Southend Queensway
Queensway is a dual carriageway running around the north and east of Southend town centre. It was originally designed as a ring road, with initial …
Red Sands Seaforts
At the outbreak of World War II, the Port of London was the busiest port in the world. As such, a large proportion of supplies …
Mulberry Harbour, Thames Estuary
After checking out Southend’s wartime sea-defenses, we then had a look from the seawall at the ‘Mulberry Harbour’ back in 2011, split in half and …
Shoebury Searchlights & Pillbox
East along from Shoebury’s Gunners Park where the old ranges were, along the seawall by the Garrison, lies several WWII coastal defences built to protect …
Shoebury Old Ranges – Gunners Park
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 …
Shoebury Powder Magazines & Viking Camp
At the eastern end of Gunners Park; the site of the old Shoebury ranges, lie the area’s two oldest ancient and modern military installations. These …
New Empire Theatre, Southend
The New Empire theatre had what might initially appear to be an Art Deco-style frontage. However, it was in fact built in a vaguely Neo-Classical …
RAF Rochford Pillboxes
Back in Easter 2014, the two BTP boys, and occasional accomplice Jack, set off to investigate pillboxes once defending Rochford airfield – now Southend airport. …
Chalkwell Crowstone & Hard Paths
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 …
Southend in WW1 & The Palace Hotel
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 …
Canewdon Church of St. Nicholas & Superstition
For Halloween this year, we thought we would investigate the vast and endless folklore of one of the most isolated and eerie places in Essex. …
The Prittle Brook
Map showing rough path of the discernible Prittle Brook & sections explored The Prittle Brook is a tributary of the River Roach spanning down through …
Leigh Witch Trials & The Doom Pond
Our 2015 Halloween documentary brings the horror of everyday life in the 17th Century up to present when the boys travel down to Leigh, Essex …
Paglesham Oyster Beds
Paglesham’s flourishing oyster-farming industry dates back to the late 19th Century. Whilst oysters have been farmed around the Essex coastline as far back as the …
St. Celement’s Church & The Cutlass Stone, Leigh-on-Sea
Located on a vantage point ontop of Leigh Hill, and adjacent to an old wide path for travelling up and down the hill, St. Celement’s …
Chalkwell Sun Shelters
The coastline surrounding Southend from Chalkwell to Thorpe Bay has been a tourist hotspot for people; often urban residents from London, to enjoy the sea …
Shoebury Garrison
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 …
Shoeburyness Jetty Poppy Wave
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 …
Sutton & Shopland Pillboxes
The area north-east of Sutton Road Cemetery and Temple Farm Industrial Estate in Southend is home to numerous pillboxes, and once there was probably even …
Great Wakering School Air Raid Shelters
Great Wakering Old School was built in 1876. It is now a community centre and pre-school. In both the fore and rear courts of the …
Southend Seafront WW2 Defences
Disguised Observation Post We started at a disguised defensive post, which when we visited in 2012 was next to the derelict Esplanade House. When we revisited in …
Prittlewell Camp Hillfort
In the fallow land directly South-West of Fossets Way, Prittlewell, lies an impressive Bronze or Iron Age circular hillfort dating from somewhere between the 8th …
EKCO Factory & Air Raid Tunnels
Top: EKCO Southend premises c.1940 & 2008 Bottom: Aerial view of the site in 1934 & 1970s Priory Crescent was until recently home to a …
Paglesham Pillboxes
Paglesham is a vast expanse of mostly rural land surrounded by earthen seawalls of the common pre-North Sea Flood style witnessed across the Essex coastline. …