Sue Critchley to Wivenhoe Memories
3 hrs ·
I am very lucky to have inherited my Uncle Roy Durrell's memoirs which he entitled "A Wivenhovian Boy". Roy was born in Malting's Yard in 1926. I have copied them up to share with you as I know some you will find them of interest. I hope you enjoy them, as I did......
"We always visited South Green, Fingrinhoe as children at weekends, crossing the river by ferry at all tides. Rowing boats and punts at low water operated by Pinker Barr. The walk through Thirty Acre Field was about 5 miles. Father and Mother were in the middle of this huge field when the Second World War sirens sounded the morning the war was declared. Many Happy hours during my childhood were spend at South Green; learning to swim on the The Marsh Creeks with Joe Mather; Duck shooting out to Rat Island with C. Gordon Jones (Colchester Solicitor) in his punts plus 16 bore punt gun. My first car ride was in his Bullnose Morris, around 1930, starting my love of cars ever since. My love of dogs stemmed from South Green as my Grandad William Beales looked after the Gun Dogs – Retrievers. My auntie Julie used to cycle home to Fingrinhoe from East Lodge, Colchester where she was cook for over 27 years. She loved tending her flowers in the garden there and us children were not allowed in her fenced garden. It was at East Lodge where I had my second drive in Dr Nicholson’s Vauxhall driven by Harry the chauffeur. A very nice car, smooth running 6 cylinder. . We were initiated on homemade wines at South Green – Gran Beales gave us Sloe Gin and Damson Wines as the hedgerows around the cottage were always laden with both. We always had to collect drinking water about 1 mile walk to Johnson’s Farm with a yolk holding a bucket each side, bringing it back to empty into earthenware crocks. Grandad Beales worked as a Horseman at the farm he was 7ft 1 – as tall as the Shires! He did the ploughing and with Tumbrils collected the corn stack. The days I loved making the stacks, riding on the wagons, especially if Helen Johnson about my age and blonde was with us. A lovely girl, countrywise! The winter days out duck shooting around Rat Island were memorable – little did we know that this is now a wildfowl Nature Reserve in the 1980’s?
My schooldays started in 1931 at Mrs Smith and Miss Grasby’s Infant School in Philips Road near the railway. They both lived in my ancestor’s old house The Ropery - Sailmaker’s Yard at The Cross Wivenhoe - Joseph Durrell’s former establishment. My school days were happy ones with Miss Grasby. My aunt Julie took great interest and saved all my exam papers in Junior school. She came to meet me on occasion and asked she would know me amongst all the other children, I said “You can’t miss me – I’m the only one in red velvet trousers!” My Athletics career started here winning medals in N.E. Essex School Championships, then Army Championships. Most of us lads were cubs and scouts together and made good times. Mrs Cracknell who lived in The Greyhound was our leader.
I went onto Technical College, Colchester, my brother Toni followed in my footsteps there also after attending The Colne at Brightlingsea. Toni went on to become an Electrician at The Colchester Lathe Company; brother Dennis started building services and his first job was demolishing all the wooden houses in Maltings Yard, which faced our house. I had already done part-time work with father down at Husks building small boats – at this time we built my first dinghy – 10 ft long. We had a ceremony launching it at the Ferry below Black Buoy – Drinks all round! On the quay several wealthy owners had berths there and threw coins overboard when berthing for us to dive in and find. I still have two of the sovereigns. The Green’s (our relations) ran fishing boats from the Quay, smacks which left early hours for the tide. I often got up at 3 am to sail down the river and out fishing in the swin, past Bench-head bouy. Shrimping was great – except for the smell – cooking them on the way up river. When sprat season was in, tons of fish were loaded into trucks at the railway quay next to the main shipyard. We went there with buckets and took them home picking out the Dabs, Whiting etc. Better than walking in the mud for Dabs with a trident fork spearing them.
