Hullbridge Primary 1964-65

Hullbridge Primary School when I joined had a Weeping Willow tree and a flag pole in front of the old school building which consisted of two classrooms, one at either end and an assembly hall in the middle which sometimes doubled up as another classroom / dinning room. The kitchen was at the far left and the cloakroom at the far right. The school had two entrances one from the right side which led directly into the cloakroom which led in turn into the assembly hall or to the left to our classroom with Mr Rose. The cloakroom and our classroom no longer exist, they were recently knocked down to provide access to the new school. The other entrance was at the back near the kitchen. There was a small flight of steps by this door with a metal handrail. It was this door that we used to get in and out when we where there with the Scouts. Behind the old school was the playground and two other blocks of the school. The nearest ran at right angles to the old school on the right hand side. It was mainly wooden in construction with a pitch roof and large windows as a result of which in the winter it was freezing cold an in the summer very hot in class. It contained two classrooms with the entrance being in between the classes. As you went through the entrance the doors to the classes were immediately left and right and in front was a cloakroom. This also has recently been demolished.
The other block was made of brick with a flat roof and ran parallel to the old school and was similar in size. The entrance was to the left and led straight into the cloakroom. The classes were to the right and the end classroom had a large expanse of glass that overlooked the orchard next door. I understand this building was initially the infant school.

Behind this was the school playing field with our football pitch. Either side of the school playing field were fields, the one on the left being an apple orchard where we often would go scrumping.

The school's Headmaster was Mr Hardy who lived in the school house that was situated next door on the left of the old school.

The school pupils were placed into teams to promote competition and I was put into Crouch, the others were Roach and ?
Other teachers there were Mr's Longthorn who disciplined with a ruler, Mr Hardy our Headmaster used a slipper and our sports master Mr John Thayer I don't ever remember having to hand out any corporal punishment. John later went on to purchase and run his own school, Crowstone in Sutton Road, Southend-on-Sea to which my sister's two boys attended and received a first class education.

Schooling in Hullbridge was very enjoyable and although I consider I had a good education in London the curriculum in Hullbridge was very different and I failed to pass my 11+ exam. This meant I could not go to Sweyne school in London Road, Rayleigh with one of my best friends David Carter, I had to go to Hockley Secondary school in Greensward Lane, Hockley. Before we started senior school my other best friend Jeff Livesey emigrated to Australia.

I think during that summer Hullbridge Primary school was developed with a raised swimming pool being built behind the two brick built classrooms and the field on the left was cleared and a new school built there. The new school had a large assembly hall in which later Jeff, David and I would learn to play table tennis and where the Girl Guides would hold their meetings and the Parents Teachers Association would hold their numerous and successful dances to raise funds. It was through these dances that families would get to know and become very good friends with other parents. These same families were also to become Jeff and I's great friends at Hullbridge Sports.

School Chums

Some of the children I remember in my class:-

Alan Lee:

Blonde hair, slightly plump hence his nickname "Plum" about 5'8".Lived in Keswick Avenue the first bungalow on the left. His dad was a builder. Alan was great fun to be with.

David Jordon:

Lived in Abbey Road the first large White house on the left side. David loved flying petrol engine model planes and we used to go down the Rec occasionally and fly his plane which was on guide ropes which ran through the wings. Model Plane Engines where one of the things we used to work on in Metalwork classes with Mr Taylor who also had an interest in kit ones but much larger. David worked as a Gas man when he left school, he lived opposite.

Billy Taylor:

Dark hair, normal build about 5'9".Billy's family was Scottish and his dad built their house in Abbey Road which at the time I thought was a marvelous achievement. Billy had a sister Linda, the same age as Debra, and he had a younger brother Ian and the youngest of them all was sister Pauline.

Richard Simmons:

Blonde hair, slim build about 6'. Richard lived somewhere on top of Coventry Hill. He always had a "Devil may care" attitude and left school in the 4th year to join the army. It was Richard who led me down a crooked path at school in Hockley and he and Alan Lee introduced me to scrumping in the fields alongside the Hullbridge school.

