Laindon Youths 1960

Four lads thumbing a lift
Brian Cordell

Four lads thumbing a lift, Mick Page took this photo, somewhere in Kent. They are Brian Cordell, Roger Davison and Peter Bassett. We started our journey outside Peter Bassett’s mum and dad’s cafe called Bassett’s Cafe, which was on a small parade of shops between Osbourne Road and the top of Salisbury Avenue. We were not waiting long at the roadside thumping when two lads in a car stopped and asked where we were going, we said Brands Hatch, whats going on there they asked . 

We told them about the motorcycle race meeting being held the next day (this being Saturday afternoon). That sounds good to us we will come with you, hop in lads, what more could we want. We crossed into Kent via the Tilbury Ferry, made our way to Brands Hatch. We got into the circuit by the back way, parking up in the woods. In the morning coming out of the woods there were other race goers turning up, so we did not get noticed. After watching a good days racing we had to make our own way home, unfortunately the two lads who had given us a lift lived in London. We tried unsuccessfully this time thumbing for a lift and ended up walking all the way back home to Laindon, arriving in early hours of Monday morning dead on our feet.

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  • Had it not been for the late Ernie Byron and his parents, Ernie & Dolly, I don’t know if I would have liked Banger Racing as it is now called today.

    By Brian Baylis (09/02/2012)
  • Brian what a great story, I am wondering if this is the same woods we used to go and stay in on Saturday nights. We would put the bikes in a circle light a fire and Ray Nuth would play his guitar while we used to sing the night away in those woods. Ray never owned a bike but could often be seen on the pillion with his guitar on his back. We like you say would sneak in under the fence early in the morning to watch the races.

    Sometimes we used to come back through the Blackwell Tunnel and go to Petticoat Lane on the way home always all meeting up at The Halfway House for the final leg home. 

    How did those boys do it, we never slept on Saturday nights and we never got home till late Sundays.

    Hope you remember some of this Brian along with the trips to Romford Stadium to see Ernie Byron Race his old bangers, and how about the old Ford 8s that were painted all colours.

    Thanks for those great photos I’m reliving my youth and loving it.

    By Gloria Sewell (02/02/2012)

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