Tribute to Rayleigh's most dedicated resident is right up our street (From Echo)

Tribute to Rayleigh's most dedicated resident is right up our street

4:20pm Thursday 11th March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(1)

The name of one of Rayleigh’s most dedicated residents is the talk of the town – and will be for generations to come.

Ernie Lane has been created in honour of a 92-year-old, known to some as Mr Rayleigh.

Mr Lane, of Orchard Road, has played a prominant part in the town’s history since moving there in 1920.

He was joined by his family, including his two daughters and grandchildren, for the unveiling of the newly-named alleyway, which leads from the High Street to Websters Way car park.

He said: “It is a great honour. I feel very fortunate. This past year, I’ve been awarded citizen of the year and now this.

“I’ve lived in Rayleigh for 90 years. I know a lot about the town and I’ve done a lot for it.”

The naming of the alley was the idea of Rayleigh Town Council and was agreed by Rochford District Council.

Ernie has written two books about the history of the town and was honoured as citizen of the year by the town council last year.

He has played a prominent part in the life of the town since his family moved in.

After serving in the Second World War, he was a local councillor and became chairman of the old Rayleigh Urban District Council 50 years ago. He has also been a school governor and Scout master.

Mr Lane was instrumental, with Ted FitzGerald, in instigating the Rayleigh Through the Looking Glass project, which showcases the town’s history through slide shows and raises money for local charities.

Ernie, who has two daughters, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, is the last of five siblings.

He was born in Highbury, north London. His parents, from the West Country, moved to Rayleigh after being persuaded by one of his father’s uncles.

When Ernie first moved to the town with his family in 1920, the population was just 1,000 people, now it is closer to 40,000.

Among his proudest achievements is the creation of a 400-yard footpath from Eastwood Road to Rayleigh Avenue in about 1958.

Ernie did this to help residents of the Eastwood Lodge old people’s home who were unable to use buses or other transport on the unmade road.

He went round the town, recruiting volunteers to help out and persuading people to donate building materials.

Soon after, as a school governor, he also helped build playing fields and an outdoor swimming pool and pavilion at land in Spring Gardens for Love Lane School. And in 1957, he ran the last Rayleigh Carnival.

“It was so big, the police said we could never have another one again. It blocked the centre of the town for about two hours,” Ernie said.

The town council decided to give the alleyway a name because three years ago one of the councillors was trying to call an ambulance to attend there and got into difficulty describing it because the alley was unnamed.

Also at the unveiling were historian Mike Davies, who has carried on the Looking Glass project, town chairman Dave Sperring and Paul Sanders, the manager of Betfred who gave permission for the name plate to be placed on the wall of its premises.

Mr Sperring said: “When deciding what we’d call it, we hit on the idea that the guy who’d done most for the town over the past 70-80 years was Ernie Lane.

“I first remember coming across him as a nine-year-old schoolboy at Love Lane School and he was on the Parent Teachers’ Assocation.

“He’s done a tremendous amount for the town, but the biggest legacy is the history. Rayleigh Through The Looking Glass has passed on our history to the next generation.

“Because of what Ernie’s done we have heritage plaques at key sites across the town, which schools use as part of their curriculum. So this is a fitting tribute to the guy.”

However, Ernie is not the first member of the Lane family to have given his name to a road.

Brother Norman had a road named after him in Australia – Norm Lane – after he was instrumental in getting a golf course built in his local town, Humpty Doo in the Northern Territory.

Golf fan Norman, younger than Ernie by two years, moved to Australia in the Fifties, but sadly died recently.

“Unfortunately, he wasn’t around to see my pleasure,” Ernie added.