I have recently received a message from Keith Duller in the form of a comment to an unconnected post on this blog. I’ve chosen to publish his message here where more of you will see it. He wrote …
I love reading this forum, although I am only 60 my family have lived and worked in Walton for years, perhaps we could open a couple of discussion points I am interested in that I don’t think have been brought up yet
1 The memorial garden next to the church. I can remember as a child exploring that overgrown area and finding a building that used to be an artist studio. I am told that many years ago it was the town morgue and the artist was the daughter of a local house builder.
2 On Walton pier there used to be a roller-skating rink. I have heard stories of the time when Nipper Norman went over the barrier and into the sea from the end of a whip?
3 I have heard this now from two people that there is a military underground car park at the Naze that was buried.
4 There are lots of tunnels under Walton. I can remember the one on the old railway yard near the turn table and one from the Pier Hotel. I am told there is also one under the old school in Stanley Road.
I would love to hear more about these subjects if anybody has more to offer.
Regards Keith
I am hoping that some of you may have thoughts on the four subjects he raises and for my input here is what I remember…
- The old cemetery, which is now the memorial garden next to the church on the opposite side of Church Road, is the area I believe Keith is referring to. I do not remember a building on this site although there was one at the entrance to the new cemetery. I have no knowledge of an artist using the building. Maybe someone will know more.
- I well remember the skating rink on the Pier and using it, although I was not old enough to perform the tricks that I used to so love watching the older kids show off. Nipper was a great friend of mine, but he never mentioned being jettisoned from the rink into the sea. Were you a witness?
- A military underground car park at the Naze? Again, it’s news to me, but stories do get exaggerated especially by some of our newer residents.
- Yes, there was a tunnel from the Pier Hotel grounds which when I saw it only went a short way inland, but I’m told it is thought to have run originally to the Martello Tower which stood where the Round Gardens are now. The railway station yard and the school tunnels are news to me.
Walton Tales 
From what I know the building in the cemetery has always been a mortuary, I can remember a body pulled out of the sea and put in there when I worked as a gravedigger for Tendring District Council.
2. I knew of the short tunnel from the back of the pier hotel to the round gardens, where we had dancing lessons in the 50s.
3.the tunnel near creek cottage at the Naze was supposed to have been used for smuggling.
Hi Terry. I’ve lived in Creek Cottages for 49 years and have never seen signs of any tunnel and no mention was made of it by the late Bill Pratt or Ben Knights who would be going back to the 1930/49s up here. Any idea where it was meant to be?
Hello
I’m Louise,Nipper Norman was my dad
I’ve never heard the story about my roller
skating dad and would be very interested
To hear more as he was always getting up to
Something. I miss him terribly.
The building at the cemetery was a mortuary. My grandfather, Ted Goldsmith used to assist Dr. Johnson with Post Mortems.
There was a miniature version of Naze Timber, I thought in Victoria Rd. I’ve recently wondered just what building that could have been. Probably where the modern apartments are, but just might have been the mortuary.
I can remember a disappointingly short tunnel, but imagine it white tiled. Just not sure if it’s a false memory.
I didn’t think I was a good skater, but having spent many a sixpence, I found myself in Wembley ice rink on a borrowed pair of skates. Almost right away, I got chased by an annoying man in a woolly hat and a whistle in his mouth. How was I to know it was a slow session? I got nicked for speeding and had to sit on a naughty chair for ten minutes. So, the Walton rink must have been a fair training ground.
The Victoria Road DIY store was owned and run by Peter Saunders who originally set up his business in Hipkins coal yard. I believe his building was the old dairy, which as you rightly suggest, has now succumbed to the new building
The tunnel which ran under the road from the Pier Hotel to the Round Gardens was still open in the late 40s. I walked through it several times with schoolfriends, but by then it was quite overgrown .
There is now no trace of the entrance from the Gardens, but I clearly remember exactly where it had been. No doubt it was sealed for security reasons.
That’s very interesting. I remember the entrance in the Pier Hotel grounds but the tunnel only went a short distance. Where did it come out in the Round Gardens?
I used to live at Linkside, opposite where the buses turn round in Old Hall Lane, I remember being told of a tunnel that wentfrom the Naze Tower to Mabel Greville, has anyone any memories or knowledge of this please?