Thames View Estate, Barking.

Image via WikipediaAfter the floods of 1953 when Creekmouth, where most of my family were born and brought up, was badly damaged the local council decided to build a new estate called Thames View which was situated about a quarter of a mile from it.Most of the residents of Creekmouth moved there when the old cottages in the village were demolished in about 1956.The photograph shows the factory which was next to the the village in Creekmouth. It was originally Lawes Chemicals which built the cottages in Creekmouth for its workers.

My parents Mary and Jack moved to the new estate with my fathers parents in 1956 and that is where I spent the first forty three years of my life.My dad was called Jack even though his real name was Edward. To this day I don`t  understand why.

Thames View was like living on an island really. It had just two exists off of it and was surrounded on two sides by an industrial estate and on one side was the extremely busy A13 and on the other side was waste land and a dump.The estate had about two thousand properties. Houses, a few high rise flat`s and some maisonettes and low level flats.

It was a council estate so there was poverty and all of the problems that go with that but to me it was home and I never really took much notice of that. I felt at home there and safe.In many ways it was like living in a village as everyone tended to know one another and there was a community spirit. People cared and   and were there if anyone needed help.

Most of my relatives lived on the estate which looking back was nice as you grew up with those you cared about.My dads family was a large one so you often encountered relatives on your daily life around the estate.

We lived with my dad`s mum until I was eleven when she died. That wasn`t easy as she could be difficult as she frankly drank for England and would often come home drunk.Mind you she was a character and although very small she was large in personality.

I have recently discovered that she lost two young children, one in quite tragic circumstances so with hindsight I can understand why she often resorted to drink.Not so much drowning her sorrows in drink but drowning sad memories I should imagine.

I left Creekmouth when my mum died in 2004 and have regretted it ever since. I miss the people there and the feeling of  being safe that I had when I was there.It has a reputation as a hard, crime ridden place but I always thought that the vast majority of people there were decent, hard working and had the right values and I think that it doesn`t deserve the reputation it has. I miss it to this day and where ever life takes me I will always think of it as home.