I recently had the pleasure of chatting to an old Waltonian who I seem to meet once a year just before Christmas when I get a call to help him with his camera before the festivities. This year I didn't know the answer to his problem (I did sell him the camera, but it was almost thirty years ago!) and it required a Google search to get the details.

This gentleman is Albert Ursell who,before I was married, was my next-door-neighbour in Vicarage Lane. Our conversation inevitably turned from cameras to the 'old days' when he moved into number five and I was about ten-years-old. I was able to tell him about other street residents who preceded his arrival and this led me to recount the story of David Howells  who lived at number three.
His story is one of sadness in losing both of his adoptive parents in a matter of three months and one of great joy when in later life he discovered his real family. It's an amazing story retold by David on the web. If you remember David or his parents, Phyllis and Taffy, you will enjoy reading this.

Albert also gave me another snippet of information regarding the well known shoe repairer, Gordon Blease. He referred to Gordon as 'Smacky' Blease which apparently was how he was known at school. This reminded me of a wonderful list of nicknames given to me by my father many years ago. It seems that everyone in Walton in the 1920s and 30s had a nickname - a custom that seems to have almost died out now. You can view the list by clicking here and if you have any new ones to add please send me a message. Many of the people named can be seen on the Old Walton Archive

I have recently received a message via this blog asking about Jonas Oxley the former Coxswain of Walton's lifeboat.

Unfortunately I am unable to reply directly to the enquirer as their Windows Live communication preference settings do not permit replies. I mention this here so that maybe others will ensure their settings are friendly if they require a reply. 

The message read: "Hello there Pete, after some Googling and searching I came across your Walton blog. I was so pleased to find a photograph of the man I was researching, in your archive. His name was W.J OXLEY. You have a Jonas Oxley  can you confirm this is W. J. In the 1970's my parents visited an art gallery in Walton and bought three oil paintings by W.J Oxley. They were told that he was a sea captain and he painted on wood panels with oils for a hobby. The paintings are of birds and one of flowers. I remember that day vividly and my mother was clearing out some things and gave me the paintings. By Googling I found a record of a W.J.Oxley saving a young boy who had fallen from the breakwater at Walton and fell into the sea, in 1901. He was awarded a medal for bravery. My mother has told me than she was told that he was a character in Walton and was in his 90's at the time, ( approx. 1976) . I hope that this has been of some interest to you and if you had the time I would like to hear more."

In the hope that this person returns to this blog I can confirm that Walter Jonas Oxley (born 1900) is the person known locally only as Jonas Oxley. He was an accomplished amateur artist as well as being coxswain of the  Walton & Frinton Lifeboat from 1947 to 1964 during which time the lifeboat under his command saved numerous lives. These press cuttings demonstrate his artistic achievement.

The person who received the Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal award for saving the young boy in 1901  was not the same person, although he had the same name. He was in fact his father, another lifeboat crew member who was aged 36 at the time of the rescue.   I believe that this is his picture on the right but unfortunately this has not been fully confirmed.

James Smith was Walton's Town Crier around 1900 and quoting from Bernard Norman's book Walton-on-the-Naze in Old Picture Postcards, "He was an ex-naval man who lived on Walton Square. For a shilling he would cry the details of any forthcoming event all round the town and when he finished his notices he removed his hat and said 'God save the Queen and all her loyal subjects' - He is seen in the above picture in his pony and trap coming down Newgate Street into the Six Releat"

I recently spotted a postcard for sale on eBay which was listed for its 1906 postmark - collectors actually get quite excited about such a clear mark, but I recognised the picture on the front of the postcard as that of James Smith and thus I had to buy it. So now the Old Walton Archive has possibly the only surviving portrait picture of the old Town Crier. I can only imagine how excited the late Bernard (Nipper) Norman would have been to see this lovely old portrait.

As a recent convert to the piscatorial scene - that's fishing to you and me - a friend handed me a press cutting from The Daily Mail which suggested that our new prime minister and his cohorts are planning to whack a £25 annual licence fee on pier fishermen.

Now this was not news to me as the angling magazines have been discussing it for some time, however, it did get me thinking about the past times that I photographed the fishing competitions staged on the pier at Walton.

The picture on the left was taken at the Annual Pier Open Fishing Competition in 1968

and this one on the right at the same event on Sunday 29th November 1970

The pier was crowded for these competitions with anglers fishing every few  yards on both sides of the pier. In those halcyon days there were considerably more fish to catch and doing just that in 1970 was Malcolm Hutchings who walked away with a new rod and £200 in cash. The winnings were presented by Michael Goss
of Walton Pier

Malcolm is still a keen fisherman and one of the best in the area. I only wish he would impart some of his knowledge and techniques on me.

