More from the past

On Saturday we took Ian's mum over to her sister's house in Essex. She lives about 8 miles from Southend and I remembered the main road from the days when I used to do the London to Southend bike ride as it was the last refreshment post before the end and always very welcome. Turns out Marg used to help run the refreshments every year and I had almost certainly eaten her cakes and sandwiches before! She also told me how when her and her husband first moved to the area 40 years ago the road they lived in was not made up so all the street got together and built the road at the weekends. Each household paid towards the cost of the materials and gave their labour for free. Pensioners didn't have to pay or work but agreed to provide the men with drinks and refreshments as they got to their house. The road took some time to build and by the end the street had more Sunday church goers than anywhere else in the South!