@WetLettuce-kc2qm I found your comment about spiders really funny! 😆Not keen on the little buggers myself, but I always try to treat them kindly and put them outside. Not sure how I would cope with the giant ones Down Under! Yikes....
I was born in Southend, it was a lovely place to be a kid, but then foreign holidays kicked in and it all changed, it’s very difficult for our seaside resorts to compete. Southend like everywhere in the UK over the past 20 years has changed and sadly not always for the better…
I read online that it was the cheap foreign package holidays that arrived in the 1960s that caused visitor numbers to the Kursaal amusement park to decline and a lack of people visiting the Kursaal caused it to close down.
I feel our uk seaside towns have never even tried to compete with foreign holidays. Each seaside town is the same cynical money grabbing mixture of arcade machines, expensive wristbands for rides, and insulting sugar laden food offerings with zero customer service. There's something in the British psyche that we accept such things on our own soil and yet we have exacting standards and expectations when abroad.
Nothing will ever change. People are only interested in 'improving' their own social status. Occasionally you get someone who wants to do some good, but they soon get bought off or corrupted with some hush money.
These are the same people that locked down the world, liquidated small business and forced mRNA inoculations on people. These same people are currently burning Hawaii to the ground for yet another wealth transfer.
Lived in Southend all my life, for nearly 60 years. It has alway been a bit shabby but when I was a kid (even into my teens/early twenties) it was an OK place to be entertained and have a day out, even for the locals, and it was generally safe. It has now turned into a very tacky place and the majority of people you see during the day along the seafront are from out of town. Even the High Street is dead of any decent shopping. Southend had deteriorated a lot in the last 30 years and the place is now full of drug lords and their pushers... and there are plenty of customers. Violence is the order of the day in a lot of areas and mugging is a real threat. The city centre is a no go area at night where you will only encounter p*ssheads, druggies, ne'er-do-wells and people society has cast aside. Anti-social behaviour is as common as there is feral pigeons and seagulls, and there are an awful lot of feral pigeons and seagulls.
Hello James I have lived in Southend for 50 years and have seen the changes that in my opinion are not for the better. The large police presence is due to drug wars. The type of day tripper now days is a certain type and they usually come to stab, machete or shoot a rival dealer. Fortunately they are killing or beating their own type and on the whole locals rarely get caught up in the crossfire.
You mean like supplying Zelensky with depleted uranium shells which will pollute Ukraine soil for decades ?🙄 Get a grip... your government (conservatives or labour) is not helping ANYONE but themselves and their WEF globalist masters... same as every other government in Europe...
Down to soft Policing and woke authorities who won't call it out for what it is and who is doing it. When Police won't even arrest shoplifters then a mass looting spree is no surprise.
With TikTok the Chinese are killing this country from thousands of miles away. Jesus. Banning bloody TikTok is long overdue. In China, their version for their kids is responsible and respectable and focused on homework. Ours is focused on organising violent raids on other towns?!? FFS I hate this country sometimes.
To be fair to Southend, he’s only taken a walk up and down one road (and one pier). It’s a city (since 2022) of 180,000 so you can’t really compare it to Skegness (21,000) or Cleethorpes (38,000). The total urban population is even higher as it spreads into the surrounding districts of Castle Point and Rochford. As with any big town or city, there are parts that are nice and others that are not so nice. I’ve always loathed arcades, so I was never a fan of that particular part of the seafront. And, although I have seen a decline from afar (I moved away around 12 years ago having grown up there), Southend has a lot more to offer than just this section of the seafront, which only looks worse because he’s happened to turn up on a pretty rubbish day weather-wise (Southend is actually one of the driest towns in the country) There are far better stretches of coast, if he’d walked a little further beyond the Sealife Centre he’d have seen far better ones, especially if he got as far as Thorpe Bay and Shoebury East Beach. As for the prices, well, who was surprised to hear a northerner complaining about prices down South…you’d think they’d see it as a good thing: just remember that you only have to live with them briefly, when you see what we have to pay everyday, it should make you appreciate how lucky you are up North! Finally, the police situation is one those things that no one can ever win: decrease their presence and you’ll have people complaining that the police are useless and nowhere to be seen, meaning the town is unsafe; increase their presence and people will will say that it signifies lots of crime in the area, hence the need for so many… therefore it must be unsafe. But claims of out of control crime and especially ‘no go zones’ are just rubbish, which I’ve heard people say about many different towns and it’s almost always an exaggeration. The world didn’t become more violent, it just became more televised. Television then became 24 hours, meaning that you now hear about incidents you wouldn’t have necessarily heard about before. They have to fill all that airtime, and listening to it can give the impression of that UK towns are under siege. Yes, crime happens. But we’re not on the way to hell in a hand basket quite yet.
I live 20 mins from Southend (very rural)and love lots about Southend When you visited, unfortunately, Southend had been visited by a gang that recently terrorised Oxford Street London. It’s an easy trip from London. The Police presence was to deter any bad behaviour and now everything has calmed down. It’s not perfect but much loved by some of us…visit Leigh on Sea, ten minutes along the road…stunning
Sarfend used to be where the Mods & the Rocker Gangs had ‘Meet-ups’ back in the 1960’s. I went once with a cousin who lived in Ilford when I was 15 in 1962. It was a nice day, but once was enough for me.
I live in chalkwell and the entire area has gone to shit. Leigh full of coke heads and lips, tits and Botox, oh and tramp stamps as far as the eye can see. I have young daughters and do not want them to grow up round here. C2c makes it too close and easy for the barking scum to visit at weekends. The area is Too dangerous and overly obsessed with how u look. Southend full of fat benefits scum….we’re emigrating, uk is broken.
