I’m Bob Massey, an Essex boy born and bred.
I grew up in Havering, attending Wykeham primary school near ‘Roneo Corner’
then Romford Technical High School, which became Marshalls Park School in 1973.
The former Romford Tech campus was demolished in 1999 and a housing estate built on the site. .
When I was eighteen my parents moved to Sheffield;
fortunately I found a scrap of paper with their new address and, after completing my ‘A’ Levels, I followed them.
I subsequently spent ten years in that holy city.
I returned to Essex in 1986 with my beautiful wife Valerie, settling in an area of South Woodham Ferrers where the streets took their names from the works of J.R.R.Tolkien.
I lost Valerie to an aggressive form of Leukaemia in the October of 2016, a few weeks before our 34th wedding anniversary.
This site, and my home, take their name from the Mallorn tree that grew in Lothlorien; it was where Tolkien’s elves made their home.
Work-wise I was involved with Information Technology (or Data Processing as it was called when I started) since early 1979.
Computers in those days were behemoths that needed their own working environments, yet had less processing power than the average modern smart-phone.
Once upon a time I used to think I had a career. Now I concede that I had a succession of jobs.
It was fun for the most part, and, as Sir Terry Pratchett would describe it, “mostly indoor work, with no heavy lifting“.
I gave up the day job in May 2017, following my election to represent the residents of South Woodham Ferrers at Essex County Council (see below). I quickly realised that County Council meetings – taking place during working hours – would mean I would not have time to adequately perform my ‘day job’.
I wasn’t enjoying it, so I quit; and while I’ll never be rich, I can afford the occasional holiday.
I’ve served on South Woodham Ferrers Town Council (with a gap when I worked away in Edinburgh for a year) since 1988.
In May 2011 I was elected to Chelmsford City (then Borough) Council,
I was re-elected to both Town and City Councils in May 2015, and in May 2017 I was elected to represent South Woodham Ferrers at Essex County Council.
I served as Mayor of Chelmsford from 2019-20, then Mayor of South Woodham Ferrers from 2020-21.
Following the unexpected passing of the then Mayor of Chelmsford – John Galley – I served as Deputy Mayor from November ’22 – May ’23.
While serving as Mayor of Chelmsford, in June 2019 I attended Chelmsford’s ‘twin town’ of Backnang in Germany,
for their Straßenfest. While there I met Ali Perrott who was attending with Chelmsford’s twinning association.
We started ‘going out’ shortly afterwards and Ali (with her cat Bonnie) joined me in South Woodham Ferrers on ‘lockdown day’ in March 2020.
We were married on November 5th 2021 at the Essex Records Office in Chelmsford.
There are more wedding pics here.