The publication by the Hadleigh and Thundersley Community Archive folks in 2015 received several reviews in the local press, as it’s crammed full of history, pictures and memories, well-designed and there have been several mentions of its research and readability. It’s appreciated.
This book was so well liked that by 2023 it had sold out!
An exciting centre spread appeared in the Echo on Friday, 10th July 2015, written by top journalist Tom King.
The author arrived fashionably late at Hadleigh Library on the following Saturday morning for a signing session, a queue of book/history lovers was patiently waiting. Malcolm Brown kept track of the names of those who had previously reserved their Limited Edition (numbered and signed) hardback copies. 
The afternoon was spent signing more books at the Daws Heath Village Fayre at St Michael’s, Daws Heath. Again we had queues, not tremendous queues, but queues nevertheless. Add to that Bob Delderfield’s new connections and offers of memories and pictures, it was a shame to sometimes have to curtail conversations. One person even admitted she had already read the book cover to cover. Particularly gratifying to my mind was the number of people who wanted their book dedicated to them as ‘family’.
Then on Monday the review was followed up by another plug for the book on the ‘Letters’ page of the Echo.
Since then there has been another mention in the Echo Letters page and a half page appeared in Leigh Times, as well as two three-quarter pages in their Summer Times magazine No. 37. (The full articles were too large for my scanner.)
On Saturday 18th July we had another successful sales and signing session as guests at the Leigh Historical Society Open Day and the biggest bookshop in town asked to sell the book. It’s now also available at Waterstones.
(Layout and front cover image of the book by artist and designer David Hurrell.)
Some review snippets from the various publications:
‘Thundersley has a fascinating history. Robert’s narrative ranges from pre-history … through pagan, medieval and Tudor history. Some of the most colourful snippets belong to the 20th century…’ (Tom King, The Echo, 10.7.2015)
‘This 200-page book has been brilliantly researched, and contains a fascinating collection of pictures that would do justice to any ‘Down Memory Lane’ series. Overall it is one of the most readable local history books, and after reading it you will have a completely different impression of Thundersley than you have now.’ (Leigh and Westcliff Times, 14.7.2015)
‘Home to writers, artisans and stars. …Many fascinating stories. …One of the most readable histories of a local area in Southend …this brilliant historical book.’ (Michael Guy, Leigh Times Summer Special 2015)
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