There are many types of memory… The picture in your mind when you think of your first school, your visits to the cinema or days spent on Dovercourt beach. Sites like these are all about sharing information on our towns history and without people like yourself sharing your memories and stories they would not be here today. So many people have information and images stored away in boxes that have not seen the light of day for many years. After the Flood. To begin with there was no memorial at Upper Dovercourt and there were few buildings of any kind.
The houses on Upper Dovercourt green were there, and on those days women had linen lines on the green on which to hand their washing. Upper Dovercourt was then almost cut off from Harwich, for coming down the Main-road towards Harwich there was only the Rookery, the vicarage, the small group of cottages opposite the vicarage and the old houses just before Manor-road. This was a sweet and grocery shop owned by Mr Baldrey and later Mr Curl, it is now a private house.
Next was the Trafalgar, the little Methodist Chapel, Albany Grove was a meadow, and then came the Cemetery, a farmhouse, fields up to Vicarage Farm, and then fields again practically the whole of the way from there to Ramsey.
Manor Road is a street of mainly terraced houses arranged in blocks divided by alleyways to the sides and backs thus allowing entrances to the houses from both front and back, yet as World War Two ended this road gave birth to a very special community. Located between the backs of the houses in Manor Road and the local vicarage is a large allotment area, and in wartime the residents used this to keep themselves in fruit, vegetables, eggs, poultry rabbits and probably pigs too.
Some of the Manor Road residents were quite defiant during wartime and one house bore a huge painted V for victory sign on its front wall together with the dots and dashes of the Morse Code sign for V.
Next to the Masons were the Harveys, a family with four children and so the street went on with the Finbows, the Wrights, the Snelling family and on the opposite side of the road were the Uttings, the Felgates and the Hamblings, all of whom were to play a part in what was to become the Manor Road Neighbourly Club. We moved into this community, not into Manor Road itself, but in the delightfully named 2 Manor Villas in September just after the war ended.
Our house now Main Road had been occupied by troops during the war and Dad had to spend many hours getting the place fit for a family of five to live in. Harwich Borough Council employed Alf Woollard as soon as the war was over and gave him the responsibility for overseeing the building of new homes to replace those damaged during the war.
As Clerk of the Works he had a great title and as a staff man a guaranteed income even when bad weather laid the outdoors workers off, but this security came with the penalty of a low basic wage.
Consequently he was always on the outlook for extra part time income and being the enterprising man that he was, and with his flair for organising, he soon found a niche in the local pubs as secretary or treasurer where he was responsible for Christmas Funds, Social Outings, darts rosters etc. It was in this atmosphere of helping out, that he came into contact with the residents of Manor Road who had organised a hugely successful street party for the VE Day celebrations and were now trying to keep alive the wartime spirit of helping each other.
But it was in here that the locals got together to decide how they could follow up the success of the VE day party. Mr Warner was elected Chairman; an unusual choice for the treasurer was a blind man Mr Utting, and my father Alf Woollard with his experience of several social clubs was appointed Secretary.
Others who served on those early committees were Claude Finbow, Mrs Primmer and Tilly who was married to the chairman. Subscriptions were set and recruitment began; the hope was that those who could afford the fee would join with the expectation of some treats for themselves during the year but who would be prepared for their fees to go charitably to those who were sick or in need. But the party was a success and as the residents talked over their adjoining back fences, more and more residents agreed that the Neighbourly Club was a worthy investment — particularly if a mysterious bunch of flowers appeared at their doorstep during hard times.
The committee continued to meet regularly and decided that as the youngsters had had their party then perhaps it was time for a treat for the older folk. And enjoy it they did as my grandmother Eleanor Hart told us many times over. Perhaps the most adventurous was a sheikh with his harem — Mr. Success followed success for over 10 years with membership increasing to its peak around During that time one of the memories that I will always carry is that of my father hunched over an old typewriter trying to decipher his handwriting of minutes that he had taken, or writing up subscription lists, sending requests for hall bookings, coach bookings and doing all the things that are demanded of a secretary.
The Manor Road Neighbourly Club slowly faded away as television gradually took its hold on the local population and some wealth came back into the area to replace the wartime deprivation. Rationing ended and eliminated the need to pool coupons to buy treats for the young and old and those who were in their prime in no longer had the same urge to spend their free time helping others in At its peak it had several hundred members and gave pleasure to countless children, adults and old age pensioners, it was a unique institution for a unique area in the town and I am so proud that my parents were a major part of it.
