WICKFORD FLOOD - NEWSPAPER CUTTINGS (9)

Stranded Eastern National 251 bus and Sunbeam-Talbot car at Halls Corner

Recently I was able to copy a friend’s newspaper cuttings from the time of the Wickford floods. I think these cuttings should be shared with others.

PHOTOGRAPH 1 – 6 September 1958

My comment: –

The stranded Eastern National 251 bus in the photographs, if my memory is correct, went from Southend to Wood Green in North London. I think it left hourly during weekdays. Its route, again trusting on my memory, took it through Eastwood, Rayleigh, Wickford, Billericay, Brentwood, Harold Wood, Romford, Ilford, to Wood Green.

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH 2 – 7 September 1958

PHOTOGRAPH 3 – 6 September 1958

My comments: –

Does anyone remember the name of this woman wading through flood water?

Does anyone know who the four stranded passengers were and how they coped during the night?

In this photograph you can see Kershaw’s furniture reupholstery shop/workshop. The Kershaw  family also owned a small general grocery store on the Nevendon Road parade of shops just past Grange Avenue between the two bends.

PHOTOGRAPHS 4 & 5 Unknown newspapers 6 September 1958

PHOTOGRAPH 6 – 11 September 1958

PHOTOGRAPH 7 – 6 September 1958

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"Four people sit on the top deck of a bus today. They have been there all night. It is the High Street of Wickford, Essex, almost cut off from the outside world by floods six feet deep in places. Behind the bus is the roof of a car - almost totally submerged. The stranded passengers - two men and two women -were rescued just after 9 o'clock this morning by a builder Mr. S. Carter, in his former Army DUKW an amphibious vehicle. The first thing they asked for? A cup of hot, strong tea. They were taken to the Salvation Army Hall. Wickford. In the hall emergency bedding and food had been prepared for more than l00 people who left their homes during the night. The village was without electricity. Some trains got through as the water began to subside. But passengers had to walk across fields and part of the track to reach the station."
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The Tail of a Tornado
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The Havoc - Rail, Road Chaos - The Plea Goes out 'Don't Travel'. Boats to the rescue "A woman wades past the marooned bus in Wickford today. It had been stranded all night with four passengers on its top deck."
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"This Sunbeam-Talbot car, owned by Mr. McDermott, manager of South-East Essex Dairies, Basildon was a total write-off. It was swept away at Wickford and collided with a marooned bus."
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The Underwater Town. "The couple in Wickford, Essex, kept their feet dry - they travelled by rowing boat".
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"Maurice Sharp appointed himself emergency milkman. In the background is an Eastern National bus with a private car submerged behind it."
Author
By John Fuller
Page added:
03/08/2013

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  • We recently had a question  regarding copying photos.

    If its for personal use there is no problem, however copyright laws still apply. If you down load one of our pictures onto another site please mention Wickford Community archive

    By Geoff Whiter (27/05/2014)

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