please empty your brain below
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Excellent.
NiC | Homepage | 08.05.08 - 7:56 a.m. | #
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Well DG thanks, another fasinating report.
Coalhouse Fort is place I was not aware of, so looks like another place to add to my must see list.
John | 08.05.08 - 8:11 a.m. | #
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1st rate, DG!
Venichka | 08.05.08 - 8:41 a.m. | #
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Another great gem of infomation, thanks. 
Michael | 08.05.08 - 9:48 a.m. | #
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My mum used to work in the Bata shoe factory in the late 60s. Apparently she lasted 3 days. My dad found out that they locked all the staff out in the cold during lunchtime. He told her she didn't have to go back, so she didn't.
*random and pointless story*
SSS | Homepage | 08.05.08 - 10:13 a.m. | #
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DG, being an Essex boy, and having to play sunday league football against the oiks that were East Tilbury Dynamos, I can categorically say, that Bataville is the most horrendous place that i've been to in the whole of the British Isles.
The dirty gits didn't even have proper changing facilities.
I'd like to see it burn, in a particularly big fire!
Suave | Homepage | 08.05.08 - 12:14 p.m. | #
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I did exactly the same tour in the late-80s. What I remember most is the sound of millions of pieces of broken ceramics, crockery etc as the Thames lapped against the shore, plus some original pre-aerosol 1970s hand-painted punk band graffiti (The Jam, Mods, etc) which has no doubt long been "tagged" over. Ce la vie...
Bowroad | 08.05.08 - 5:14 p.m. | #
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Unbelievably, the ancient Mod graffiti is still there on the concrete river wall, and lots of it.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 08.05.08 - 6:48 p.m. | #
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Very nice piece,dg. Bata's "ideal industrial town" reached its zenith in Batovany,subsequently Partizanske,Slovakia just before and during World War II
http://momoneco.kotka.fi/
bat\\_nay...ayttely\\_uk.html
which I would love to see.
The riverside footpath from Purfleet to the Four Weddings and a Funeral church at West Thurrock is also pretty,er, interesting. I await your report...
felix | 08.05.08 - 7:54 p.m. | #
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Well you learn something every day, I did not know all that stuff about Bata. When I grew up in Croydon in the 50s & 60's Bata was considered a bit of a cheap brand, and you only bought their shoes if you were a bit hard-up. Whatever happened to Freeman Hardy & Willis?
Surrey Girl | 08.05.08 - 9:34 p.m. | #
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There is some handpainted retro punk graffiti on the concrete sea wall on Canvey as well...
Venichka | 09.05.08 - 12:01 a.m. | #
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"Signage"! How could you DG? The word you are after is "Signs"
Chris | 09.05.08 - 12:37 a.m. | #
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Was at the Bata Resource Centre a couple of weeks age. The flame on the war memorial has been stolen for its scrap metal value.
Richard | 09.05.08 - 8:56 p.m. | #
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Straight out of the top drawer of DG travel writing - thanks for a great read!
Marc | 10.05.08 - 9:17 a.m. | #
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Hi there ... someone forwarded your blog link to me as you link to some of my Bata photos ... great to read your report & find the blog! You might also be interested in the film we made about East Tilbury - it stars many of the staff of the Reminiscence Centre as we take a 'left field' road trip to Zlin home of the Bata Empire!
You can watch the trailer here: http://www.bata-ville.com/
Nina Pope | Homepage | 11.05.08 - 10:28 a.m. | #
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Hi DG,
As a regular to your blog, I was delighted to see a feature about the place I was born and spent the first 8 years of my life. I lived in Linford, the hamlet just north of East Tilbury. I have fond childhood memories of that place, a strange dystopia that through young eyes was not an ugly place at all. I went to East Tilbury School and spent happy summer weekends by Coalhouse Fort, flying kites and playing with my boat.
I occasionally go back and appreciate the 'end of the line' feel about the place.
Bahrain Taxi | Homepage | 17.05.08 - 8:48 p.m. | #
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