Recording the changing face of Benfleet : Part Two

Further photos of Benfleet by Tom Scott

This second collection of Tom Scott’s Benfleet photographs cover a diverse range of subjects….from a houseboat fire to the station taxi rank…..again we are indebted to his niece and her husband for preserving them, as well as Keith Webster for alerting the Archive to their existence. Also, see part one.

Vehicles using the new Ferry Road
View from station end of High Street
The Close
Another view of The Close
Leigh registered fishing boat through the bridge
Creek looking west with Benfleet Swimming Club HQ
Station taxi rank
Boat being towed by a mini tug
High Street looking from Clarks towards the station
Houseboats east of bridge on the Benfleet side
Dauntless boat yard
Former light ship and yacht club HQ
Creek looking east
View from the station
Methane plant for Canvey crossing the bridge
Creek looking west
Houseboats, Canvey side
Houseboat on fire

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  • Regarding the photo, ‘Former light ship and yacht club HQ’, I have been comparing several photos I have, and I now believe that the photo is of an Irish lightvessel, originally named the Cormorant, and renamed Lady Dixon and was brought to the UK and was at Pitsea marshes c1962,
    Here is a photo for you to compare, you will see the protective guard rails around the lantern, the access ladder ( your photo on the website has men on it) and the deckhouse construction is the same.

    By Lyndon (13/02/2022)
  • Re. ‘Boat being towed by a mini tug’ photo.

    The towed boat would probably have been owned by my late father, Ronald Leslie Baker. The man piloting his ‘mini tug’ was my father’s brother, Dennis, both from Canvey Island.

    Circa 1955, Ronald had a yard on the north shore of Benfleet Creek, approximately adjacent to the railway crossing, before relocating, on construction of new road/bridge, to another boatyard, Marsh Road, (now Wat Tyler Park) Pitsea, Essex.

    The boat in photo, was probably an ex-Royal Navy Motor Torpedo Boat, (MTB) one of many similar vessels, lighthouse ships, barges etc. that my father acquired from naval stocks, run down after the 2nd World War.

    These boats would be re-sold or broken up for salvage or burnt (usually at Canvey Point) for their scrap value; this was also undertaken by Eric Baker, the elder of the three brothers.

    I would be very interested to see any photos of my father or of his yard if anyone has any please? I have no memories of this era, as I was then a baby living on a larger MTB, (photo on another page) with my mother Jean Baker, nee Dart, at the creek for a few years.

    By Patrick Baker (16/04/2015)
  • Great to see these old photos, it was where I was born in 1953, we lived on house boat Maureen which could have been one of those in the picture my uncle Bill Payne also lived there. 

    By Dulecia King (15/04/2015)
  • Tree lined shore and rising ground… not Canvey by any stretch of the imagination.

    Looks like another mystery photo!

    By WilliamWest (11/05/2014)
  • William  -  quite right!  How did I miss that?  Presumably we are looking at some part of Canvey, though the tree-lined  shore mystifies me.

    By MarkThres (08/05/2014)
  • Try as I might, I just can’t place the picture ‘ Houseboats, Canvey side ‘. As far as I know, there has never been a railway on Canvey.

    By William West (07/05/2014)
  • I lived on Tom Scott’s boat briefly, in 1964 – I was friends with his son, Ken. Does anyone know how I might reach Ken today? Thanks, Allan

    By Allan McCollum (15/12/2012)
  • What a great collection of old Benfleet, brings back many memories.

    By Ian Hawks (19/11/2011)

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