Heybridge Basin (Cannibal Island)

Village Sewage Collector

Frank 'Winks' Woodcraft.

Operated during the early 20th Century

He collected it from the outside 'Privvys' with his Cart.

The cart was known as a 'Cowl cart'. The cart was once lost in the canal at the watering point. The dung was first dumped in the area where Springett's cottage is and later a coal yard. It was then dumped at the end of Chapel Lane. Sometimes 'Winks' could be heard to say 'theres more shit than paper'. During the floods in 1928 'Winks' abandoned the cart in the middle of the road and ran for his life. The cart was finally abandoned and left in the village pond down by the church.