My life on Canvey 1948 to 1970 by Eddie Terry
CANVEY CHARACTERS - Part Two

Some more wonderfull Characters of Canvey:

Sparrow Dent - the scourge of non ticket holders on the Canvey buses although only five feet nothing in thick soled shoes he grew to an enormous six feet when he donned his inspectors uniform, and always seemed to be acting the hard man, we had this annoying habit of chewing up our bus tickets into wet soggy balls which didn't please Sparrow who had to wait until we flattened them out for inspection.

Another bus inspector I recall was Bert Windsor a rather big bloke with a very bald head (I worked with his brother Ronnie at Regent and he too was lacking what I now lack, hair) Bert wasn’t so officious as Sparrow and you could have a laugh and joke with him (like making out that you had lost your ticket and spend a long time looking for it and then produce the ticket from some queer place on your anatomy.)

One of the bus drivers I clearly remember was a "Jack the lad" type (one of your readers on Canvey told me his name was Bert Foulgar) long black hair good looking and wearing an ear-ring and looking like a gypsy, who had a lot of the young girls hearts in a flutter We called him 'Lover boy".

Seaview Road in 1960

Dave - last name not known, the resident pianist during the summer season at the Monaco pub on the seafront, small and a bit bald he brought the house down when he sang ( minus his false teeth ) "Shining Sarah sitting in a shoeshine shop, and when she sits she shines and when she shines she sits" Sing that fast and after a few milk stouts and you will see what I mean.

Joe Overs - Canvey's professional photographer who was always seen riding his bike in much the same style as P. C. Farmer and when you asked him how he was he replied "I'm alright on the whole".
I could go on and on, Tiny Tim from the Jolly Boys café at the beginning of Beach Road, (whose head could just be seem above the counter). Harry Whitcombe a foreman at Gouldings Sheet metal Factory who was also a part time fireman and after the siren had sounded could often be seen peddling furiously down Long Road trying to get to the fire station before the fire went out.

Billy Hodder - After a year at Gouldings I left and obtained a job on the Harold Hill new town site as a plant fitters mate and a bus used to leave Canvey every morning to transport workers to the site, now the steward on this bus was Billy Hodder (this was Bill's bus and nobody but nobody got on that bus unless Bill said so) and a funnier man I have yet to meet. He would have been the original Arthur English and from the moment I got on the bus until we arrived at the site I was in stitches, jokes rolled out of his mouth in a continual stream and being only 16 at the time a lot of them went over my head, but as everybody else on the bus was laughing so did I. Come to think of it the bus was a Hodder family special as besides Bill there were his brothers Laurie, Ronnie and Buck and two brothers-in-law Bill and Bert ? Lewis and as I said at the start one of the funniest men I have ever met.
I can still visualize Bertie Benson wearing a Trilby Hat and carrying his big brass instrument - I think it was a euphonium. He used to catch the train into the City nearly every day to do a bit of busking and could always be seen walking up Ferry Road towards the station.

Also there was a bloke who used to wear smart navy whites in the summer and all through the winter he wore yellow sou westers including a hat and Wellington boots. I think Barnacle Bill used to wear navy whites during the summer months but I may be wrong.

Also the bike rider with a wonky leg and his fixed pedal who lived right near me at the top of Beach road.

Ted Andrews - Phot thanks to Graham & Jenny Stevens

Arthur Reid who I suppose would have been Canvey's answer to old man Steptoe.
Some of the other characters that I can recall are Mr Andrews who used to deliver bread around the Island on a three wheeled tradesman’s bike all hours of the day and night, definitely not the fastest thing on three wheels in fact it would be a dead heat between him and a tortoise in a race.

Mr. and Mrs. Harmes who were expert ballroom dancers always in the dance hall floor of the Red Cow on a Saturday night and whilst us lads reluctantly got forcibly dragged onto the floor, shuffling around on the same spot, one hand under your partners bum , the other around the back of her neck, one eye one the clock (seeing how long to chucking out time) and the other eye on your beer Mr. and Mrs. Harmes would be spinning all around the floor oblivious to all the obstacles in their way (us).

'Peanuts' blog can be found HERE