In our photograph albums at home I have scores of photos passed on to me that show the outings, the parties and the little gatherings in The Snug and a couple of them are shown here. If anyone has other photos or memorabilia of The Manor Road Neighbourly Club I would be only too happy to hear from them. Sam Woollard. I can also remember weighing the sugar and having to learn to wrap them up into blue bags and also having to pat the butter up into shapes.
I worked at the Co-op for some time until I got married, I can recall having to telephone to ask for 2 weeks off for my wedding and honeymoon,. My granddad Bill Heath worked here for as long as I can remember. I remember them coming round the houses selling soft. They were lovely. Harwich and Parkeston F. I remember walking along the promenade to the Pavilion.
To continue our walk we had to go through the Pavilion. If my memory is correct it had a glass roof and front window and there were some palms and what seemed to a six-year-old huge greenhouse plants. I thought it was a most glamorous place. Blacksmiths Lane was the start of the adventure. In our oldest and ragged clothes with Wellington boots it was always best to wear boots as invariably water and mud of one kind or another was bound to be found Opposite All Saints Church, between the wool shop formally a Bakers at the end of the Alms houses, and the playground of the school.
Before heading down the lane, a few thoughts of the magnificent All Saints Church, a Norman construction with walls up to 4 feet thick. It was always very hard to comprehend that this building was plus years old. At that time this building would really have been something! There would have been no other buildings for miles around.
Why was this location chosen at that time? Just because it was the highest point in the area? How was it financed? Who would have formed the congregation? It can probably accommodate perhaps patrons. Was it ever filled to capacity? Does Canon Johnstone haunt the pews with his dirty shoes? Are my endless Sunday school sessions recorded anywhere? Is my own wedding day recorded in the ancient rafters…………. A small lane goes off to the right which I think led to a cottage which surprisingly never came under my curious gaze.
To the left another, wider lane led off to the rear of the school and then to the rear of the White Horse Hotel where more stables were contained behind a high brick wall and a heavy wooden gate.
As we proceed down Blacksmiths lane there were leased garden allotments on the left most of which were carefully tended by an assortment of elderly gentlemen in cloth hats and waistcoats who presumably did not have sufficient garden space of their own in which to grow their family vegetables.
Some had a makeshift shed in which their tools were kept and served to give shelter from the elements. The lane itself was only about eight feet wide with a shallow ditch at each side. The hedgerows consisted of fairly thick undergrowth, with hawthorn bushes, bramble and as I recall, some elderberry and Hawthorn trees with an occasional willow. At about this point we always saw fit to find a suitable size stick that served as a stinging nettle destroyer, something to poke the undergrowth with and a rudimentary golf club when the opportunity arose with the right size stone.
The stick was a perfect compliment to the catapult that hung from my back pocket and the sheathed knife on the belt for some reason my mother never commented on the knife carrying but would have been horrified at the thought of her son carrying a catapult had she known.
The lane continued to dip until the banks were perhaps five feet above the lane, then there was a slight gap on the left hand side which was a path that would lead to Fronks Road where it came out at Smiths? At a later stage this lane was developed into a road that serviced about 20 homes that were built for members of the Fire Brigade.
Some yards further down the lane the hedgerows flattened out and cleared somewhat and split, to form three tracks, with one track leading off to the left, fairly open and grassed, about the size of two football pitches flanked by a row of huge elms.
These elms had seen the demise of an unfortunate pilot some years previously, who had sought to land his disabled craft in the open area, but unfortunately for him was unable to control the plane, which crashed into the trees, prompting a huge salvage operation which would have given the Harwich and Dovercourt Standard a nice meaty story for its readers at the time!
At the fork in the lane, the two ditches either side of Blacksmiths Lane joined, and formed a large ditch which was never dry. It was deep but very narrow. Fortunately for me, having lost a great deal of blood and close to collapse a very kind gentleman in a car rendered first aid and took me off to the local hospital.
The scar is still on my wrist after all these years. I must say that the driver must have been a very compassionate man, to have allowed this scruffy urchin, covered in mud, and bleeding profusely ,into his near new car.
Times were different then…………. To the right of the dreaded ditch there was another lane, which curved round to the right through a forest of bulrushes which at times were so tall it was not possible to see over the top of them. As we walked the bulrushes gave way to shrubs and then to trees, mainly Elderberry which became quite thick on either side of the muddy track.
