Posts Tagged ‘Books’

1930s Shooting Book Mentions Canvey in ‘The Modern Fowler’ by J. Wentworth Day

Posted: April 10, 2012 by BTP Liam in Case Study, Various
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My grandad, who has helped with many articles for Beyond the Point, is a devout air-rifle collector, and owns several books on the matter (or shotgun shooting) both old and new. This older one, from the 1930s, is a commentary/diary of a man who shot birds across Essex and beyond. He mentions shooting at Canvey Island ‘point’ and Foulness Island. He took shelter behind ‘concrete barrels’ at the point, which we can now explain as being ‘Hester’s pillars’ (a ship, the SS Benmore, sank off Canvey shores, and it’s concrete-filled barrel cargo solidified as it hit water, being used by many builders across Canvey in the early 20th Century, most notably Fredrick Hester, who developed a tourist resort on the Island. Times never change, as the shooter says how there were less birds in the 30s than ‘the good times’ showing how things never change – it must be human nature how we complain that nature is disappearing in recent years.

It also mentions Foulness Island, but also a fairly well-known gunsmith who lived in a houseboat known as ‘Seabrink’ at Canvey point called ‘Charles Stamp’ of which my grandad once met years ago.

Here are the notable pages and cover/cover pages:

Occidental Refinery Plans from a Refinery Hazards Book

Posted: March 31, 2012 by BTP Liam in Case Study, Various
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I recently bought a book off Ebay (several are still on there and have been for along time – if you don’t want tobuty one there are also several down Canvey Library) called ‘Canvey: An investigation of potential hazards from operations in the Canvey Island/Thurrock area’. Although arguably the most boring book of all time, with 90% of it containing graphs and statistics on the possible harm the Shell, Coryton, Occidental, and United Refineries, and one small one in Standford-le-Hope, plus the Calor gas terminal on Canvey, could do if an explosion or disaster happened there, mainly to the surrounding population.

It did however contain something more than worth its price (despite only 7 pounds) which was a very detailed map/plan of the middle portion of the Occidental Refinery. It has great detail from road, bunds (blast mounds or something), drum dimensions, the construction jetty, and more. This is exactly what we are looking for. If we had the entire refinery in his format, then the mystery of the place would be more or less solved.

It also contains a fold-out map at the end showing the locations of these refineries:

The Occidental Refinery Jetty under Construction – New Picture

Posted: February 16, 2012 by BTP Liam in Case Study, Various
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Yesterday, I went to Canvey library and picked up a book known as ‘Coryton – the History of a Village’, by Winifred N. Scott. It is about the village of Coryton before the company Mobil came in and built the infamous refinery there, forcing out the residents and demolishing the village meanwhile. Albeit fairly interesting, I wouldn’t have gotten this book out, until there was one image that caught my eye. On page 41 there is an aerial image from 1981, showing the refinery with the Occidental Jetty making a show in the background – nothing special I thought. The page before, however, shows an image from 1974, in the Occidental refinery’s early days, showing the Jetty under-constructing, not seen before! It clearly, although in the distance, an image of several poles sticking out of the water, being the ‘legs’ of the jetty, with nothing adjoining them together. Towards the start of the poles, part of the top walkway can be seen on the jetty, and out in the water, where the end should be, there stands a single pole mounted on something like a buoy, perhaps marking the jetty-to-be’s ending point, or simply just a passing boat in a coincidental place. From the ironwork of the jetty, we’ve found that it was commissioned by Occidental to be built by the intrepid iron-mongers ‘Dorman Long’.

The whole image

 

The jetty in the making

Book Review – Defending Britain by Mike Osborne

Posted: January 31, 2012 by BTP Liam in Other Websites/Organisations, Various
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A few days ago I ordered the book ‘Defending Britain – Twentieth Century Military Structures in the Landscape’ by Mike Osborne for £13 from Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Defending-Britain-Twentieth-century-Structures-Landscape/dp/075243134X.  I’ve had it for a few days now, and I’ve had a good browse through, and have just begun to start reading it through thoroughly. It has 287 pages and is just under A4 size, and is full of pictures (though black and white) and text. It details a chronological history, detailing locations, dates, and defenses, of each type of defense per chapter, ranging from late 19th Century, to First and Second World Wars, to the Cold War. It also features a ‘gazette’, detailing the locations of good examples of various types of structure you can visit, and a pillbox recognition and feature guide at the back complete with details and diagrams.

I’d give this book a four star due to plenty of pictures, info, and the extra gazette and identification guide. My only concerns would be lacking colour pictures, a map for the gazette, and a more bite-size text layout.

 

Diagrams in the Pillbox ID section

BtP Advent Begins with Ghost Stories…

Posted: November 30, 2011 by BTP Liam in Case Study, Various, Website Update
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So here we are, on the 1st of December. Now we can all feel free to roll on the tunes and put up the decor… It’s Christmas!

Are you opening that flimsy cardboard flap to pull out a 3mm thick 0.1% cocoa chocolate (if I can even call it that), just like every day and year gone by during advent? That’s were we come in, with our tantalizing and interesting advent countdown. You will notice a second image box near the usual ‘danger keep out’ picture to your right with a cool image in. Every day until Christmas the 25th (which will of course have something BtP even better on the day), we will be updating our ‘Photography Gallery’ and image box to the right with a neat photographic shot from either me, Joe, or the online community. Keep your eyes peeled and get checking daily!

Here’s a close up of today’s image, featuring Hadleigh Castle:

The size illusion is really well performed, plus the festive snow suits the occasion!

Despite this, I think we could also do with an interesting article for today. This is all about ghost stories in Castle Point, which as we all know, ghost stories are related to Christmas for no apparent reason.

Let’s start with the castle itself:

It was also during this time that the castle got a reputation for being haunted by a woman in white. A milkmaid called Sally, from Castle Farm, saw the ghostly woman early one morning. The ghost commanded Sally to meet her again at the castle at midnight. But the girl was too frightened to go. She was met the next morning by the ghostly woman, who was so annoyed that she had been disobeyed that she hit the milkmaid around the head, almost dislocating her neck. After this, the girl was known as ‘wry-neck Sal’

From http://www.hadleighcountrypark.co.uk/HistoryCastle.htm

And now onto Canvey:

Local Canvey legends have it that around 865 AD, in one such battle a Long Boat did indeed face battle and sunk without trace just off the Canvey Island coast. The boat met it’s watery death and sunk beneath the waves. In the panic many Viking warriors struggled to make their way to the Canvey coastland, but on that rough windy night the currents that form as the Thames meets the North Sea were too strong and powerful for even the most rugged of Vikings, and all the crew lost their lives desperately trying to reach the land. None survived, all were taken. All except one. One warrior made it to the mud flats of Canvey and managed to haul himself up onto the shore. But it was too late he didn’t have an ounce of energy left and he soon died on the shore. It is said that under the right circumstances his ghost can still be seen, crawling and stumbling across the mud flats, desperately searching for his friends and his boat. The ghost has been reported by many different people, over many years. Witnesses include a local priest in the 1950′s, so if ever you visit Canvey Island, take a stroll to Canvey Point, wait for the Sun to set, and see if you can see the Canvey Viking.

From http://www.strangeuk.com/home/item/55-canvey-viking-ghost

If you’d be interested in more local ghostly tales and places to visit, I recommend you get this book:

‘Haunted Essex’ by Carmel King

It really is excellent, plus gives you an unbeatable insight into the local area you thought you knew…