Memories of 31 St Peter's Road, Chadwell St Mary

Susie contacted the Prefab Museum.

My mum Joan Tucker (nee Edwards) is writing a book and has mentioned prefabs, as her mum and dad lived in a prefab in Chadwell St. Mary, Essex for many years. Mum believes three areas were chosen for building prefabs after the war, two of which were Aveley and Chadwell St. Mary. Do you know the third area chosen please? (It’s South Ockendon).

My nan (Rose Edwards) and grandad (Jack Edwards) – pictured standing by the front door of their prefab, were taken probably in the late 1950s. I don’t know when they had to move out but I know they were very disappointed that their prefab was to be demolished. They were re-housed to 27 Alexandra Close, Chadwell – but it wasn’t the same.

I used to go and stay with my nan and grandad and you can see me with my friend,  Anne Ward,  in the  back garden of their prefab. You can see we liked to play dressing up. This is probably about 1960. Their garden backed onto Herringham Primary School, which you can see in the background.

The colour photograph shows my friend, Teresea Choppen, and me (Susan Tucker), outside my nan and grandad’s prefab after staying with them in 1965. It’s my brother, Peter’s, car which later became mine – I bought it off him for £10!

What’s amazing is that the photograph you sent to me (Chadwell and Tilbury Memories) is actually my nan and grandad’s prefab and the above mini. We must have been visiting when the photograph was taken.

I have many happy memories of staying in the prefab, and even now I can smell the room where I used to sleep (in the front, left of the front entrance).