Barry Harper:

Dark hair, slim build about 5'10".Barry lived in the first house on the left in Hillcrest Avenue coming from Waxwell Road. Barry was also in the Scouts and had an unfortunate accident which resulted in him having a permanent limp.

Stephen Emery:

Blonde hair, slim build about 6'1".Lived in a bungalow on outskirts of the village on Lower Road near Wadham Park Avenue.

Judith Dundas:

Long brown thick hair, slim build about 5'9".Lived in a bungalow up half way up Coventry Hill on the right side. She had an elder brother Raymond. Judith was the fastest girl runner in Hullbridge Primary and Hockley and later married another village speedster Steve Oakman.

Susan Macnamara:

Dark shoulder length hair, slim build about 5'8".Susan's family were Irish and lived in Abbey Road on the same estate as myself. She had previously lived on one of the caravan sites by the river. Her dad affectionately known as "Mac" around the village was a very keen gardener and used to grow beautiful showy plants like Dahlia's and Chrysanths.,He owned a Reliant Robin which was a bit risky given the state of the roads in the village at the time. Susan was one of my first a girl friends and she left me for the manager of a local supermarket.

Peter Bown:

Light hair, normal build about 5'10".Lived in the second Council house block that is set back on Ferry Road. I think his dad worked on Mr Beckwith's farm as did Peter when he left school. Peter was a very gentle boy and was part of the crowd I used to hang around with and go swimming in the river. Peter also had a sister Audrey who was another girl friend of mine. Our relationship did not have much of a chance because I was at work an she was still at boarding school a long way away.

Bonnita Mason:

Dark shoulder length hair, slight build about 5'8" tall lived with her twin Jaquie down Pooles Lane just past the Rec., near the Yacht club and shop. Bonnita became a Queen's Guide as is shown here. She was a good friend of Susan MacNamara.

Jacqueline Mason:

Dark shoulder length hair, plump large build about 5'8".She is the twin sister of Bonnita and like her became a Queen's Guide.

David Carter:

Light hair, slim build, 6'. Lived with his elder brother Peter in the 5th bungalow on the left side of Lower Road as you enter the village Rayleigh end. His grandfather lived in a bungalow in Abbey Road and his dad often helped out with the Scouts. He had an elder brother Peter and younger sister. Dave was one of my best friends and we spent most of our teens together with Jeff Livesey playing Subbuteo, Badminton, Football etc., Our friendship survived us being split to different schools when he passed his 11+ and went to Sweyne, however when he went to University and I moved up to London we lost contact. Which I deeply regret.

Christine Butcher

Blonde hair, very attractive, lived in Keswick and was cousin to my best friend Jeff Livesey.

Jeffrey Livesey:

Light brown hair,normal build about 5'10. Lived in a semi-detached bungalow in High Elms that his dad and best friend Stan Butcher, the father of Christine. Jeff is my best friend and also my brother-in-law. Along with Dave we spent most of our teens in each others company His family emigrated with his cousin's Christine Butcher to Australia. They stayed there less than a year and returned to live in Hillcrest Avenue two doors away from South Avenue. His mum and dad, Vi and Hal were like second parents to me and took me a number of times with them on holiday. Hal loves football and in his earlier years played for a successful Hullbridge United. Vi loved Elvis Presley music which was hard to fathom for Dave, Jeff and I who loved Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. When Jeff returned he went to Fitzwymarc School in Rayleigh. His first job was a draughtsman working with Mr Cranstone for a firm in Rochford. He stayed with this for about 2 years before studying programming and moved to Access in Southend. Jeff was always a excellent striker and having played for Hullbridge when I was around moved to Thundersley and Hadleigh football team. Eventually he ended up playing for Maidstone before coming back to Hullbridge and playing with me in the successful Hullbridge veterans team.

Wendy Low

Wendy was a petite girl with long hair. Little did I know that I would become good friends with her brothers George and Glen.

Christine Spearman

Peter Leggett

Gaynor Johnson

Philip George

Philip was another who passed the 11+ exam and went to Sweyne.

Paul Baker

Paul was the son of Alec Baker our Assistant Scout Leader. He passed his 11+ exam and went to Sweyne School along with his friend and mine David Carter. Paul lived at the top of Coventry Hill in a bungalow opposite the Garage. He like me had a younger sister named Valerie.

