A Perry Street Kid

Memories
By Andrew Mulcock

Shuttleworth's Stores
Sheridan Dicks Collection

Used to live just off Perry Street, as kids.

Opposite the station, where the petrol station / shops are now, used to be a “farm house” , very derelict in the early 60’s. We used to play there. A part that still scares me now, was the large concrete block with small slits in it. It always stank , but was great t play cowboys and Indians in. Looking back now, I’m guessing it was a concrete pillar box, part of the railway stop line defences.

I remember the station being upgraded. As the stairs were out of action, a large scaffolding stair case was built, no health and safety on those days; as a lad I remember father taking us to London by train and it was raining and those great big steps being very slippery, feeling like a stairway to heaven.

Lake meadows was a great place for kids, lots of long grass, a real castle at one end of the lake (I now realise it was a folly) fishing for that ever present giant fish, that everyone seemed to have seen but never landed. I remember the lake being drained, and great big earth scrapers rumbling up and down the now drained lake. Then a great big pipe being put in, and the over flow, the pipe going down Attridge Close.

Perry Street and Stock Road were the two great north south roads of Billericay, you were either from the Stock Road side of town, or the Perry Street side. Then Perry Street got neutered by the building of a short cut Orchard Avenue, to connect to Mayflower school. Yes I was a Perry Street side person.

On the way home from Buttsbury School, Shuttleworth’s was the halfway store to drop into to get your 1d of sweets, in a little paper bag. Just up from it, opened later a Spar “supermarket” well it was big for the time. When queens park came along to demolish the woods, Shuttleworth’s was replaced by a roundabout. I guess the old family business had less clout than the Spar shop,

Queens Park was a monster. as kids the woods went from Shuttleworth’s all the way down to Mountnessing Road. Somewhere in the middle of it, or so it felt at the time, lived the Mr and Mrs Goddy and their children.

In the summer we used to cycle down to the ford on Mountnessing Road, and occasionally cycle up the massive hill past the church , into Ingatestone. There having a fizzy drink from a bottle. The metal lids, used to have a cork lining/seal, which you could peel off, and then use to hold the bottle top onto your shirt like a badge. If you fell of your bike, those bottle tops used to really dig in ..

The other great thing to do , was to sit on the humped back bridge down there, and “direct traffic”. Most people used to do as we said, and come when we waved them on, or stopped when we said. Some didn’t and more often they would end up nose to nose on the bridge.. Ah the confidence of youth.

From the ford, all you could see was fields and Queens Park woods running up the hill. At some point , a big pipe line was laid down near the ford, some sort of pumping station being built near by.

Buttsbury School was my place. Started at what is now just infants, but was all ages as I started. Later years, we were moved into “de-mountables”. These were wooden boxes, the great thing was the oil heater at the back of the class room; it used to make a great roar as it started up. A great big block, seemed about the size of our living room at home, it had a metal fence around it, health and safety even then, the fence being about our height. We used to balance our plasticine on top of that fence in the winter to warm it up enough to play with, Yes every now and them a lump would fall behind the fence into the no mans land, I can remember making a getter thing, a lump of plasticine with a string rolled into it, such that if you really warmed up that plasticine, you could drop it over the fence, land on top if the lost piece, and thus pull back both pieces. I can remember getting my first non family kiss for the bit of work.

When I was in Juniors , KS3 I’d say now, the new school was built and us oldens moved over to the the new school. I can remember us walking over as what I’d now call a school walking bus, each of us carrying our pencils and our chair.

And despite everything, we still made it to old age.

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  • Andrew, what a great summary. I remember you at both Buttsbury and Mayflower. You were always taller than most of us, and I recall your Dad, he was very tall as well.
    I lived in Upland Road. We used to buy our civil war cards from Shuttleworths stores on the way to Buttsbury school. I remember sticking too much of that flat bubble gum that came with the cards into my mouth that I could hardly speak !!
    Happy days.

    By Geoff Philpot (11/03/2024)
  • I lived down Queens Park at The Willows. My father Leslie Burgess was a builder and carpenter. He did at one time live at The Bungalow with his parents, my sister also lived further down Queens Park I cannot remember the name , but it used to belong to Charlie Livermore. I left about 1959 and moved to Switzerland where I married and although I am now widowed still live here.

    By Rita Tappi Burgess (27/01/2024)
  • The roundabout on Perry Street was built on top of the old Shuttleworth store.
    I’d guess the old Spar supermarket is the new Premier store.