Have your house burgled or your property damaged and you get a crime number... Have your sand castle kicked down in Southend-on-sea and you get armed back up 😂😂😂 Good video James 👍
Add wall paper paste to the sand before you build and also put big rock in middle of main castle for added stability of course 😉 Did it at Weston super mare few decades ago to karma gang of teenagers kicking down kids sand castles over a few days observation. Hot day they were barefoot 😈 Ring leader carried off beach on a stretcher. Karma 😁💪👍
@@spring899there is one party, the Westminster Party run by the World Economic Forum.until and unless fools stop voting for blue red and yellow we haven't a chance. And Tice is one of them, the allowed opposition . Independent is the way after careful scrutiny of their past political affiliations. Some of them are ringers.
I think a lot of seaside towns are becoming a bit run down these days. Bournemouth, my home town has /is becoming that way. Shops closing, rising crime and just looking unpleasant. Take care James, all the best.
Bournemouth/Southbourne has many memories for me, always went as a child. Went a couple of years ago - wow what a difference, I found it quite upsetting to be honest
I totally agree with you. I used to boast about Bournemouth being the best seaside town in the UK. But as you say it's really gone down hill. seems to be a beggar, Big Issue seller, druggy on every corner, and all those lovely shops now closed.
I visit Bournemouth most weekends, live not far away, and you are right. Lately it has gone downhill, and that kid getting stabbed to death hasn't helped the reputation.
Hi mate. Used to go to Southend regularly as a child. Was great back then, but recent visits have shown it's fallen on hard times and not worth much visit. Being an hour or so train ride from east London with absolute shitholes like Barking or Ilford means it's become basically London-on-Sea. Surprisingly, Leigh on Sea a few stops before is fairly nice for a short brief visit
Leigh is the last bastion of the area, but it's occupied by Leighples (all fur coat and no knickers). Kant has destroyed London and you are right, all the immigrants come down to Southend for the drugs and ujpsetting the locals.
I was bought up in Essex and my childhood was the early to mid 1960's. Back then seaside towns like Clacton, Walton and Southend seemed wonderful. As soon as I could travel independently I discovered the beauty of the Suffolk Coast with towns such as Woodbridge, Aldeburgh and Southwold. Dodgems, Candyfloss and Whelks and slot machines had no hold over me anymore. Maybe I wasn't alone and that's one reason why Sarfend is clinging on to ever diminishing returns. Maybe they'll one day realise that to keep doing the same thing over and over with the same results is a type of madness.
Sign of the times with the Police and security. It was interesting to hear your opinion of us down here. I'm a Southerner, I did a TOPS course up in Hull 1975 to 76. I was blown away by the friendlinees of the folks up there and of course the fish and chips, cooked in beef dripping. Half a whale and a bucket of chips for 39p. Amazing and very nice. Have you been to Nellys of Beverly ? If they are still open, a pub that realy must not be missed. Thanks for your input, you are a very polite man and enjoyable to listen to thanks :)
I’m a southerner as well, and was in Beverley about a week ago, lovely place. Also had a weekend in Hull and would agree, the people were really nice, and great fun as well
I saw it in 1975 and was amazed. The history of the place is fascinating and really should be sampled by pub goers. Lovely beer too. Thanks :)@@orsettcock
Went there about 18 months ago to relive some childhood memories. Stayed at the hotel you showed opposite the pier and guess what, full of illegal immigrants being paid for by you and me. What shocked me most was the way that they spoke to the staff expecting them to run around for them. Never again, it is a dump.
The high police/security presence started around the same time the main beach along the golden mile became known as (London) City beach and the ‘new’ Londoners are encourage to come (and run a muck) at weekends. Southend has always been the main seaside town for Londoners in years gone by but it’s a different Londoner now.
@@spencerdodds2207 Central London is amazing, I’m 47, from London and with all due respect you are being a bit over cautious. London is a brilliant place to spend time, and very safe. The unsafe bits aren’t places anyone visiting would ever go
@@leesmusic1 it’s not caution old bean, it’s principle. I was born in Bethnal Green 55 years ago. My family go way back there but it’s not our home anymore.
@@spencerdodds2207 yeah, I’m from Vicky Park, and Bethnal Green is basically the same as it was in the late eighties, except its been gentrified. So if anything actually a lot safer. My Nans sister used to have a stall down there, but they don’t have stalls there anymore. In the late eighties to the mid nineties I lived around Broadway Market, and it was rough as old boots, nowadays it’s lovely around there, lovely cafes and restaurants everywhere. The hipsters there now are a lot better than the scumbags that skulked around when I lived there. And Central London is fantastic, I was up Covent Garden and the city today, it was great.
Being a lass from Somerset but currently living East.took a trip to clacton on sea spent an hour looking for something open to eat .but ended up walking into a venue whilst thinking it was a good place to eat but actually ended up walking in on someone’s wake.I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Oh my days.
@tupelomiss8315 - I reside a couple of miles from Clacton town. I notice your comment here was posted 2 weeks ago. When you visited Clacton as per your comment, what season and what time of the day did you spend one hour looking for somewhere open to eat??? If you visited in the winter on a week day, and you were looking in the latter part of the evening, yes, that would be difficult. If you visited 2 weeks ago, ie., this summer, you would not have struggled at all - it is the height of the season! There are loads of places to eat, all manner of restaurants etc., including open in the evening.
