Ernie Byron was a buddy of mine from the mid ’50’s (LHR) until well into our twenties. He was on the back of my motor bike when we had an “altercation” with a big old Austin 16 saloon which put us both in Billericay Hospital(This must have been about 1957ish?). We had quite a number of biker buddies come to visit us, supposed to be three visitors to a bed, fat chance with that lot, it got quite hectic. I felt a bit sorry for the nurses, trying to get some semblance of order, then Matron arrived, she soon had them sorted, so the guys and girls visited us in shifts. If memory serves there were three sisters, Janis (2nd eldest), Anne, (the youngest) and one other (aged between Ernie and Janis) and a younger brother Johnny. As I said, Ernie and I had been mates for years, I could write a book on our escapades with him and the rest of the “Laindon Biker Gang”,(although Ern was never much of a bike enthusiast, drove a car as soon has he was old enough).
When him and his “Fay” got hitched they used me and my Rover car as their Wedding Car. J.B.
By J.B. (06/12/2018)
The name of the horse was Doly and it was my grandad Harry Shipley. He used to have a seafood stall in front of the Winston. The sacks of cockles was rinsed out in the bath at his home.
By Kevin McCarthy (05/03/2018)
The extension of the Byron family in John Bathurst’s post (above) lived opposite me in Kent Road. I only remember the names of two of the grand children: Ernie & Janis, with whom I was friends. Their father owned an old London Taxi. However Kent Road was only navigable in the summer months so I am not sure where he kept it. When their house was demolished to make way for the High Road/Laindon Link connection, they moved to Sandringham Road; nearer to the general store mentioned. I would buy toffee from the shop on my way to and from Langdon Hills Primary School.
By George Le-Surf (06/06/2017)
I notice on here that Robert Springate has mentioned his sister, Leana Springate, who was picked out originally I think, by Pat Roper on the 1958 photograph of Laindon High Road School. As Pat went to Langdon Hills School originally I guess that’s why Leana’s name was familiar to her. I recall that Leana Springate was in my first ever class at LHR when Mr Rosen was our teacher from 1958-1959. This was the only year I was in the same form as Leana as I was put into Mr Rees’s class for the remainder of my school years at LHR. Amazing to think that little girl has now retired, much like many of the baby boomers – and in Australia as well.
Also Robert touched on the winter of 1962-1963. Since then I believe there has been nothing as cold, a complete freeze up around Laindon but nothing bad enough for us to miss a day off school or indeed work (after school in my case 4-6 in a petrol garage on the Arterial Road). For me that winter involved serious revision for my GCE O Levels combined with my after school paid work and other pursuits involving going out to the Mecca in Basildon or various cinemas with friends, such a busy schedule for a 15 year old. Happy days, they will never return .
By Richard Haines (16/02/2017)
Looking at the picture of the horse and cart, in the background can be seen a pair of shops, behind the shops is another building that appears to be joined to the pair of shops. These premises could well be a former men’s tie making factory. I recall my sister working there in her late teens, as a machinist, for a Mr. C. Pavey, who lived in one of the large houses on the left just past LHP. I will check with my sister in Australia what memories she has of the tie factory. The business moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in later years. I notice that an old friend of mine, Les Whiskin, has a contribution about Sid Blackwell. Sadly Les has passed away, but his wife and family still live in Laindon.
By Robert Springate (14/02/2017)
In the photograph reproduced on this website on 22nd January 2013 under the heading “Do You Recognise Anybody”, while the identification of the three people it contains is of extreme value, (not to forget the horse!), of equal value is the inanimate setting, upon which nobody, so far, has appeared to have commented.
The photograph is such that I divine it to have been taken most probably in the early 1930s. I say this, because the façade of the shop that appears in the middle ground of the picture appears to be almost pristine. In a period of more than thirty years of walking past its frontage, I never recall that anybody was foolish enough to open it as a commercial enterprise. I remain puzzled as to why it was ever constructed and who by. Somebody must have considered it a worthwhile investment and did they get their investment back when it was eventually demolished?
