Gloria's wavy wall

Pam Atkins & Jimmy Devlin
Pam Quarman

I read with great interest, Lee Chapel North (Part 3 continued) , the article about retracing the walk home from school by Nina Humphrey (née Burton).

Then reading the comment from Gloria about the wavy concrete wall reminded me of this photo that was somewhere in my big box of photos, which quite clearly shows it. After a long search, I found this one.

This photo of me (on the right) and Jimmy Devlin was taken outside 23 King Edward Road, when I was 3 or 4 years old and lived next door at number 21. Across the road is where Gloria lived and the wavy wall that her dad and Mr Bryan built is clearly there.

I do hope this brings back memories to you Gloria.

I have had this photo for over 60 years and I have just noticed a little dog at the gate of the house next door the other side, I think the Gibsons may have lived there then.

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  • Hi Gloria, it was your mum who taught me overlocking, when dad used to go work at Baigents in the evening.  I also used to go there on Saturday mornings, that was during November and December 1960 just before I left school at Christmas. I never worked for Mr Jacobs until 1970, when I moved back to Basildon . At that time dad was working at the factory at Staceys Corner and I went to work there as an underpresser and left in 1972 when I had my son.

    I remember your mum dying my hair for me one Saturday, that was when she was in her flat at Devonshire Road. My mum never worked with dad, she was an underpresser at a factory on the industrial site before she went to work at Carreras cigarette company and then when Yardleys opened their factory she went there.

    Mum and dad had a caravan at Hopton, Dad sold it after Mum died. I think I have a photograph of mum and dad in the clubhouse with your aunt Eileen and her husband in the clubhouse on the caravan site.

    By Barbara Straderick (10/03/2012)
  • Hello Barbara; How lovely to hear from you again. Oh yes your dad Wally, a big man and one of the nicest men I knew. I can still see him clearly standing at the Hoffman Press in his grey trousers and white shirt open at the neck, he really was the a lovely man.

    It was your dad who taught me how to underpress and I worked along side him pressing garments for “Chelsea Girl”, not sure if they are still around. 

    I can still see him in the cutting room at Stacys Corner he used to help Mr Jacobs lay up the rolls of cloth and then Mr Jacobs would spend hours working out “The Cabbage”, anyone in the rag trade will know what this is. I also remember you had a sister and I think your mum also worked with us.

    Did you have a caravan somewhere that you used to go off to, a faint recollection of that. So you now live in Laindon quite near to where mum lived in King Edward Rd (64), or if it was in the late 60s when you dropped off the key, it could have been to a flat in Devonshire Rd where mum had moved to.

    By Gloria Sewell (24/02/2012)
  • Hi Gloria, although I lived in Basildon when we moved from London to Essex, I now live in Laindon. We lived in Royal Court from 1999 till October 2010. We now live in the new development of houses and flats that they built on the green behind the Royal Court flats and garages. 

    Royal Court has completely been demolished and a new lot of flats are being built. 

    We could have moved back to Basildon but decided we wanted to stay in this area. 

    I’ve often tried to remember what house I sat outside in my dad’s car (Wally) when he dropped the factory keys off to your mum one evening.

    By BARBARA STRADERICK (12/02/2012)
  • Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Pam, I must confess this really did bring a tear to my eye, not only is it a lovely photo of you two, but to see the wall my dad built all those years ago is so fantastic and the garden I spent so many years of my childhood playing in with my dog Snowy. We had him for 18 years, I hope you recall him he was pure white with a black spot on his back and used to chase all the tradesmen. We put on little shows as the photo you have already put on site shows, Oh! the memories I am experiencing at the moment.

    The bank on the right hand side looking across where we rolled down so many times and Nina I think is going to see if its still there. The concrete lamppost outside that my brother bent pulling his first car engine out (he now has a large car lot and MoT garage in Suffolk but this is where it all began for him). 

    The three paned window on the right is where I had my first little home ,my mother let my husband and I have that as our first sitting room and the bedroom above, Bless her x x.

    I am not sure Pam but that could be the French’s Jack Russell, they moved in after the Gibsons, not sure of the year though. Could that I wonder be a bike at the front porch, my brother and I both had bikes. OHHH yes and the many goodnight kisses at that front door.

    I think you were one of the children Jennie Pattle, Pat Bartley and I used to take to the Worthing Road rec. There was also along your side a lady who had twins in a pram, we also were allowed to take sometimes, do you remember who that was Pam?

    It is really great that you have these photos of the true old Laindon and it’s people. I unfortunately lost all mine when I parted from my first husband. I never got them back, so these are wonderful for me to see. 

    I have many many photos from 70s onwards but very few of before so again I am indebted to you for these wonderful memories thank you again.

    By Gloria Sewell (30/01/2012)

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