But we did get to visit Southend

After all this bad press about Rayleigh I should say that it wasn't quite all bad. For example I have fond memories of sitting next to Ginty at the end of a wide, slidy church organ stool whilst he played, and being amazed at his foot-work. Even more amazing that he had lost two fingers in a circular saw accident in his youth, but still managed to play. Sitting here was a good deal more interesting than being in the congregation where I would have to sit perfectly still. Because an eruption would occur if my foot even accidentally just touched the next chair on which my aunt sat. It is hard for a boy to keep his feet still when they do not reach the floor.

Southend Illuminations c. 1960

Or there were the occasional trips to Southend-on-Sea, best if it was just our family going. My father would drive from one end of the esplanade (Chalkwell Avenue) to the other (Thorpe Bay) so that we could see the Illuminations. And if there was time to stop then...

Never Never land

Never Never land

...There was Never never land - an area of the cliff gardens transformed with weaving pathways decorated with fairy castles and goblins - all a bit dated and seedy in my memory but I appreciated sussing out where all the paths led to and figuring out how they wired up the coloured lights or animated the models.

...There was a fun-fair by the entrance to the pier. One favourite attraction was the Crooked House (built 1953) - with the usual perspective trick that makes a person appear huge or small depending on where they stand in the room. And then there was the pier itself, the longest pleasure pier in the world at 1.33 miles. I loved the pier shuttle train - back then it was electric and twin track. It was replaced in 1984 by diesel power running on a single track.

Southend pier train c. 1949

Southend pier train today

The pier, built in 1830, has suffered many injuries during its life - fires in 1959, 1976, 1977, 1995, 2005, and run through by a boat in 1984 - but has always been repaired as it is a major tourist attraction.

Cliff lift

West of Never Never land there is the cliff lift. I thought it too short to be worth the ride (I could easily beat it using the steps) but interesting  none-the-less.

Golden Hind, c. 1960

Another attraction was the Golden Hind (only a replica and, sadly, not there now) with its wax-works torture chamber that James Watson has so aptly described here. Although I remember not been allowed to see the torture instruments, delicate children as we apparently were.

Very occasionally we would be treated to a Rossi's ice cream in which I remember the amazement of finding bits of real strawberry. Not so unusual now but, back then, ice cream could be different colours but generally didn't have bits in it.

But eventually it would be time to return to 10 Weir Gardens, Rayleigh. But even there things were not all bad - one of the better meals was Nana's steak and kidney pie which tasted entirely different to my mother's equivalent but even so was passable, ignoring the usual cat's hairs to be found in any food at Rayleigh. Cats were regarded in much the same way as the sacred cow is in India. The one table in the kitchen where all food preparation was carried out was teaming with them. I think I was young enough not to be too bothered by hygiene but I discovered later in life that the whole Rayleigh deal was very hard on my mother.

Site of 10 Weir Gardens

Incidentally Google Earth imagery (2013) confirms that 10 Weir Gardens has been demolished and is now but a private car park. The end of an era. I wonder if that 10-Weir-Gardens smell still lingers?