Driving through Rawreth Industrial Estate you wouldn’t have a clue that you were driving past some old Prisoner of War buildings; but they were once known locally as “Rawreth Camp” or “The Gunsite”. According to the Rochford District Community Archive, the site was constructed at the start of the Second World War, in 1940, originally…
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Defending Billericay’s railway line and bridge lies an abandoned spigot mortar emplacement – a crude form of defence designed for use by the Home Guard during the Second World War against invasion. It comprised of a brick pit with ammunition recesses around the sides, and a pedestal with a stainless steel pin in the top…
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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…
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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…
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Shornemead Fort was one of many built along the Thames to protect London from an invasion. The fort was built on the site of a previous battery which started to be built in 1847 however after six years of intense building, the marshes couldn’t support the weight so a new re-designed fort, Shornemead, was built instead. The…
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Back in Easter 2014, the two BTP boys, and occasional accomplice Jack, set off to investigate pillboxes once defending Rochford airfield – now Southend airport. This is when the article was written and most of the photographs taken at this time – since then, ongoing development has changed much of the farmland but the pillboxes…
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A few metres out into the river at Chalkwell Beach lies a peculiar obelisk stranded in the water. From the shore, it looks like a mysterious ruin of an ancient civilisation, although it is in fact the ‘Crowstone’ installed in 1836/7. It replaced a smaller stone post that was set in place in 1755. The…
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On a sunny, yet brisk, weekend the BTP boys decided to head to Tilbury to catch the ferry over to Gravesend with guests Michael Clark and Jack Swestun. This 300-year old historic tradition cost us just £3 for an off-peak return. We were impressed the service – rough, ready, and no-mess, being allowed to wander to the…
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So we began blowing up an inflatable canoe on the side of Regents Canal footpath much to the confusion and amazement of passers by. When it was finally ready, we hopped in and nearly got crushed by a large tourist boat why proceeded to tell us ‘we were on the wrong side’, despite having seen…
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Beyond the Point has visited Wat Tyler country park on numerous occasions over the years, and the photographs below range from 2011, when much of the article was written, to Autumn 2022. However, we would like to thank Alistair MacRae from the education team, and a ranger who specialized in the wildlife side of the…
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