Cement City
We had capes. Have you seen police capes? We all loved them. We wore capes before all those fictional heroes, before Superman. They were very strict about the uniform. You weren't allowed to wear a scarf or anything, even in winter. So the capes were quite good because they were warm, and they kept the dust off the rest of your uniform.
Grays was known as Cement City in the police. I'd go out at night in my black uniform, and when I finished at six in the morning, it would be coated with a thin layer of white cement, like a dusting of snow. Because of the cement works around, it was just in the atmosphere. The works was in Purfleet, but the dust would reach Grays. There were one or two quite nasty industrial accidents there, but I was lucky enough not to see those. I did stop a car around five in the morning once, and in the boot was a couple of bags of stolen cement. He couldn't understand how I knew which car to stop, but he'd been going along at an angle because the bags were so heavy.
Back to the capes, though. On an early shift you'd go and buy your breakfast, and you might have an extra sausage. You could hide it under your cape while you were working, to have it later. When you look at the old photographs of everyone all smart, just think, they might be hiding breakfast.
From stories told at Orsett Community Church Hall.
Grays was known as Cement City in the police. I'd go out at night in my black uniform, and when I finished at six in the morning, it would be coated with a thin layer of white cement, like a dusting of snow. Because of the cement works around, it was just in the atmosphere. The works was in Purfleet, but the dust would reach Grays. There were one or two quite nasty industrial accidents there, but I was lucky enough not to see those. I did stop a car around five in the morning once, and in the boot was a couple of bags of stolen cement. He couldn't understand how I knew which car to stop, but he'd been going along at an angle because the bags were so heavy.
Back to the capes, though. On an early shift you'd go and buy your breakfast, and you might have an extra sausage. You could hide it under your cape while you were working, to have it later. When you look at the old photographs of everyone all smart, just think, they might be hiding breakfast.
From stories told at Orsett Community Church Hall.