Hi James, Clacton and Southend were worth a visit 40 years ago but unfortunately as with many coastal towns they are a little shabby, if the tide was in and the sun was shining it would look a bit better I went to Butlins Clacton in 1958 andI thought it was absolutely brilliant, safe journey Steve Haggis
I’m quite impressed with the changes in Southend. When I last went it was a complete dump. Police presence is reassuring. I’d pay another visit after seeing this video…Thank you for this review video..
Absolutely brilliant sir. You are a breath of fresh air. I had one holiday there in 1977 aged 15. It was a safe and happy place and we wondered around for days on our own without any drama. Sad how the uk is financially diminished. Too much cash stashed under the beds of the rich lol. Looking forward to your next adventure.
Stumbled across your vid, From Southend-on-Sea mate, yes lot of trouble in Southend the past year with kids coming in from London... Great video mate 👍
Did the people make you feel uncomfortable, or did the security presence make you feel uncomfortable? The blocks are there because on a weekend late at night, cars would park up along the front and squeeze in where they could, almost blocking the whole pavement. Good perspective of Southend there!!
I went to Southend recently as I fancied a day or at the seaside. Unfortunately, I only stayed for a couple of hours as I only had just over £400 on me to spend.
...and I'll bet the bulk of that went on car parking / petrol after you'd driven up and down half a dozen times to try and find a place .... our council squeeze every single penny out of us , TOTALLY ineffective management .
Unfortunately just recently there was a gang related incident that happened in London and the same gang decided to come to Southend for a day of trouble. I've lived here for 17 years and love it here, I live in Leigh-on-Sea which is a stones throw away. You could have parked up for FREE if you'd driven 5 minutes up the road towards Thorpe Bay and you can actually park over night for free too. Please don't be disheartened come back again and give it another try 🙏
Yeah totally miss a trick, 7 miles of cost line which includes Leigh on sea often voted one of the best places to live, Thorpe bay etc and he walks 2 miles of the middle section and then comments on just that but hey ho there is miles of beach’s if you looked a little harder and you can park for free lol
Hi James. A good revue of Southend. A large police presence because a few days earlier a group of young teenagers via tik tok tried to raid the town centre and sea front. Also on a day like you visited it was nice and quiet so they can do their shift easily and go home.
Lets be precise, they wasnt of the indian , chinese or jewish minority group as they were probally studing hard to get good jobs to get good homes and oay for the things they need . It was the same minority group who moan about how hard done by they are . Check the govement stats on arests between 2020/21 Per 1000 just 3 were chinese, 6 indian,8 whites 14 Pakistani and 28 black ! Good and bad in all but looting is generally done by black people .
Thanks for a great overview, lots of sea side towns are going down hill due to overseas low cost travel. As a little boy going to the seaside was a great event not always sunny but we made the best of it.
Still looks OK! Given it is a London proximal area and the massive change in population (complete population replacement) that has happened there in last 40 years! The amusements seem quite cool! The town centre would have been an interesting walk see how many empty spots.
The line in the song by Chris de Burgh comes to mind from Fatal Hesitation There is nothing quite like an out of season holiday 😢town in the rain. Sadly it the hight of the season or should be. Totally agree with you that these working class resorts are struggling from lack of funding. While we all got the jist of what you thought of South End on Sea I am glad you didn’t slate them on the video but recognised that there are a lot of business struggling to make ends meet and need some support if we only visit for one day, It would help boost the economy. But the local authorities don’t help with £8.50 car parking fees for 3 hours that’s an instant put off for people who are just passing through and may consider stopping off for look round, with them prices I would probably not bother and drive on. But hey James loved the video xxx
I’m glad I’ve seen this video as I often say I’d like a day out in Southend, but this has changed my mind + reading what other people have said, I used to go with my mum and dad in the 50s and everyone was happy, then I the mid 60s with my mates, I’m now happy not to go anymore 😢
Well I live here and don’t be put off by peoples comments, Leigh and other places which are part of southend are lovely. It’s a seaside place with loads to do, yes if you just go to the seafront etc then you really missing out
Hi James love the way your mixing up your videos love watching all of them everytime I'd like to see a bit of single van life you put one up brilliant it's a great insight into it Keep it up you and Helen it makes my week ☺️
I thought £2.50 was madness too but it’s an especially long pier 😂, I’m not even sure if we still have the Samaritans Stan, you wouldn’t have their number by any chance? I could be doing with a chat about the state of the UK 😂. I despair for the young people growing up here now! I’m glad I’m 59 cos it’s frickin sad but you gotta get a laugh else we’ll simply go crazy 🤷🏻♂️
There were lots of youngsters from London meeting up and causing troulbe same lot who met up in Oxford sreet in London recently apparently. We saw it first hand the other Thursday.
Nice to see the old place, used to live in Hockley, just a stones throw away. That was in the 90's, used to go to clubs etc and never had any problems. It was cool seeing where we used to go, walk along the sea front, always parked in the streets up from the front and walk down. Those boxes were where cars used to park and there was no charges, even the arcades still look the same. Won't be going back but have loads of memories of the place, and had a load of friends there too.
@@bythecurb i know exactly where your coming from, looks dirty to me All those police and security people are there for a reason and that alone has put me right off 😝
Hi mate, thought you did a good job considering the poor weather and everything. But an answer about the police is fairly simple. We started getting a lot of London gangs down, so with the higher presence they stopped. But normally when the weather is really good, you'd barely see police through the crowds. It also shows an inflexibility on their behalf because they could patrol a few other areas if so many aren't needed because its not busy. But to be honest, there is very little trouble in town, and I'm out a lot at night. I think a lot of the night life that sucked out of towners into Southend, have closed, and that keeps them away. But was great to see your perspective, I'll keep an eye on your travels. Nice to see a decent honest and straight forward video, rather than some of the crap that gets pushed out.
