Southend-on-Sea News Stories

Today, Monday the 7th of May 2012, saw the May Day Celebrations in Old Leigh. Here are a few photos of the day. The Bank Holiday Monday celebrations started off at midday with a short parade from the Leigh Heritage Centre, followed by the crowning of the May Queen, dancing around the maypole, Morris dancing, [...]

Southend Pier has been closed to the public, possibly until the end of March 2012, after it was struck by a Leigh fishing boat on Friday the 17th of February. It seems that as a result of the impact, the walkway is distorted, and repairs are needed before it can be opened to the public [...]

Come on Southenders – time to show your support for a worthy local cause, and for this rather novel fundraising idea Over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of April, there will be a 24 hour music marathon taking place on Southend Pier. The event is in aid of Southend Mencap, and it’s a [...]

Today, a grey and overcast Winter’s day, I took a rather miserable stroll down Southend High Street, stopping briefly to watch the shop-clearers doing their work gutting the latest High Street name to fall – Hawkins Bazaar. As you may have read in the press, Hawkin’s Bazaar (owned by the Tobar Group) went into administration [...]

Southend Pier has been closed as of Tuesday the 6th of September 2011, as a result of an impact by a barge. High winds on Tuesday caused the 80 foot barge  that was being used by contractors doing work on the pier, to crash into the end of the pier. For more, see the video [...]

This week sees two stores on Southend High Street close their doors for the last time. TJ Hughes Closes After being on the High Street for only a year, the T.J Hughes bargain department store closed on Tuesday the 16th, with the loss of 60 jobs. The store was, of course, the site of the [...]

Today, Sunday 31st July, it’s open day at the main fire station in Southend. Free entry til 4pm and is a fun family day. Sit in a fire engine, play in the fire boat and have a look around the station. There are a series of demos and there’s a bouncy castle for the kids. [...]

On Sunday the 24th of July 2011, there’s some free theatre in Southend’s Priory Park, suitable for all the family. “The Anglo Saxon World of Beowulf” takes place from 4pm to 6.30pm This is a brand new work, set to an original score, inspired by the epic poem of Beowulf. If you’re not familiar with [...]

A quick reminder to anyone in the Southend-on-Sea area that gets Anglia TV that we’re just about a week away from the Anglia Digital TV Switchover. Here’s what you need to know: Get your TV from the Anglia region? The Sudbury transmitter covers a large chunk of South Essex and the analogue services will be [...]

Low-cost airline Easyjet has announced that it will be flying from London Southend Airport from next year. As locals will know, Southend Airport is expanding, the new control tower is up and running, and the airport railway station on the Liverpool Street line is due to open in July. There’s also plans for an airport [...]

Roads around Hamlet Court Road in Westcliff are closed this morning as a result of a major fire on Hamlet Court Road. The fire appears to have started at 9:20pm last night (Sunday the 8th May 2011), and has destroyed a deserted shop. It’s the site of the former Londis and Budgens, next to the [...]

Results coming in for the AV (Alternative Vote) Referendum seem to be showing a pretty clear “No” to changing the UK’s election system (as expected). If you’re interested in how the people of Southend voted in the 5th May 2011 referendum, here are the results: 38% of the people of Southend turned out to vote [...]

Today marks the close of the 2011 Southend Film Festival, Southend’s celebration of film. Screenings took place at the Palace Theatre, the Park Inn Plaza and the Pod at South Essex College, and you can find out more about this year’s film festival at http://www.southendfilmfestival.com The reason for this post? To draw your attention to [...]

In November 2009, we reported on an exhibition of previously unseen images of celebrities who appeared in Southend and Romford back in 1963. The exhibition, called Unseen 1963, featured a selection of photos taken by press photographer Derek Cross. The never before seen images of stars such as Cliff Richard, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones [...]

Just a reminder that this weekend sees National Census Day - Southenders have to complete the rather hefty Census form on Sunday the 27th of March. Each person staying at your house on the day will need to answer the 42 questions on the 32 page form. Questions include: H11. Do you have solid wood central [...]