These photos were all taken in 1954 at Thundersley Primary School, Dark Lane. If you attended the school in 1954 and have some memories you would like to share, please let us know via the add a comment link at the bottom of this page. See further pages on this school.
Please click on the photos to enlarge the image.
Comments about this page
Add your own comment
Pete Robbins – My Mother’s brother is Chris Cottle.
My Mother Mary Cottle would dearly love any other photos from her time at Dark Lane. She was fostered by Mr Lesley and Mrs Ivy Walden, along with her sister Emily Cottle. Mary’s classmates she remembers were Mary Wimbledon, Charlie Summers, Margaret Thompson & Phyllis Hilton.
If any of her classmates are on here she would love to hear from them as her school days were very happy ones.
She was unfortunately removed from the Foster home due to lack of care from her Foster Mother. She relocated to a lovely children’s home in Basildon.
Photo 6 circa 1954
From back row and left hand side.
Row 1
Peter Adams #1, Archie McCall # 2 Trevor Lark?#3 Jennifer Beard?#7,
Row 2
David Carter #1, Scotty (forgotten his real name) #2, Muriel Inwood?#5
Row 3
Peter ?#3, David Cheeseman #5, Caroline #8
Row 4
Michael Bamber and Michael Howard
In photo 9 – back row, second from left is Tony Reed
In photo no 5 – back row 3rd from left is David Reed
Regarding the identity of children in the primary school photos for 1954, the following come to mind (rows counted from the back, children from the left):
Photo 5 (mostly already identified by Pete Robbins, himself an artistically talented class-mate)
Row 1: Pete Robbins #2; Susan Cordon(?) #6
Row 2: Clive Dellow #5
Row 3: Brian Shelly #4; Billy Williams #5
Photo 6
Row 1: Jean Gilson #5
Row 2: Paul Clark(?) #3
Row 4: Michael Bamber(?) #1, Michael Harvey #2
Photo 12
Row 1: Jean Gilson #3; Vanessa Derby #9; Roger Hyde #10
Row 2: John Warner #1; Melvyn Pond #3;Brian Jeff(e)ries #4; Keith Shove #5; Geoff Radford #7; Alan O’Neil(?) #9
Row 3: Derek Taylor(?) #1; John Barron #3; Billy Richardson(?) #4; Griffith Powell #5; Valerie Homewood(?) #7, Gillian Woodcock#9
Names of other class-mates and friends from the village:
Brenda Woolard
Brian Randall
Carol Jones
Chris Cottle
Donald Harding
John Doolan
Robin Boucher
Roger Kutassy (spelling?)
Hi Phil, in picture 10 between 5 Robbie Bains and 7 Alec Adams is 6 Keith Williams, I must have had a day off. Eddie.
Photo 7, 2nd row from front 4th from right, my sister Sylvia Mitchell.
Class photo number 5, front row, second from left, is me Bruce Mitchell.
Photo 3 the infant class the teachers name think it may be Miss Vipond…
Hi all,
For photo No.12 the girl on the front row 2nd from the right is my sister Anne Sharman.
Photo 5, front row, 3 from right my sister Christine Clark. Photo 10, front row 3 from left, Phil Clark. Back row, 5 Robert Baines, 6 Eddy Tustain, middle row 8 from left Nicolas Bailey.
Mary, do you have a brother named Chris, He was my best friend at Dark Lane school but disappeared ?
Class Photo 10
Bottom row far right Mary Cottle, following the death of her parents Eva Ackland and Ernest Cottle, Mary was living with Doreen Walden.
Have only just discovered this website and it has made me so happy. I used to live in Kennington Avenue and attended the Rushbottom Lane school, remember the Canvey Floods and my mum Betty taking in some left homeless by them. My sister was Jennifer Chapman. Betty used to write skits acted at the Methodist Church next to the shirt factory. We used to roller skate and play on stilts down the factory loading ramp. My friends and neighbours were Theresa Capp, Christine Porter, Paul and Neal Hambridge. Thanks for the memories.
Correction – Class photo 1954 photo no 9. Front row; 2]should be Shelia Allen not Shelia Reed.
Class 1954 photo No 9. Left to right:
Back row; 4] myself, Carol Southward 5]Rita Morgan 6]Coral Staples 13]Brian Charmley
Middle row; 6]Micheal Harkin 7]Barry Flack 11]Heather Cater
Front row; 1]Rita Jones 2]Shelia Reed 8]Susan Jackson
Class photo No 5, I may not be a hundred % correct, photo No 5 was a long time ago so here goes. From the left, Back row: No 2) myself Pete Robbins 5) Willy or Peter Hog 7) Josephine Pettit ?, Middle row No 1) David Carter ?, 2) Dennis Manfield, 3) Billy Reason ?,4) Terry Carter, 5) Clive Dellow, 8) Joyce Thurlow ?, Front row No 1) Ronald Byford, 3) Bobby Castle, 5) Billy Williams, 9) Marrianne Hood ?
Class 1954 photo No 5. Two more to add on, From the left back row No 4 David Winbledon, and front row No 4 Brian Shelly.
Add a comment about this page