Hi James, thank you so much for this vlog, im from Essex but moved up north over 30 years ago, I used to visit Southend On Sea as a youngster, and altho its changed a lot, it still bought back good memories. I prefer Clacton On Sea myself having lived there for a couple of years, so I am really looking forward to that vlog, all the very best from Nick in Wolsingham.
Thanks for sharing your experience of Southend on sea. It's good to see the palm trees by the beach, could do with a bit of sunshine to go with it. In a bit
It wasn't like that 55 odd year's ago when we used to go there for day trips , cheap hats , amusement arcades , candy floss and the rides inside the Kursal amusement park. It looks like a town underseige .
Seafront was always a bit dodgy during peak pub hours but always had a good time as a kid. Then when I reached my teens the big draw were the gig venues. It was a great place to see bands, big and small. Above all, of course, the Kursaal but also some fo the big hotels. Grungy and unpredictable, I loved it. I think if Southend had repositioned itself to focus on its club and music scenes it would be doing a lot better today, but their council went the opposite direction and closed many down. Lost opportunity.
The security outside the arcades are known for stopping local photographers from shooting outside the premises so you were lucky you weren’t approached by them. Crazy as the law isn’t on their side with that, but they seem to flex that rule quite often. The weather looked pretty dire & didn’t give the best feel to our town sadly on the day of your visit. It’s true we get a lot of day trippers & Londoners running the area down with crime & littering and of course it is a working class area. I guess I’m just used to it all, being my hometown - but when you get to visit so many beautiful places in our country I can see why you’d never want to visit again 😆 I’d be doing what you are if I could 🚍
Perfectly legal to take photos from a public place .. if they so much as lay one finger on you then sue for assault .. simply as .. record all interactions with any security or police for your own protection..
I moved to Southend in 1992 from the north and have lived here ever since , I must say I have never in all that time experienced any trouble . Not one incident in all that time , mind you I did move from Manchester where we were burgled twice and I was mugged once . Then I guess Afghanistan is peaceful and law abiding compared to there. When I moved here there was still pie and jellied eel shops , they have all gone and the town has gone down market generally . Compared to Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales though it's still none too shabby. If you had gone up the end end of the sea front it's so much nicer In Leigh on Sea, great place to have breakfast at the Arches .
It’s now September 5th and the sun is FINALLY here in Southend - just as the kids go back to school. On a nice summer day the seafront is buzzing but sadly there’s been little of that this summer so it looks awfully dreary. It’s an estuary really more so than a sea but does look nice with a summer sheen on the waves. Not a bad place to live imo but was definitely better 40 years ago when I moved here from London.
Old Leigh is my favourite place on the weekends and the other end of southend is Shoebury East Beach it’s more quieter and to enjoy a paddle out quite a way when the tide out or it’s low I’m 67 and my grandad used to bounce the Londoners out of the pubs at close time 😂
Thanks for doing this James - I've never been to 'Saafend' despite living about 25 miles away, (as the crow flies). You've convinced me that I made the right decision - anathema springs to mind...
This video isn’t a fair reflection on the place, I live here and it’s lovely in the summer, if you visit Leigh on sea which 2 miles up the way (there is 7 miles of beach, if you had stayed a little longer and gone further in both directions you would have seen nice beaches etc) from where his filming it’s lovely and that’s part of southend area, often in the top 5 places to live in UK. So don’t pay much attention to a very small video of someone who literally been to a 2 mile bit of a city which has 200k people
I was born in Southend in 1972.... It was a lovrly place to grow up. By the end of the 80s it started becomming more a commuter town as Londoners (working) moved East. By the early 2000s the town started to fade away... many High Street Brand names left and although some of the Sea Front is very nice, it does have a certain type that comes and spoils it. As is much of the Country now. A real pity, as had you of been able to go to some of the Locals places you would of had a great time.
Excellent review which expressed modern views. When I was a kid Southend was a once a year day out on a charabanc and we thought fabulous. After 30 years motorhome travel all over the uk we have noticed not the decline but the changes all over. When we used to go up north we used to love it when locals heard our london accents and would stop and talk to us. When in pubs we used to compare the prices of drinks and realised as londoners we paid a hell of a lot more the same with fish and chips which always tasted better. The last time we were in Whitby which was a few years ago , it was so crowded which made it less enjoyable. Being nearly 80 now we realised we have had a better time perhaps than people have today. Nowhere was crowded it was easy to park and it wasn’t necessary to book everywhere in advance. It was good to see a southern review through the eyes of a northerner. Keep up the good work.
Hahaha … yes James! You have found your way down to the bad-lands 😂 … your instincts were spot-on about this place. I worked in this area and stayed in an air bnb a few streets back from the seafront for about 6 months (Tuesday-Friday) . The place gets mental on weekends!! Friendly folks and freaks that will rob you blind if you blink your eyes for to long! (And everything inbetween!) … have fun but keeps your wits about you 😉
Southend brought back a lot of memories from over 60 years ago when my mum use take us on a day trip, we use to get an old steam boat called The Queen Mary from Strood in Kent and it took about an hour and half, we would get off at end of pier and get the little train, The Pleasure Park use to be called the Kursal and we would go there before our trip back to kent. It has changed a lot, Thanks for sharing. Linda.