Norman Raines

Susan Winn

Derek Smith

Hullbridge Parents Teachers Association

It was through the PTA that my parents got to make many friends, none closer than Bob and Ellie Palmer, Colin and Gladys Chart and later Jeff and Jean Hayward. Bob and Ellie lived in the bottom of Keswick Avenue, while Colin and Glad lived initially in a bungalow on top of Coventry Hill opposite the garage and eventually moved into No 48 Abbey Road. Bob loved larking around and was always making people laugh. When my Aunt and Uncle from Woodford came down for a PTA fund raising dance it was the start of many pranks between my Uncle and Bob. It started off with Bob borrowing my Uncle's car keys, without him knowing, and then he preceded to put the empty beer cans from the hall into my Uncle's car boot. My Uncle told us that on the way home he was made to stop by my Aunt because she thought something was hanging off the car because of a rattling sound. Not finding anything they continued home and a few days later when he went to his boot and found all the empties along with a smell of alcohol.

The PTA dances were always very well supported and along with the Sports Club helped create the closeness of the Villagers at that time.

The reason loads of mum and dads friends were at the PTA was because of their children's schooling concerns. Although not many of my classmate's parents went there, there were loads of Debra's including:- Keith and Janet Whittaker's daughter Lesley, they also had a younger son Gary all lived in 73 Abbey Road. Ellie and Bob's son Robbie, Colin and Glad's son Keith, they also had a daughter 1 year younger than me Lynn. Keith Chart was a very young village celebrity at one time. From what I can remember he was recovering from a hole in the heart operation and he saved a young boys life when the who was playing near electricity wires in a nearby field was electrocuted and he administered mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Hockley Secondary Modern (Greensward) 1965-1971

The journey to school

I have always felt that those of us that went to Hockley were better off than those that went to Sweyne, simply because we did not have to pay to get there as transport was laid on every school day by Cooks Coaches, a local coach firm from Southend-on-Sea.

We had 2 coaches, one an old charabanc type and the other a more modern flat fronted coach. The modern coach would arrive at the Anchor Inn car park around 8 o'clock and would drive along Ferry Road picking up children at the 5 pick up points along the way (Anchor Inn, School, Police Station, Bus stop between Oakleigh and High Elms, Coventry Corner whilst the other would turn up directly outside the Shop on the corner of Ferry Road and Coventry Hill and would pick up myself, Susan MacNamara, David Jordan, Judith Dundas, Billy Taylor and others. It was great catching the coach from Coventry Corner because if you missed the first one you could always catch the second. From Coventry Corner the coaches would proceed up Coventry Hill along Lower Road till the road leading to Sheepcotes Farm where we would pick up some more children. From here they continued along Lower Road till they reached Church Road where the old coach would turn right and go up Church Road picking up Carl ? by the farm entrance on the left which was just before we went up the hill to the church. This was the last pick up on this route and the coach would proceed along Church Road into the narrow Fountain Lane and would turn left onto High Road, along Alderman's Hill past The Bull Inn, Hockley Woods and Hockley Primary School and onto the Spa roundabout where a garage was here the coach turned left into Spa Road past the shops, station and under the railway bridge into Greensward Lane past the garage and another parade of shops on Willow walk ? and then the school was on the left.
The other coach would go straight on at Church Road along Lower Road and would make further pickups at Rossilin Drive and the Dome. At the Ashingdon junction it would turn right onto Greensward Lane and proceed up the hill and the school was on the right.

