Canvey’s list of historic pubs have declined over the years, most have been converted into retail space (Silver Jubilee and the King Canute) however the Jellicoe hasn’t been fortunate enough to survive. The pub, and once a hotel, is thought to date back to the late 1920’s or early 1930’s and even survived the floods of…
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Fisons Plc was a British pharmaceutical, scientific instruments and horticultural chemicals company established by Edward Packard in 1843. In 1863 he was joined in business by his son, also named Edward, who was developing the business and rationalising the UK’s fertiliser industry. The business was incorporated in 1895 under the name of Edward Packard and Company Limited. In 1919 the company…
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Victoria Avenue in Southend began to be developed in the post-war period as a centre for tall brutalist offices and civic buildings. These remained largely undeveloped until the mid-2010s when work began to revitalise the ugly structures. Liam remembers having his driving theory exam in Baryta House further down the road in 2015, only to…
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German bombing during the Second World War left London heavily damaged to this very day. At 4.18 in the video below filmed in 2013 – albeit an early amateur production, we catch a glimpse at a large bombsite in Whitechapel which has remained undeveloped and left to become overgrown since the war. it is thought…
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See the abandoned one in our video at 3.35 which we filmed in 2013 prior to demolition Pump stores for the now c2c railway were erected in the Victorian era, now disused. One is left abandoned near Fenchurch Street station (complete with original ‘ghost’ signage) but was sadly demolished sometime between 2014-15 on the site…
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Prior to the construction of the Colvin opening bridge in 1931, a ferry and stepping stones at low tide were used to get from Benfleet to Canvey and back. The stepping stones were cast into buckets originally and were removed in 1931 and held in the old Canvey Council Offices down Long Road for a…
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Several years ago BTP Joe was on Shell Beach, Canvey, when he came across this old piece of pottery. It clearly belonged to the company ‘Cox’s’ who set up a major establishment on Canvey. Aside from the main building, there was a small cafe hut on the beach at one time, from which we speculate…
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Lt. Col. Horace Percy Fielder could be considered the man to whom established Canvey as a residential area. A few decades before, at the turn of the century, Frederick Hester established Canvey as a tourist plotland area (read more here). However, Fielder could be considered the first to put Canvey on the map as a day…
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Pictured is Borley Church, and Borley Cottage which is of similar architectural qualities to the rectory, standing directly next to it Built in 1862 by the Reverend Henry Bull for his family, this Gothic Victorian red-brick rectory was placed on the site of an old monastery. Stories claim that a monk living at the monastery…
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The original Leigh settlement was the riverside ‘old town’ which appeared in the Middle Ages. Its narrow cobbled pre-motorcar streets and confined below-mainland position mean the town has since sprung up north of Old Leigh; up on the hill. This means that Old Leigh is a town which isn’t dissimilar to how it might’ve appeared…
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