It is with mixed emotions that I recall my time in Furtherwick School in the late 50`s.

I began my schooling on Canvey along the Long Road, we had a headmaster called Mr. Benson. We were young and naive and when the time came to attend Furtherwick (our secondary school as it was known at that time) we began our first day with fear and trepidation. I remember being in the playground surrounded by boys wearing drape jackets and black shoes with fluorescent socks in colours of pink, orange, green and red. The boys wore their hair slicked back with brylcreem shaping the back into a D.A.(ducks arse) while the girls adopted the same fashion in socks, they wore tight pencil skirts belted in tightly at the waist. The playground was a bit of a war-zone, bycycle chains were used frequently in the battles which ensued either in the playground or outside after school hours. Young kids would shelter with their peer groups hoping they wouldnt get picked on by the older kids.
I remember Mr. Watkins (headmaster at the time) going out to break up a fight in the playground and a kid taking a swing at him with a chain!
Mr Watkins had a love/hate relationship with a kid called Christopher Rutland who plagued him something rotten, if you`re out there Christoper, I remember you sending him your best wishes one Christmas on a card which he read out in assembly and on it you wrote "May all your Christmas`s be white" what did that mean I wonder?
Miss Langston was a vicious bitch who got great satisfaction out of humiliating and hurting people. She gave me the cane once for talking in assembly, three on each hand (the first two strikes I took my hand away - well wouldnt you?
Mr Cotton, our Science teacher who was teaching us something with a bunsen burner and set fire to his face with metholated spirits He then hurled the bunsen burner at the sink which missed and landed in my lap setting my skirt alight. He got carted off and never came back.
There was another teacher there called Mr. Frost (old Frosty) does anyone remember him?
What happened to Jimmy Crane? He lived in one of the farmers cottages just over Benfleet bridge on the Canvey side.
Just a few of many memories of Furtherwick School.

HI and Wellcome
I think the lad you remember was Clive Rutland -Not Christopher.He was in my class at Furtherwick

Hi there,

Well, maybe the old memory is playing tricks and I would be glad to be corrected but I was under the impression that there were two brothers. Clive who was older and Christopher who would be about our age?

By the way, can you remember who else was in your class?

Do you remember Miss White the French teacher who got into the most frightful of rages and would physically hurl chairs and desks around the classroom if we got the verbs wrong. Christoper Rutland aka Clive was one of the unfortunates one day and ended up under the desk!

Hi,Maybe it can be sorted by their ages Chris would be 64 and Clive 61. I can remember Mrs White as you say she did have a temper on her I also remember Mr Frost did he have a daughter called Felicity who attended Furtherwick.

Hi there Lulu (a.k.a.?)

Well, thanks for clearing that little mystery up for me, I rather hoped that the old gray cells hadnt given me false memory - so there we have it - Christopher Rutland (bad boy as he was then) did exist.

Yes, you are perfectly correct, Mr. Frost did have a daughter called Felicity, were you in her class I wonder? If so, who were your friends?

As I said, mixed feelings regarding my time there, some good some bad, obviously with todays P.C. some of our teaching staff at that time would have been hauled away in cuffs!

Thanks for answering.

Hi Felicity, I was'nt in her class she was two or three years above me but its strange the little things you remember from school days.I have a picture in my head of Mr Frost and his daughter lots of blonde hair if I remember, is it you? I really did enjoy my school days at Furtherwick.

Hi Lulu,

You have a good memory.Strange isn`t it, events really dont seem to have happened all that long ago, but some memories stick in the head, others need a little prompting to rise to the surface.

Hmmmm Mr. Frosts` daughter, tall, long blonde hair in a pony-tail, lived on a boat in Benfleet Creek - I wonder................?

HI Falicity
Yes you are right.
Clive Rutland is now 61.
He did have a older brother.
Clive I beleive now lives in Linford near Tilbury

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for answering. Lulu already cleared up the mystery of the Rutland boys (wonder if their ears are burning?)

This web-site is a trip down memory lane for me, Canvey Island was just one of the places I washed-up in (literally) in my youth. I am a great believer in a positive approach to life and one should always be forward thinking, but it doesnt prevent us from having our memories does it?

