It is with that in mind that they have become Thurrock Diversity Champions and are determined to go out into the community and fight racism and prejudice at every turn.

On Thursday, the students from Grays Convent, Gateway Academy, William Edwards, Ormiston Park, Harris Academy as well as staff from Thurrock Council and Trust reflected on their experiences at the Thameside Theatre.

YT dropped in on a research seminar down in Tilbury co-presented by Thurrock Council’s heritage officer Jonathan Catton and Essex County Council.

Upminster and yourthurrock film maker Mike Jones enlisted the help of local historian Richard Moorey who presents the story. The film covers the story of the most influential families who lived in the area over the last six hundred years or so including the Esdailes, the Branfils and also features families from more modern times such as the Abrahams, the Aggiss’ and the Roomes.

Mike said “It a was a hugely enjoyable experience making the film and a great learning curve for me as, despite living in the town for most of my life, I didn’t realise how many treasures that you pass by each day without realising their past. In a little over an hour we’ve tried to cover more than one thousand years of history and show you some of the more interesting buildings – some still standing, some now gone. Upminster has a rich past and the people who have lived here over the centuries have fascinating stories to tell.”

Richard’s in depth knowledge includes the sad story of the Esdailes and the scandal involving the rector that rocked Victorian Upminster . The film will appeal to all ages and provoke the viewer into taking more notice of their local surroundings in future.

The DVD is available to buy from Swan Books and directly from www.undiscoveredupminster.com

In Grays, Tilbury, Ockendon, Chadwell and Stanford-le-Hope, representatives of the community held services.

The main service was in Grays. It was led by Rev Darren Barlow from St Peters and St Pauls church.

Once again, it was a seamless service, perfectly pitched and superbly organised.

The most poignant site was the presence of private Alex Stringer who some months ago returned from Afghanistan with terrible injuries.

The former William Edwards student took his place in the parade and in the march-past the borough’s dignitaries.

They will take all the video footage and weave it into a documentary to be published on the BBC in 2012.

YourThurrock has been making films every day for over three years.

On Saturday, we decided to make an extra film that meshed together our Saturday at work in Thurrock.

It is just a little insight into our world and indeed yours.

And it is a credit to people who all respect the tradition. Over at Grays war memorial, the cars slowed down as they drove past the memorial, young drivers turned down their radios.

The armistice pays tribute to the fallen but it says a lot about the people in Britain.

The event led by the British Legion and members of the South Ockendon community was marked by silence as well as a lone piper, and two poetry recitations.

Afterwards, the new Nisa supermarket was opened by the Lady mayor, cllr Wendy Curtis. The owner has donated £11,111,11 to local charities.

Local branches of the Royal British Legion have organised services and marches.

Remembrance services will be held on Friday at 11 am:

Lakeside Shopping Centre: (The House of Fraser end)
Grays War Memorial
Moto Services
Derwent Parade

Saturday

A service will take place at Orsett War Memorial, in High Road, organised by the Chadwell St March branch of the legion, at 10.50am.

Sunday

Services and remembrance parades at Grays War Memorial, South Ockendon War Memorial as well as services in Purfleet, Stanford-le-Hope and Tilbury.

We spoke to the president of the Grays Branch of the British Legion, Barrie Lawrence as he campaigned in Lakeside about this years fund-raising.

The YT cameras dropped in one some of the remembrances which are even more poignant in light of the fact that this is remembrance week.

Can you imagine being down by the shore in Brixham, Devon and witnessing the Golden Hind being eviscerated; can you imagine seeing the Cutty Sark being ripped up in Greenwich or the Britannia being melted down in Leith Docks?

No, nor can we.

It is a fascinating glimpse into the past. As you go through the postcards, Orsett looks the same but it is the little things that are not there anymore.

We hope to bring you a lot more archive material in the coming year.

This autumn’s OPEN DAY will be held on Wednesday 5th October 2011 at East Tilbury Library, Princess Avenue, East Tilbury RM18 8ST.

Project members will welcome visitors from 11am to 4pm. There will be an opportunity to meet and chat to past workers and inhabitants of the BATA estate. Many of the visitors will be returning to East Tilbury after several years away. Why not come and find an old friend ?

The theme this OPEN DAY is “sports.” There were many sports activities for the workers and their families.

They will have lots of team photos on display. Also BATA produced many sports shoes for the sporting stars of the day. Lots of photos on display.

Souvenir postcards will be available to purchase, as will copies of M.A.Ramsey’s book “The Origin and Development of the BATA Factory and Estate” published last year. Details of BATA’s history can be found on www.batamemories.org.uk

The society was represented at the Horndon Feast and Fair and the Orsett Show, where they were sited in the heritage marquee, funded by the Port of Tilbury as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations.

This project was organised by the Heritage Forum and Thurrock Museum. As well as selling the usual local history journals, these events presented an opportunity to sell the society’s latest publications, brief guides to some of Thurrock’s parishes, Chadwell, Horndon and Orsett, which will eventually form a complete set of all the local parishes.