Close to High Halstow on the vast historic marshes on the Kent side of the Thames Estuary lies a peculiar diamond-shaped pool of clear man-made origin. This is a duck shooting decoy pond constructed around the late 17th Century with signs of alteration over the following 200 years. The four channels called ‘pipes’ at either…
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‘Canvey 2000’ was an attempt to rejuvenate Canvey Island’s seafront in 1997, hoping to restore it to reflect some of the glory as a tourist resort, centred around Thorney bay holiday camp and beach, which it had seen from the 1900s up until the 1980s. It saw some success and definitely revitalised the seafront into…
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Photos from Offshoreechos.com and Thevoguevibes.com Radio Caroline, one of the most famous radio stations in the UK was launched 50 years ago today, just off of the Essex coast. Founded in 1964 by Ronan O’Rahilly, it is considered the first proper kick-start of popular music broadcast however Radio Caroline was unlicensed by any government for…
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Pictured above is the planned lake hotel artist’s impression, original pre-2005 Lakeside logo, the new Intu facade c.2013, and construction of the centre c.1993. Although this article is a dramatic change to the usual content of Beyond the Point, I hope it will be of interest. Whilst not necessarily of historic focus, this article will investigate…
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The building originates back to 1905, when the site was first opened as the towns first free library. The Grade II listed site remained as a library until 1974 when it moved to the brutalist-style concrete-faced building to the left of it. Much of its early Edwardian Victorian-style architecture both inside and out remains relatively…
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1-15 Royal Terrace and the Royal Hotel were built well before the Victorian era – in the time of Georgian rule in the 1790s. Originally Southend was a place popular with fishermen, and it was not actually known as ‘Southend’ until this time when it was called ‘New South End’. Southend previously only referred to…
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Brutalism is an architectural style that resulted from post-war space-age and post-modernist design influences seen in buildings from the 1950s up to 1970s and rarely later. It is notable for its iconic bare concrete finish and angular block-like shapes. Southend’s second central library was built in 1974 to replace the 1905 library which is now…
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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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