Hi James I got the name wrong for the paddle steamer it was called The Medway Queen not The Queen Mary, I knew there was a Queen in the title of the boat somewhere , lol.
Hi James . Quite mad to see you in my neck of the woods ( Essex). Southend council currently have a zero tolerance to the old wacky baccy. Often smelled walking up and down the Promenade. Hemce the Police presence. Also the evenings at the weekend are filled with Boy Racers driving up and down . Cool content bruv 👊
I actually loved this, was a good take on it all. I've never been South End either, looks alright, I like the idea of alot of Police presence, puts people off doing bad things. Xx
As a kid the rare visit to Southend was always exciting , from London we would travel by ship , the Royal Sovereign , disembark on the pier , then continue via the narrow gauge railway to the Fun Park . Those distant memories from the 1960s are still a source of pleasure , the place was abuzz , trendy and new , everything had a shine and looked larger than life . Today the change is obvious , the vacant seaside digs are filled with illegal migrants , while holiday makers travel abroad . A great pity , but thankyou for making this video . I feel like I walked the streets with you, so 'By The Curb' is certainly well named !.
Ah Southend! My home town. Haven't lived there since the late 90s but I still have friends and family there. I ended up in Weston Super Mare for some reason, and my feeling is that most British seaside towns are like this now. Weston has similar vibes and like Southend, a dead high street. I remember Southend town centre on a Saturday in the 70s and 80s and it was the busiest scene imaginable with loads of choice. I guess online shopping has killed that off so all we get now is charity, mobile phone and fried chicken shops with the rest boarded up. It's like that here in Weston too. But, Southend was a great place to grow up as a teenager in the early 80s although not without it's trouble then. If the footy was on in town, then I always avoided the town and seafront as it regularly kicked off. Same with bank holiday Mondays when all the Mods, Bikers and Skinheads turned up. Would I live there again? No. It feels too much like a London suburb now and the place is far too overcrowded thanks to the council allowing too many houses to be converted into flats. In fact, the new flats you mentioned at the beginning of your video stands where the Esplanade pub once stood. A great venue for bands that "mysteriously" burnt down so that the land could be re-developed....into even more flats. Ho hum!
Mark Dolan brought you the loaded generation who usherd in the type of lad culture that creates a down ward spiral that can only be stopped by cappuccinos ,ciabata bread and paninis a sense of style and a strong European and inclusive forward thinking attitude offering real culture as in a love of history and protection of architecture and promotion of traditional crafts etc. Everything that GB news uses to hold working peaple back.
Southend was my childhood resort living in Essex. I think its a bit rough these days, Lea on sea used to be nicer with local ships and sea food. Westcliff was nice and quiet, used to have picnics with my grandparents
I went to Southend 50 years ago on a coach trip organised by a club. Probably 40 blokes and 10 girls aged 17 to 25. Within an hour there was a huge fight between a gang of bikers and us. The cause was said to be one of the bikers said something to a girl from our club, and bingo. My mate ended up in hospital for 2 or 3 days. Apart from that a good time, even then the police had a large presence.
I did the opposite, driving a furniture van all over the country ...... I was living just outside London but when my marriage broke up I moved to a place in Yorkshire where I used to park up ...... and it's flippin' lovely up here, it reminds me of where I grew up with its sense of community.
I worked there in 1994 we went out one thursday night 2 of the lads stayed in the nightclub until the end we went for food, the next thing one of the lads came running back to the van saying they had been beaten up. One of the lads ended up with a metal plate in his face all this was outside m and s in the centre yet nothing was caught on cctv or anyone ever charged. Totally unprovoked attact
Several years ago I had a run in, for no reason, with this massive bloke. Managed to get to Tesco Mini store and grabbed a pair of wine bottles, holding them like weapons. Looked straight at him and he backed off. Why did he want to attack me ? F knows, if he had of done Id have ended up in hospital, he was bloody enormous. Place is a shate hole
Same thing happened to me in the 80s, I was walking back to my car with two other friends about 10pm, when in the distance I saw a group of about 5 lads that must have come out of TOTS, they walked past my two friends then one of them for no reason punched me in the mouth smashing my tooth out. I turned round to him, I was about 17 and they were about 25ish, and said what did you do that for?. His friends had to restrain him for attacking me again and I heard them say, leave him alone he's only a young un. I fooking hate Southend, night clubs and tossers that drink.
That little cafe in pier is Jamie Olivers Southend Pier The programme is presented by Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty. The series was filmed in Jamie and Jimmy's Café, which is based at the end of Southend Pier. Each week the Café is filled with members of the public and a celebrity guest joins Jimmy & Jamie in the Café and helps to cook a recipe of their choosing.......if u went further up the road u would be at Leigh on sea where all the cockle sheds are
I took the family to Southend last year for the day. All we had or did when there was one drink in the pub and takeaway pie and chips all around, this being all we intended to do. The total cost was £160. That is about as cheap as it gets, and I could have spent double this without doing a whole lot more. Therefore, many of these families are spending £300 plus for a single-day trip to Southend. Back in the early-80s, for not a lot more, they could have found a two-week full board, all in, somewhere in the Costas. It now cost me around £150 just to take my two sons carp fishing for the day including packed lunch. Suffice it to say, on paper, I have never been richer, but in reality, never felt poorer, and I am sure that I am not the only one. I tend to believe, but have no way of knowing, that many of the people spending money out there really should not be spending hardly anything at all, or spending even less than I do. £28 a head just to make your family feel sick for a couple of hours? Or £56 a head to make them feel sick for a few more times over the next 12 months. Why do people still do this, is throwing up supposed to be a pleasurable experience? Almost the only reason why we used to go to Southend when we were alive was to pick up a drunk Essex tart after she had spent her own or someone else's money getting into that state, for some backseat activity. We never failed, not even once. To be honest I still don't understand why anyone else would want to go there? Those were the days my friend we thought they'd never end............. It all now looks so boring, sad, overpriced, and depressing in comparison it is hard to even look at all.
