When I was about 11 or 12, I used to cycle just about everywhere, to Lakeside to do some shopping or to the park. My friends and I would go on cycling adventures (with at least one of our parents too of course) and quite a few times I’d cycle
In 2015, I broke my hip which meant I was unable to mow the lawn for quite a few months so the garden started to become more like a meadow for a while. One day I noticed something growing amongst the grass. At first, I thought it was just a
Hedge laying was the way a hedge was kept stockproof, now it is mainly down for conservation purposes. If a hedge is left it will grow out to become a series of individual trees. The technique is quite simple. Excess top growth is removed, bramble and undergrowth cleared. The vertical
Burt the farm labourer My name is Burt and I live with my family in Broadfields Farm cottage with our dog Dot who chases the rats as well as the chickens and ducks around the farm yard and our two pairs of shire horses Nobby and Beth and Bonny and
I was born on 11 September 1947 in a beautiful Victorian farmhouse, Stone Hall. I was the youngest child to Florence and Percy Gotts, I had two older brothers and I was the only girl. It was lovely growing up in such a wonderful house and farm. I had a
This story was going to be about The Bulphan Church Conservation Area but this has been changed somewhat as I have just returned from the funeral of Alan Revell who was the gamekeeper for The Orsett Estate for many years. Game keeping and conservation surprisingly do have a lot in
Sitting like a top hat on Thurrock, Bulphan has borders with Basildon, Brentwood and Havering and is easily missed altogether as you travel from The Halfway House to the Orsett Cock. The Plough House Motel places it on the map for some, but most residents of Bulphan (past and present)
I can only remember one big flood on the Fen and that was in 1958, when there was a big thunderstorm and it coincided with a high Spring tide, causing a storm surge. The surge came up the Mardyke, crossing the fields behind Plough Cottages, came in the back and
My name is Tom. I like my name now. It is a strong name. It was different once, but I don’t remember what it was. That was before I was left in this place to look after myself. I found my new people when I was having a wander through
I know nothing about the Fen. But upon seeing what is called the Fen This is my interpretation on how I imagine It would be, and maybe still is. I walk along our village path Alongside the church, around the bend. Pass by the school, children’s laughter accompanies me As
Thames Chase Trust, Pike Lane
Upminster, Essex RM14 3NS
01708 642970
landofthefanns@thameschase.org.uk
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