Meanwhile I'll start saving for the licence, although I guess that if it does come into force I could be the only person fishing from the pier .

Growing up the son of a carpenter and joiner in Walton-on-the-Naze in the 1950s was not exactly a life of luxury, however it was a childhood that now I would not have swapped for the silver spoon variety.

The hardships of wartime rationing were a thing of the past, but money was scarce and most of the local lads were keen to earn an extra bob or two to supplement their otherwise non-existent pocket money.

Many different methods of raising funds to spend in one of the High Street sweet shops or to go roller skating on the pier were devised including, during the summer months, luggaging and sieving the sands for coins.

I will tell of luggaging (a word not recognised by my PC's spell checker) at a later date but for today here is how we used to extract money from the sands.

In springtime a large wooden hut was erected on the Albion Beach from where teas, ice creams and beach requisites were sold throughout the summer months. It was later dismantled and removed before the winter storms and high tides hit the beach.

In the late 50s the owner of the this concession was Andre Sranz,  Around 6 to 7 p.m. at the end of his day's trading, Andre would close for business and as he put the wooden shutters in place a hoard of local youths armed with garden sieves would pounce.

Sand on the Albion beach did not get washed by the tide throughout the summer months and thus it was dry and fine. A coin dropped by an unsuspecting customer at the kiosk would instantly disappear into the sand never to be found. Well, not until we kids arrived.

Jostling for the best spots around the serving hatches, we dragged armfuls of sand into the sieves and shook them vigorously. It was immediately obvious if we had been lucky enough to scoop up a coin from the sound of it rubbing against the sieve's metal mesh. On a really good day the prize could be a half a crown (two shillings and sixpence or 12.5 pence today)  but mostly it was pennies and the occasional shilling or sixpenny piece.   However, we almost always went home just that little bit richer

As the festive season approaches it reminds me of the time when Walton was invaded by Santa's elves.

One was captured on video.
(turn your PC sound on)

Best wishes to all of my readers
for a very happy Christmas
and healthy new year

I receive many interesting and informative comments from people who have viewed the Old Walton Archive and more recently, this Blog. Only today I was approached in the supermarket by a lady who made nice comments about the web site and then apologetically advised me of a couple of errors. I am always pleased to be told of my mistakes which are inevitable but correctable.

Last month I received an email from an author in Diss, Norfolk who is researching the sport of motor racing at Fersfield in South Norfolk. He had seen the Old Walton Archive site and asked me if I knew anything about a former RAF pilot and racing driver named Robin Noel Richards who, along with his brother, Rivelin Ewart Richards, ran a garage in Walton's High Street in the 1950s.

I was able to tell him that there was only The Belmont Garage in the High Street at that time and I sent him copies of two photographs taken in 1950. I also made some enquiries and was later able to confirm that at that time the garage was known locally as Boustred's Garage as the person in charge was Lionel Hubert Boustred a business partner of the Richards brothers,

The story has since progressed and I have learned that Robin Richards did rally with an Austin A35 and a Ford Cortina. He was apparently last heard of living on a boat in Plymouth and died three or four years ago.

I am mentioning this here in the hope that someone may be able to add to the story. I will be pleased to either pass on any details or put you in touch with the author who, I am sure, would be very happy to learn more about Robin Noel Richards.

Below is a picture from the Bury Free Press of Robin crossing the finishing line at Fersfield in his very versatile R.B.W Special

I have just completed the monumental task of copying more than a thousand pages of press cuttings that originated from the pen of the late Ken Adams, the well known Walton journalist.

Ken's treasure trove of news items and articles about the Walton-on-the-Naze area were clipped from the East Anglian Daily Times and other local papers. The cuttings were archived by Ken in scrap books which have been loaned to me for copying.

The press reports cover the period from 1965 to 1992 and make fascinating reading. I was lucky enough to work as a photographer alongside Ken for many years, thus many of the stories are illustrated with pictures taken by me or my colleague, Dave West. We had many exciting experiences working with Ken and reading the cuttings has been a real trip down memory lane for me.

Many familiar names from the past including councillors, lifeboat men, coastguards, children, tradesmen and traders are mentioned - I even spotted one that featured me! 

My next task is to try to create some form of index for the thousands of names and places mentioned. This could take some time! Meanwhile if any reader would like me to search out any particular event then I will certainly do my best.