Windsor Road, as it was, might be regarded as being virtually at the very centre of things, although considering the sparse nature of the habitations it contained (four) up until its complete obliteration, this might give some pause for thought. The road followed the course of what was originally the farm track leading off the main road (later named “High Road”) to the farmyard of what had been the now demolished Little Gubbins Farm. As the farm had been established on more or less the highest point around, there was a rising gradient from the High Road to Windsor Road (it was, in fact, only a matter of fourteen feet) which led to the road often being referred to as “Windsor Hill”. To complicate matters, at the “bottom” of the hill and fronting onto the High Road was a club house, initially named the “Carlton” (the photographer had his back to this when he or she took the picture) but renamed in 1940 to become the “Winston” as a tribute to Churchill who had recently become Prime Minister. Consequently, the henceforth misnaming of Windsor Road as “Winston Hill” was almost inevitable.
Immediately to the right of the seemingly never occupied shop a short “back lane”, that appears on no map, led to the rear of the shops that were opened for business in the High Road. This extended as far as the rear of Lagden’s butcher’s shop and the shed in which, as I describe elsewhere on this website, a bullock was slaughtered. This short lane was lined with other lockup sheds or garages, one of which was used in the ‘50s as a motor-mechanics workshop and proved to be useful for those of very limited means for keeping motor vehicles of considerable vintage and poor condition on the road. (The ‘50s was pre-MOT and waiting lists for new cars was often as long as two years; in consequence all sorts of rubbish well past its use by date was kept running and the MOT was ultimately the inevitable outcome.)
In the photograph beyond the unused shop and partly obscured behind the head of Sid Blackwell can be seen an unused plot of land. Nothing was ever developed on this plot alongside of which ran the turning off Windsor Road, namely Balmoral Road. On this corner and clearly visible in the background of the photo is “Windsor House” one of the earliest builds on the Station Estate designated after Laindon Station opened in 1888. Windsor House was the home of the Beckett family and was opened as a small general shop by the family, remaining so until the first generation of the family decided to retire. This small local convenience business was then taken up by the family of John Byron who, as B J Byron and Son (Plumber and Drains Specialist) had a workshop and showroom further along Windsor Road opposite the end of Buckingham Road.
The empty plot I have detailed above was, in late 1939 early 1940, pressed into service as an Emergency Air Raid Shelter, designed to offer a rapidly available refuge for shoppers at or close to the station end of the High Road when the warning sounded. A sign to that effect was erected on a pole adjacent to the Winston Club. The actual shelter consisted of a half rectangular trench cut into the hill, lined and roofed with timber, with the spoil from its construction reinforcing the roof to the depth, initially, of about a foot. It did not take long for the weather to begin to erode this hastily devised construct and its earth floor rapidly became waterlogged and unusable. Initially, devised as something of a panic measure before it was demolished by being levelled, the trench filed in, it became a playground to be explored by the community’s younger element.
The brick wall in the photograph that serves as a background to the horse and cart and its occupants was, before the 1960 Gambling, Gaming and Lotteries Act, the regular station of a bookie’s runner who was well placed to do business as possible punters emerged from the station and went their various ways. I never learned his name nor for whom did he risk his efforts. Anybody know?
By John Bathurst (05/04/2015)
My grandad Harry Shipley, my mum was Daisy Shipley, then married my dad Ron Tasker. I grew up in the Winston. Good memories.
By Niecee Tasker (06/02/2015)
This is my uncle Sid. I can remember him singing to us at Christmas. His sons all used to play instruments and formed a band.
By Diane Dinch (20/11/2014)
Yes the man with the wavy hair is Sid Blackwell, a great piano and organ player, he was friends with my mother and father.
By Les Whiskin (18/08/2013)
Hi Brian you could be right it might be Mr Shipley the other man on cart could be my uncle Albert Bull they all were friends and drunk in the Winston Club
By Keith Nock (27/03/2013)
I have a copy of this photo handed down to me by family, and can confirm the man on the left hand side of the cart is Mr Harry Shipley, my grandfather on my dad’s side
By Martin Shipley (27/03/2013)
Hi Barry. Pic outside Winston Club sitting at the reins could be Mr Shiply? He sold sea food, looks like plastic bowls and the like in the cart, they lived down Northumberland Av area?
By Brian cordell (05/03/2013)
Hi, not sure but is man standing Sid Blackwell? I remember my uncle Albert Bull used to be friends with him they used the Winston Club with my uncle’s brother in-law Fred Gibson
By Keith Nock (22/01/2013)
I think you are correct Keith, looks like Sid Blackwell to me also.
