Canvey Community Archive 15 years old

Where have those fifteen years gone?

Clr Ray Howards Speech

On the 12th April 2008 Canvey Community Archive website went live, a first for sites of this kind. In the same year we won a prestigious award. Who would have thought 15 years later we would have nearly 7,000 pages of Canvey History, 23,000 photos and media files and 300 site visitors a day on average. Many from around the world.

As well as recording people’s stories and documents we also did lots of research and confirmed many stories and filled in lots of gaps in the island’s past. Over the years we have recorded history as it happened, such as the pandemic and currently the seawall revetment works. We have helped to save part of the Echo Newspaper archive, researched and found the resting place of some of the flood victims from 1953. Marked the nearby site of the B17 collision at the Point. We were part of and documented the seawall murals.

The island has celebrated and we have recorded the 400th anniversary of the oldest Dutch cottage and the start of the Dutch connection which continues to this day. We have featured photos documenting the seawall and sluices from the 1930s to the seawall we have today.

We have recorded islanders memories from the early 1900s, including Hester’s early developments and his demise a few years later. Followed by the continued development of the island through the 20s and 30s with photos and stories.

We have met so many people, from the Hester family, flood victims, our American friends and ordinary people researching their families. The list is endless. We never know what or who we will find out about next. Has anyone got a crystal ball?

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