The first thing some of us Hullbridge children would do would be to go across the road to the sweet shop and spend our winnings or dinner money. When the bell rang around 15:00 to tell us school was over there was a mad rush to be the fist to get the back seats. The coaches would go back the same way and sometimes if I was feeling lazy I would stay on the coach so that I was dropped off opposite Oakleigh Ave.,

At the beginning the coaches were supervised by one female prefect (Lorna) and one male (?) who were older than us new rabble.The older kids normally took the back seat. Generally there was no problems, we would play cards, compare/copy homework, smoke(when older) and generally chat about last nights TV, football or a new LP we had just bought with our pocket money. Times on the coaches were quite eventful sometimes you would hear shouts of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and all the kids would gather around the melee. The driver just kept on driving leaving things to the die down. A couple of times I was the focus of peoples attentions as I grappled with someone. One time it continues off the coach at Coventry Corner, I think it was with Alan Wheatley, who I also fought and lost to him in the swimming pool changing rooms. Thinking back Alan and I did not get on too well. Things were not always bad between us, in fact we used to hang around in the same crowd with George and Glen Low. I remember we were all down the Rec., playing football when Alan decided he was going to have a party, his parents were away and he and his brother Barry, with whom I always got on very well , decided to have a party and invite our crowd along. That day Peter Bown's sister Audrey was with us and when we were all at Alan and Barry's home she was constantly in my company. This must have irked Alan because less than half an hour after we arrived Barry came to me and apologetically said Audrey and I should leave because Alan was getting himself worked up. So the pair of us left an walked hand in hand away from the party and for the next couple of months, till she had to go back to her boarding school, we were best of friends.

I have been told many times that I am careless with my things and I would often leave something at school in the cloakroom or I would get carried away with things on the coach and leave either my cap, blazer or even worse my briefcase with my home work in, on it. The clothes gave me a problem with Mum and I was soon running out of excuses. The one I found more acceptable to her was that I had left it locked up in my desk in the form room, little did she know there was no lock! The briefcase was a different kettle of fish. I would never tell Mum and Dad and as I did not always take it to school it was not obvious to them that I had lost it. The following morning I would be anxiously waiting for the coaches to arrive. I would make a bee-line for the coach I came home in the previous night and sometimes I was stumped when a different coach was used, then I had to run between each coach and ask the driver had found anything left on the coach. If the driver, as he did sometimes, say "No, I'll look around the garage for you" then I knew I was in trouble. Arriving at school I would rush to where I thought I might have left the article. I can still remember the relief and joy I felt when I saw the article still there. If it happened to be my briefcase I then had another problem, that was how to get the homework done before the time I had to hand it in. I hated missing football during the breaks so I would ask Ken, Colin, Jeff etc., if they had completed it and ask for their help. That was fine if they were in my class, which was not always the case. There were times when I had to risk bunking assembly and sit on the toilet and quickly scribble down the answers etc.,

School Chums

Fellow Hullbridge classmates joining me at Greensward were:-

Judith Dundas, Barry Harper, Richard Simmons, Bonnie and Jackie Mason, Alan Lee, David Jordan, Billy Taylor, Susan Macnamara, Peter Bown, Wendy Low, Norman Raines

Some Hullbridge children already at Hockley when I arrived:-

Raymond Dundas, Stephen Oakman, Peter Carter, Tony Maynard, Alan Hawkes, Peter Botley, Kendall Snelling, Stephen Polley, Richard Springman, Richard Spearman, Lorna ?, Barbara Botley, Janet Wortley, Doreen Wise, Terry Wise,

Some of my school mates (Non-Hullbridge) in my year were:-

Colin Rothwell, Ken Jones, Martin Thomas, Jeffrey Osbourne, Douglas Burgam, Jeffrey Rudd, Peter Cooper, Keith MacIntosh, Terry Arnold, Martin Strike, John Potter, Ian Merritt, Timothy Merritt, Malcolm Livett, Tony Micaleff, Stephen Toms, Richard Flexton, June Canswick, Judy Cantwell, Hazel Smith, Pauline Atkinson, Lesley Jones, Gillian Overton, Marilyn Lincoln, Helen Howard

Terry and Doreen Wise lived in one of the council houses that are set back in Ferry Road between Oakleigh Avenue and High Elms, they had a younger brother Johnny who was a very good footballer when he was young. It was during one of British Rails train drivers strikes that I fond out that Doreen worked for the same company as my dad in their Head Office in Woodford. Their father had his own Tarmacadam business that Terry went into once he left school. Terry married Lindsey ? who opened a Hairdressing salon on the corner of Glebe Drive and London Road, Rayleigh.

