Living In Jaywick

A Memory of Jaywick.

My mum, dad, 2 brothers and 2 sisters lived at the bottom of Vauxhall Avenue - it was about 1963/64. It was a great place to live as kids, not so easy for my parents. We kids would collect water from the standpipe at the alleyway a few houses up and carry it back in enormous water containers - 2 jugs normally to last all day. There was no running water in the bungalow. no electricity, no toilet or bathroom. Lights were on gas mantels on the walls, these blew every now and then and the replacement filters were so fragile they were difficult to change. There was an outside 'toilet' which you had to put a note on the gate to say you were in residence for the men to come in a lorry to empty. There was a mobile shop which came every day - 'Sam' we called him, don't know if that was his name. There was a laundry service which collected and returned once a week. There was also the rag and bone man. We had to get a bus to school from Brooklands which we missed one day and big sister suggested we walk to school in Clacton. We were praised at school and told off by mum when we got home. There was the Schoolboard man who came round if you were off school. He came to our house once and took mum and dad to court because we hadn't been to school for half the term. Imagine; 3 small kids in court with mum and dad, my bigger brother and sister had to go into the witness box and tell why they hadn't been at school, me terrified, walked to the witness box and was told I could give evidence from where I was. My mum fainted in the courtroom when the judge said he could remove us kids from home. I hated that judge for frightening my mum. It was funny but I never minded school ever, but if it was raining or snowing or cold mum never sent us because we had holes in our shoes. It was a regular thing to walk home from Brooklands along the sea wall and one day I was, I fell and the tide was in. I saved myself but I never told mum and never did it again.We used to play games in the street like 'lamposts' or 'what' the time Mr Wolf?' and 'fairysteps'.Take 2 steps if you have an e in your name etc.. The mods and rockers used to meet at the skating rink over the ditch at the side of our bungalow, it was on stilts. I remember some very strange things from the days we lived there. My brother dropped a half crown down the toilet and dad fished it out. Yuk. He'd earned it as a barrow boy. My little brother went missing, he'd taken 10 shilling note off the telly, he was found by the police some hours later at the amusements on Clacton Pier. He was only 5 or 6. I was invited at Easter to go on an Easter egg hunt at a big house in Clacton, don't know why only me from my family. I only found 1 token around the big house so got 1 egg. Dad used to go shooting for rabbits and we quite often had rabbit stew for dinner. It stunk while they were hung up the back of the house and when they were being gutted by poor mum, but we ate it, no moaning, I wouldn't eat rabbit now if you begged me. My best friend lived at the top of the road and we played everyday. She lived with her mum, dad and brother. We never had a worry in the world and didn't know as kids that the bungalows were only meant to be lived in part of the year, not even when families used to up and go for weeks did we know why. One thing i'll never forget is because dad worked away all week, the memories of the flooding at Jaywick frightened mum because she couldn't swim, on her own with 5 kids what would she do. Dad got her a rowing boat. It was on top of the toilet so how she was supposed to get it I don't know. We had a rowing boat in another house too. Dad got that when they built the floodgates on the Thames because 'they may flood everywhere else rather than London'. Again, that was in the garage so how we were meant to get to it Ican't imagine. The memories of Jaywick are among the happiest I have. Dad built 3 high bunkbeds in the girls room because it was so small, We could all get on the top bunk and see the telly over the door which was never closed. There was a dog called Cheeky that had a run all around the bungalow. We found a goose one day wandering, we kept it for a few days then it went somewhere (we were told), I think we ate it. The same way some of the rabbits we kept went at times, we were told they'd got old and died. The big fence my dad built all around the bungalow was still there some years ago and every now and then I still go to look at the old place. I'm not far away only in St.Osyth. We used to walk the promenade all the way to here as kids and see the Martello tower. Oh what great memories and great days we had. Better get back to the present. Work to do!

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