Part 2: Life is just Plum.

In 1941 the family moved to Plum Tree Cottage in Mortimer Road, Rayleigh. Although the family were living in Rayleigh, life was still hard. The cottage was small and from when he was 12 years old Doug was constantly finding little jobs in the shops in Rayleigh. At 14 he had a job delivering meat on an old Grocer's bike for Blacksall Butchers who were in Eastwood Road, Rayleigh, near the corner of the High Street. Mr Blacksall's son was the same age as Doug. Doug would often cycle to places outside Rayleigh, like Hullbridge. All this hard cycling helped him become quite successful later on in competing in "Cycle Speedway" for the Rayleigh and Hawkwell Stars which is captured later.

Doug remembers the quite vividly the High Street when he was working there. He and I took a walk down the High Street and he recalled how it was. We started at the Old Post Office which was situated on the left hand side as you enter Rayleigh from the Weir. "Today next door to the old Post Office is Mr Pings a Chinese restaurant. It was once a Camping and General Stores and before that it use to be the Co-Op. It was made up of a Provisions store and a Butchers in which a bloke Jack Dere worked, 'cause I knew his daughter! and next to that was a vegetable shop which was very slim. The Tile shop that is today use to be an old house and you walked up some concrete stairs and there was a little sweet shop where the children of Love Lane school would go........"

"Where Britain's Fish shop was a bloke George Fuller worked there and when the owner Alf Britain died he went a bought his own Fish shop in Leigh on Sea, then he finished up in Hadleigh and he has just retired and he lives up near the Dome in Cherry Tree Farm. George Norman Blacksall andmyself use to do motorbiking and we all belonged to the Southend Motorcycle Club."

"Up near the Weir end of the High Street was another Fish Shop I beleive was called Outen and was owned by a couple of sisters who use to ride around in a horse and cart which they also used to go to church."

"The old Police station was situated where the new one is. Browns where a bloke use to do all the shoe mending next to there was a couple of old shacks, then Cramphorns who use to sell seeds and all that, and then three old wooden cottages that were laid back and were owned by the Southend Water Company and used for their workers and just by there was Milk Dairy. From Love Lane was the Salvation Army Hall past there was a sweet shop and two shops laid back one was Pattenmoor's the Bakers and then Smiths the shoe shop then came the big old house which was a private school run by Mrs Abbey, this is now the Library. Then there was Howards Dairies followed by Mr Hunt's the watch shop. Going down the High Street from the Police Station was a Funeral Place, Flower place, Yardley's Chemist, another Smith's Shop, Castle Cleaners and on the corner was Baldwin's a privisioners. The Crown Inn Pub stood on the corner of Crown Hill Road and Rayleigh High Street, next to this was a cleaners and then came the Black and White Cafe. At 13 Doug,working on Saturdays and school holidays for Thorns delivering soap, paraffin on their horse and cart, would love going into the Black and White cafe and with his pocket money he would buy himself a Chilford's meat pie wrapped in a plastic red and blue wrapper and with this he would have beans and chips. Thorns was situated where ?? is today the alleyway that goes from the High Street to Webster's Way was the entrance to Thorn's yard used for their horse and cart. Next door to Thorns was Fossetts a greengrocers then Sansoms clothers retailers, Mens Hairdresseres, Cake Shop and then entrance to slaughter house. Half Moon Inn, Solicitors, Boyce's grocery shop where they would weigh up Soda, Currents, Sultana's etc., in bags and sacks, Sweet shop, entrance to Wellhide Shop Wortleys, Agis a farmers clothing shop, Stanwoods electral shop, White Horse Inn, Cleaners, Ex Service Taxi's run by Miss Birch who lived on the corner of Abbey Road, then Cottis's the Bakers then Websters. Opposite the Whalehide shop was a garage that sold old Army vehicles. The owner lived down Crown Hill he also owned several pieces of land which he donated to charity when he died. Mann's provisioners was on the corner of Bellingham Lane where the sports shop is today. I remember a bloke called Jed Neville who use to play football for Hullbridge, he lived on the corner of Abbey Road in a one of a pair of houses, before they were knocked down.

Around 1944 Doug joined the Rayleigh Army Cadets whose meeting place was near Fitwymarc School and Dick Wortley was one of the oficials.

Doug's sister Brenda had made friends with a young school chum Stella Edwards. Stella was living with her aunt in Hullbridge. and found herself in a tricky situation when her aunt found another beau. When Doug's mum and dad heard about her plight, they suggested she move in with them. This meant Doug giving up his bedroom, which, at the beginning he was not too enamored with. By this time Doug had decided he wanted to learn a trade and so he asked around. At that time there were two major building companies, Wiggins of Thundersley and Carter's of Hockley, he applied to the later and was given a position. He remembers that when he started work there were no metal scaffolding poles, he was climbing around scaffolding made of wooden staves and tied together with rope, very rickety !! One of his first projects he worked on was a block of flat roofed shops in Greensward Lane, Hockley, just after the Spa Hotel.

When asked how Doug came to marry Stella he recalled that one day his father pulled him aside and said "She's a fine girl that Stella, why don't you ask her out?" The couple got married 1955 at Rayleigh All Saints church. So as not to have bad luck Doug went over to his best mate Jim Smith, in Hockley and he stayed there the night before the wedding. The following day Stella and her father, who had come back to Rayleigh just for the occasion, was picked up by Jack Polley in one of his taxi's that he dressed up for the occasion. Doug was given a lift by one of Jim's friends and the wedding reception was held in the British Legion Hall behind the church.

Around 1960 Doug and Stella moved intom "Del Shannon", South Avenue, Hullbridge.Click here to follow them into Hullbridge.