1929 - 2015
Denis
spent his entire life in the village. He was a born on the Maldon Rd. in 1929
to Agnes and Albert Chaplin and had three brothers, Herbert, Cecil and Kenny.
Their father died when Denis was just 3 years old and Denis was brought up by
Teacher Lily Clark and her parents Mr & Mrs Shepherd Clark in Fish St. Most
of the photographs on this page were donated to the archives by Denis in the
1990s. Some came from his brother Cecil and some from Denis’s relatives just
after his death.
|
|
|
|
||
|
The Fish St cottages opposite the
Bird-in-Hand that Denis was brought up in |
|
|||
|
Denis’s father on right with his uncle on left |
Mr & Mrs Shepherd Clark |
Shepherd Clark |
|
|
|
Denis
as a 3 years old with Ernie Barbrook and his “Bean” taxi in Church Street |
|
|||
|
|
||||
Denis
attended the village school when
his Aunt Lily was a teacher there in the 1930s, but doesn’t seem to be in this
1930s school photos that shows Teacher Lily at the right hand end...
|
|
|
However
he does appear as a school boy in these two early photographs taken in the
Square and outside Hall Farm...
|
Coronation celebrations in The
Square in 1937 |
outside
Hall Farm |
|
Denis
spent most of his life working as a tractor driver at Joyces and Highams Farms, and he lived on the farms, including
living in a caravan in the 1960s and 70s. During tha later part of his life he
lived at Highams Cottages on the Maldon Road...
Highams Cottages
He
plucked turkeys at Christmas and worked on Highams Farm Pick Your Own fields in
the 1980s and 90s. After the PYO business closed, Denis worked for Colchester
Council as a gardener in their landscaping department until he retired.
Denis as a young man clearing grass
from the churchyard
He had
a passion for sport and began playing cricket for Goldhanger in 1946. In 1951
he became the Secretary, Groundsman and Captain until the team lost the use of The Park in 1958. His love of cricket
never left him and he was an enthusiastic member of the Essex County Cricket
Club for many years.
|
Goldhanger
Wanderers in 1947 |
the
cricket team in the1950s |
|
He
was goalkeeper for the Goldhanger Wanderers football team. In 1951 Denis
qualified as a referee for local leagues, a role he held for over 20 years and was proud to be
selected by the Essex Association to be a steward at the 1966 World Cup Final.
He went on to manage the Goldhanger Club and became Registration Secretary for
the Maldon Sunday League.
During
the 1960's Denis was an active member of the Sailing Club taking part in races
with his brother Herbert. In the 1980s Denis took up Carpet Bowls, was a
founder member of the Goldhanger club, and more recently played with the
Tollesbury Club.
Denis
retired at the age of 65 but continued to work as a gardener in and around the
village for many more years. He was a
long standing member of the Friendly Brothers.
Denis had a wonderfully wicked sense of humour and a sharp memory to recall his
early life in the village, and he provided the archives with not only early
photographs but many recollections of village life in his younger days,
including this wonderful letter written by Denis’s relative Shepherd Clark
(whose photo is shown above) to his employers Charles
Page and his son Rex at Old Rectory Farm...
Denis
told us that Sheperd Clark was St Peters Church
clerk and sexton for many years. His impressive gravestone in the churchyard
dated 1918 records this, which is also inscribed with: “Erected
to his pious memory by members of the congregation”.
_______________________________
Over
the years Denis supplied the archives with Information about many other aspects
of village life included:
O Memories of Charles
Page, whom Denis worked for as a tractor driver.
O Memories of Crawshay
Frost, whom Denis worked for as a teenager tending for his animals.
O
Descriptions of the Pit Cottages on
the Maldon Road and Charles Page’s jam factory,
enabling
sketches of both to be made, as no photos have ever been seen...
|
|
|
|
O His Aunt, Teacher Lily was presented with a
copy of the childrens book “Goldhanger Woods” in 1900 by the Rector.
Denis
inherited the book and allowed these copies to be made...
|
|
|
|
O the village
school managers presented his aunt, Teacher Lily with a easy chair on
her retirement in 1939.
Denis
held the framed commemorative plaque and allowed this copies to be made...
O A description of the inside of the Wesleyan Chapel
O Reminiscences of the Revd.
Gardner including:
On special occasions in the early 1930s, when the Revd Gardner was
incumbent at The Rectory, he would
give out buns at the front door of the Rectory. Schoolchildren would queue for
their bun then run around the house, through the bushed and re-join the queue
for a second bun.
In later life, when the Revd. Gardner was more severely affected by
motor neuron disease; he spent much of his time in a wheelchair. He was
remembered being pushed in a wheelchair down Church St. from the Rectory to the
Church by his man-servant, and the locals would stand and doff their caps as he
passed.
A celebration of Denis’s life was held in St Peters Church on
the 4th of November 2015.
It was attended by a very large congregation.
Characters from the past top home