I have moved back to this part of the world after many years. My paternal grandmother lived in Vange with my Aunt Nell when it was still open country and the trains were still pulled by steam locomotives. They have long passed away along with all the family I knew as a child in the late 40s- 50s

I was the baby of the Mitchell family at that time and with the sad and early death of my brother Jeff in 1999 I appear to be the last man standing of that generation as my cousins were either in the Second World War or Korea, and there was a huge age gap.

My grandmother died in 1951 and my last memory of a visit to Vange was around 1952. All contact was lost around 1956/7 when I attended a wedding in East Ham with my brother and widowed mother.
Last year I drove to Pitsea for the first time in over 50 years and digging deep into my memory I found the road and the house. It has changed of course, but the place is still there.

We used to arrive by train at Pitsea after what seemed an age and then board a Campbell’s Coach. The ones where the driver had a separate cab. I still remember the dim orange lights in the bus and the horsehair sticking into my legs. Short trousers for boys in those days.

I am interested to find any members of my family who may still live in the Basildon area. It is very possible that we would never have met, but we would share the same connection as it were. I became the ‘keeper’ of the family photos and would be nice to speak and share them with my kinfolk.

Jim Mitchell 24 Langthorne Crescent Grays, RM17 5XA 01375 394082