings are totally destroyed. Crews have worked extremely hard throughout the night and the fire is now completely surrounded and contained.”

Do you have memories or pictures of the Club please email them in or comment below.

The Corner Club

Comments about this page

  • By a strange coincidence I was in the Corner Club , playing snooker with my mates in June 1960, when several fire-engines rushed by and a passer-by told me ”Your Bakery is on fire”. Personally another very significant Canvey fire. Condolences to all those whose livelihoods have been affected by this disaster. Graham

    By Graham Stevens (10/11/2010)
  • I was in The Corner Club two weeks ago with Dave and Moira Cain. Lovely company, charming atmosphere and a great place for reminiscing. The Club had reopened after a protracted closure and was doing great business.

    By Jim Gray (10/11/2010)
  • As a singing duo, we performed at the corner club many times during the last eight years, before it closed. We always had very good nights there. The crowd and the staff were always friendly and appreciative. We would like to wish our best to Jan, Pete and Sharon who we dealt with at the club. The club will be sorely missed.

    By Helen and Chris - Nice as Twice (24/11/2010)
  • I cried for 5 days when the club burnt down. A few years ago I used to drink in there with the love of my life. We broke up but all the places we used to go, as long as they still stand, hold precious memories for me. Some of those memories from around 2004 went up in smoke when the club was burnt down. I hope the owners are able to rebuild. I wrote this poem about memories lost and what it means to see a place that held such memories burn down:

    I kissed the love of my life in that place, and I would kiss him again today if only I could. Those walls were part of our love story and no doubt part of many peoples stories and it MUST be rebuilt. Ash What hand of man Or hand of fate Made the spark That flared up late Inside the dark? What devil’s eye Glowed red, aspired To smother walls And carpet fired? Now it’s just a blackened shell, Fire-ravaged , cast in hell.
    It’s gone, it’s past – like you and I, But I know that most Of past remains behind, So there in the wreckage We haunt as ghosts, Coming to pass As figures in glass Moving translucent, As glimpses of a time long spent, We shall flicker upon new walls, Our voices will echo down rebuilt halls. The bar is gone but not the print Of our lives, etched within, Sketched in ghost-ink. The fire that wrecked the timber frame Cannot destroy our hearts or names; We shall haunt there all the same No matter that we, Like the burnt-out ruin, Could cremate by fire’s orange rust. Memory cannot be scorched or smashed Ghosts are never lost in ash – Nor scattered off in wind to dust.

    By Canvey Ghostwriter (17/12/2010)

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