My Dad was also a long time member at the Winston club and played darts with Fred Gibson and probably your uncle also.
By Eric Pasco (22/01/2013)
I would think that’s Sid Blackwell too – given the wavy hair and wide grin that his boys inherited also. Bet Gloria would second that too!
Comments about this page
Add your own comment
Ernie Byron was a buddy of mine from the mid ’50’s (LHR) until well into our twenties.
He was on the back of my motor bike when we had an “altercation” with a big old Austin 16 saloon which put us both in Billericay Hospital(This must have been about 1957ish?). We had quite a number of biker buddies come to visit us, supposed to be three visitors to a bed, fat chance with that lot, it got quite hectic. I felt a bit sorry for the nurses, trying to get some semblance of order, then Matron arrived, she soon had them sorted, so the guys and girls visited us in shifts.
If memory serves there were three sisters, Janis (2nd eldest), Anne, (the youngest) and one other (aged between Ernie and Janis) and a younger brother Johnny.
As I said, Ernie and I had been mates for years, I could write a book on our escapades with him and the rest of the “Laindon Biker Gang”,(although Ern was never much of a bike enthusiast, drove a car as soon has he was old enough).
When him and his “Fay” got hitched they used me and my Rover car as their Wedding Car. J.B.
The name of the horse was Doly and it was my grandad Harry Shipley. He used to have a seafood stall in front of the Winston. The sacks of cockles was rinsed out in the bath at his home.
The extension of the Byron family in John Bathurst’s post (above) lived opposite me in Kent Road. I only remember the names of two of the grand children: Ernie & Janis, with whom I was friends. Their father owned an old London Taxi. However Kent Road was only navigable in the summer months so I am not sure where he kept it. When their house was demolished to make way for the High Road/Laindon Link connection, they moved to Sandringham Road; nearer to the general store mentioned. I would buy toffee from the shop on my way to and from Langdon Hills Primary School.
I notice on here that Robert Springate has mentioned his sister, Leana Springate, who was picked out originally I think, by Pat Roper on the 1958 photograph of Laindon High Road School. As Pat went to Langdon Hills School originally I guess that’s why Leana’s name was familiar to her. I recall that Leana Springate was in my first ever class at LHR when Mr Rosen was our teacher from 1958-1959. This was the only year I was in the same form as Leana as I was put into Mr Rees’s class for the remainder of my school years at LHR. Amazing to think that little girl has now retired, much like many of the baby boomers – and in Australia as well.
Also Robert touched on the winter of 1962-1963. Since then I believe there has been nothing as cold, a complete freeze up around Laindon but nothing bad enough for us to miss a day off school or indeed work (after school in my case 4-6 in a petrol garage on the Arterial Road). For me that winter involved serious revision for my GCE O Levels combined with my after school paid work and other pursuits involving going out to the Mecca in Basildon or various cinemas with friends, such a busy schedule for a 15 year old. Happy days, they will never return .
Looking at the picture of the horse and cart, in the background can be seen a pair of shops, behind the shops is another building that appears to be joined to the pair of shops. These premises could well be a former men’s tie making factory. I recall my sister working there in her late teens, as a machinist, for a Mr. C. Pavey, who lived in one of the large houses on the left just past LHP. I will check with my sister in Australia what memories she has of the tie factory. The business moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in later years. I notice that an old friend of mine, Les Whiskin, has a contribution about Sid Blackwell. Sadly Les has passed away, but his wife and family still live in Laindon.
In the photograph reproduced on this website on 22nd January 2013 under the heading “Do You Recognise Anybody”, while the identification of the three people it contains is of extreme value, (not to forget the horse!), of equal value is the inanimate setting, upon which nobody, so far, has appeared to have commented.
The photograph is such that I divine it to have been taken most probably in the early 1930s. I say this, because the façade of the shop that appears in the middle ground of the picture appears to be almost pristine. In a period of more than thirty years of walking past its frontage, I never recall that anybody was foolish enough to open it as a commercial enterprise. I remain puzzled as to why it was ever constructed and who by. Somebody must have considered it a worthwhile investment and did they get their investment back when it was eventually demolished?