My grandchildren are firmly of the opinion that they have broken all human boundaries by being the `first young things ever` and listen with a certain amount of scepticism when I tell them about my teenage years and the music we enjoyed - Elvis Prestley ugh.. who was he?


Recently, I went shopping with my sixteen year old grandaughter and we ended up in one of her `trendy` shops. She grabbed a garment, thrusting it in my face saying "You should wear this Nan, you`d look good." I gazed at the top and told her, Sophie, I wore exactly the same kind of tops in the `60`s.

So, I`ll keep my memories, but be a little select as to whom I devulge my secrets.

Hi Felicity,

Was your father by any chance Cliff Frost - If so you and I played together occasionally as kids and my parents knew him.

I have memories of the houseboats on Benfleet Creek, and also the little inlet that came off it going up towards the Hoy & Helmet. My family owned the wet and dry fish shop that was at the end of the parade leading down from the station. After the shop was sold,(it was later compulsorily purchased to make way for the underpass leading onto the island) mum went to work for Jack Morling, in Attwells, the ironmongers just up the hill, next to Suggs/Knightly's Paper Shop. There was a Tile place then Mrs. French's Cafe, which I believe is now called the Dickens Restaurant?

I also have a memory of Tina Mordett?(spelling) Did you know her? Robert Land's sister. She and I together with a few other kids (were you one of them) used to go along the path beside the houseboats to a park - possible the back of the school in High Road - and play there during the summer holidays. I remember being punched in the stomach once and being winded during one of our play sessions.

I can also dredge up a memory of being in one of the houseboats having a drink. I thought there was a mother, but I could well be mistaken as it was so many years ago... was that your home I was in? Opposite the fish shop in the back inlet?

I shall wait with bated breath for your response.

Oh what lovely memories being stirred up here. I used to love going to Benfleet creek It was a long walk from Thameside crescent. I remember a group of us going across at low tide, our socks and shoes under our arms. The mud was getting deeper and deeper and by the time we got across we were knee deep in thick sludgy mud. Someone thought that there was an outside tap for the houseboat owners so we looked everywhere but couldn't find it. By this time the mud was dry, so we walked to hadleigh where one of the kids had an aunt and uncle. The four of us knocked on the door and it was opened by a very surprised man. He took it in his stride though and carried us one by one up to the bathroom where we stood inthe bath and the auntie washed all our legs. Her bath must have been in a bit of a state. They were very kind though. Gave us all a drink and a biscuit and our bus fare home to Canvey.
Talking of the frost family I was friendly with a Veronica Frost. Is she any relation?
Val

Oh my Mrs. Trivia Nut,

what a coincidence, yes I have to admit, `twas me who was part of the little gang who played in the fields at the back of the old Rec. Were you one of the `track bike` gang I wonder. I hope it wasnt me who winded you in the stomach, I know I was a bit of a tom-boy in those days and could hold my own with the best of them!

Yes, it was Clifford Frost, and we knew Jack Morling very well. I remember going to a fireworks party at his house where he set off an enormous rocket which whistled through my fathers legs and headed for the open doorway of the house. Jack was quite a character and had a crush on my mother!!!

Yes, our boat was near your shop moored in `Baker the Breakers yard.` She was a large Air Sea Rescue which we later set sail in and went to Paris, returning some months later to a mooring in Burnham on Crouch. Lots of adventures and lots of stories some of them a little nerve racking to say the least.

Did you know Bobbie and Jackie Barnes (girls) their parents had a strange sort of shop along Benfleet High Street, they sold fishing tackle and television sets amongst other paraphanalia which spilled over into a tiny back room where the family seemed to spend all day watching television.
I see you now reside in Australia, how long have you been there? I live in Ireland on dry land!

Love to know your real name......

Hi there Groovy Val,

I am so pleased I am able to dredge up some pleasant memories, goodness knows we could do with it sometimes.

Benfleet Creek was my playground as I lived on a boat there. It was my delight to take the dogs and go off rowing amongst all the little inlets in the marshes, sometimes vanishing all day. When the tide receeded I would play near the bridge where there was always some pools of water and where, I have been told by my Great Aunt, some stepping stones used to be in place in order for people to cross from Benfleet to Canvey before the bridge was in place. When the tide was in, a boatman (Sam Hearne) would come across in his boat and row people backwards and forwards.

