Living on Highcliffe Road

Late 50s to 60s

My parents bought a plot of land from Mr & Mrs Botting (I think that was how they spelt it). Mrs Botting’s father, it was rumoured, had been given the small holding and large house by someone who had won it in a  competition in a gardening magazine. Having drawn up the plans, the bungalow was built by, I think, Gunnets who were the builders in Wickford then. It originally had two bedrooms, but a dormer window was put up in the roof, so that when money allowed the attic could be converted. The bungalow was number 18 then but I think it is 41 now. Next door lived an old couple in a lovely 1930s bungalow and next to them the Budd family, then the Jessops, and the Fenwicks. The last three all had children, so I wasn’t long in making friends. It was a lovely time in 1955, we would go to the recreation ground which was at the end of the road and fish for sticklebacks etc, all innocent fun. Across the road was the council estate and up Appletree Way were shops, a grocers, butchers and newsagent. Up Highcliffe Road and on Southend Road was the Hilltop Stores run by the Usher family. My sister was born in the bungalow in 1956 on Mothers Day. So many memories.

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  • Reference Elaine Goodyear’s comment. Did the Fenwicks have a son called Paul? I was at Beauchamps from 1960 to 1965 and there was a Paul Fenwick in my class (5g) in 1965. He would now be the same age as me (73).

    By Martin Bolton (07/08/2022)
  • My grandparents, George and Maud Goodyear, lived in 46, next door to the Fenwicks.

    By Elaine Goodyear (22/04/2022)

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