Friends of Abbey Gardens

Last week we have received a following message from Mr Ted Diggines who used to live near Abbey Gardens during the 2nd World War. We thought this memory of past events in our area is well worth sharing:

My name is Edward James Diggines, Aged 76, and I was born at No 164 Abbey Rd. The house we lived in was named Abbey House.
The house was badly damaged during an air raid in 1940 ,we then moved to a house in Mark St , off West Ham Lane, we had to move again to Torrence Rd ? off Romford Rd, that house was also damaged by bombs, we were evacuated with just the clothes we had on, we were moved to Wisbech in Cambs where we lived & I married in 1953 & then migrated to Australia in 1959 where we now live.
I was Eight when we left Abbey House in 1940, but I still remember that terrible night like it was yesterday, there was a gas main that was attached to the side of the bridge that went over the Railway Yards & a bomb had hit it & it burst into flames that shot into the air what appeared to me at 8yrs old to be 50 ft high, bombs had also fallen onto a tire factory that was also ablaze, the factory was opposite our house, when we came out of the air raid shelter it was what you might have pictured hell to look like, the smoke from the tires & the flames & the gas main bellowing up to the sky, there was also a paint factory, I think, that was also bombed & was on fire, my elder brother, Tom, worked there.
My sister Violet Thornton lived in Abbey Row for a number of years & had her 4 children there, I think.? About the 5th or 6th house on the right
I thought you may be interested in some of the past of Abbey House & Abbey Row

Yours Truly E J Diggines

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 27th, 2009 at 8:13 pm and is filed under History.