School description Phase 1

Initially for me the school was fabulous!
As we went in the front entrance there was on the left hand side a large Assembly Hall / Gym with the changing rooms opposite. Our P.E. teacher was Mr Toombes. Opposite the main entrance slightly to the right was the Headmaster's (Mr Crevey) office and next to that the Headmistress's (Miss Cardy). Turning right at the entrance we went down a few steps and the first set of spaces for us to hang our coats was on our left. The first classroom we came to was on our right which was used for Music (Miss Ellis). After the classroom and coat area the corridor split into three.
1) The right side went to stairs and a fire exit to the front of the school.
2) Straight on slightly to the right went past another classroom, this was used for French (Miss McConnell) and straight on past this and through some swing doors was a stairwell alongside another classroom used for R.E. (Mr P Davis), this also had a fire exit which led out into the playground. It must have been providence that this classroom was used for R.E. as for us boys queuing in the stairwell was like being in Heaven. The girls, would climb the stairs on their way to another class and they all wore mini skirts, as was the fashion then. When any of the older girls went upstairs there was so much excitement amongst us boys as we jostled for the best positions. Upstairs was two other floors of classrooms used for Math's (Miss Page) and English (Mr Birchinall, Osbourne).
3) Turning left at the junction the corridor went past the other coat area on the left and on the right was a long glass panel with doors at either end which gave access to the playground and sports field. Just beyond the coat area and playground door was another classroom used for Physics or Chemistry (Mr Maize). After the classroom came some more stairs which led up to 2 art rooms and a needlework room. One of the art rooms was above the physics lab., and this was my first form room with Mr's Silverstone. Back out through the landing of the stairwell and through swing doors on the right was the second art room (Mr Warren) which was used for pottery and sculpting. This was above the Chemistry Lab (Mr's Warren) Beyond the pottery room and at the end was the Needlework room (Miss Riley). Downstairs the corridor divided 4 classrooms, two each side. The first on the left was Woodwork (Mr Milsom) followed by Metalwork (Mr Taylor). At the far end of the Metalwork room was the furnace and anvils. First on the right was the Chemistry Lab which like the Physics lab., had rows of laboratory bars with Bunsen burner taps and pedestals for sitting on. Next was the Geography/History room (Mr H Davis).At the end of the corridor was another fire door which lead to the little woods which was by a single gated entrance which led to Hamilton Gardens. To the left of the woods were the Tennis Courts. The long jump and pole vault sand pits were to the right of the woods. We had a large playground which had three netball courts drawn on it, from here the playing fields sloped away to the cricket pitch and to the left the football pitches. At the bottom of the playing fields was Plumberow Primary school

School description Phase 2

In 19?? the school changed with the loss of the Tennis Courts but the introduction of a new gym and 50 meter swimming pool next to the old assembly hall. A hole in the entrance hall was made through which you went to the new assembly hall /dinner area. At the far left was the new kitchen area. Just past the kitchen area leading out of he Assembly Hall was a walkway along which was Mr Crevey's Office and the teachers common room next door. The Walkway led you to one end of the new three storey block. On the ground floor of that block was the library, to domestic science rooms, Miss Cardy's office and the 4/5th form common room. On the floors above were the new classrooms used for Maths, English, Geography, Needlework and Technical Drawing. At each end of the building were the stairwells. My 3rd, 4th and 5th year form room was in Miss Riley's Needlework Room which was situated on the top floor at the far end away from the playing fields.

School Memories

I have quite a few memories of the school, some it is wise not to print, here are some that people may remember:-