We young Wivenhovians got up to pranks – no television in those days. Dr Radcliffe (who designed our wonderful one design yacht) got a few played on him. A jerry pot was hoisted on his flag pole in the High Street and he was seen by all the workman on their way to work lowering it in his pyjamas – much to the surprise of the two girls who worked for him – Judy and Betty. Another was to lock Stacey Wood the Grocer in his shed on a small orchard in Rebow Road and pick all his pears. I went straight home to bed. Philip Dan went all the way round Mill-field to avoid the Police station at Council offices only to find the policeman already at his door. My mother told the policeman it could not have been Roy as he’s been in bed over an hour – probably Dennis or Toni! We often tied two door knockers together in Station Road, knocked on both and hid over the station wall opposite to watch the fun! Down at the Folly, (running between two high walls to the Quay), we tied ropes across, head high, to trap the chaps coming out the Black Buoy boozed up. Unfortunately, on one occasion the policeman, Old Pledger, was cycling through and got de-capped and sprawled on the ground. We got a real reprimand!
In the early 1930’s work in the shipyards was dormant so Dad (George Durrell) worked at Wivenhoe Park felling trees. Fortunately Gooch the owner killed deer for the poor people – we all lived on venison.
When war broke out in 1939 us Wivenhovian lads were in our early teens, the older lads joined up. Leslie Pascoe was sadly killed in action on the Russian convoys. Trim Ablitt served in the far-east – both were Royal Navy.
It was a pleasure to renew our Maritime traditions during the 2nd World War to cruise along the shorlelines of the Whitehouse, Ballast Quay, Rat Island. As an Apprentice Engineer with Vospers in their excellent M.T.B. s and Motor Gun Boats out to the North Sea for trials and testing. My father was the top shipwright on the construction for Vosper, the only one to correctly align the powerful 1,500 HP engines (three in each boat).
In the second year of the war dad was working at Vospers and at nights he was running St John’s Ambulance Service at the Boys school on the High Street (now the library). I was in 308 Squadron ATC studying navigation at the Tech and also became a Messenger with a Velocette Motorcycle to ride. It was 1941 when I was doing paper rounds for George Slaughter delivering the evening papers when I saw a tubby old gentleman struggling with two large suitcases and a pretty little girl about my age, so having the trade cycle, I asked if I could help. Loading them on the front he said “Do you know Mrs Warner, Glebe House, Belle Vue Road?” I told him I knew The Glebe well as we had our Scouts there. This was the first time I saw Beryl Louisa Warner. At least a year on when Beryl started working at Vospers even then she said “ I don’t want to be seen with a dirty, greasy engineer” – coming up from the engine room after trials, I did look a mess! We went onto marry in 1946.
Work at Vospers began to increase with building of MTBs and repairs to gun boats. Trials and testing stepped up with being at sea for over 12 hours at a time, coming home with bells ringing in my ears from sitting round with 4,500 HP of high speed engines droning round you all day. I volunteered in R.A.F.V.R.- went to No2 Aircrew reception at Cardington, Bedfordshire – passed out A.C.2 flight engineer. After the second week, which I really enjoyed, The first ENSA which included Vera Lynn and Benny Hill and gang in drag in a very large hangar adjacent to the mast for the R.101 Airship stationed there. Sent home on 9 months deferred service because of lack of aircraft – so many of us aircrew and no planes to fly (august 1943). I was called back to Cardington for pre-service training only to be told I would be discharged surplus to requirements – more aircrew than required. Most aircrew were transferred to Army for D. Day – I was lucky to be sent back to Vosper’s trial crew again.
Back at Vospers I continued my apprenticeship and returned to the girls – Beryl Warner, Joan Clarke, Mary Frost – all working in the Admiralty Stores. Those times, although in the war, were the happiest of my short lifetime. Everyone was pulling together – not knowing if there would be a tomorrow. The spirit of everyone was so different - helping on another, cheerful and hardworking. Joan Clarke had the job of cleaning the torpedo tubes when came back from firing on trials. Halfway through the tube we capped the ends and fired it whilst she was cleaning – coming out looking like a Black & White Minstrel. We also put Beryl in the .5 gun turret on the engine room casing and locked it in rotation, spinning her round at top speed, she came out wobbling all over the deck! Another day coming back from trials, Beryl and Joan were waiting at the jetty so I asked them if they would like a trip up the river in my dinghy. As we lads were in our trunks we decided to have a swim. The two girls sitting at the back end the dinghy reared up, caught in the current off they went, not attempting to row. We had to swim ashore run along the sea wall and swim ahead of the boat because it was drifting out so fast in the tideway. Their library books and plums all wet in the bilges!
