Poll: Was Canvey's Concrete Barge an "Eye Sore" ?

[Wamburg]

Hi Sparrow
I also remember the three boys who drowned off the Point. One was Robert Fuller, one Albert Talbot but I can't remember the name of the third one. They had been in the Commodore listening to records on the juke box just before they left to go to their boat. Some people thought that maybe the mist had come down and disoriented them so they walked out further instead of walking back in and got stuck in the mudholes. A terrible tragedy.

[Peanuts]

[b]Here is an incident that happened over 60 years ago yet I can vividly recall it even today.
We used to go down fishing and lay deadlines, bait them up when the tide was out then go back and collect the fish (if any) as the tide went out, there were usually up between 40 to 60 hooks on the lines and when it was cold it was not a pleasant job trying to push the worms onto the hooks.
The bait we used were rag worms which were large red multi legged worms with a pair of pincers in their head that could give you a nasty nip, these we used to dig up from around the base of the old pier supports.
This derelict pier was just over the sea wall opposite May Avenue and from there we used to walk out at an angle towards Chapman Lighthouse and when we were about a couple of hundred yards from the shore we would bait up our lines, these lines were left out on the mud all the time as nobody interfered with them and as we followed the tide out there was no chance for anyone to go out and steal the fish that were caught on the lines.
Early one morning my dad and I went down to collect any fish and bait up the lines ready for the next tide, it was very overcast with a slight mist coming in from the estuary but not enough to worry about.
Whilst we were concentrating on baiting up we were unaware that the mist had turned into a fog and we could only see 20 to 30 yards and when we went to go back to the shore we could not see it at all and had no idea which direction it laid.
What with all the tramping around the lines footprints everywhere we could not find our tracks we made coming out.
We started to walk one way for a while then tried another direction but we were hopelessly lost.
I had no idea of the danger we were in but I could sense that my dad was getting worried because if we walked towards the river there was what we called the 50 foot drop at the channel’s edge.
By this time there were tracks going in every direction so my dad started to shout out very loud “Can anybody hear me” time and time again but we could only hear the sound of the river which seemed to be coming from every direction and an echo of his voice.
After what seemed like an eternity of shouting there was a voice shouting back to us so my dad shouted back to him asking him to continue to shout so we could find our way back to shore, finally we emerged out of the fog and up onto the sea wall.
It was a bloke who was taking his dog for a walk and was the only one on the sea wall at that time.
The thing is neither my dad nor myself could swim so if that bloke was not there we could have been brown bread.
When you think back we were idiots for not taking safety precautions such as having a compass with us or laying out the deadlines in the shape of an arrow pointing to the shore.
As you get older you realize that fate decides whether you live or die, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Peanuts[/b]

[Sparrow]

I also cannot remember the name of the third lad who was lost,but am shortly about to meet up with someone who will.
He worked with us at Prouts at the the time and was more closely involved than me. I'll let you know as soon as I can.
In the meantime let's have some more activity from the members.Keep the site alive.
Happy Christmas everyone

[Sparrow]

Hi Wamburg & Peanuts.
Re the missing lads & the third name.
I've just finished researching the tragedy.
At one a.m. on 3-4-1960 the three men went on to Leigh ray to try to recover their boat from the mud.They were Albert [lofty] Talbot boatbuilder age 22 Hallet road. Robet fuller boat builder age 21 Dover cliff road. Michael Daniels age 21 Maurice road.
I worked with the first two at Prouts.
By the 7-4 1960 the police said that they were presumed dead and sadly that was the case.
Hope thus helps
Regards
Sparrow

[Graham Stevens]

Hi All
Thanks for posting the third name. It's probably only a typo error but it was ''Hefty'' Talbot. Shortly before the tragedy he'd been kind enough to be my 'qualified accompanying driver' on a couple of evenings to give me some driving practice. We went to the cafes under the 'Arches' at Westcliff seafront and then called into the 'Commodore' I'm sure the other lads were there. Very sad. I can remember their faces as if I'd seen them yesterday.
Graham.

[Wamburg]

Shortly after the first message about the boys drowning I was looking through some old papers and came across my old autograph book and there was Robert 'Bob' Fuller's autograph which he'd written under a description of himself giving his height hair and eye colour and saying he was handsome. I couldn't believe it.