The Westcliff Years 1958 - 1961

Not sure why we moved, but move we did. We went to a semi in Osborne Rd, Westcliff on Sea.

School was a problem. All the kids in my class had evolved into their own long established gangs, so going there in the last year of junior school left me feeling very isolated. I eventually got into Dick Walkers gang along with Bob Coss and a few others.

Knowing that Mum kept a small packet of chocolate on a high shelf, I got a chair and got it down. Bob and I shared the pack which was only 2 inches square and had possibly a dozen little sections. After we spent the next few hours running to the toilet, the story came out and Mum laughed when she realised we had eaten a high dose of laxative!!

We only had a small garden, but Dad grew pize winning Dahlias and Gladioli. One time when he was working and couldn't make a show, he asked me and Bob to take them for him. We took a bus to the show in Pitsea, but by the time we got there most of the blooms were damaged and past their best. The only set of good blooms I entered into the wrong class so Dad won no prizes that day. However, during a break in the procedings, Bob and I went to a field and gathered some wild flowers and grasses which we entered into another class. I got first place and Bob got second.

Had a fight with another boy not far from our house, I called for Bob to get Mum, which he did. She came and sorted it out, but I felt very cowardly afterwards.