Hadleigh Downs was another of my haunts, as were Benfleet Downs, many great dens were made in those locations and tree climbing contests performed. I once climbed to the top of a very tall tree and swung from the top branch which broke off and I hurtled earthwards, miraculously, I was undamaged apart from my pride.

Yes, I did know Veronica Frost and no, she is no relation. Did you know Jimmy Crane and Gillian Shelley they lived just over the bridge on the Canvey side in some farm labourers cottage belonging to the farm on the other side of the road?

Hi Felicity, no I didn't know them at all. I too used to love benfleet and hadleigh downs. One day a group of us came across a tramp lying asleep with an empty cider bottle beside him. We picked a bunch of daisys and buttercups and aranged them in his bottle which we stood up beside him. We wished we could see his face when he woke up. Of course those were the days when you didn't have to be scared of strangers and we were only worried he would wake up before we finished the surprise. Keep the stories of your adventures coming. Sounds like you have a lot to tell.
Val

Hi Val,
What a lovely story about the tramp. Yes there were quite a few around I remember, one in particular who had a lovely dog and the two of them would spend most of the day on Benfleet Downs then catch the bus over onto the Island. Goodness knows where he lived or even who he was, but he was a true `gentleman of the Road.`

I always had a certain empathy when it came to tramps because living on boats, we were perceived to be out of the norm, and like some of the above, had chosen to live so for our own reasons. My mother was very understanding when I would bring back yet another stranger to the boat for `tea` and one day I met up with a tramp who I invited onboard for tea and biscuits. He stayed for quite a while, enjoying his mug of strong tea and digestive biscuits, but after he had gone, I noticed that there seemed to be an awful lot of windows and portholes being opened!
When we lived in Paris, I made friends with a group of tramps who lived under one of the bridges. They had a couple of dogs, so I would take ours along and have something to eat with them around a big bonfire which they kept going night and day. We all seemed to understand one another perfectly well, me with my limited French and them with their sparse English, the dogs used to fight and when I arrived back on the boat, we were all scratching.
Shame such pleasures are not available to youngsters anymore, life has become a more dangerous place to live in and the adventures that we used to take for granted are now in story books.

Hi Felicity,

Sorry I took so long to get back to you - had a major malfunction of my computer and it had to go into "puter hospital" for a while til it was all better. After a transfusion, some new 'transplants' and a few necessary 'prosthetics', it seems as good as new, but I lost all my bookmarked sites and had to write to Geoff privately to get the address for the site again. This is my first visit back.

As your dad was Cliff he would probably remember my mother who worked for Jack Morling. Her name was Jean - a scottish woman, with light brown hair and wore glasses. Her original married name was Jean Newman, and after her remarriage to my step father Cyril, (my own father Reg was killed in Korea in 1951) she became Jean Hatton. I retained my father's surname of Newman and I was Pat Newman... I would probably still have had a touch of a scottish accent when we played together - shame we can't post photos on here... but if you'd like to check my website - http://members.iinet.net.au/~sitesafe/home/ - and go to Album 6 - there's some photos of me as a kid on there around the age of 8 or 9 which might ring a bell or two?

I can remember Cliff and you coming over one time to our house on Canvey and you and I played in the garden whilst the 'grown-ups' chatted and drank tea or whatever.

Mum was also great friends with May Martinali who ran Clarke's Cockle Stall in the gar park of the Hoy & Helmet pub and even after May retired, we kept in touch with her until her death in the late 80's/early 90s. I expect your dad would remember more of May than you would, if he is still alive.

Mum is still going - she will be 87 in January, and has more than a touch of senile dementia now - although her long term memory is brilliant, she can't remember what happened last week!

Opps - posted before I had finished answering you Felicity,

Did you know Bobbie and Jackie Barnes (girls) their parents had a strange sort of shop along Benfleet High Street, they sold fishing tackle and television sets amongst other paraphanalia which spilled over into a tiny back room where the family seemed to spend all day watching television.
I see you now reside in Australia, how long have you been there? I live in Ireland on dry land!

