RESIDENTS on Canvey were treated to anecdotes from the island's past at a talk given by a local author.

More than 70 residents and members of the Canvey Community Archive packed the War Memorial Hall, in the High Street, to listen to academic Dr Alan Whitcomb.

His Seven Decades of Canvey talk gave an insight into life growing up on the island.

Janet Penn, editor of the Community Archive, said his memories of the island kept the audience entertained She said: “He was very good and his accounts of life on the island had us all laughing throughout.

“This is the second talk I’ve seen him give and it was every bit as good as the first. This one wasn’t a talk where we learned something new about Canvey’s past. Alan was giving us his own account of growing up on the island including memories from when the island was bare and he was free to roam it as a child.

“We were all really amused by it, and he has been invited back to give us another talk next year.”

Dr Whitcomb was born in war-torn London on Christmas Eve 1940, in the middle of an air raid.

His family later moved to Canvey to escape the bombings.

He attended the William Read School, in Long Road, but left at the age of 15 with no qualifications.

Mr Whitcomb went on to teach himself O-levels and A-levels, and completed an Open University degree.

He become a teacher at Sweyne Park School, in Rayleigh, and completed a masters before becoming a professor of psychology.

Mr Whitcomb, 75, has published 37 books for universities across Europe and Asia, centred around business management and psychology.

His only non-academic book is Hops, Doodlebugs and Floods, whish focuses on Canvey's recent history.

Mr Whitcomb, of Long Road, said he is already looking forward to returning to the Community Archive next year.

He said: “They were a really good group and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to be there.

“I find it really refreshing to give a talk about the island’s past, as most of the material I have done is in academics.

“It was a pleasure to be there.”

A collection at the talk raised £121 for Canvey Senior Citizens Association, known as Cisca House.

Mr Whitcomb is president of the day care centre, which was set up by his father and former Canvey Urban District Council chairman Harry Whitcomb in 1969.

It provides an open access walk-in centre, in Long Road, for residents over the age of 55.