Me and my friend used to go clubbing here in the nineties. We would drive down from London with no accommodation booked, get changed into our glad rags in a park down the road, go out to the clubs around the back of the seafront, come out sloshed, sleep in the car, shower on the beach the next day, chill on the beach, and do it all again the next night. Happy times
I live around the corner not far, Canvey Island, I noticed the police around same time you went had increased a lot then normal, I can only put it down to the young lads all coming down from London because of a TikTok trend to go shoplift, same group that did Oxford street. My misses takes kids all time and has them an annual pass for Adventure Island as its great for summer time while off school, but without Adventure Island it would really struggle. It can get really busy down there due to the easy connection to inner London using the C2C train service, the beach really could use some investment and good clean up.
I've lived in the Southend area for 61 years and it was lovely up until about 15 to 20 years ago when it took a horrible nose dive. It is now an absolute 💩hole. I stay away from the seafront now for fear of being mugged or even stabbed for no reason. Terrible place.
Never been to Southend myself but i'm sure the miserable July we have suffered didn't show it in it's best light.a bit of Sun and everyones mood goes up a notch or 2😊
The longest pier in the southern hemisphere is 1.14 miles each way and is in Busselton south of Perth in Western Australia my home town. I have been to Southend on sea as a child when I lived in the uk
Hi James Should you be in this part of the world again try Frinton on Sea which is close to Clacton. It is like going back to the 1950s, low crime and a very pleasant seafront.
@@bythecurb Frinton-on-Sea is a very quiet place for retired people. If you have kids, Walton-on-the-Naze (just 6 miles NE of Clacton) is much better; a very chilled atmosphere, lovely beach and pier, quaint town, and much more familly orientented than stuffy old Frinton (which even banned chippies until fairly recently - I'm not joking).
Hi James you certainly picked two extremes there with Southend-on-Sea & Grasmere still at least the pint was cheaper in Southend. You were a little unlucky with your timing of your Southend visit as the Home Secretary was due to visit and there had been talk of "unrest" being planned on Social Media so I hear.
I filmed this a couple of weeks ago and never planned on publishing it because I dont think its one of my best but with the news over the last couple of days I thought Id put it out there
Enjoyed that. I just love the old seaside towns, although over the years they have started to get a bit tasty especially late at night. Londoner btw now retired in the west of Ireland and loving it.
Enjoyed the video James. Thanks for posting. I live in Cornwall and one of the premier surf resorts is Newquay. When I was a kid back in the 50/60’s, it was a lovely place to visit. Then it was taken over firstly by surfers(nothing wrong there) then back packer hostels, then cheap Jack tat shops, then hen and stag do’s etc etc etc. So it became “not such a nice place to visit”. I was informed by a local that there were 3k ‘ish rooms in Newquay on AIRB&B. So the small family guest houses and small family hotels have gone. Once you’ve gone down this path there’s no going back. Massive population growth in the county, massive influx of tourists, so what could possibly go wrong? Oh ps. Still only one major hospital in the county!
Great video fella. I live in Leigh on sea just a few miles away. There’s been a few gangs turning up (hoodie types) causing trouble. There’s not normally that many police down there. The pier is so long because in the old days that’s as close as the steamers could get to the shore to drop off trippers. That hotel up the top of the hill has got a cracking bar overlooking the estuary. Keep up the filming mate. 👍
Remember the cockle sheds. My cousin still lives there. I’m 76 and live in Somerset now so it’s a bit far. But Southend in the 60s. 😁😁We get a lot of motor bikers in Minehead. They all park up and have fish and chips. Lovely bikes, lovely people. All a bit older. We do get the scooters too, big line of them. Never any trouble. Good job, we have hardly any police.
Southend is a great day out,never had any problems therebin the 20 years ive been visiting.its the same anywhere in the world if you're looking for trouble you'll find it
I used to be taken to Southend as a kid in the 50's my parents would "lose" me deliberately so the kind people or a policeman would take me to the Punch and Judy compound where no child was let out until a parent came, and way back then they would ask if it were your real mum or dad. In my 70's now and Yes Back to Essex, I lived in Norfolk and Suffolk for 40 years and wanted to come back to my home county. But I was seriously warned off of buying a house in Southend. I bought a bungalow on the outskirts of Clacton not bad here but rarely go into town, it is pretty much a down and out place to be honest, but for sure Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft they are all run down like pretty much every coastal town. All the big stores are gone or going, old established firms shops etc that had traded for decades passed down through the family for hundreds of years,gone. Mostly I think the councils are to blame, they ramp up the let prices on the businesses people are screwed by the taxes, and the councils kill the trade by pedestrianising the high streets thus killing trade, and they charge quite high prices for parking. So everyone goes to retail markets and The big retail estates , free parking plenty of room and good well known stores! One important thing to remember though is when you are out and about during weekdays there are going to be the unwashed lazy idle unemployed layabouts, drunks, druggies and "females" with mouths like gutters spewing vitriol and verbal diarrhea etc, because they have nowhere else to go. Go on weekends though and the decent people the workers the nice people come out to do their shopping have a coffee have lunch etc, then the places are alive and smiley.But alas the damage dine by the councils , weeeeel just look at how many empty shops there are and of course the "charity" shops, the Nail bars, the Beauty parlours the Hairdressers Coffee shops thick on the ground all foreigners because the council's let the immigrunts have them rent free for 3 years, then of course the "business" is passed to another immigrant "relative! These so called councils should be run by locals for the locals in the interest of the locals. Run by decent people whose lives and families are locals.