The first day at school was obviously nerve racking. We got off the coaches wearing our new Blue blazers with the Greensward Badge on (three acorn branches at right angle to each other), school cap and long Grey trousers which our parents had to buy from Alexanders in Eastwood Road, Rayleigh. I felt grown up wearing long trouser instead of the shorts I wore in Primary school. I can not remember how many times I misplaced my school cap, but it was a great weapon to have if the peak was folded inwards. The curved part of the peak rim was the bit you hit someone with. It stung but was not too hurtful. The prefects on the coaches assembled us in the entrance hall with all the other new children and we met Mr Crevey and Miss Cardy for the first time. The rules were explained to us "No running in the corridors, No chewing gum in class, BEHAVE " We were split into classes which for me was another disappointment as I wanted to be with all my friends from Hullbridge but we were split up. Our form Mistress/Master was their to take us back to our form room. Mine was Miss Riley. She was my form mistress throughout the years I was there. She was always very nice to me, but some of the girls hated, she was known to have a fiery temper. She was about 5'10 with mousey coloured hair that was short and curled. She often wore pencil skirts which to me made her walk funny. Once back to the room we were handed an exercise book and pencil if we had not brought with us a fountain pen, biros where not allowed ! We were then told what lessons we would have each day for that term, where they were and with whom. I remember after this every term I was always looking to see how many double lessons we had with non academic subjects we had, these were the lessons I looked forward to. It was with horror once when I saw we had double French !!

Each class we went to we were given new exercise books and blotting paper which I carried around in my new briefcase. Some children, Jeffrey Osbourne and Ken Jones in particular, had the old traditional hard leather case that was wide at the bottom and narrowed to a point at the top with a tongue that went from one side to other and had a clasp that went into a lock on the opposite side. Most children used the good old Duffel bags that where just a flimsy bag with a string that went from the bottom to the top and then through some metal eyelets that ran around the opening and back down to the bottom. Over these two strings was normally a piece of looped leather with a metal stud in the middle. The string would be threaded through each side and this was used to do up the strings.

School Dinner tickets were dark orange, one inch long and 3/4 inches wide and we purchased them at the beginning of the week outside the kitchens. In general I hated School Dinners especially the Spam fritters, Liver and Bacon, Semolina, Tapioca and the vegetables.

One year it had snowed very heavily overnight and was still snowing when we went to catch the coaches. When we got to our pickup point at Coventry Corner we saw that Coventry Hill was covered with thick snow. The coaches arrived and we jumped on the old coach. The new coach overtook and climbed its way up the hill ahead of us. When our coach tried to go up Coventry Hill it kept sliding and skidding all over the road. The driver asked if we could bounce up and down in our seats. He didn't need to ask twice and we had lots of fun doing as we were asked, and the coach gradually made its way up the hill. Then we came to Church Hill, this time it did not work and the driver was forced to turn around and go along Lower Road. When we got to the school we were told to keep our coats on as the school's boiler had packed up. By 1st break we were told that we were to be sent home and if anyone could not go home than they were to inform their form master/mistress. I don't think anyone was silly enough to own up to that ! So us villagers boarded the coaches and made our way back with much talk an planning going on what we should do. Snowball fights down the Rec., was the order of the day.

The school teachers ran various clubs out of school hours for us children, some that I joined and therefore remember are:- Sailing Club (Mr Maize and Mrs Warren), Film Club where cinematic films where shown in the old Assembly Hall, Chess Club (Mr Davis), Bridge Club (Mr Osbourne) Disco.

One year on the day before we broke up for summer holidays we were all called into the old assembly hall after lunch. Expecting the worse "More Hymn practice" or Mr Crevey laying down the law to us, we were very surprised to see all the curtains were drawn and we were then told there would be no lessons that afternoon instead we were in for a treat we were going to be shown a Western Film 3:10 to Yuma. The film lasted about an hour and a half then we were allowed to go home early. Oh what joy!

During the Autumn we used to have acorn fights in the little woods, that was until either the prefects or the teacher who was on playground duty spotted us.

In the first year we used to see these little tin boats lying around the Metalwork room and I often thought I would love to make one of them. In my second year I was given the chance. It was basically a flat bottomed tin boat soldered together to make it water proof. Inside were two small pipes which found their way to the rear of the boat. Soldered on top of the pipes near the front was a small metal disc on which we placed a tablet which we ignited, this caused the boat to move through the water. I also remember working in the forge area to temper some screw drivers we made.

In our 2nd year we were encouraged by Mrs Warren to subscribe to the Science Journal which was novel at first but totally irrelevant to our course work, so I soon stopped it and went back to comics.

