These three bungalows on Hillcrest Avenue - Wendover, Vera Joan, and Coombe Cottage - owned by two related London families and a family friend, formed a very important part of the lives of their  owners from the 1930s to the 1960s.  They were typical of Essex plotland residences to be found in the Langdon Hills/Laindon/Dunton area at that time.

Little remains of the effort, care and love lavished on them over the years, since the properties are long demolished and the plots now form part of the Langdon Nature Reserve.    An ancient  poplar tree, an air-raid shelter, some rubble and a few gateposts are all that can be seen today among the undergrowth.

This is a brief introduction to the three properties situated opposite "Hawthorn" at the top of Third Avenue, the track that leads up from the Essex Wildlife Trust Centre building.   

As you might expect, the people who spent so much of their lives here took many photographs.    These are a selection.
See also:
The Essex Wildlife Trust pages: www.essexwt.org.uk
booklet - "A Plotland Album" from The Basildon Development Corporation
"Basildon", P.Lucas (Phillimore ISBN 0-85033-749-6)
"Basildon Plotlands", Deanna Walker (Phillimore ISBN 1-86077-191-2)
www.phillimore.co.uk