I was in Southend on sea ten years ago . It pissed down torrential rain all day. I knew it was getting bad when I observed a guy beating bricks out for weep holes in his garden walls with a sledgehammer because it was starting to flood. I could see the water running out of the holes he had already made. The only reason i was there was to collect to bostitch nails guns i had left in for repair. One of my mates I shared a house with in north London used to live in southend. He says he was on the beach there in the summer. He said it was like watching a colony of penguins. There was a sea of burkas !
Such an underrated channel, every time I watch one of your videos, you or helen always say something to make me laugh, Such a watchable, down to earth, funny, entertaining channel, deserve a million subs and I’m sure if you keep doing what your doing you will 100% get to that milestone, so deserving 👏⭐
I would love to see you at beamish near Newcastle it’s a Victorian town they do films in there as well it’s lovely to walk around then go to the angel of the north 😊
Excellent Vlog Am from up North myself I know am going to come across as a snob but am not I was raised and brought up in the rough area of Liverpool and just dragged myself through college and uni but have never forgotten we’re I lived. My Daughter married a Lad from Leigh on sea 5-10 mins from Southend, its the direction you was walking at the end of the Vlog towards the castle ruins and a lot better, it’s more picturesque like a village vibe and a nice harbour front with nice pubs and restaurants. The Daughter and Son in Law refuse to go to South end town centre I went once with the wife and totally understand why, Little bit better than Blackpool and that has gone Down hill the Last few years as well. Keep up the Good work 👍👍👍👍
Thanks for the vid. Haven't been to Southend for over 40 years. As East London kids, we used to get the train from East Ham Station - and a bit later we would cycle there Along the A13 on our "Choppers". The port of call in those days was the Kursaal, so was wondering why you skipped past it. Is it no longer operating?
Hey James, my sister used to live in Essex and we'd take a trip down to Southend on Sea once in a while and couldnt believe it when our kid said there was a chippy on the front (where that new apartment block is now) and it sold gravy, mushy peas and curry. Yeah, not shitting ya mate we went in thinking our kid was winding us up and guess what we heard the owner say as walked in? "HEY UP!" He was only a Bolton lad who'd moved down their years ago and started his chippy up. Wel chuffed., oh by the way only a couple of miles down the road from their is Leigh-on-Sea, well posh but apparently the G's from London mostly have pads down there. Braap braap 💥💥
I used to visit Southend as a young child in the early sixties so this is nostalgic for me. We used to catch jellyfish, take rides on the funfair, build sandcastles and pig out on ice cream and candy floss and of course head down the pier. There was a ghost train/horror house somewhere which we loved. It's great to see how much of it is still quite similar to what it was back then; I swear that blue cafe building on the pier is the same one! And the pier train, still with that iconic green and cream colour scheme! We used to take the train down from London, even that was part of the fun for us. At that age, at that time, it didn't take much to have fun. Time for a return trip I think.
i grew up in east London this was a day out . we went by train and spent the day there went to cockle stall , thena pub with my dad , slot machines ,the Kursaal, with the Wall of death etc, ended up at the ocean fish restaurant and then to peter pans playground on aeroplane ride and the crooked house, before the train home. Happy days xx
I used to love going to Southend as it is the closest coastal town to me but NO MORE, so very sad the place has gone so bad. I truly wish Southend can get some sort of funding for improvement, it could be a real gem if money was spent.
Southend DOES get funding for improvements from the government... to the Council. If they are not spending it as you wish, then you should take it up with the local councilors, not blame the government! 🙄
Thanks for sharing this video, James. I've been thinking of a short trip down to Southend just to check it out. It's very sad that there seems to be trouble around that area (no doubt heading there from other areas), but I'll still give it a crack when it's not too busy. Will be interesting to see how it goes 🤞
Used to always go to Southend when I was younger for hen doos and even then it was really rough. Loads of fighting in pubs and that's why there is so many police. You should visit Southwolds in East Suffolk it's lovely.
I was born and bred in Southend it was lovely growing up there but it is nothing like it was. I go back to visit family and friends but cant wait to get back to Cornwall which is my home now since 1988. I have brought up a family here and i would never go back .
Maybe they're having a busman's holiday, day out! Walk up and ask one, "excuse me Constable is there something I am not aware of, why so many police about?"
Best thing about Southend is that you can see Kent on the other side of the Thames and Medway Estuary...the reason why the Pier is so long is because it was where Steam ships and paddle steamers could bring people from London and the Medway Towns to Southend,,, the sea is shallow and goes out such a long way.
Nice to hear a Yorkshire accent.I’m from Leeds myself but have lived darn sarf for over thirty years.But still talk like a dalesman.A very good honest assessment of Southend.