Windsor Road, as it was, might be regarded as being virtually at the very centre of things, although considering the sparse nature of the habitations it contained (four) up until its complete obliteration, this might give some pause for thought. The road followed the course of what was originally the farm track leading off the main road (later named “High Road”) to the farmyard of what had been the now demolished Little Gubbins Farm. As the farm had been established on more or less the highest point around, there was a rising gradient from the High Road to Windsor Road (it was, in fact, only a matter of fourteen feet) which led to the road often being referred to as “Windsor Hill”. To complicate matters, at the “bottom” of the hill and fronting onto the High Road was a club house, initially named the “Carlton” (the photographer had his back to this when he or she took the picture) but renamed in 1940 to become the “Winston” as a tribute to Churchill who had recently become Prime Minister. Consequently, the henceforth misnaming of Windsor Road as “Winston Hill” was almost inevitable.
Immediately to the right of the seemingly never occupied shop a short “back lane”, that appears on no map, led to the rear of the shops that were opened for business in the High Road. This extended as far as the rear of Lagden’s butcher’s shop and the shed in which, as I describe elsewhere on this website, a bullock was slaughtered. This short lane was lined with other lockup sheds or garages, one of which was used in the ‘50s as a motor-mechanics workshop and proved to be useful for those of very limited means for keeping motor vehicles of considerable vintage and poor condition on the road. (The ‘50s was pre-MOT and waiting lists for new cars was often as long as two years; in consequence all sorts of rubbish well past its use by date was kept running and the MOT was ultimately the inevitable outcome.)
In the photograph beyond the unused shop and partly obscured behind the head of Sid Blackwell can be seen an unused plot of land. Nothing was ever developed on this plot alongside of which ran the turning off Windsor Road, namely Balmoral Road. On this corner and clearly visible in the background of the photo is “Windsor House” one of the earliest builds on the Station Estate designated after Laindon Station opened in 1888. Windsor House was the home of the Beckett family and was opened as a small general shop by the family, remaining so until the first generation of the family decided to retire. This small local convenience business was then taken up by the family of John Byron who, as B J Byron and Son (Plumber and Drains Specialist) had a workshop and showroom further along Windsor Road opposite the end of Buckingham Road.
The empty plot I have detailed above was, in late 1939 early 1940, pressed into service as an Emergency Air Raid Shelter, designed to offer a rapidly available refuge for shoppers at or close to the station end of the High Road when the warning sounded. A sign to that effect was erected on a pole adjacent to the Winston Club. The actual shelter consisted of a half rectangular trench cut into the hill, lined and roofed with timber, with the spoil from its construction reinforcing the roof to the depth, initially, of about a foot. It did not take long for the weather to begin to erode this hastily devised construct and its earth floor rapidly became waterlogged and unusable. Initially, devised as something of a panic measure before it was demolished by being levelled, the trench filed in, it became a playground to be explored by the community’s younger element.
The brick wall in the photograph that serves as a background to the horse and cart and its occupants was, before the 1960 Gambling, Gaming and Lotteries Act, the regular station of a bookie’s runner who was well placed to do business as possible punters emerged from the station and went their various ways. I never learned his name nor for whom did he risk his efforts. Anybody know?
My grandad Harry Shipley, my mum was Daisy Shipley, then married my dad Ron Tasker. I grew up in the Winston. Good memories.
This is my uncle Sid. I can remember him singing to us at Christmas. His sons all used to play instruments and formed a band.
Yes the man with the wavy hair is Sid Blackwell, a great piano and organ player, he was friends with my mother and father.
Hi Brian you could be right it might be Mr Shipley the other man on cart could be my uncle Albert Bull they all were friends and drunk in the Winston Club
I have a copy of this photo handed down to me by family, and can confirm the man on the left hand side of the cart is Mr Harry Shipley, my grandfather on my dad’s side
Hi Barry. Pic outside Winston Club sitting at the reins could be Mr Shiply? He sold sea food, looks like plastic bowls and the like in the cart, they lived down Northumberland Av area?
Hi, not sure but is man standing Sid Blackwell? I remember my uncle Albert Bull used to be friends with him they used the Winston Club with my uncle’s brother in-law Fred Gibson
I think you are correct Keith, looks like Sid Blackwell to me also.
My Dad was also a long time member at the Winston club and played darts with Fred Gibson and probably your uncle also.
I would think that’s Sid Blackwell too – given the wavy hair and wide grin that his boys inherited also. Bet Gloria would second that too!
Add a comment about this page