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14th April 2020, 03:18 PM
#1
The way we were.
Reading of the holiday experiences some members have suffered recently took my mind back to the days before the cruise liner and the exotic holidays abroad were seen as the norm by the man in the street. As the country gradually returned to normal in the post war years,
dad decided that the family needed a holiday, he had heard of a camping site that had opened on Canvey Island in Essex, so he started planning, he probably new a bit about tents and camping from his army years and bought a large ex US army bell tent with a fly sheet,
he bought camp beds paraffin cooking stoves and tilley lamps, he bought everything needed mostly ex army surplus. Finally in the summer
of 1949 we were ready to go, for me it would be my first ever holiday so it was an adventure I was ten years old and raring to go. By this
time my eldest sister was courting my future brother in law Tom who who had just left the MN so Tom was included in the family. The only
way to get the tent and kit to Canvey Island was by train and dad once again borrowed my uncle Edgar's builders handcart, with the tent
and kit loaded, dad Tom and me set off to push the cart 5.5 miles to Tottenham railway station, when the train arrived we loaded the cart
into the goods wagon and off we went, our destination was Benfleet station from there we pushed the cart a further four miles to reach the campsite, on the way we passed a pub dad and Tom had a pint and I had a lemonade and a bag of crisp. The campsite was owned and run
by colonel Fielder, during the war he had commanded the Thames Defence Battery, when the war ended he purchased the gun battery site
he had commanded and turned it into a holiday camp. On arrival we were given a place to pitch the tent about 100 yards away was a big
pond with a couple of weeping willow trees and swans and ducks swimming around, Oh boy was I loving this, such a far cry away from the
war torn streets I'd grown up in. Mum and sisters turned up later in the evening and the holiday began, for me the next day was for exploring. The first place I found was the old gun emplacements and a high concrete tower overlooking the Thames and still had the gun
mountings in place, pure heaven for a ten year old, I think the toilet blocks were a part of the old army camp and always smelt of strong disinfectant, there was an open air theatre consisting of rows of folding wooden seats, an open stage with a piano the stars above, this is where the "Talent Contest" were held you know, knobbly knee contest, would be Jugglers, singers, anyone who thought they had a
talent, trust me it was more fun than it sounds, and the we had sing songs, mainly the wartime songs as these were mainly ex servicemen
and their families trying to unwind. The next year we were joined by Reese my second brother in law to be, he was an ex RnN man and
another great bloke, thankfully we were able to store the tent and kit at the campsite and we returned each year until we heard of the
terrible storm that breached the Islands sea defences during the night of 31st January 1953 when 59 Canvey Islanders lost their lives to
the sea, we never went there again for a holiday but today I live just a few miles away, when my wife was here we sometimes had a ride over to the Island and have a meal and a drink at the Lobster Smack a lovely old pub right on the sea wall, some lovely memories there,
sad to say a lot of today's kids will never know those simple joys that we experienced even with all their electronic gadgetry. cheers
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14th April 2020, 03:40 PM
#2
Re: The way we were.
That brought back some memories John, enjoyed the story, my camping trip was also when i was ten, pleading with Mum and Dad to let me camp down the end of our road on the river bank, eventually they agreed, allowing a kid of ten now, they would be prosecuted. So 3 of us went down to the river and set a very old tent which belonged to our mate Jacko, all went well until about 2200 hrs when we had eaten all the bits and pieces we had been given from home, and Barry would not share his biscuits with us, and so bit of a barney ensued, and Jacko packed his tent up, and we all went home, it was cold anyway. so endeth my first and only camping trip, kt
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14th April 2020, 05:02 PM
#3
Re: The way we were.
It's funny how you remember the names, faces and all the things we got up to Keith, for me one of the best feelings was when we started our
six weeks summer holidays.When you think of the memories our minds store it really is amazing, I'm blessed with a very good memory and love to
sit back and go through my life, never get fed up with nostalgia, maybe it's not everyone's cup of tea but it works for me, like the old song says,
Those were the days my friend, cheers.
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15th April 2020, 06:53 AM
#4
Re: The way we were.
John your story brings back memories of me and my mate in the late 50's cycling from Lee in South London down to All Hallows to pitch a tent.
Just after the war his dad had got hold of a bell tent and all his family would go there for some time in the summer.
It was great to cycle along the Rochester by pass on the way there, a truck stop style café was about half way and we would stop there for a hot sausage sandwich.
We had to pay half a crown in fees for a week there but we did have some great times.
In the early 60's on leave would go down there wit dad to shoot duck, had a great 12 bore at that time.
But those days are now long gone, not sure if that camp site still exists, like so many of the places we knew as young lads all gone.
Sadly the young of today will never have the fun we did in those tough years when there was little about, you made your own enjoyment.
Happy daze John in Oz.
Life is too short to blend in.
John Strange R737787
World Traveller
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