    BTW:
    Yes to answer a question from Bill Pipe ages ago,
    it would be Goody, sad to hear about Keith, he used to live behind us, he was on Perry Street

    By Andrew Mulcock (05/02/2023)
  • I found the information regarding Queen’s Park fascinating as I have a photo of my grandad, my mother and my older sister as a babes in arms (June Twiddy) outside a large wooden shed which was called Cater Bungalow. This would be wartime probably, my mother etc. having moved out of Bermondsey. Before my time, as I was born in 1944 in Billericay. They lived there and after the war my dad (having served in Egypt and Palestine) got a job as a butcher at Clarks in the High Street and we lived above the shop. Moved to Tye Common Road when I was 4 and remember arriving with all our worldly goods on horse and cart! I think my granddad arranged this via Mr. Boughtwood.

    By Barbara stewart (twiddy) (04/02/2023)
  • Shuttleworths store can anyone advise, is this where the Premier store is today at 111 Perry Street.

    By J Singh (04/02/2023)
  • Wow that photo of Shuttleworths jogged a few memories for me. I bought my first fireworks there aged 9, different world we are in now. Also used to buy black jacks still priced in farthings and all sorts of other sweets.
    Yes the shop on the opposite side to the unmade road was a DIY / small builders merchants, I can remember my Dad buying paint there. Remember walking over to the new Buttsbury from the old with Mr Astell our teacher, also remember Miss Rose who taught us as first year juniors. She was very glamorous.

    By Phil Giles (08/05/2021)
  • Well, this read has jogged my memory. During the war period, 1940 / 1945, my father was in RAF so my mother and brother and myself went to live with Grandma Mrs Burgess, who lived in The Bungalow, Queens Park. She had a large family of boys, who by that time had flown the nest. I remember Shuttleworths vividly and Perry Street Junior school, which comprised of 3 classrooms! Living in Norfolk now, is there anyone remembering those days?

    By June Marina Collins (26/04/2021)
  • My grandparents lived at Queens Park. Moving to what had been their summer house ‘Blanchette’ to get away from bombing. Granddad and my uncle built it themselves, using asbestos sheeting, as many people did then. My aunt lived nearby in a house called ‘Oakfield’ she had some land there and kept goats, milking them and selling it, mainly through the war but for a time after that. I wonder if this is where you bought the goat milk from? The house was eventually knocked down and an estate built in its place. As happened with Queens Park. I remember my grandparents bungalow as it too had a well in the garden to keep butter and milk chilled as well as a water source. The outhouse had the toilet and bath tub in. There was rough ground beyond known to my mother and her family as ‘the jungle.’

    By Gen Thomas (10/02/2021)
  • Andy. I remember you from Mayflower School. I remember Shuttleworth’s shop, it was the only place open on a Sunday and my mum used to get me to cycle over if she needed anything. They also used to sell Airfix kits. I was sorry when it went. Your Mr and Mrs Goddy, was that Goody? I knew Peggy at school and she married Keith Smith (who died a few years back). I’m living in deepest Suffolk now.

    By Bill Pipe (11/11/2020)
  • My Grandparents had a summer cottage up the cinder path which is now Queens Park Road. I remember at around 5 or 6 years old I could walk down to Shuttleworths and buy sweets. I think that was to the left of the cinder path as I entered Perry St. and on the other side was another small shop called Marie’s or Maris.

    Just above where my grandparents cottage was, there was the goat farm and when we ran out of milk my Nana would send me and my cousins up to buy some more milk at the goat farm. It was in funny bottles and quite often still warm with a few hairs floating around in it. That would have been around 1948/1950. There was no electricity or water for the houses that were there at the time. However there were only about 4 homes there at that time and each had a well and a water butt. Paraffin lamps and a stove which ran on a calor gas canister. The toilet was an out house with a bucket. The radio was powered by an accumulator which had to be taken back and forth to Billericay village to be re-charged. My cousin and I were usually the ones who lugged that thing back and forth. It was heavy and we were quite young. The living was primitive but, as children we didn’t really have any complaints, it was always fun for a long weekend. I’m now living in Oregon USA but have very happy memories of those old days running free in the fields and woods. Maybe some of you remember those small houses on Queens Park – the original cinder path, where there were no public services such as electricity or water or plumbing.

    By Diane Osborne-Nusbaum (21/09/2020)

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