I can't remember any of the names of the kids I played with - but I do remember that shop. As regards being one of the 'track bike' gang, I didn't have a bike in those days - I walked everywhere! Got my first bike the Christmas before I started Secondary School, after dad (Cyril) had a little win on the pools.

My husband Roger and I emigrated out to Perth, Western Australia in November of 1981 and we love it here. We had our first daughter when we still lived on Canvey, and our second daughter was born here in 1985. Perth itself lies on a coastal plain, with a range of hills - called the Darling Ranges - which lie about 15 miles inland and we live literally on the top of one of the hills with wonderful views towards the coast from the back garden, and beautiful countryside from the front of the house, although we are currently renovating with a view to selling and settling back down on the flat as I have arthritis and find it is getting harder and harder to cope with very steeply sloping gardens and getting up and down the driveway is increasingly difficult for me these days.

Hi Trivia
You can Post photos on this site.If ytou cant work it out E Mail Ian.He will help
Regards
Geoff

How nice to see the photo of Mr and Mrs Littlejohn in the District News with Mr Howard.

I recieved a E Mail From Frank Whitnall,Who now lives in Bury St Edmonds
He is well and Hopfully will look into our Discussion page soon

Hi Felicity,

Was just reading over the posts again referring to Jack Morling. I was more than likely at that Firework Party you mentioned, with my mum and dad. We went to several up at Jack & Phyll's place. Do you also remember their two children Richard and Diana? Did you ever attend any of their birthday parties?.... Riotous events... with lots of wonderful games and Phyll, Jack's wife... used to do us proud with a wonderful array of food to delight kids. I had a couple of sleepovers at their house too, and we'd sit telling ghost stories in the dark with just a bike lamp to illuminate things a little.

Hi Mrs. Trivia,

Lovely to hear from you again. Yes, when they are working, we would`nt be without them, but when the Gremlins get into the works one feels like flinging the computer through the window.

After a beatific November with constant sun and a temperate climate, we have just been lashed by an almighty storm which raged for forty-eight hours. However, we fared better than the West coast which took the full brunt of the Atlantic winds. Our farmhouse sits snugly in a hollow surrounded by trees and a gurgling stream, but when I glanced at the stream this morning, it was like `white waters` whooshing down from the mountains which ring this beautiful part of West Cork. I do believe that the strength of the winds has probably shifted Ireland a little nearer to the shores of the U.K.!

Just out of curiosity, how is the Global Warming affecting Australia, have you noticed a marked difference in your seasons I wonder?

I was fascinated by your web site and would strongly advise signed up members to visit. What a wealth of beauty you have around you and I just loved your family album. I have left you a message in the visitors book.

Yes, you probably were at the famous fireworks do which saw a rocket heading for the open door of the dinning room. You brought to mind the games we played and one of them had me standing on a tin tray, blindfolded, with Jack saying "Now we are going to raise you up and when you feel the ceiling touch your head, I want you to jump off the tray. I protested and said "No, no I cant do that, its too far down." Anyway, I was raised, protesting, to the heights of the ceiling whereupon I felt it meet my head, and to the words `jump` I leaped off the tray only to find that I was about a quarter of an inch off the floor and the ceiling was in-fact a book which Jack held over the top of my head!

Did you know that he had been a Japanese prisoner of War and had suffered brutally at their hands? We were round his house one day when something about Japan came up on the television, the next minute there was an almighty crash as he kicked the screen in.

I can`t recall having any `sleep-overs` but Jack was a constant visitor on our boat, we would see him on a daily basis almost because we were reliant on his shop for our supply of paraffin for our stoves. I wonder how many of our cans your mum filled up for us? I do remember my father commenting on your mun saying she was a `proper smasher` and my mother making a big joke whenever he went to get the paraffin by saying `Going to see your girlfriend again?" I wonder if your mum remembers that.

Keep the old memories rolling, its great to reminisce, its also good for me because I am in the middle of writing a lengthy tome about life on the water, so all these jolts to the brain add fuel to the pages.

Regards,

Felicity

Hi Mrs. Trivia,

Lovely to hear from you again. Yes, when they are working, we would`nt be without them, but when the Gremlins get into the works one feels like flinging the computer through the window.

