I went to St Margaret`s C of E school in Bowers Gifford Pitsea in the 1940s/50s. The infant`s teacher back then was a Miss B.This very strict and wonderful lady had total control over a lot of sometimes misbehaved children. This school back then was high church of england,with a large statue of Mary in the classroom which we had to turn and face at morning prayers. Back then Pitsea was not too bad a place to live, and I have a lot of good memorys of my childhood there.I would go fishing at `Jacksons pond`North Benfleet.Climb Pitsea mount to see the steam trains leave the station.Cycle down to the church at Bowers Gifford,leave my cycle there and walk the footpath to South Benfleet.Playing hide and seek in the many pill boxes built in WW2.They were great days.It is such a shame that over the years Pitsea has become what it is now,a dump,a real pit by the sea.Thank god I don`t live there now.Even the punch up palace `The Railway Hotel`has closed,`Hotel`who in their right sense would want to stay there.And depending which way the wind is blowing you get the stink from the tip or the treatment works at Nevendon.The only good thing I can say about Pitsea nowdays is the Motor Boat Museum at Wat Tylers park.
