In the late 1950's just before I left school, a mate and I went camping on the Essex Marshes. In those days that particular area near a little place called Corbets Tey was all rough grass and marshland with scattered lonely farms, later someone built a little road called the M25 through it and submerged it in tarmac and housing estates..
In school we had been studying Dickens' 'Great Expectations,' with mist shrouded Marshes, rotting Prison Hulks, and escaped convicts, so our idea was to have a looksee if it really was such a creepy place at night. My mate's name I recall was Gary Player (not the South African Golfer). We had two cotton tents bought from Silverman's Surplus in East London and a collection of blankets, tinned food and Mars Bars.....
We rode our heavily laden push bikes out along the muddy tracks heading towards the ruins of some old brick and corrugated tin buildings of a former military base. I believe it was an old Listening Post built to provide warning of air attacks on East London. It was late Summer and still light when we arrived where much to our amazement and annoyance we found a very flash, quite new, Sunbeam Rapier car parked behind one of the old ruined buildings. I clearly remember that red and white car with the Rapier badges on the rear wings. We wanted to light a fire but decided not to until the car and occupant(s) cleared off, so Gary stoked up the brass Primus.
By 8.30pm the car was still there, and the daylight was fading so we decided to try to find out if there was anyone near, or had the car been stolen? I went to one of the old buildings and Gary went to another, half expecting to find either nothing or what was politely known then as "a courting couple"
Suddenly there was the most horrifying scream and Gary appeared running flat out away from the building and back towards our tents. I ran to the building that he had just left and there hanging from the angle iron roof trusses was a body. An empty Gin or perhaps Vodka bottle ( it was clear glass anyway) and also a small carrier bag lay in a puddle on the concrete floor beneath the body.
I immediately legged it back towards the tents...
I like to think that our bike ride towards civilisation was approaching Olympic record speed, It was fairly quick anyway, but before we reached the proper road surface we saw a black car with a silver bell on the front bumper driving slowly towards us down the Marsh track. In those days all Police cars were black with bells on...
Gary poured out the details and it transpired that the Sunbeam Rapier was the same car, the details of which the Policeman had in his notebook. The PC's had decided as part of a general search for the missing car and it's distressed (lady) occupant, to check on the Marsh tracks and buildings.
The police car was not a 'Radio Car' as they were called in those days, so it meant a drive to the nearest telephone for the Pc's to report their findings. One Officer stayed at the building and the other allowed us to pile our camping gear into the Police Car, neither of us felt inclined to carefully pack it properly in our back packs. So off the little convoy went, a Police Car loaded with camping gear followed by two white faced teenagers all the way back to safety at Corbets Tey village.
We spent the night on Sofas in the Conservatory of the village Post Mistress's cottage, although I do remember we didn't actually sleep much..