What an eventful day, today.

Started with an email from someone researching the family name ‘Modlen’ who had noticed the pictures of his great aunt, Louisa Modlen, and great grandfather, Robert Modlen, on the Walton Archive.

I was particularly pleased to receive this message as I was able to put him in contact with another member of the Modlen family who had contacted me some time ago and supplied several of the Modlen family photographs in the Archive. Hopefully they will be able to share their research and progress it.

I regularly receive messages regarding Walton folk but this is the first time that I’ve been able to link two together.

Hardly had the mouse click faded from my reply to this message when the ‘phone rang and a voice from my junior schooldays here in Walton asked, “Are you the Peter Frost who went to Walton School?” My reply in the affirmative led the caller to introduce himself as Andrew Evans who I had not seen since those halcyon days at Walton Junior School. Andrew was visiting Walton from his hometown of Rugby and within five minutes we met and he was showing me an album of old photos  Many of the pictures were taken by his father in the 1950s and I am pleased to say that Andrew allowed me to copy them for inclusion in the Walton Archive. Above are a couple to whet your appetite – see the rest in the Archive in a few days time.    

The weird thing about this meeting with Andrew  was that only last night I  uploaded to the Archive a photo of him taken in 1964. How uncanny!

Finally today I have been introduced to Twitter where I have set up an account and intend to announce all future updates to the Archive. You can see me at www.twitter.com/WaltonMan Give it a try and if you want to know when I add new pictures to the Archive, sign up yourself – it’s FREE – Add me to your ‘following’ list and you’ll get to know what’s going on in Walton and in the Archive. My jottings are quite random and hopefully fun.

A message received today has prompted me to recount this story about Barnard Lea, the tall house which stands on the cliff top at Southcliff close to the railway station.

Back in the late 1800s this house was owned by Miss Barron who was perhaps a little eccentric in that she kept  goats and was obviously very fond of them. Miss Barron was a wealthy lady and a regular worshipper at All Saints Church which at that time was in the process of being rebuilt and having a tower added .

Much to the church authorities pleasure, Miss Barron had promised to pay for the ring of bells which were to be installed in the tower on completion.

However, one day two of her goats made a bid for freedom and wandered down the road to find new grazing in the churchyard. Unfortunately one of the churchwardens spotted the goats and promptly ejected them from the churchyard with the aid of his boot.

Miss Barron, who was probably out looking for the two absconders, was in Martello Road and witnessed the churchwarden’s actions  . Incensed that a church official could be so cruel to dumb animals she immediately withdrew her offer to fund the new bells.
I believe the money was later given to Kirby church to pay for their bells.

Back in July of last year I wrote about George Arthur Polley, the coxswain of Walton’s first volunteer lifeboat, of whom I had received details from his great grandson living in America.

Since then I have had many more very interesting messages from Brian Polley accompanied by lots more photos.

Brian is pictured here wearing the white shirt accompanied by his cousin William (Bill) G. Polley, a retired superior court judge.

Here are some of the pictures which Brian has sent to me.

The charming picture on the right shows George Arthur’s sisters taking tea when they were photographed in Walton circa 1900

The front cover of The Golden Penny dated 18th July 1896 shows a picture of George Arthur's youngest brother, three-year-old Gladstone Aubrey Polley, dressed in one of the lifeboat’s cork lifejackets. Inside there was an article titled ‘The Youngest Lifeboat Coxswain in England’  which reads as follows:

Mr G. Arthur Polley, who has just obtained command of the volunteer lifeboat at Walton-on-the-Naze, is probably the youngest cox. in England. The Walton lifeboat is manned by the pick of the boatmen of their place and their cox. says there is no more reason why his portrait should be published than that of every other member of his crew; they are all good men and true.

The boatmen are ready at all times to run the awful hazards incidental to saving life from sea, but it should be known that the present vessel “True to the Core” though a stout craft enough, is hardly equal to weathering the tremendous storms on our Eastern coast for more than one or two winters. The crew of this volunteer lifeboat and the committee of their funds are alike alive to the fact of looking ahead, being anxious to have money to purchase a new ship when to do so shall be necessary. It may be that some among our many readers will sympathise with this wise ambition, as we do, and those whose support takes a practical form, may communicate with Mr E L Beard, Colchester, the hon. treasurer to the Volunteer Boat Fund. The boat has been out over twenty times, and saved six lives.

The portrait of the little fellow on our front page is that of the youngest brother of Cox. G. Arthur Polley, aged three years. He put on the lifeboat dress and is credited with having said, “Daddy, I’se ready for the lifeboat now.”

They certainly had a way with words back in 1896.

The photograph of the little boy is credited to Albert Azulay, one of Walton’s photographers at the time and a good friend of the Polleys.

I will add more of the pictures in a future post.