Wayne
Born in Belfonte, Pennsylvania, USA in 1948, Wayne grew up in the small rural town of Pleasant Gap in the Nittany Valley.
Wayne’s Mum was born in 1921 in the East End of London, but grew up with her parents and siblings in old Basildon, Essex, in a house called Island Queen on the former Rectory Road, which is now the site of the Festival Leisure Park.
In the 1940s, Wayne’s Mum had to go and work at a Munitions Factory near Worcester in England and it was during this time that she met Wayne’s Dad who was a soldier in the Eighth United States Army. They married in January 1947 at Langdon Hills Methodist Church, before moving back to start a life in Wayne’s Dad’s hometown of Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania.
Wayne fondly recalls happy times of playing Little League Baseball and exploring the nearby mountains, fishing and swimming in the mountain creeks.
Following the estrangement of his parents in 1963, Wayne’s Mum eventually took the difficult decision to bring her children back to England, to be nearer to her family and support network.
Being the oldest of 4 siblings at 15 years old, Wayne recalls the experience of leaving the familiar surroundings of Pennsylvania in 1964, to establish a new life close to his Mum’s family home in Basildon, England.
Photo of Wayne’s hometown of Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania, by Jarryd Beard.
Some of Wayne’s school friends had unique names like ‘Kermit Spots’ and brothers Orville and Wilbur, who were named after the famous Wright Brothers. Wayne was delighted to reunite with family members and his close friend Tom, when he revisited Pleasant Gap in 2006 for the first time in 42 years.
Wayne as a baby in 1948 with his Dad, who was from Pleasant Gap in PA, USA.
Wayne, as a toddler in the late 1940s on the porch of the house that his parents helped to build for his Grandparents on Keller Avenue, Pleasant Gap, PA, USA.
Photo of Main Street, Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania, by Jarryd Beard
Keller Avenue in Pleasant Gap, where Wayne first lived in the late 1940s. Mount Nittany is in the distance - Wayne’s Dad was born next to this Mountain in 1920.
This is one of the houses that Wayne lived in with his parents and siblings in Zion Pennsylvania, USA. The last house that Wayne lived in before moving to England was on Pine Street in Belfonte Pennsylvania.
Wayne’s Grandparent’s home ‘Island Queen’ in Basildon, Essex was compulsorily purchased in 1958 and by 1972, this peaceful rural area had been transformed by the new ‘Aquatels Recreation Centre’ development, which included a 120 room hotel overlooking a newly created lake, artificial sky slope, 9 hole golf course, driving range, and zoo!
Wayne recalls one foggy Sunday morning, while walking along Whitmore Way for his 6am shift at Carreras, he was startled to hear the roars of a lion off in the distance at the Aquatels zoo… Wondering if the lion had perhaps escaped, he quickly and cautiously hurried the rest of the way to work!
By the late 1990s, the Aquatels site had again be redeveloped to give way to the current Festival Leisure Park.
Born in 1921 in the East End of London, Wayne’s Mum was the oldest child of her parents Robert and Jenny Ward.
Robert and Jenny moved the family to rural Basildon in the late 1920s and they lived in a house called Island Queen which was on the old Rectory Road, off Cranes Farm Road. Wayne’s Mum went to Nevendon School and while the old building is still there, it has not been used as a school for many years.
This photo of Wayne’s Mum was taken in Poplar, London in 1922.
Wayne’s Mum and Grandfather on her wedding day at Langdon Hills Methodist Church on a cold January day in 1947. Note the snow on the ground.
Sadly Wayne’s Mum passed away at the age of 49 in 1970 and was laid to rest in the grounds of the historic Holy Cross Church in Basildon.
Wayne’s Mum (right) and his uncle Bob as children, outside their family home ‘Island Queen’ on the old Rectory Road (now the site of the Festival Leisure Park in Basildon, Essex).
Life was very different in rural Basildon before the development of the New Town in 1949. Only a small remnant of the old Rectory Road still remains - it is now called Gardiners Close and offers a glimpse of how old Basildon used to be.
Wayne’s Mum holding the reins of a horse, on the former Rectory Road, Basildon in the 1930s. The area is now the site of the Festival Leisure Park development.
Wayne worked for a range of Basildon based employers over the years including a timber yard at Vange, Standard Telephones, Carreras, Ford Tractor Plant, British Rail as a train guard, and later for the Local Authority, taking care of the town’s Market, followed by pest control and eventually the housing department.
Wayne’s Dad (back row, third from left) was the third oldest of nine brothers and sisters from Pleasant Gap in Pennsylvania, USA.
Wayne’s maternal Grandparents Robert and Jenny Ward lived in a house called Island Queen, on the former Rectory Road, which is now the site of the Festival Leisure Park in Basildon, Essex.
Only a small remnant of the old Rectory Road still remains - it is now called Gardiners Close and offers a glimpse of how old Basildon used to be.
Wayne’s paternal Grandparent’s lived through the Great Depression which started in 1929. Wayne remembers how lovely his Grandfather was and that he was often unwell due to the effects of working in a limestone quarry.
The area around Pleasant Gap was very beautiful, with lots of farmland and Wayne recalls routinely seeing members of the Amish community riding in horse drawn buggies.
Wayne also remembers the fun of the annual Grange Fair, with its many memorable experiences and attractions.
Photo: Wayne’s Grandfather holds a very young Wayne, next to his grandmother who is holding his sister and Wayne’s parents at either end - Pennsylvania 1950.
Wayne fondly remembers his 7 years of working at the huge Carreras Cigarette Factory on Christopher Martin Road, Basildon (now Phoenix House). Carreras employed thousands of local people and many of Wayne’s extended family and friends worked there over the years. Carreras closed in 1984 due to a restructuring of the business and a shift of production to elsewhere in the UK.
Wayne remembers cycling about 5 miles from where he was staying at his Uncle’s house in Stanford Le Hope to work at a timber yard in Vange, 6 weeks after he first arrived in England at the age of 16 in 1964. He recalls how he enjoyed working with a number of World War II veterans and how funny and interesting they were.
The traditionally rural area of Basildon has seen huge changes since the development of the post-war New Town. The old Timberlog Lane (partly renamed to Clay Hill Road) was originally the way along which timber from the Basildon woods was carried to the wharf to be shipped to London.
There were many old cinemas around when Wayne first moved from Pennsylvania to South Essex and he remembers watching films in Stanford Le Hope at The Regent Cinema. The building is still there but now operates as a function room called The Old Regent Ballroom.
‘Island Queen’, on the former Rectory Road in old Basildon, where Wayne’s Mum grew up. The property was compulsorily purchased in 1958 and later demolished as part of Basildon New Town’s redevelopment. Wayne remembers going to the site to try and save one of the gate posts but sadly, everything had already gone. The area is now part of Festival Leisure Park, but remnants of the old Rectory Road are still present at Gardiners Close (formerly known as Rectory Road) .