To the right, a cottage was hidden behind the trees and one that we usually rushed past as somebody had once told us that something quite evil resided there. Perhaps a rumour encouraged by the owners to keep inquisitive children out. At this point there was another track off to the left which disappeared between trees to the right and the huge concrete anti-tank blocks overgrown with shrubs and trees to the left.
We will come back to this track later…In the meantime there is wooden stile ahead of us. As we climb over the stile the vista that greets us will always have a special place in my mind. To the right there was a large pond, rather swampy, with bent and gnarled trees fighting for space. The water was full of water cress and tadpoles with lush grass to the edges.. Chris Hart. In the summer holidays of and , my young brother, Bill and I were donkey boys.
We helped Mrs Osborne, who lived in the cottages adjoining Upper Dovercourt church. The donkeys were kept on the site where the Vacuumatic is now. We would walk from Tollgate, where we were then living, round up seven donkeys and, with the aid of a bit of encouragement, we would proceed to Dovercourt. We would stay there all day charging one penny a ride to the foot of the hill leading to the monument, and 2d right to the top.
If the customers, especially grown-ups, wish to take a photograph, perhaps we would get a little more, say 3d. If there were some days trippers at Dovercourt, Mrs Osborne made quite a bit and I should know for I had the task of carrying the money bag on my shoulder back to the stables. By the time we arrived, I knew what a bag of coppers weighed. We would then feed the donkeys and clean out their hooves. Our wages were 1s a week.
At the end of the season, we took the donkeys to the Ram and Hoggett public house meadow at Bradfield where they stayed for the winter months. Frederick Smith. Among my early memories of Harwich was the arrival of the circus and fair on the village green, and the excitement of those occasions, the bathing machines on both the Harwich and Dovercourt beaches were accepted as part of the way of life.
The Railway Tavern was the scene of many gatherings of the townspeople. Fishermen would play quoits and have their half-pints of ale after a day on the water. In he was knighted and appointed Controller of the victualing accounts. In the same year, as an alderman of Harwich, he funded the construction of a new gaol and guildhall in the town.
He was also an alderman of the city of London. The charges were not pressed, and on 14 February the pair was released from their bail. For the next few years Deane continued his successful career as a private shipbuilder. He married twice; firstly to Ann Prowse, a widow who bore him four sons and a daughter and secondly to Christian, the widow of Sir John Dawes who bore him a son and a daughter.
He was particularly well-known in Harwich and Dovercourt where he had a host of activities, in his younger days; Major Carlyon-Hughes was a noted tennis player and with his father was associated in the formation of Dovercourt Sports Club. The game became increasingly popular and the annual tournaments at the club attracted some of the best-known players.
Major Carlyon-Hughes will be remembered for his keen interest in the history of the borough Harwich. It was probably his favourite subject and research and investigation over a period of many years had made his an authority on it.
In he became High Steward of Harwich. Lord Claud had been an aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria from to and was appointed to the Privy Council in He lived a very full life and married twice. His first wife was Clarissa Smith who died in , there are no records of her life and as far as we are aware there are no children from this marriage.
Whatever the truth is, between them they produced 12 children with one dying as a baby, another girl who died at 2 years old, a boy who lived until he was 26 and their last child Ethel Hart born in when Ike was close to 60 years old and his wife was Once again all these dates are approximations as the declarations in the family bible do not match the statutory records.
Ike was keen on boats and engines and towards the end of his life got around on a motorcycle, shown here outside Bernard and Sons Hauliers. Ike was not only known as a good hearted fisherman but he was also recognised as a very practical and artistic man and he entered numerous models in the Harwich Guy Carnival.
He lived in various rented accommodations throughout the town before finally settling in his last resting place in The Bridewell on West Street which he shared with at least 3 of his children and their families. Ike died in with kidney and possibly prostate problems but his memory still lingers in the Harwich area. His youngest son Wallace Hart, who was heavily involved in the restoration of the Palace Theatre, died just a few years back whilst his grandson also known as Wallace Hart lives with his mother in Mayflower Avenue.
Born the son of the Rev. He transferred to the armoured cruiser HMS Australia in and, following promotion to sub-lieutenant on 14 March , he transferred to the battleship HMS Ajax later that year. He led a supporting naval force of 31 destroyers and two cruisers at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August in which action the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron under Sir David Beatty sunk three German cruisers and one German destroyer with minimal loss of allied warships. Tyrwhitt was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 3 June , appointed a Commander of the French Legion of Honour on 15 September and appointed a naval aide-de-camp to the King on 21 May Tyrwhitt took part in the Zeebrugge Raid and the Ostend Raid on the night of 23 April for which he was awarded the French croix de guerre on 23 July At the end of the War he accepted the surrender of the German U-boats at Harwich.
