Rebel’s Lane Contents Contents ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 Foreword ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 Dedication ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1 Napier Avenue .............................................................................................................................. 6 Custard ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 Chapter 2 Archer Close ............................................................................................................................... 12 Anyone for Winkles? ................................................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 3 Uncle Den. .................................................................................................................................. 23 What Gets Up Your Nose – at Christmas! ................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 4 Holidays and a Brother ‐ at last! ................................................................................................. 30 Fleeting Moments ....................................................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 5 Southchurch Hall ........................................................................................................................ 35 Barriers ........................................................................................................................................................ 42 Chapter 6 Work ........................................................................................................................................... 44 Angels .......................................................................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 7 Born Again .................................................................................................................................. 49 Good Intentions .......................................................................................................................................... 56 Chapter 8 Matters of the Heart .................................................................................................................. 57 My Favourite Place ..................................................................................................................................... 59 Chapter 9 Coming of Age ............................................................................................................................ 61 The Hand of God ......................................................................................................................................... 67 Chapter 10 Beyond the Veil ........................................................................................................................ 68 Life, Freedom, Forever ................................................................................................................................ 75 Chapter 11 Giving All................................................................................................................................... 76 Time ............................................................................................................................................................ 82 Chapter 12 Finding Her ............................................................................................................................... 83 Sing Praise to Him ....................................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 13 When Two Become One ........................................................................................................... 89 The Worst Sound in the World! .................................................................................................................. 94 Chapter 14 The Adventure Really Begins! .................................................................................................. 95 And What Cheese are You? ...................................................................................................................... 103 2 Rebel’s Lane Chapter 15 Maldon ................................................................................................................................... 104 The School Song ........................................................................................................................................ 114 Memories of Mandeville ........................................................................................................................... 115 Under My Umbrella .................................................................................................................................. 124 Chapter 16 Up North ................................................................................................................................. 125 The Divine ................................................................................................................................................. 135 Chapter 17 Building Bridges ...................................................................................................................... 137 A Time to Eat and a Time To… .................................................................................................................. 146 Chapter 18 My Quiver Full ........................................................................................................................ 147 The Best Sound in the World! ................................................................................................................... 154 Chapter 19 From Warton to Hoghton ....................................................................................................... 155 3 Rebel’s Lane Foreword Rebel’s lane was a thoroughfare to adventure. It began at the corner of Archer Close, and meandered between farmland out to the country villages of Barling and Wakering, to Dove Woods, old World War II fortifications and the marshes of the rivers Crouch and Roach. Alongside it, behind a hedgerow, was the bank of a small brook which provided an obstacle of fun and challenge. In those early days of my life this path was my route to adventure. I have always tried to look at life as an adventure. The times when I have felt lost or uncertain have been when I have forgotten to see it this way. I believe it is an attitude that helps in the day to day grind because it momentarily takes you out of the here and now, out of the action and into the cinema seat where you can see and feel the excitement of the plot. It is an attitude that can get you through difficult times and inspire you to take on new challenges. Of course, adventures are not just physical, not just people and places, success and failure, new this or that. The most exciting adventures I have been on have not been in the physical world at all, but the spiritual which began when my mind was opened to think upon our eternal journey and the big questions of life. I also believe that once on that spiritual adventure the danger is to become bogged down in dogma, that there is a ‘last word’ on any subject. The spiritual adventure only continues as the mind seeks new understanding through both faith and reason. But Rebel’s Lane would not have been a path to adventure in my childhood if it had not been for a place that was home, a place I could always return to and feel secure. So it is now, although there is a Rebel’s Lane now in my mind and my heart, it is only a pathway to adventure because of those who love me, Eileen, my family, my place of refuge, my home, for which I will always be grateful. 4 Rebel’s Lane Dedication I dedicate this simple account to the one who in this life I owe the most, for she, whether intentionally or not, is responsible for starting both the adventure that began at birth and the one that began at what could be called, my re­birth. To my Mum. 5 Rebel’s Lane Chapter 1 Napier Avenue In the summer of 2008 I suddenly had this urge to write about my life for reasons I soon forgot about. I guess it was to take my mind of other things. But when I finished my first draft and returned to the beginning I decided that the best reason I could have for writing anything about myself and it is the reason which I hope will remain, is gratitude. So whatever follows, it is with profound thankfulness for the adventure of life I have so far experienced that I give this brief account. I was born 16th August 1948, one of the post World War II baby boom. My earliest memories are of living at a house in Napier Avenue, Southend‐on‐Sea, Essex. I am still unsure whose house it was, my mum and dad lived there with others for the first few years of their married life. It must have been owned by some family member but I cannot remember who. I think my dads father, Walter,