This article was first published in the West Sussex Gazette on May 15th 1997.

Back in April last year this column featured Grice's town centre bakery in Montague Street, Worthing. Since then, one of the most interesting follow-up letters came from one of the bakery's former employees, Ted Cottingham (82), who now lives in Findon.

'I was born in Broadwater in the year 1913. On leaving school at the age of 14 (1927) my very first job was with Grice's, my wages possibly being about 15 shillings per week.'

'My boss was Mr Bob Grice; we used to call him Mr Bob and his brother who dealt with all the cakes made in Montague Street we called Mr Jack. My working day started at 6.30 am and my first job each day was to wheel six barrow loads of coke into the stoke-hole which fired the ovens at the Queen Street bakery.'

'I would then load my trade bicycle basket with bread etc and my first daily call was always to deliver two dozen rolls to the Thomas A Becket pub. Then on to Waterworks Lane (renamed Hillbarn Lane) to serve all the houses at the far end of the lane, which housed all the folk that worked in the waterworks. The name Chatfield rings a bell, I think he was the chief engineer there at that time.'

'On returning to the bakery, the old Ford T van was loaded and I would set off with my bicycle and follow the van to serve all the outlying customers in the Worthing and Broadwater areas, including East Worthing. That used to take us up to 2 pm, then re-load the van and set off for Sompting, Cokeham and part of Lancing.

Our day would end around 6 pm. My mate then was named Terry Parton. He was from a very old Broadwater family who resided in Broadwater Street West which looked a lot different to what it does today, I might say.'

'I worked for Grice's for about two years and then went into the family business of Chessell which was my mother's name before marriage. They were painters and decorators, builders, etc.'

It appears that there were two branches of the family running separate businesses.

'There were the Broadwater Chessells (run by my grandfather) and the West Worthing Chessells (run by my uncle).'

'I worked for the West Worthing Chessells as my uncle had no sons and as a lad was always told that I had to go and learn the trade with them, which I did and when my uncle retired in 1958 I took over the firm and ran it until 1978.'

During the Second World War, Ted served five and a half years in the Middle East, Italy and Greece with the lst Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment.

'We don't hear or read too much about the Royal Sussex but the First Battalion was in the Middle East (Egypt) at the outbreak of war and was quickly involved in the Desert War. I joined the battalion in 1941 and we were in the front line of the Battle of El Alamein. Something I won't and can't forget and I guess all the chaps who were there won't.'

'We were also at Monte Cassino in Italy. The battalion was part of, according to the history books, the famous 4th Indian Division that also contained the famous Gurkha Regiments. Lovely, lovely lads they were too.'

This article was first published in the West Sussex Gazette on May 15th 1997.