Kenneth ALSTON [7086]

  General Notes:

Essex Record Office
Level: CategorySound Archive
Level: FondsPOLICE TAPES
Level: SeriesInterviews by Maureen Scollan
Level: ItemInterview with Kenneth Alston, former Assistant Chief Constable with Essex Police, by Inspector Maureen Scollan
Reference Code SA 25/1/1/1
Dates of Creationc.1990-1991
Extent115 minutes
Title[Interview with Kenneth Alston, former Assistant Chief Constable with Essex Police, by Inspector Maureen Scollan]
Scope and ContentTAPE 1: SIDE A - Joined police in 1934; Training at Headquarters in Chelmsford; posted to Clacton; MO Department set up at Headquarters to record the methods used by criminals; work of the Chief Constable's Office; memory of Bill Elles, a saddler in the High Street in Billericay, who looked after the stray dogs in the area, and also tended the graves of german Zeppelin airmen buried at Great Burstead church; first course for prospective senior officers at police training college at Ryton-on-Dunsmore [Warwickshire], 1948; trouble with barrow boys from Romford market; trouble caused by Teddy Boys at cinema in South Street, Romford; Rolling Stones performance at another cinema; Inspector at Harwich, 1949 to 1953; old borough customs still observed; smuggling, particularly by the soldiers being transported to and from Germany through Harwich; recalls having to recover bodies of seamen killed when one of the boilers on the troopship SS Vienna exploded; story of a goat, which was a regimental mascot, being seized by customs officials, much to the annoyance of the regiment's commanding officer. TAPE 1: SIDE B - 1953 floods at Harwich, capsizing of the ferry 'Princess Victoria', and capsizing of a fishing boat, assistance from HMS Ganges (the boys training college) with boats used to rescue stranded people, homeless taken to army embarkation establishment in Harwich; details of postings and promotion; changes brought about by the London Government Act 1963, Romford Division transferred to Metropolitan Police, effects on staff, details of police station buildings handed over; amalgamation of county constabulary with Southend-on-Sea Constabulary, opposed strongly by Southend. TAPE 2: SIDE A - memories of Chief Constable Sir John Nightingale; case of PC who was late for duty so often that he had to appear before the Chief Constable, but telephoned to say that he would be late for the appointment; details of Police Mobile Column set up for civil defence purposes in the 1960s, designed to be able to survive and take care of itself in the event of a nuclear war; involvement in a dispute with the Inland Revenue who were attempting to claim tax on police property; robbery at Meakers, a gentlemen's outfitters in Romford; case of woman who appeared to have committed suicide using a gas oven but was later found to have been strangled. TAPE 2: SIDE B - Blank
Creator NameMaureen Scollan
Admin HistoryKenneth Frank Alston was born 2 September 1911 and died in June 1993.
Physical Characteristics2 cassettes
Related DescriptionA transcript of this recording is available. Reference: SA 25/1/1/3
Acquisition Date From1990
Acquisition Date To1991