Sometime around the 3rd year the school opened its own tuck shop. The school obviously caught on that loads of us were spending money in the sweet shop across the road and that by giving us the Tuck shop facility it stopped us going over between lessons and gave them the opportunity to make a few pennies

By the time the third year came around we had to make a decision as to what type of career path we were looking to take:- Academic, or Technical?. If we decided on Academic it meant you had to drop some of the non Academic lessons ie., Woodwork, Metalwork, Technical drawing, Art and Music, if we chose Technical we had more of these lessons. I decided I wanted to pursue an Academic career so I forsook most of these to keep Art. I loved my art lessons as I loved drawing and painting. At school the paints we used were powdered, which before each lesson we would go and collect from tins under the supervision of the teacher. The powder was spooned into cake trays and we had to add the water and mix. In our third year we were considered grown up enough to be trusted to learn pottery and other forms of art. Most of the work I did for my course work is now destroyed apart from a bust I did of an old man which my mum uses as a door stop ! In my 4th year for an art lesson Mr Warren showed me how to use a Single Lens Reflex Camera and sent me out with a Monochrome film inside with the instruction to go out and take photos of objects at unusual angles. The next lesson we spent developing them in the darkroom. He and I were very pleased with what I did and I was able to submit them as part of my GCE art exam, for which I received A+. I was proud of my success so one of the first things I did with my first wage packet was to go to a Dixons and buy my own SLR camera a Zenith E.

Everyone hated doing cross country runs and I was fortunate enough to never have to do one. Mr Toombes used to send both boys and girls on a run when he wanted to do special activities that could only be done by a limited number of people, Badminton, Gym team practice, Football team practice etc., I understand from those that did it ? they would go out the gate into Hamilton Gardens then into Plumberow Avenue along Orchard Avenue and then up the footpath that ran down the side of Plumberow Primary school and our playing fields.

It was not until our 3rd year that Mr Toombes introduced us to non running athletics, I believe it was because the school was short of people entering into the District sports day. I say introduced it was more like a trial to see what you might be good at. I remember being introduced to Pole Vaulting and thinking what I great thrill it would be until I did it and landed in the sand pit with a thud! I then tried a hop step and a jump better known today as triple jump, but I kept messing up after the hop. So it was high jump and long jump where I stood a chance, but unfotunately, because I really wanted to compete against other schools, there was someone better. Then I tried a sport I got very excited about, being able to throw a javelin. It gave me such a thrill to see it soaring in the sky and land point first but there was always someone stronger than me so again I lost out, hence I never went to the District Sports.

In school there are always boys and girls who excel at things, in my year Terry Arnold was best at Gymnastics, Paul Cooper and Keith MacIntosh were best footballers, John Potter was a very good spin bowler.

Football was so important to many of us boys. No sooner did we get off the coach we would be into the playground hoping to find someone with a plastic football or tennis ball. You were treated like royalty if you came to school with a plastic football. Across the playground were netball courts marked out and you liked to get to school early so you could claim your court as your pitch or to claim an area o grass . This was done by putting on the ground your blazers and cases as goals. When we first went to the school there was only one playground a year or two later there were two, the top and lower. We always liked the lower because it was further away from the teachers on playground duty. I used to get in hot water with mum and dad about kicking holes in the toes of my shoes an getting my blazer dirty. I can also remember getting annoyed with Martin Strike when we played football, he would always push you when you got near to him when trying to get the ball off him. He was very good at dribbling a tennis ball. I can't say for sure but I think we played football in the morning, at dinner time and after school.

One Monday morning the talk on the coach was all about a plane crash near Southend airport in which the pilot was killed there were rumours that it was Mr Taylor our Metalwork teacher. When we arrived at the school there was a very somber feeling about the place and all the rumours were confirmed in that mornings assembly when Mr Crevey announced the loss of Mr Taylor following a air accident. Most of us were numb with the shock.

Punishment at school was varied. You did not mess with Mr Crevey who would walk around the school with a cane up his jacket sleeve. Word quickly got around when he left his office. Another was Mr Toombes who used a plimsoll as did our R.E. teacher Mt Davis, our geography teacher Mr Davis used a ruler and was not shy of dishing out the punishment in front of us children. Others did it in the privacy of their offices. Having said this the majority of the time punishment was detention and lines. You would think that seeing people being caned with a ruler would have been enough to ensure best behaviour, but for some of us it made us want to play around more. Many times when we were watching films or being bored with some long boring lecture I would be firing objects across the classroom at classmates Richard Simmons and others. Some of the best weapons were elastic bands on rulers, chewed up blotting paper pellets from straws or elastic bands. Richard was always the most daring and often paid for it. He would, possibly on purpose shoot pellets at me sitting in the front and they would miss and hit Mr Davis. It does not take much imagination to picture the outcome. Richard to always took the punishment well.

