Vange

My teaching appointment in September 1975 was to Chalvedon School, an 11-18 comprehensive in Pitsea, an area at the eastern end of Basildon New Town in south Essex. A more stark contrast to Jamaica cannot be imagined: when we first approached Basildon on the A13 the air smelt slightly foul - this part of Essex was directly downwind of London, and Pitsea at the time was famous for a huge rubbish tip which catered, amongst other things, for hazardous chemical wastes.

However, we couldn't complain as, shortly before term started, we moved in to a modern terraced Council house in Oldwyck, Vange, another of Basildon's neighbourhoods - the above is the view from the back of the house.

The front door, pictured, led in to the living area, with the bedrooms above. The terraced houses were built along a slope so stairs down led to an integral garage, which opened to the back of the house. There was a small front garden separated from the neighbours by a low wooden fence. At the front was a paved pedestrian area which led to footpaths - the idea in Basildon being to keep people and vehicles, as far as possible, apart, so....

....we had no worries about Elizabeth cycling around with the new friends she rapidly made. In fact, as soon as she was settled at her primary school, she walked herself to school even though it was on the other side of a busy road which she crossed on a footbridge.

We quickly met and made friends with our neighbours on both sides. Dave was unemployed, had five children, but seemed to feel sorry for us as he quickly passed over various used items, including a very fine stereogram as he'd just bought a new one. One day he removed the fence between the two front gardens, to make it easier for the children to play.

There were children all over the place so Lizzie and Katy were soon part of a large gang - this is Lizzie's fifth birthday party. I also found that several of my future pupils lived nearby and well recall one of them sidling up to me and advising me that, if I ever needed new tyres for the Austin 1300GT, he knew where he could get them at a very reasonable price.

We painted and decorated the house, and soon felt at home. Basildon had good facilities, including local shops and an extensive town centre which was easy to reach.