'Southend-on-Sea' is a
seaside resort and
unitary authority in the
East of England. The borough of Southend-on-Sea is part of the
ceremonial county of
Essex and is located on the north side of the
Thames estuary roughly 40 miles (65 km) east of central
London. It is bordered to the north by
Rochford and to the west by
Castle Point. Southend is twinned with the Polish seaside resort of
Sopot.
History
Originally the south end of the village of
Prittlewell, Southend became a popular seaside resort for people during the
Georgian era. Owing to its proximity to London and easy access by train, the town's economy has largely been based on
tourism ever since.
Southend Pier is the world's longest pleasure
pier at 1.34 miles (2158 metres). Over the years the pier has suffered fires and ship collisions, most recently in October 2005, but it has been repaired each time.
With the decline of traditional British sea-side resorts, from the
1960s onwards much of the centre of Southend was developed as a centre of commerce, and many of the original features of this once-attractive Victorian seaside town were destroyed through redevelopment or neglect.
H.M. Revenue & Customs (HMRC), (formerly H.M. Customs and Excise), are major employers in the town, and the central offices for the collection of
VAT are located there. Southend recently opened the new
University of Essex, Southend, aimed at boosting the town's flagging economy.
There are nine railway stations within the Borough boundary serving the many Southend residents who
commute to work in London.
Local and National Government
Local government district
Southend-on-Sea was formed as a
municipal borough in
1892 with the functions of local government shared with
Essex County Council. In 1913 the borough was enlarged by gaining the former area of
Leigh on Sea Urban District. In 1914 the enlarged Southend-on-Sea gained the status of
county borough, exempt from
county council control and a single-tier of local government. The county borough was enlarged in 1933 by gaining the former area of
Shoeburyness Urban District and part of
Rochford Rural District.
In 1974, under the
Local Government Act 1972, Southend on Sea became a district of Essex with borough status, however in 1998 it again became the single tier of local government when it became a
unitary authority.
Council
There are currently 17 wards each returning three councillors, making a total of 51. Councillors serve a four year term and are elected by thirds (i.e. one third of the council is elected each year, followed by one year without election). Following the
2007 local elections, the composition is:
The council is thus controlled by the Conservative Party. Most day to day decisions of the council are made up of a 10 member executive cabinet headed by the council leader.
Alliance Southend was formed when two independent councillors from Westborough Ward were joined by two councillors who left the Conservative Party. The latter two are no longer members of the Council and two new Independents have been elected. The total of 4 Independents now have formed a group called Independents Alliance 4 Southend.
The town's coat-of-arms bears the motto 'Per Mare Per Ecclesiam' which translates into 'By the Sea and By the Church', reflecting Southend's historic position between the Church at
Prittlewell and the sea as in the
Thames estuary.
The town is twinned with the resort town of
Sopot in
Poland. Sopot is the location of the longest wooden pier in Europe, while Southend is the location of the longest iron pleasure pier in the world.
Members of Parliament
Main articles: Rochford and Southend East (UK Parliament constituency)
Main articles: Southend West (UK Parliament constituency)
Southend is represented by two
MPs at Westminster.
The MP for
Southend West has been, since
1997,
David Amess (
Conservative) who replaced
Paul Channon.
Since the
2005 General Election the MP for
Southend East and nearby Rochford has been
James Duddridge (
Conservative), who replaced the long serving MP
Sir Teddy Taylor. Despite its name the majority of the constituency is in Southend, Rochford makes up only a small part and the majority of Rochford District Council is actually represented by the MP for
Rayleigh.
Both seats are considered to be "safe seats" for the Conservative Party.
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Southend-on-Sea at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added[1] | Agriculture[2] | Industry[3] | Services[4] |
|---|
| 1995 | '1,373' | 2 | 305 | 1,066 |
| 2000 | '1,821' | 1 | 375 | 1,445 |
| 2003 | '2,083' | - | 418 | 1,665 |
1. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
2. includes hunting and forestry
3. includes energy and construction
4. includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
5. Essex Farmers Markets
6. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1862738,00.html - 'The beach boys', Guardian Unlimited Arts article on the scene
Transport
Railways
Southend is served by two railway lines. Running from
Southend Victoria northwards out of the town is the Liverpool Street line, a branch of the
Great Eastern Railway currently operated by
'one'. The service operates to
London Liverpool Street via
Prittlewell,
Rochford,
Hockley,
Rayleigh,
Wickford,
Billericay,
Shenfield and
Stratford.
The second service,
London, Tilbury and Southend (LTS), known as the Fenchurch Street line, currently operated by
c2c runs from
Shoeburyness in the east of the borough, west through
Thorpe Bay,
Southend East,
Southend Central to
Fenchurch Street in London via Benfleet, Basildon or Tilbury and Barking. Additionally, two services from Southend Central each weekday evening terminate at
Liverpool Street.
