Tucked away in an isolated field bordered by the A130 and a railway in Shotgate, near Wickford, Essex, lies two memorials constructed in 1920 to a tragic plane crash which occurred on 7th March 1918 at Dollyman’s Farm. The incident occurred at night when the two young pilots were flying from the RFC Rochford and…
View More
Stow Maries is a village and civil parish in west Essex. In September 1916, during the first World War, an airfield was established at Stow Maries for the Royal Flying Corps. By 1919 the need for airfields lessened and Stow Maries was closed. The site was then considered for development as an airfield during the…
View More
The ranges at Shoeburyness have a long ever-changing history, from the 1840s until present day. The ‘old ranges’, now Gunners’ Park near the Garrison, were in heavy operational through the Victorian and Edwardian eras and wartime up until probably the early Cold War. These ranges also saw use as coastal defences in the Second World…
View More
We visited these structural remains in 2018 and 2020 . The first visit consisted of an initial exploration with photography to identify if these remains existed following prior research. The second visit consisted of a return to film them (video below), joined by Exploring with Em & Stu. Amazingly, we are perhaps the first to…
View More
Two busts that stood in ‘Poets Corner’ of the Winter Gardens, today in the Canvey Heritage Centre. Photographs of Frederick Hester, and his monrail before & after electrification. Also images showing interior of his winter gardens. Have you heard of Frederick Hester, the man who promoted Canvey in the early 1900s to make it a…
View More
In 1891, the Salvation Army established a Home Farm Colony in Hadleigh where the Hadleigh Downs Country Park lies today. The Salvation Army Jetty was used in the early 1900s to load off and on goods, mainly bricks, made at the Salvation Army brickworks located at the bottom of Chapel Lane. The bricks were then…
View More
Shortly before BTP Liam wrote this article, he began reading the book ‘Southend at War’ by the excellent local author Dee Gordon. Beyond the Point’s affiliation with the Imperial War Museum Centenary Partnership meant that it would be both appropriate and useful to create a short documentary on Southend in the First World War inspired…
View More
The history of the garrison dates back to 1849 when the land was first purchased by the Board of Ordanance. Woolwich Common was usually used for testing weapons, although as they became more powerful, they needed a new, larger site. During the Crimean War, the Royal Artillery School of Gunnery was established at Shoeburyness and…
View More
It’s the final two weeks of the Poppy Wave sculpture in Shoeburyness and we decided to take a look before the wave of poppies move onto it’s next location in Plymouth. Shoeburyness was chosen to host ‘Wave’ due to the efforts of the town during the First World War. The Garrison provided crucial training for…
View More
Known as 1, The Thames – this 19th century fort is situated 500 meters out into the mouth of the River Medway and was built to protect local dockyards from the potential invasion from the French. In 2014 the fort was up for sale and was sold for around £400,000 but the Grade II listed…
View More