Part of the Art course work Peter Cooper and Terry Arnold did for Mrs Silverstone was a painting of heaven and hell on the stairwell leading to the Art classes. It was quite superb and inspired me to do some large painting in my Bedroom back home.

In my fifth year towards the end of my schooling I would store tiny bottles of Tuborg lager in the toilet cistern near the Maths room on the top floor of the new building. When I was feeling thirsty I would be found in the toilets, I guess some of my school chums might have thought I had developed a weak bladder. I only let three other people know about my stash.

The fun we had in the 4th/5th year form room. Miss Cardy used to have her room almost opposite and she had a key to the room, somehow we managed to get hold of it and get a copy of the key cut including its mini room. Miss Cardy would lock the room just as school bell rang for the start of school, but on the way to assembly some of us would bunk off to the form room unlock and then re lock the door and stay there until we heard children climbing the stairs. Then we knew we could mingle with them on our way to our first class.

Getting a swimming badge by swimming 100 yards dressed in my pyjamas, treading water while I took them off and then duck diving down to retrieve an object lying on the bottom of the deep end.

There was a time in my 3rd year when school was not very good for me and I used to do a "bunk". When I think back now I can not believe some of the things I did, like:-
I would catch the coach and then not go directly into school. Because, to my knowledge all the teachers came to school via Hockley I would walk back home along Lower Road. Initially I thought I could not go directly home because I was afraid the neighbours might say something to mum and dad about me being home early.
When you were not at school you had to provide a letter from your parents explaining why. This is when all the practice I had done on my handwriting started to pay off. I used to write the letters on behalf of my mum, and I had a copy her signature on grease proof paper from a genuine letter she had written. Having found her signature on a piece of paper, I traced it onto a piece of grease proof using a pencil, but this gave me the signature in reverse so I had do turn the paper over and write over the trace on the back. MAGIC!
Because I could not go back home I used to do several things:-
Spend rainy days in the toilets in the Car Park near the Anchor, reading. I stayed there and had to time my departure so that it did not coincide with Debra leaving the Primary School and the coaches had returned. Then if anyone saw me my excuse was I fancied a walk and so stayed on the coach to the end.
If the weather was nice I would chance my luck and catch a train from Hockley Station to Southend Victoria and stay on the seafront. My excuse if anyone saw me was that I had forgotten I had a dentist appointment and I was to meet my mum there. I started to think this was easy, so I started taking chances by going straight home, knowing that Doris and Fred were at work during the day and that other neighbours were most likely too busy to notice me returning home, and I was right! Months went by, no teachers had picked up that every time I was off school coincided with me having double French. I did take other days to make it not so obvious. Then one evening my parents dropped a bombshell "What were you doing in Rayleigh on .....?" of course I denied it, but they persevered and then told me that "Queenie Lay, Debbie's friend Sandra's mum saw you", "You were not at school, we checked !" OUCH! I lost my nerve and told them how unhappy I was at school. They never accepted that and punished me. A few weeks went by and I was up to my usual antics, this time playing in one of the cloakrooms in the new building when a teacher caught me and my two pals. I was sent down to see Mr Creevy. When we got there we thought we were going to get the cane but fortunately it was to be detention, however when he asked our names and I told him Gary Congram it appeared to nudge his memory as he said something like "Ah! your parents have phoned me I needed to see you about a little matter". I was horrified to find out that my parents had phoned him to tell him I had been bunking off school. Now I was sure I was to be caned when I went into his room. I was extremely apologetic, stuttering as I tried to find the right words. He must have taken pity on me because all I had to do was report to his office for the next month every time I arrived at school and every break time. What a break !

Read about my memories of being a teenager in the village. Click here for next page.