Bonny Baby Show

When and Where?

Unfortunately there are no details accompanying the photograph shown here.  Obviously a baby show, but was it in the field behind the Laindon Hotel?   Was it part of the Laindon Carnival and if so, in which year?  Any information would be very welcome.

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  • There was a British Legion fete in 1933 on the hotel meadow – I have a press clipping I found on the British Newspaper Archive site. Could be this? My husband’s uncle won first prize for one of the categories.

    By Sheryl Walmsley (31/07/2018)
  • I totally agree with Tony Charters 21/09/13, this photo is of the Laindon FC football pitch taken from an upstairs window of the Laindon Hotel.  One small point however, is that it is constantly said as being behind the hotel, which it never was, but situated to the northen side and was behind the bowling green. There was a very large entrance to the hotel on the northern side which can be  clearly seen in the video of Billy Foyle taking King in for a drink.

    By W.H.Diment (30/10/2013)
  • Hi Tony; just wondering if you have any old Laindon photos you could scan and pass on to the site?  Andrea

    By Andrea Ash (nee Pinnell) (29/10/2013)
  • I’m sure it is the football pitch used by Laindon Football Club which was behind the Laindon Hotel. The ‘hut’ in the middle has ‘LFC’ on it which could be a vital clue. I remember that being placed at the ground entrance at the rear of the hotel car park, or at least the area to the left of the hotel as seen from the High Road. I was shown a print by Andrea Ash recently and I recognised it mainly from the houses in the background. We reckoned that it was taken from an upstairs window of the Laindon Hotel I lived in Bedford Road and our garden backed onto the football field. The tall posts that held high wire netting can just be seen at the top and I can place the white shed seen in the top left as the one in our neighbour’s garden as I have a photo I took in our back garden showing that in the background. I would guess the date as late 40’s early 50’s, looking at the styles of dress. The area of field on the right is where the Community Centre was built and the bungalows there are probably in Brimsdown Avenue.

    By Tony Charters (21/09/2013)
  • I think if it is the Fairground area I think it would have been accessed via Denbeigh Rd., which fits with Chris saying close to Bristow and the Station. Manor Rd., would be too far away. There again perhaps it was at the Recreation grond accessed via Manor Rd., (where the prefabs were)

    By Eric Pasco (05/06/2013)
  • After again perusing this photo I notice a very large building in the background, quite unlike the normal Laindon buildings of that era. If this can be identified it would resolve the problem of ‘where’. Also there is a long shed like structure in the top right hand corner of the picture which might be Toomey’s Garage.

    By W.H.Diment (05/06/2013)
  • My first thought on the location was also the field where the fairs always turned up not far from Laindon Station.

    By Eric Pasco (04/06/2013)
  • I would suggest this Bonny Baby Show, judging by the number of people in attendance, was part of a much larger event and the Laindon Carnival has been suggested. Also the photograph would have been taken from a much higher place. It has been said that the hotel meadow was behind the Laindon Hotel, but was in fact on the northern side with Toomey’s garage as the northern boundary. Could it be that this photo was taken from somewhere upstairs in the Laindon Hotel and that the angle gives a different view to that which would have been seen from standing in the meadow itself. PS. This is simply a personal suggestion and not in any way a statement of fact.

    By W.H.Diment (04/06/2013)
  • Hi, I seem to remember going to some sort of fete at about that time, I would think about 1950. I remember sitting on my dad’s shoulders and there were horses parading, it was at the back of my nan’s bungalow in Bristow Crescent, near the station, I think it might have been accessed from Manor Road.

    By Chris Markin (04/06/2013)
  • Hi Paul. Thanks for that. I will do some more research.

    By Nina Humphrey(née Burton) (03/06/2013)
  • Nina asks the location. I do not know but I do know it is not the field behind the Laindon Hotel. No matter where you stood on that field the background view is foreign. Possibly it is the field behind (and to the east of) O. Shedd’s store. This was the site of the fairs that periodically appeared (and then disappeared) for a few days perhaps twice a year.

    By Alan Davies (03/06/2013)
  • This picture looks like it could be late 40s or early 50s. My twin brother and I (Paul and Graham Stickland) were entered into a baby show in 1951. We won!! Not bad for babies that weight 2lb and 3lb at birth in December 1950. They must have been pretty good at St. Andrew’s maternity. 

    The winning prize was a portrait photo’, which I still have. I would be nice to know that the event shown is the one that we won. Kind regards.

    By Paul Stickland (02/06/2013)

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