He was also promoted to rear admiral on 2 December and created a baronet of Terschelling and of Oxford on 13 December After the war, he made England his home. He married a local woman, and served the people of Harwich with dedication for the rest of his life: a good old fashioned family doctor. Some said he was the kindest man they had ever known. Others, that he was the busiest. Others that considered him as their friend and that being so did not in any way interfere with the fact that he was their doctor, and a good doctor, as well.
Some said nothing, being almost as sad as his passing as if they had lost a brother. The packed church at his memorial service told the whole story. Dr Levy would take us home at the end of a shift. One evening a motorcycle overtook us. The Doctors the best ever, the Hospital very special , Nursing at its best.
I was always scared of Dr Levy as a child! He had the habit of wearing three pairs of glasses at a time, one on his eyes and the other two on top of his head. Consequently, I thought he had three pairs of eyes!!.
One of the surgeries Dr Levy used to take was in one of the houses in West Street that burnt down a while back No appointment needed, just turn up, count the number of people waiting, and you would be next.
After each patient had been seen, they would open the waiting room door and call next please. How simple that was. Wonder if it would still work today. As Canon Johnson said on that day, Julius Levy genuinely loved people. He was loved because he loved.
Some said that when they heard that he was dead many people in Harwich cried. Rebecca Levy Cissie to those who knew her, A member of the well known Booth family of Harwich, she had lived in the town all her life where she became a popular figure in many circles. Cissie had a natural gaiety and elegance and was much sought after and in married her next door neighbour Dr Julius Levy, the much loved physician and surgeon who escaped from Nazi Germany and settled in Harwich.
They both loved music and Dr levy would often sing in musical evenings at the Alexandra Hotel on Sundays, following the dark days of war. The well known landlord of the Alma pub, Arthur moved to Harwich with his family in when he was 12, when his father took over the Alma he helped behind the bar from age 14, at that time beer was 4d per pint.
His father moved to the Royal and Arthur took over the Alma in From then on the pub became his life, it was open days a year and there was always music, singing and entertainment going on.
He retired in and moved into the house opposite the Alma where Christopher Jones, Captain of the Mayflower. Once resided. Arthur spent the remaining 20 years of his life simply enjoying Harwich. He knew everyone Arthur and his wife Peggy will be remembered for their generosity and charity work.
Leonard Jackson Gostling DSM was a great raconteur and with his enormous sense of humour could tell amusing tales about almost anyone in Harwich you cared to name, and especially about himself. He was also extremely public spirited and took leading parts in all carnivals and fetes where money was to be raised for worthy causes. He began his career on square rig sailing ships, serving in the merchant navy then starting as a chimney sweep he operated several small businesses in the town.
As well as being a keep supporter of the Harwich Guy carnival and the hospital fetes, he constructed several fairground-type attractions for these occasions. He also helped rescue the victims of the floods. Before they got very far the lifeboat began to sink but luckily the men were picked up by the Dutch ship paschol which then headed for Southampton. Len was one of those colourful characters that one never forgot after an initial meeting.
Born in Chelsea, London, Williams was the daughter of political scientist and philosopher Sir George Catlin and the feminist and pacifist writer Vera Brittain. After unsuccessfully contesting the constituency of Harwich at the by-election and the general election the following year, as well as the constituency of Southampton Test at the general election, Williams was returned in the general election as Labour MP for the constituency of Hitchin in Hertfordshire.
In government, she rose quickly to a junior ministerial position and, between and , served as Shadow Home Secretary. When Wilson was succeeded by James Callaghan in , she became Secretary of State for Education and Paymaster General, holding both cabinet positions at the same time.
English motor racing driver and manager. He was born in Dovercourt, to parents of Italian descent and was living at High Street from He also excelled in other formula, with his biggest coming at the 24 Heures du Mans, with co-driver Carroll Shelby their Aston Martin. In he was lying in second place at United States Grand Prix when his Cooper suffered an engine failure. At the end of , he retired from F1 and stopped racing completely a couple of years later to concentrate on the motor trade.
