The World's Weirdest Weather

It was by chance I was in the library the day Chanel 4 rang looking for information on how to contact the Canvey Community Archive.

The researcher  from Pioneer Productions was interested in interviewing residents about their experiences during the 1953 floods for a television programme. He had visited our site and was very complimentary about the wealth of information on the floods. This set in motion a series of telephone calls and emails and visits to the Island and we put together a list of people who were willing to retell their stories.

If you think filming a tv programme is glamorous – think again! On a wet, freezing cold and windy morning we assembled at Joy Matthews’ (nee Lynch) house and made our way to the sea wall. Joy stoically stood for nearly two hours retaking shot after shot until the producer was satisfied.

Observing was fascinating as each shot was tested, sound was tried and the positioning of the old newspaper crucial.

Our researcher was Archie. The Producer – Mark with Chris (cameraman) and Phil (sound).

Only two people were chosen by the company to tell their stories and unfortunately only Joy was used on the programme, and I can only assume that by then the weather was so inclement the recording may not have been clear enough.

Below you can see the short clips from the program in case you missed it.