DOUGLAS BARRETT – School teacher extraordinaire

Pupils at Walton Primary and Secondary Schools in the 1950s were privileged to be taught by Douglas Barrett better known as ‘Basher’, although I’ve no idea why he acquired this nickname – he was not at all violent.

He was a man who taught by a hands-on approach to education. There were of course no computers or other electronic aids, but we learned more by simple things such as sticks and the shadows cast from them.

I have just uploaded to my Walton Archive more than 130 photos in which Douglas recorded many of the school activities during his time teaching at both Walton Schools. 

You can see them all at http://www.putmans.co.uk/OW_School_Index.htm  if you scroll down towards the end of the index. I have not added names of pupils, although I can name many of them as these were taken during my time at the Primary School.

Here are just a few to whet your appetite:

Secondary School slow bicycle race. Sadly Jimmy Claxton who is in the lead did not understand that the winner would be the last cyclist to complete the course and he shot off at some speed. Douglas Barrett is the teacher in the background.

 

 

Pupils armed with home-made measuring devices before heading off for a Saturday morning extra-curricula adventure measuring heights, gradients and distances at the Naze

 

  

 
Surveying the school playing field

 

 

 

 

P.E. in the playground with a minimum of resources.

Pupils created their own support positions for an astride vault.

 

 

 

A motley gang of pupils in their country dancing costumes.

I am most grateful to Mark Barrett for allowing me to copy and restore all of his father’s collection of Walton School photos.

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FRINTON & WALTON FIRE BRIGADE

This is not strictly Walton, but I have recently been sent a wonderful collection of photographs showing Frinton firemen from years ago. As they also covered Walton after WWII I’m including details here.

The photos were sent to me by one of the granddaughters of George C. Jeffs who was a senior member of the brigade and a well-known local builder and decorator in the 1940s.

George is pictured here with a shield he won by virtue of being the shortest man in the brigade and thus able to get into tight spots which others could not access. He features on many of the photographs and is easily spotted by his lack of height.

He came to the area from Luton and after working for W. Green & Son in Frinton  set up his own business with his son, Eric, and son-in-law Gordon Lamb of Walton. Gordon lived with his wife and three daughters, Christine, Carole and Allison in Martello Road.

 

 

Christine & Carole in Martello Road

I have included all of the Frinton Firemen photos in my Walton Archive under the ‘Nearby Villages’ index.  Look at images reference OF674 to OF691

The above image of a funeral of one of the firemen (I’m guessing) leaves me with the question – Does anyone know who the deceased person was?

Christine has also sent me lots of other Walton photos which I will hopefully get uploaded to the Archive in due course.

I have just updated the Archive with many new Walton images in most indexes – all images with a reference number greater than OW2827 are new

Happy Christmas to all my readers

200 NEW IMAGES ADDED TO THE OLD WALTON ARCHIVE

Today I have uploaded around 200 new images to the Archive

All images with a reference number higher than 2751 are new. New items can be found  under the following categories:

Albion

Naze

Town

High Street

Piers

Backwaters

Esplanade & East Terrace

Southcliff

Lifeboat

Marine Parade

Other Places

Also added people with surnames starting with B C E F G H J M O P S & W

and lots of new Groups

BLACK & WHITE FRIDAY

I’m so fed up with all this ‘Black Friday’ business which is invading our screens at the moment. I thought I’d have a Black & White Friday instead. See what I did there?

So for the next week up to and including Sunday 2nd December 2018 I am offering a 50% discount on all black & white Old Walton photos from my Archive.

Go to the Old Walton Photo Archive and choose your photos from more than 3,000 available there. If you can’t find what you want send me an email and I’ll try to help.

Picture sizes and normal prices can be seen at http://www.putmans.co.uk/OldWaltonprices.htm
and details of how to order prints at http://www.putmans.co.uk/OldWalton_HowToOrder.htm

All orders must total at least £12 before discount (£6 after discount).

Make someone happy this Christmas (even if it’s only yourself).

Walton’s War Memorial

As Armistice Day approaches and the media is overwhelmed with memories of the end of the First World War exactly 100 years ago, I thought I’d write a bit about Walton’s own War Memorial.

The Walton Parochial Church Council arranged in early 1918 for a stained glass window and a tablet in All Saints Church to be the town’s memorial. This was made and installed soon after the end of the war. However widespread feeling in the town was that any memorial should be placed where everyone, regardless of religious denomination, could appreciate it.

It was decided that the whole town should be canvassed and this letter was distributed in June/July of 1918

A public meeting was arranged in 1920 and ideas discussed.

The original idea of the memorial being within the church was confirmed.

But, there was opposition to the scheme, as some felt that it had been manipulated by the Anglican Church members.

The strength of this opposition eventually resulted in the official scheme being changed to a cenotaph to be erected on the Parade near to the Marine Hotel

The cenotaph was dedicated in November 1922 as can be seen in the photos below.

        

 

The exact location is better seen in the photo below taken  some time later.

  This was the cenotaph’s first location and first dedication.

In 1947 it was decided to move it to a new and possibly safer location in the gardens adjacent to the railway station. Here you can see its second dedication ceremony conducted by Rev. Owen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it stayed until the 1970s when it made its next move to the newly landscaped gardens which had replaced the old cemetery.

The picture below, taken from the church tower, shows it in its third location in 1976.

It still stands here today.

Do You Recognise These People or Places?

Over the summer months I have received a number of photographs claiming to have a connection with Walton but I do not recognise either the people or the places.

This first scene is definitely not Walton although the lady who sent it to me says that ‘Walton’ is written on the reverse of the original. Could it be another Walton? It’s an interesting photo.

The property below is also claimed to be in Walton. Do you recognise it?

And finally three photographs of people from the past. Do you positively recognise any of them, please?