Brian was my oldest friend, having both lived in Burnway and gone to Langtons school. My earliest memory was of us playing table tennis on his mum's dining table in the front room of No9. We would also play on our bikes over on the field where the Queens Theatre now stands.
We both went on to Dury Falls where we had some fantastic laughs with Steve Cobb, Kevin Roseblade, John Evans, Christopher Smith to name but a few.
After leaving school we went our separate ways, our paths crossing occasionally in various local pubs. I think we met up regularly again in Hornchurch snooker hall which is where we spent most of our time in those days.
We had our own little group and the Cricketers in the high street became our "local". The "local" then moved to the Chequers in North Street where Brian met the lovely Shan who worked behind the bar.
These were great times, especially Friday and Saturday nights with all the couple's out together.
Sadly time's change. I moved to Chelmsford and Brian and Shan to Suffolk and we lost touch.
R.I.P mate.😭😭😭😭😭