This is a little bit of history about the flood of 1958. I was in the 1st Runwell Scouts, along with my friend David “Tich” Mac. We were at the London Road Bridge in scout uniform and were in charge of one of the rowing boats from Lake Meadows, Billericay. We were told the boats could take three children or two adults, and we were on shift for two hours in the afternoon. We were taking passengers from the bridge to Irvon Hill. All was going well until three elderly women wanted to be taken across the bridge. We told them the boat would only carry two but they insisted that they all wanted to stay together. They all got into the boat and told us to pull them across. At first we said “No” but the ladies said they would not get out until they were on the other side. So we started off. When the boat was about half way it started to fill with water and sank. Tich and I had to carry the ladies to dry ground at Irvon Hill Road. Who the ladies were and where they went I don’t know, but if anyone took any photos, I would love to see them.
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The picture of a boat in the picture at Halls Corner was taken a day or even later because the water was 5ft deep and the bus had gone. I know, I walked through at approx. midnight on 5th September 1958, my story is around this site.
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