He returned to the sport in to spend two seasons as manager of the Cooper-Maserati squad, and eventually retired to Monaco. A former East India merchant who settled in Harwich, who took over the ship yard, and planned to build a new town at lower Dovercourt. He began in by building a mansion, Cliff House, in the grounds which had become Cliff Park.
After his election to parliament in he took an active part in bringing the railway to Harwich. At the same time W. Lindsey, a London architect produced plans for Dover Court new town, And when a chalybeate spring was discovered in the grounds of cliff house Bagshaw built the spa Which opened on the 28 TH august and incorporated a library, pump room, and a conservatory which was used as a reading and smoking room. The first building was Orwell terrace which Bagshaws son Robert took up residence at Banksea house at the seaward in in The slopes from Orwell Terrace to Mill Lane were landscaped, with a grotto, shelters and a Miniature waterfall.
Unfortunately this all left Bagshaw in severe financial difficulties and he was declared bankrupt in The sad ceremony of interring the mortal remains of the above deeply lamented gentlemen took place at Dovercourt.
The cortege , consisting of a hearse and 11 mourning coaches, left the late residence of the deceased, Banksea House, Lower Dovercourt, and wended its way through the town to the churchyard, where the interment was performed. Business was almost certainly suspended during the time, and the ceremony was conducted in the most orderly and unostentatious manner. The burial service was read by the Rev. Reay and the Rev. Bagshaw cousin to the deceased. Born in Reigate, Ralph came to Harwich in This service continued until when Ralph came ashore to church street.
Born in Chelmsford, the daughter of a dentist and a pharmacist. She attended Chelmsford high school for girls and on leaving school went to work in the bacterial dept. She was a founder member of the Harwich society and the Harwich sailing club. A very independent person with strong views on many topics.
Harwich lost one of its real characters. For nearly two hundred years from to , Michaelstowe Hall was occupied by five generations of the Garland family. His father, also Nathaniel, was married to Mary Elphick from whose family the Garlands also inherited the Barcombe estate near Lewes, Sussex. Lewes was forty years old when he married Indiana Talbot from Durham in Two years later his eldest son Nathaniel was born but Lewes died in just before the birth of his second son. Indiana died in and the two boys were brought up by guardians at Michaelstowe Hall and were educated at Eton and Christ Church Oxford.
Nathanial Garland, lived in a palatial mansion to the east of St. The couple divided their time between their London home and Michaelstowe Hall, and also their estate in Surrey. Nathaniel died at his London home in January age The line opened in Some twenty years later in the board of GER decided to build their own quay up river from Harwich. Negotiations with Edgar Garland resulted in a further 50 acres of Ray Island being sold to the Railway Board for this purpose.
The docks and the newly created village were named after the Charles H. Edgar Garland died without issue in , and was succeeded by his nephew Arthur Nathaniel Garland. Arthur Garland retired from South America in , after being there for a period of some 35 years, in which he inherited the family property, entirely rebuilding Michaelstow Hall and living there until the outbreak of the Great War. I worked at the old warners site.
Josie Tatchell I think Harwich and Dovercourt are lovley places. I live here, I have a beach hut and in the summer I go swimming in the sea. James Rowley Dovercourt, well what can one person say about this wonderful place. My family have lived there for almost a century, and what's more we've all loved the place. Dad said he was going to go swimming christmas day, but he didnt. I think he was scared!
David, South Africa Nice beaches, probably the best on the Essex coast Home Explore the BBC. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving. BBC Local. Blue flag on the lighthouse. Have Your Say. Please have a look and leave a comment: Courtney Randeria I think Harwich and dovercourt is a great place to spend your holidays in as in the summer the beachs are really fun to go to! See Also Places features Places. Woodland relishing wild rabbits Pitsea and the kestrels This vole house.
Building: DRA contributes to the cost of building improvements, park improvements, play structures and other recreation and leisure features, both here at the centre and around the neighbourhood. We also are constantly building relationships and partnerships with other community development agencies that are active in our neighbourhood. As a client, your payment of fees helps us succeed in delivering our programs and services, and your honest, timely and specific feedback helps us ensure that we are meeting your needs and responding to your concerns.
You can also give us some of your time as a volunteer, from serving on our Board, a subcommittee, or helping with program delivery, special events, or community projects. And of course, you can make a contribution, either generally to our charitable works, or as a specific donation for equipment, financial assistance, accessibility, or our building fund.
For more information, contact John Rapp, Executive Director, at jrapp dovercourt. When was DRA formed?
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