All our Yesterdays, April 1 (From Clacton and Frinton Gazette)

All our Yesterdays, April 1

12:07pm Tuesday 31st March 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share

20 YEARS AGO.

THE fate of the disused Maltings in Thorpe still hangs in the balance, more than a year after they were sold off by Allbrew Maltsters.

The new owners, Rosegrade Ltd of London, bought the building alongside Thorpe railway station early last year but have said they have no firm plans for it as yet.

Peter Hollis from Rosegrade said: “We have not really made up our minds. We are giving it a lot of thought though and it’s possible it could be used for residential development.”

No planning application has yet been submitted to Tendring Council.

50 YEARS AGO.

CLACTON Council this week issued a policy statement about caravans. It stated that if the character of the town was to remain that of a residential seaside resort, then the restrictions on the establishment of new caravan camps should be maintained.

Looking to the future, the council say that the few unsatisfactory sites in the area should ultimately be cleared, by compulsory purchase if necessary. More satisfactory sites could then be permitted in areas of the district considered suitable for camping development having regard to the future of the town.

Unless the character of the town was to be changed materially, there would have to be a limit on the number of sites in the area and the number of caravans on each.

60 YEARS AGO.

CLACTON Hotel and Guest House Association are up in arms over the refusal of the local Food Control Committee to grant a catering licence in respect of a seven-roomed guest house in one of the best parts of Clacton.

Reason for the refusal was that “the number of bedrooms available for letting does not materially help in solving the problem of accommodation for visitors.”

An association sub-committee who investigated the matter have reported that the member concerned could accommodate in the short Clacton season between 500 and 600 persons for a week’s holiday. “Thus,” they add, “the reason put forward by the Food Committee is absurd.”

The sub-committee add that the member had a good clientele who came for week-ends, and for whom she would be unable to obtain rations if refused a catering licence.

80 YEARS AGO.

SIX members of the crew of the S.S.Mayoro, which has been lying in the Blackwater, between Bradwell-on-Sea and Tollesbury, a few miles west of Clacton, had an uncomfortable experience on Monday night.

They left their ship in the motor boat which is used as a tender, for Tollesbury on MOnday morning, and arrived in safety. On their return to the Mayoro however, the engine of their little boat gave out and they were left at the mercy of a Westerly gale, which had sprung up and which had caused heavy seas to run.

After being tossed and buffeted about all day they drifted on to the mud on the north-side of what is known locally as Peewit Island, where their cries for help attracted attention about six o’clock. About this time one of the crew, Edward Thomas Jones, tried to get to the shore, but sank into the mud up to his waist. His cries of distress were also heard.

Appeals for a rescue party were responded to by Mr Walter Burch, a waterman, of Bradwell, who was able to get up to the men in a shooting punt, and he rescued Jones and took him ashore to the Green Man Inn where he was bathed and put to bed.

• Print
• Email
• Share