After a beatific November with constant sun and a temperate climate, we have just been lashed by an almighty storm which raged for forty-eight hours. However, we fared better than the West coast which took the full brunt of the Atlantic winds. Our farmhouse sits snugly in a hollow surrounded by trees and a gurgling stream, but when I glanced at the stream this morning, it was like `white waters` whooshing down from the mountains which ring this beautiful part of West Cork. I do believe that the strength of the winds has probably shifted Ireland a little nearer to the shores of the U.K.!

Just out of curiosity, how is the Global Warming affecting Australia, have you noticed a marked difference in your seasons I wonder?

I was fascinated by your web site and would strongly advise signed up members to visit. What a wealth of beauty you have around you and I just loved your family album. I have left you a message in the visitors book.

Yes, you probably were at the famous fireworks do which saw a rocket heading for the open door of the dinning room. You brought to mind the games we played and one of them had me standing on a tin tray, blindfolded, with Jack saying "Now we are going to raise you up and when you feel the ceiling touch your head, I want you to jump off the tray. I protested and said "No, no I cant do that, its too far down." Anyway, I was raised, protesting, to the heights of the ceiling whereupon I felt it meet my head, and to the words `jump` I leaped off the tray only to find that I was about a quarter of an inch off the floor and the ceiling was in-fact a book which Jack held over the top of my head!

Did you know that he had been a Japanese prisoner of War and had suffered brutally at their hands? We were round his house one day when something about Japan came up on the television, the next minute there was an almighty crash as he kicked the screen in.

I can`t recall having any `sleep-overs` but Jack was a constant visitor on our boat, we would see him on a daily basis almost because we were reliant on his shop for our supply of paraffin for our stoves. I wonder how many of our cans your mum filled up for us? I do remember my father commenting on your mun saying she was a `proper smasher` and my mother making a big joke whenever he went to get the paraffin by saying `Going to see your girlfriend again?" I wonder if your mum remembers that.

Keep the old memories rolling, its great to reminisce, its also good for me because I am in the middle of writing a lengthy tome about life on the water, so all these jolts to the brain add fuel to the pages.

Regards,

Felicity

I know this is a long shot Felicity, but do you by any chance know a Cork resident by the name of Ann or Anne Egan? Quite active in politics I believe...?

Hi there,

The name Anne Egan rings a distant bell, but without knowing which area of Cork she hails from or which Political Party she supports, it could be one of hundreds of Anne Egans ! Maybe if you can give me further information, I might be able to come up with something.

I am taking a trip `over the pond` on Friday, so will be out of action for the next week. Strangely enough, I wont be too far from Canvey - Leigh-on-Sea to be exact, family visiting and Christmas shopping - you know the routine.

Spk soon F

Hi,

I remember Jean Newman, later Hatton, very well. After she worked for Jack Morling she worked for my parents and later for me at Quenbys in Furtherwick Road. A real character, and it's good to hear she's still alive and well!

I also recall, when she ran the fish and chip shop by the Creek, going in there on my way home from Scouts. I had an Australian 2 shilling (10p) piece (not legal tender in UK), and passed it over for a a couple of threepenny packets of chips for my friends. Jean gave me the chips and the change. As I walked out someone bumped into me, and knocked the chips out of my hand. I complained bitterly and he bought me another packet!

Jean and I laughed about it in later years!

I remember Cyril Hatton, too. A very kind man, and very welcoming. Had a "Guid New Year" with them almost 50 years ago!

I am including Photos of Frank Whittnall and Mac Bryan in the new book
Frank now lives in Suffolk and Mac in Oz

Yes, Mr Watkins was Headmaster when I was there, and the boys PE teacher looked just like a gorilla (Mr Batch??), I think the gardening teacher was Mr Burnett??, so many years ago, and cannot think of the science teacher, I know I accidently set fire to the science lab when making an electric motor, decided mine was going to be a BIG one .. lol - it drew a lot of power and caught fire, oh well!! ...I still wonder why I hated that school so much, it was officially called Canvey Island Secondary Modern School when I was there - that is if my ailing memory still recalls with any accuracy