I recognised the man swinging the sledge hammer as my father in law Walter ( Bill) Blackmore who worked on that road works and the man who owned the Hootons store Mr Tutt in his later years married Miss Hawes who had a shop called "The Drug stores" on the corner of the high street Hanut Rd which is now called Hope Road.

Derek, I always knew the drugstore as Tutts Stores.in the late 40s and 50s. I remember the two ladies who ran it. They always seemed very old to me. At the side of the shop lived Dick Oughton and his family. He was a rag and bone man or second hand dealer. The family emigrated to Australia in the late 40s or early fifties and I still have an old book he gave me.

Hi Maureen, In one of our earliest pages, the memoires of my cousin once removed, Doris Scullard, she actually mentions Mrs Hawes change of name by her marriage to Mr Tutt. Coincidentally the only comment on the page is a very kind one from you about my Auntie Blossom. Re the Houghtons I remember Mr Houghton being a mate of Billy Wells and think he was the proprietor of the the landau that used to carry holidaymakers from the Haystack Corner to the seafront. Funnily enough the land where their bungalow/shop stood is still a vacant building plot today.

Hallo Graham My father & myself done work for your Grandfather Oliver Stevens in his house that was in Winterswyke Ave I remember there was a well ouside on the East side of the house where first they got their water from, my father in dipping a bucket in to get water for wall paper paste he dropped his cigarette lighter which was made out of a bullet case, in I told this story to your Uncle Ray some years ago after he redeveloped the property, he did not think I was old enough to remember the old place mention my name to your sister she knows me.also the black Landau you spoke of was the Crow brothers who lived on the corner of Yamburg High street in a bungalow called 'The Crows Nest;

Derek did your father in law live near the corner of Hassell and Yamburg Road? I can remember Sheila Blackmore lived there in the forties and early fifties. Any relation?

Hi Derek, Well, well, well, I remember that well very well. I wouldn't be surprised if your Dad's lighter was amongst a variety of items that ended up in there. Fortunately I don't think they included any human-beings which is quite surprising as most of the time,as I recall, it was only covered by a rusty piece of plate-iron which had split in half. There are photos of 'Reliance Cottage' on the website in the afore-mentioned 'Doris Scullard memoires' and also in 'A shopping basket of memories pt 1' I have passed on your regards to my sister Jenny Stacey and Uncle Ray, now in his early 90s is still going strong. We also remember your younger brother Alan ,the architect, who I think used to work for Mr Selby. Regards, Graham.

Hallo Maureen ,Yes my father in law did live there 1st in Hassel Lodge and then Cariarma and Sheila Blackmore was my wife an as you may know she pass away back in 1999,. at first a could not work out were, you was but it come to me that you where Maureen Thorpe living in Lime Road I think and had a brother Brian

Hi Graham,you are right about the the lid on the well I was going to try getting the lighter back but my father said don,t go there

I'm so sorry,Derek, I didn't know Sheila had died. I left Canvey in 1988. Yes, my brother was Brian. We lived at the top of Wamburg near Gifhorn, but my sister Sheila and her husband lived in Lime. My friend Denise, who lived in Gifhorn, and I walked up Wamburg and into Yamburg and Westerland then back through Lime a couple of years ago. Only a very few of the old bungalows left now. I have very happy memories of my life there.

The building in question was possibly my grandfathers green grocers shop. He opened this shop and put my grandmother Lizzie in there to run it whilst he went to work on the new roads. They were paying good money for workmen. My father took over the running of this shop on his return to Canvey after his demob in 1945. Shortly after that it was pulled down and the new parade of shops were built, including Green Stores, Bishops and Zena's hair dressers.