Road
There are two main A-Roads connecting Southend with London and the rest of the country, the
A127 (''The Southend Arterial Road''), via Basildon and
Romford, and the
A13, via Tilbury and
London Docklands. Both are major routes. However, within the borough of Southend, the A13 is primarily a single carriageway local route, whereas the A127 is entirely a dual carriageway. Both roads lead to the M25.
Buses
Local public transport is served by two main bus companies,
Arriva Southend (formerly the council owned Southend Corporation Transport) and
First Essex Buses (formerly known as Eastern National). Other minor bus companies serving the town include
Stephensons of Essex,
Stansted Transit and
Regal Busways.
Southend Transport (more recently Arriva) operated a coach service to
Victoria Coach Station under the Greenline brand; this is now run by Stephensons of Essex. There is also a
National Express coach service (route 305) to
Liverpool, which operates daily.
Southend Airport
London Southend Airport supports scheduled flights to
Jersey on summer Saturdays. The new terminal and rail station planned for 2008 operation will almost certainly lead to a greater range of destinations becoming available from the airport, as well as being able to handle 1-2 million passengers a year. Discussions are already being held with interested airlines. Developed from the former military airfield at
Rochford it also supports an important mix of engineering activities related to aviation and pilot training, corporate and recreational flights, as well as being home to
Avro Vulcan bomber XL426. Southend airport has an extremely good maintenance area and offers high tech maintenance. Also the facilities are extremely good. Flybe use a De Havilland DHC-8-Q400 Dash 8 aircraft manufactured in Canada.
Education
Secondary schools
In
2004 Southend remained one of the areas of the UK that retain the
grammar school system and has four schools of this type:
Southend High School for Boys,
Southend High School for Girls,
Westcliff High School for Boys and
Westcliff High School for Girls. Additionally there are two single sex schools assisted by the Roman Catholic church:
St Bernard's High School for Girls and
St Thomas More High School for Boys. Both of these, while not technically grammar schools, contain a grammar stream; entrance to these streams is gained by passing the same entrance exam as the grammar schools. The other 6 main-stream secondary schools in the area are all mixed sex comprehensive schools, including
Cecil Jones College, Chase High School (formerly Prittlewell High School), Thorpe Bay High School (soon to be Futures College) and Shoeburyness High School.
Further and higher education
A number of secondary schools in the area offer further education, but the largest provider of further education is South East Essex College
[1], located in a new building in the centre of town.
Currently the College offers over thirty degree courses matriculated by the
University of Essex. The university's centre in the town is currently a single building on the High Street
[2]. The University, however, has built its own centre in Southend, located next to the new College building on the site of the old Odeon cinema. These buildings form the first two phases of the Southend Campus. The University notes that 'South Essex is probably the largest conurbation in the country without a significant higher education presence'. This development will change this.
Entertainment and culture
Seafront attractions
Southend on Sea from one mile out along the
pier
Pier view taken from Adventure Island
Adventure Island in foreground with the Palace Hotel in the background
The town is well known for its seafront attractions. Since 1986, a diesel-hydraulic railway has been running the length of the famous
pier, replacing the original electric service which opened in 1890.
A fire in October 2005 seriously damaged the far end of the pier. The pier has been beset by a history of fires, the previous occasion, in
1995 destroyed the bowling alley at the start of the pier. The pier was also run through by a boat in
1984.
The Kursaal was one of the earliest theme parks, built at the start of the
20th century. It closed in the
1970s and much of the land was developed as housing. The entrance hall, a listed building, is now a bowling alley arcade (operated by
Megabowl) and casino.
Another newer theme park,
Adventure Island, developed on land formerly occupied by
Peter Pan's Playground, straddles the pier entrance. It is a popular attraction for both adults and children, and despite a restriction on available land has continued to grow into a large
amusement park with over 50 rides. The sea-front also houses a "Sea-Life Centre"
aquarium.
To the east of the pier was the location of a replica of the
Golden Hind housing a
waxworks collection.
The cliff gardens, which included
Never Never Land, and Victorian bandstand were a popular attraction until slippage in
2003 made parts of the cliffs unstable, and the bandstand has been removed for safe keeping. The council has expressed its desire to re-erect the bandstand but a suitable location has yet to be found.
A modern cliff lift links the base of the High Street with the new pier entrance. The older cliff lift, a short
funicular railway, is located a few hundred metres away, now closed because structural and mechanical work needs to be done in order to meet European Union Legislation which classes it as a cablecar.
In August the Southend Carnival is opened along the ''
Golden Mile'' with the lighting of the
Southend Illuminations which continue until November. (The Council authorities decided that due to the need for repair to meet Health & Safety requirements, and funding issues, the Illuminations would not be held in 2007 and 2008).
On the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, Southend hosts one of the busiest farmers markets in the county.
[5]
Theatres
There are three theatres in the town.
The
Cliffs Pavilion is a large building and is able to host different forms of show including musical concerts, and performances on ice.
