Memories of Ivydene, Langdon Hills
My family, the Hoopers, moved into ‘Ivydene’ around the late 1950s. They moved in during torrential rain, and all the goods had to be carried to the house, or heaped on my brother’s perambulator because the removal van couldn’t manage the lanes. The milk was delivered by horse and cart for the same reason. Our father, Len, was an engineer, and promptly set about improving the house, not just by painting and decorating it, but by replacing the roof (my sister Jacky assisted him, and fell off) and by building an indoor bathroom, complete with working w.c., created by inventing a complicated sewage system. When they first moved in there were gas mantles everywhere, but this was later replaced by electricity. My father was photographed digging in the garden, which he adored. My siblings attended Langdon Hills Primary, which was about a two mile walk away. The house was compulsorily purchased in the 1960s and we were forced to move out. My parents hated having to leave: it had been their dream home.
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Yes, Penny is my sister, though I am no longer in touch with her, so I couldn’t pass this on. I believe she now lives in Cambridgeshire. My other sister and I still live nearby, in South Benfleet and Rayleigh. My brother Bobby may well have attended the same school.
My sister Jacky’s memories are patchy, and mine are non-existent, but she recalls an old gentleman living near us called Mr.Baldry, with a large dog called Prince. She recalls some of her friends were the Adams twins and Victoria Scott.
After reading L Coverley’s article about her family’s connection with Laindon my eyes caught sight of the pictures that accompanied the story.
Two of the pictures featured a young girl with plaits. my mind went back some 65 plus years as I
recognized the girl as Penny Hooper, Penny was a pupil at Langdon Hills Junior school in those days, like many others that I shared the school with I often wonder what happened to those kids many of them were transitory and only lived around the village for a short time as the New Town was gathering pace and the Development Corporation were buying up properties for redevelopment which occasioned many families to move away. Hopefully Penny and her family are still enjoying life wherever they decided to settle.
Editor: As far as I can establish by looking at the 1949 BDC property survey ‘Ivydene’ was located in Wenlock Avenue on the Primrose Hill Estate, this is now part of Lee Chapel South stretching from Gaynesford to Great Gregorie.
I wish I knew! I was born there, (I’m the baby in the photos), but was never told the name of the road. I’d love to know what it was. My sister can’t remember the name of the road, either, but recalls walking to it up the hill from the school, or it could be reached from a path behind the pub. We only had two or three other places near us, one of them owned by an elderly couple with a fairly fierce dog.
Hi, Which road was the bungalow in.
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