(I remembered that this is remembrance day after first publishing this blog post a bit earlier)

These are parts of recent threads in the Billericay memories group

Bernie Cooper's post in Billericay memories

Does anyone remember the spooky old Anderson place on Perry street?

Rene Hudson Oh yes I remember Miss Andersons . She always had knitted dresses on. Her brother worked on the allotment they had. Wonder what happened to them We were always there. And Harts corner buying a few sweeties and Mothers cigs

Bernie Cooper Me too. They used to grow Pampas Grass outside and sell the blooms to people. I used to pay a shilling a fond. Then I’d sell them to the Mods to stick in their scooters for two shillings a piece. Some idiot let the cat out of the bag however and that was the end of my business.....

Further down the thread,

I had not seen Bernie's comment about the Pampas prior to writing this -
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Ross Kelly Old Mrs Andersons barn shop I think she called it Anderson's general store, it had a big clump of Pampas grass just inside the drive way, all the kids used to think she was a witch but actually she was a very nice lady and amazingly my memory of that place came in very handy many years later in Australia.

Bernie Cooper How so?
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Ross Kelly We were in our bus with very little money heading for a place called Young in NSW with the intention of finding work Cherry picking. We had a very long way to go and I was wondering if we were doing the right thing when we passed a sign pointing down a little road with the single word Anderson written on it.

It immediately brought to mind Mrs Anderson and her Pampas grass, so I thought 'why am I being reminded of this?' I realised that it had coincided with my question about our travels so I thought 'Ok, if I see the word Pampas at the side of the road I'll know we are doing the right thing. Pampas is a word that you rarely come across so I thought it very unlikely but to my great surprise either later that day or the following day we went through a little village and there on the wall of an old building were the words Pampas memorial hall.
We were approaching the back of a sign on the other side of the road and as we passed it I looked back at it to see the biggest word PAMPAS I've ever seen, it was the name of the village.
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Ross Kelly Now you know why you had to buy Mrs Anderson's Pampas grass!
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Ross Kelly https://commons.wikimedia.org/.../File:Pampas_-_Memorial...

Manage

commons.wikimedia.org

File:Pampas - Memorial Hall.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Ross Kelly It wasn't the only question that was answered by amazing synchronicity on that journey to Young.

Then this happened on another thread in Billericay memories,

Ross Kelly Are you the Peter Croft that used to live on the hill that ran down from Chapel street with the hall at the top of it? I can't remember the name of either the road or the hall.
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Peter Croft Ross Kelly..no I used to live in outwood common..betoyne close.

Bernie Cooper Mayflower Hall. It belonged to the Congregational Church.
I can’t think of the name of the hill now but it will come to me.

Ross Kelly Bernie Cooper Was it Hillside Road or is that somewhere else?
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Ross Kelly I could google it but I'm a lazy bastard.
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Bernie Cooper Ross Kelly no I think your right? Anyway something to do with Hillside. Seems a bit daft “ Hillside Hill”🤔
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Ross Kelly That's what I thought.
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Bernie Cooper Yeah pretty sure it was Hillside Road. A nameless hill then?
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Ross Kelly Bernie Cooper Were you in Bures when we went to the pub with Peter Layland? I just read that he died 10 years ago.
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Bernie Cooper Yes I read of his death too on this site. I don’t remember going to the pup with him. He lived on Tensing Gardens just over the back from me. He got Caroline Aston pregnant. She was at school with me. Don’t know anymore about him after that......

These comments were written on the 7th of November.

Ross Kelly Really? I didn't know that, Tensing gardens! There's something else happening here, I just read your comment on Bell hill and sledging and We've just been talking about the hill at hillside road and Tensing climbed the world's tallest hill and on this page I saw a mention from a man named Hill from Tensing Gardens which is where my first love Susan Hill lived until just after the time that I moved next door in St Edith's court and her family moved to Bellevue rd, the road that we had moved from..
There's definately something important to do with the Hill connection. Kind of like the Pampas thing.

Bernie grew up in the same housing estate in Billericay where Tensing Gardens is, all the street names are named after the members of the Hillary Everest expedition......
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A few days later as the California fires are burning.

Ross Kelly Well, there you go Bernie, a great fire named HILL fire at thousand oaks!

That's where you live isn't it?

From Bernie's wall.Nov 9th , .....HILL FIRE.

This is a link to a news item about Hill fire -

https://www.10news.com/news/hill-fire-crews-make-progress-on-blaze-near-thousand-oaks