MEMORIES OF MALDON
Glimpses into the lives of Maldon residents over the last 70+ years
To capture the memories of Maldon residents for the benefit of future generations, the Society has established an oral history archive, ‘Memories of Maldon’, under Wendy Howell's leadership. Copies of our recordings have been deposited with the Essex Record Office to provide material to assist those researching Maldon's history.
You can listen to some of our recordings on the Listening Station at the Maeldune Heritage Centre.
Visit our new oral history website
Listen to more than 80 interviews with local people telling stories of their lives in Maldon
https://www.maldonoralhistory.org/
Share your memories
If you or someone you know would care to donate their memories of Maldon
please contact us maldonsociety@aol.com
These nine extracts from our Oral History archive demonstrate the wide variety
of remarkable people in Maldon who we have had the privilege of recording.
Their stories are quite varied but are all based on their early lives in this superb town.
ANDREW EAST
Andrew is a Maldonian, born in 1950, and has fond memories of his friends and his home in Cherry Gardens. As children they had the freedom to be out all day and regularly went to Beeleigh where they met the “old Mr Foyle” who enjoyed chatting to them.
JEAN SMYE
Jean is a skilled local bee-keeper. Here she describes how she keeps the bees safe in winter, despite the fact that the hives are often in difficult locations on remote farmland.
MARIE KEEBLE
Marie moved into Wintersleet Farm when she married her husband Jim Keeble. She had to quickly learn about dairy farming and here she remembers the milk deliveries that the family did to all the homes in Maldon.
JOHN RAVEN
John, born in 1942, worked as a sail-maker for fifty years, mostly in the Sail Lofts on Maldon Quay. He is the last sail-maker in Maldon. Here he describes the painting of the sails, properly known as dressing the sails.
JOHN COPSEY
John and his parents ran the very popular fish and chip shop at the lower end of the High Street in the late 1950s and 60s. John recalls his love of the business and helping out at an early age, even though it wasn’t easy at times.
SARAH FORD
Sarah and her husband Richard are based on Maldon Quay most summer days making and selling bracelets and many other items from a special type of cord. She explains how it all began and how it is not only summer work, as they replenish their stock at home in the winter.
GRAHAM SMITH
Graham was born in 1950 and is a true Maldonian; he has a remarkable memory for days gone by in Maldon. Here he recalls going by train from Maldon East Station on a Sunday school outing to Walton.
ANNE JENKINS
Anne, now age 90, came to Maldon in 1957 as a newly qualified teacher. She started at Maldon Secondary School for girls and continued there until it eventually merged with the boys school, and then became the Plume. Here she talks about the start of her career.
MOLLY POLDEN
Molly, born in 1929, was fourteen when she started work on the railways. She worked mainly in the Goods Offices and here she recalls getting to her first job in Witham on the train from Maldon. She was late but the train waited for her as she cycled along the Causeway.