The most recent theatre is the
New Empire Theatre. It is, unlike the other two theatres, privately owned. It is used far more by amateur dramatic groups. The theatre was converted from the former ABC Cinema, which itself was originally a theatre, built in
1896. Therefore, as well as being Southend's newest theatre, it is arguably the oldest as well.
The Edwardian era
Palace Theatre is a grade II listed building built in
1912. It shows plays from professional troupes and repertory groups, as well as some comedy acts. The theatre has two circles and is noted for having the steepest rake in Britain. Part of the theatre was a smaller venue called "The Dixon Studio". This was used for more intimate performances.
Sport
Southend boasts two football teams, one of league stature,
Southend United, which is managed by former player
Steve Tilson, the other being
Southend Manor, who play in the
Essex Senior League. United competed in
Football League Championship (the second highest division of the
English football league system) after being promoted as champions of
Football League One at the end of the
2005-06 season. They have since been relegated back down to League One.
There are 2 rugby clubs in town with a nationwide profile,
Southend R.F.C. and
Westcliff R.F.C., with Southend having the superior men's first team (playing in
National Division 3 South) but Westcliff having the more developed youth set up.
County Cricket is played at Southend by
Essex County Cricket Club for one week during the season. Previously the festival was held at Southchurch Park, but it has now moved to a newer facility at Garon Park. That aside, the only cricket in Southend is local league Cricket.
Music
The establishment of the Junkclub in the basement of the Royal Hotel on Southend seafront in
2002 heralded the creation of a 'Southend scene'
[6]. Bands associated with the scene included
The Horrors,
These New Puritans,
The Violets, and
Neils Children. Junk was terminated in
2006, but a replacement, the Experimental Circle Club, was set up and now operates in both Southend and London. Chinnery's is the biggest venue of live music in Southend-on-Sea and has had a huge number of 'named' bands play there, especially over the past few years. Arctic monkeys, Zebrahead to name but too. And with an expansion currently underway, i'm sure we will see many big bands to come. Southend also has a very big unsigned scene, Lunatic High, Producers with computers, Kobe, just watch this space.
Notable people from Southend
★
James Bourne, singer/guitarist in
Son of Dork and previously in
Busted.
★
Kevin Bowyer, concert
organist
★
Brian Cleeve, author and broadcaster
★
Jonathan Clements, author
★
Phil Cornwell, actor and impressionist
★
Tina Cousins, singer
★
Danielle Dax, musician, actress and
performance artist
★
Sam Duckworth, Singer/songwriter, guitarist in
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
★
Warren Ellis, graphic novelist
★
John Hutton, politician
★
Daniel Jones, musician, producer and former member of
Savage Garden
★
Oliver Jones, singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and audio engineer
★
Svend Joscelyne AKA Dreadknux, owner of
The Sonic Stadium
★
Phill Jupitus, comedian
★
Simon Schama, historian, who lived in Southend in the late 1940s
★
Benjamin Grosvenor, BBC Young Musician of the Year Finalist
★
Andrew Baker, famed BBC Radio Commentator
★
Mickey Jupp, musician
★
Dominic Littlewood, TV presenter of several programmes, most notably
To Buy or Not to Buy
★
John Lloyd, former British tennis number one
★
Robert Lloyd, opera singer
★
Lee Mead, musical theatre actor and winner of the
BBC show
Any Dream Will Do on 9 June 2007
★
Helen Mirren, actress
★
Annabel Port, broadcaster
★
Spencer Prior, former Southend United and Derby County footballer
★
Jake Shillingford, Singer/songwriter, founder of
My Life Story
★
Peter Taylor, football manager
★
Kara Tointon, actress (Currently plays the part of
Dawn Swann in
EastEnders)
★
Robin Trower and
Gary Brooker,
guitarist and
vocalist of
Procol Harum
★
Michael Ward, founder of Nita Nitros football team
★
Toby Whithouse, scriptwriter and actor
;Bands
★ Dr Feelgood, Seventies pub-rock band. Their 1978 album 'Stupidity', recorded live at the Kursaal, was a UK No.1.
★
Junkboy, post rock band
★
Lunatic High, rock band
★
The Horrors, rock band
★
The Kursaal Flyers, Seventies rock band
★
These New Puritans, rock band
★
Switches, rock band
See also
Thames Gateway,
UK topics
Towns within the Borough of Southend
Chalkwell,
Eastwood,
Leigh-on-Sea,
Prittlewell,
Shoeburyness,
Southchurch,
Thorpe Bay,
Westcliff-on-Sea
External links
★
Southend Association of Voluntary Services
★
University of Essex in Southend★
★
Southend Festival Home Page
★
Southend Borough Council
★
Southend-on-Sea - White's Directory of Essex, 1848
★
Longpier - blog about Southend & Southend United
★
Kursaal - A History Of The Kursaal
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