We really had great times at Vospers, Molly Sargeant, Rosa Cudogan were fire watching with Beryl, woke up in the office buildings to find their beds floating and knee deep in salt water – the tide had flooded all along the Quay. This could not have happened in 1995 as a flood barrier has been constructed at Vospers jetty. Hilda Chamberlain also worked at Vospers and got friendly with Paddy Flood, a boiler-maker, the result was a lovely little girl called Anne who became one of our bridesmaids in 1946.
I left our family home in Malting Yard to live with my grandmother Ellen in Gayhurst, Belle Vue Road when the twins Toni & Dennis were born in 1930, enjoying all the fruits in the orchard next to Gayhurst especially the three walnut trees. Ellen owned many properties in Wivenhoe, The nicest being on the Quay adjacent to The Rose & Crown and The Granary next door; also others in Belle Vue Road and The Avenue. Our next door neighbour in the Yard in those days was Captain Albert Turner of The King George V yacht 'Britannia' who gave me many memorabilia including a sailbag from Victoria's yacht - Victoria and Albert, which I still own. Our ancestors were also mariners - Joseph Durrell owned The Ropery at The Cross and was a renowned sailmaker in th 1880's. Beryl's Great Grandfather a mariner aboard the steam yacht 'Gundreda' obtained the Captain's chair from it which is in our lounge.
From 1940-1944 my sister Christine had three children, Michael, Malcolm and Margaret whom Mother had to raise and to make room Toni moved up the yard to live with Mr & Mr Johnson. By 1946 we had experienced many things, what with planes crashing around the Glebe House, trawlers and boats being blown up in the sea in front of us. Early one morning a trawler “Drummer Boy” hit a mine – nothing was left except tiny pieces of wood and mast. Another action we were cruising down in the Swin just off Clacton. I went up for a breather from the engine room hatch, looking up I saw a mass of parachutes in the sky. I dashed back to the engine room because of the excessive noise of the three main engines at 3,000 RPM, sketched parachutes on my knee pad and gave it to the Chief Engineer George Runnicles marked invasion. With that engine room telegraphs went to action stations. After quite a time manoevering and stopping we had picked up some of the crew of a flying fortress “Southern Comfort” B17 coming back from a bombing raid on Rotterdam. The Navigator was spinning round 6ft under water with his parachute in the wind. Bert Smith, a Deckhand, dived overboard and cut him loose. The Radio Operator said the aircraft was white hot when they baled out. We raced back to Brightlingsea, engines passed the max of 3,400 RPM. I could not read any instruments, they were just a blank blur - the only time I've ever been nervous at high speed engines. Wrens in the Martello Towers on land clocked our speed at over 60 knots. When we go into the port the Navigator was in a bad way but the amulance was there waiting - thank goodness. All this action was written in the American 8th Air-Force Book with cmmendations for us (the only error in the book is the photograph showing an RAF 100' Vosper Air Sea Rescue but we were aboard a 72' Vosper M.T.B. We had quite an experience at times nearly being shot up by a Mosquito Aircraft from the aerodrome on the Point of the Blackwater, as E. Boats had been there several times (E.Boats were our German equivalent to M.T.B.'s. Returning from trials, Beryl was standing on the jetty saying there were papers at home - O.H.M.S. which read I had to report to Hadrian's Camp Carlisle for His Majesty's Army. A left home at 7.am, Charlie Johnson carrying my bags to the station to see me off...."
(Uncle Roy goes on to write about his days in the Army and then his life and work in Uckfield, Sussex, where he lived with Beryl until he sadly died in 1998, aged 72)
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