Day One of the Southend Air Show (“Festival of the Air”) is drawing to a close. Visibility’s been great, but the high winds have caused a couple of displays to be cancelled, including the Battle of Britain flypast. The winds have not stopped some impressive flying from various RAF aircraft, a display by the rescue helicopter, stunt flying and wing-walkers. Sadly, no Red Arrows this year.

Ending today was a very noisy display from the always-impressive Typhoon.

Weather’s looking great for Bank Holiday Monday’s free show on the seafront, and as well as planes, there’s fun for all the family (as they say) right the way along Western Esplanade.

Not a great day for photos here on Western Esplanade, but here are a couple.

More on our Southend Airshow page.

In case it’s escaped your notice, this weekend is a bank holiday weekend, and in Southend, it’s the Southend Airshow. Two days of aircraft buzzing the crowds gathered below along Southend seafront. 

Taking part this year wil be the Mustang, Sabra, Sea King, RAF Falcons, Kittyhawk, the Typhoon and the Tornado. There will also be a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Sadly, the Red Arrows won’t be taking part this year, as a result of a mid-air collision during a training flight in Crete this March.

See what some of the locals are saying about this year’s airshow lineup in our forum.

Flying starts from 1:30pm both days. As well as the action in the air, there are a number of activities on the ground too – including the RAF, Army and Navy. As in previous years, visitors will also be able to try various rides and simulators, a giant inflatable’, and various other activities.

Handy Airshow links:

• Southend Airshow 2010 Flying Programme
• Southend Travel – Information on travelling to Southend

We’d also encourage anyone keen to keep up-to-date on the event, local travel, and commentaries on the flights, to tune to the excellent radio service offered by local radio station BBC Essex. Tune in to Radio Airshow on 1530AM to hear comprehensive coverage of Sunday and Monday’s air festival.

Those locals not interested in aircraft or crowds, are expected to vacate the town, or do what our office cat was doing this afternoon during the test flight of something very noisy over Westcliff… hiding.

We wish all those visiting and taking part in the airshow well, and we all have our fingers and paws crossed that we get two days of dry and sunny weather.

A new addition to our site – Southend Essentials.

Southend Essentials is a handy one-page guide to visiting Southend-on-Sea. It’s intended as a single sheet that you can print out and bring with you. The guide includes train times, phone numbers, attractions, food and drink, plus accommodation.

It’s available as a PDF (for one-page printing), or as a web page.

• Southend Essentials (Web version)
• Southend Essentials (PDF version)

Suggestions for the next version are welcomed.

Bad news for visitors to Southend as the famous seafront illuminations are set to remain off in 2008.

The Southend-on-Sea Christmas lights weren’t on in 2007. The reason? The Southend Seafront Illuminations and Business Association chose not to light the lights in 2007 due to the “spiralling costs and increasing maintenance” needed to keep the bulbs burning.

Originally set to return in 2009, a news story on the Echo News website earlier this year highlighted that the seafront illuminations may now be un-illuminated until 2010.

Tony Blair has announced that Southend-on-Sea is to be one of 40 UK towns and cities to become a ‘Respect Zone’, which seems to mean that extra money will be supplied to provide parenting classes, tackle truancy and advise the public on taking action against so-called “neighbours from hell”.

Full details: Independant Online article

Thanks to Nita from Southend Solar scheme for getting in touch with this. They provide grants for up to £1500 for the installation of Solar Hot Water systems, with prices starting at around £2,500. This offer is open to anyone who owns their home and lives in the borough of Southend. There is also the possibility that you can get a home assistance loan, if you are on a low income or qualifying benefits. It is possible for everyone in Southend to help to reduce carbon emmisions and protect the environment for more information about the scheme and your eligibilty call 0800 0966356 (there are more details on the Southend Council Web)

The Southend Bikeathon takes place on Sunday September 10th 2006. Come along, join in the fun and raise funds for Leukaemia Research. Top individual and team fundraisers will be presented with trophies at an awards presentation evening.

More information at www.southendbikeathon.co.uk

The team behind Sarfend.co.uk are considering creating a Southend podcast. Comments?

According to a report from one of the UK credit monitoring agencies, Southend-on-Sea is the South’s number one hot spot for ID theft. Be on your guard.
Some basic tips to protect your identity can be found here