Ex Wivenhoe Residents' Page

Are you an ex Wivenhoe resident? If so would you like to contact old friends or get old friends to contact you? This page is an experiment to see if there is any interest in a page for ex residents to post some details or comments.

Margo (Goodin) Saunders: I lived in Wivenhoe in the 1970s – 1980s and still have very fond memories of the village, its shops, its pubs, and its people – and whole atmosphere. On the other side of us, at 62 The Avenue, lived Sara Wilkinson (a local artist), her husband Chris (an academic) and their daughter Florence , who was the same age as my son Brett. I believe that they are still in Wivenhoe, but no longer at that address. We left Wivenhoe in 1989 and my son Brett (who was 2 when we left) enjoyed a return visit to the village a couple of years ago.

By the way, the Wivenhoe artists live on in Canberra: I am still the proud owner of 2 bowls by Elaine Alt and 2 paintings by Michael Heard. My ex-husband, who lives nearby, has the Tessa Spencer-Pryce paintings and another Michael Heard and some amazing furniture from the antique shop that used to operate from one of the sheds down by the Shipyard.

John Perkins: Hi. I have reached the age when I would love to relive my younger days by finding any old friends of my Wivenhoe days. I haven't got much hope I suppose as I am talking about early thirties up to the war 1939. My name is John Perkins,used to be called Jack. My father was a bit of a trader, with horse and cart, greengrocery trade. I lived at 7 West Street, then moved up the road to front of Colne House where we had a shop, then we moved to the rear of Colne House in Station Road. My final Wivenhoe home was Angelsea House ( I think Queens Road) where the post office was on the corner.

The names of friends I remember are Peter Sainty, Peter Goven, David Dan, Curtis family, Ted Barnes. Then there were Pascoes, Sparlings, Eric and Peter and of course Bob Bowes and Roy Durrel.

Of late I have been reading the blogs covering Wivenhoe but I must admit it seems a bit foreign to me who remembers the university as the Wivenhoe House where there was a good fish pond which enticed us boys.

Ruth Weedon: Ethel Watsham was my godmother. My grandparents lived in Rectory Road, my grandmother Selina Gore was active during WW2. She and others started 'The Canteen' down on the Quay to provide cups of tea and sandwiches to servicemen who were in passing.
Ethel Watsham visited my grandparents every Wednesday evening for many years for a game of cribbage which always ended in a row but which never ceased to be enjoyable to all.
I have a few old newspaper cuttings and programmes of choral evenings which my grandfather, WHJ Gore was involved in.