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In the summer of 1939, just
before the War, there was no summer fair in Prittlewell.
So what does a little urchin do to get some fun? He pesters his parents
to take him to Priory Park where there are many interesting things to
see and do.
Past the Spread Eagle and the Golden Lion with the heady smell of stale
beer as we pass the door, down the hill and into the park. First
stop, the tennis courts behind the Old World Garden. Here could often be
seen a local businessman and his wife on court watched by an audience
seated on a convenient grassy bank. Hardly Wimbledon, but a brave show
in tennis “creams” and white legs!
Enough of that! On to the Hoy Collection of Birds, housed in a
large timber
hut just behind the Priory. Time to examine, yet again, an amazing
variety of pretty birds, stuffed and displayed in glass cases. The
wildlife of Essex must have been mightily relieved when Mr Hoy retired!
Just outside the
bird collection, a quick dash round the maze. The neatly trimmed hedges
were almost head high in those days. And then to the other side of the
old Crowstone to see some live animals – a few
monkeys and some rabbits seemingly quite happy in their spacious cages
along the path by the conker trees.
Heading back to the park gates, an obligatory stop at the drinking
fountain, out of habit rather than necessity, past the duck ponds and
then across the road by the village pump to the Bungalow Tea Rooms.
With a bit of luck we would get a table on the veranda
beside the brook where we could watch birds
splashing in the water and the occasional water rat dashing through the
weeds along the bank. A pot of tea for three and some cakes, please!
The Bungalow Tea Rooms (until very recently the stationer’s shop) seemed
a magnet for locals and those folk from the nearby town on an afternoon
out.
After tea, a short walk to the beautiful
Earls Hall Manor. Not to visit you understand, but it was very interesting to
peer through the gates where often could be seen a horse
and carriage
waiting by the entrance porch. Along the rutted track beside the Manor,
past the farm gates and the workers’ cottages, and then the long haul up
Wenham Drive towards home.
The taverns are still there (much more
inviting these days). The Bungalow Tea Rooms are no more, the tennis
courts are now a garden and the hut which housed the Hoy
collection has
long gone. The maze is still there, but rather straggly now and cut low
so even the most timid toddler should not get lost! No more
menagerie and the drinking fountain has run dry.
Such a lot has changed in Prittlewell
since those days in 1939, but then other things have taken their place.
St. Mary's Summer Fete, for example, which is now THE attraction for a
nice afternoon out on a Saturday in June.
Thanks
go to all the sponsors and helpers and to the more than
2000 adults
and numerous children who came to make the
event such a success.
Half the profits from this year's Summer Fete will go to the Southend
Homeless Action Resource Project (HARP), and half will start
the fundraising to provide disabled facilities within the church.
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