I used to live in Southend and met some salt of the earth people. We never went out on the sea front as it could get violent on Friday/Saturday night. We went into the town centre instead and in groupswhich is safer. The casinos are a good spot for a few beers after the pub, as they're safe. You get a taxi there and back yo be doubly safe.Lots of eastenders go to Southend for a weekend away and they go out to the sea front and there's quite a few fights
Hi everyone, the follow up video about Clacton-on-Sea is here - ua-cam.com/video/oClBi1cRvMA/v-deo.htmlsi=-Bl4kZHCqKgSd0lV
Is this Southend pavalon? Near the cliffs ,live by The sea oasis was filmed there
En
It’s called Broken Britain.
That’s why I venture out into the sticks away from this type of life
You're right fella. It's well and truly broken and beyond repair.
Every town the same
hard to get in to Aussie@WhoKnowsYou420
Its the result of mass immigration
@WetLettuce-kc2qm I found your comment about spiders really funny! 😆Not keen on the little buggers myself, but I always try to treat them kindly and put them outside. Not sure how I would cope with the giant ones Down Under! Yikes....
I was born in Southend, it was a lovely place to be a kid, but then foreign holidays kicked in and it all changed, it’s very difficult for our seaside resorts to compete. Southend like everywhere in the UK over the past 20 years has changed and sadly not always for the better…
I read online that it was the cheap foreign package holidays that arrived in the 1960s that caused visitor numbers to the Kursaal amusement park to decline and a lack of people visiting the Kursaal caused it to close down.
@WhoKnowsYou420 What are you talking about.
Only the truth.
divine karma for siding with bolshevism WW2
I feel our uk seaside towns have never even tried to compete with foreign holidays. Each seaside town is the same cynical money grabbing mixture of arcade machines, expensive wristbands for rides, and insulting sugar laden food offerings with zero customer service. There's something in the British psyche that we accept such things on our own soil and yet we have exacting standards and expectations when abroad.
Imagine how happy, healthy, rich and technologically advanced humanity could be if greedy, short-sighted narcissistic sociopaths didn't run the world.
Nothing will ever change. People are only interested in 'improving' their own social status.
Occasionally you get someone who wants to do some good, but they soon get bought off or corrupted with some hush money.
Well said. The gentrification is nauseating.
That's the exact problem with the world. I find it hard to believe that there are so many greedy, power driven, bastards in the world.
@@Whitewolf76802 I don’t.
That’s the way it’s always been since we started walking on our hind legs.
These are the same people that locked down the world, liquidated small business and forced mRNA inoculations on people. These same people are currently burning Hawaii to the ground for yet another wealth transfer.
Lived in Southend all my life, for nearly 60 years. It has alway been a bit shabby but when I was a kid (even into my teens/early twenties) it was an OK place to be entertained and have a day out, even for the locals, and it was generally safe. It has now turned into a very tacky place and the majority of people you see during the day along the seafront are from out of town. Even the High Street is dead of any decent shopping. Southend had deteriorated a lot in the last 30 years and the place is now full of drug lords and their pushers... and there are plenty of customers. Violence is the order of the day in a lot of areas and mugging is a real threat. The city centre is a no go area at night where you will only encounter p*ssheads, druggies, ne'er-do-wells and people society has cast aside. Anti-social behaviour is as common as there is feral pigeons and seagulls, and there are an awful lot of feral pigeons and seagulls.
Same in Bournemouth. Used to be loads of families, now just loads of people of their faces and a weekly stabbing.
I'd be more worried about a northerner than a ethnic minority southerner.
Very sad.... could be a seaside paradise
Is it reallllyyyy that bad?
The same thing happened to Blackpool 😢 so what the hell went wrong ?? The government and the one's in charge ??? I think so 💯
Hello James I have lived in Southend for 50 years and have seen the changes that in my opinion are not for the better. The large police presence is due to drug wars. The type of day tripper now days is a certain type and they usually come to stab, machete or shoot a rival dealer. Fortunately they are killing or beating their own type and on the whole locals rarely get caught up in the crossfire.
Whole country is down the pan now.
@@pam164so very sad to agree with you,feel the whole ENGLISH population should emigrate,our country is becoming more dangerous by the day!
@@pam164it's so depressing but absolutely true.
@@doffchitty1875Exactly,most Cities and Towns in England have become dangerous places due to certain things!!
@@doffchitty1875Where would we go😂
All our seasides are tired looking, grubby and all need a revamp but government will not help to busy paying for other countries welfare.
Everyone goes abroad to Spain, Greece etc. No one in the UK holidays in the UK because it's stupidly expensive
So true
It's a scam. It never goes to the people just the war lords pockets
You mean like supplying Zelensky with depleted uranium shells which will pollute Ukraine soil for decades ?🙄
Get a grip... your government (conservatives or labour) is not helping ANYONE but themselves and their WEF globalist masters... same as every other government in Europe...
Hopefully the sea will reclaim them all.
Looting started in London last week all arranged on TikTok and then spread to Southend I heard. Country’s on its arse. Great video.
Down to soft Policing and woke authorities who won't call it out for what it is and who is doing it. When Police won't even arrest shoplifters then a mass looting spree is no surprise.
Yep the country is definitely on its arse....
With TikTok the Chinese are killing this country from thousands of miles away. Jesus. Banning bloody TikTok is long overdue. In China, their version for their kids is responsible and respectable and focused on homework. Ours is focused on organising violent raids on other towns?!? FFS I hate this country sometimes.
and soon to be on their arses will be the conservatives
It's time to embrace Islam
To be fair to Southend, he’s only taken a walk up and down one road (and one pier). It’s a city (since 2022) of 180,000 so you can’t really compare it to Skegness (21,000) or Cleethorpes (38,000). The total urban population is even higher as it spreads into the surrounding districts of Castle Point and Rochford. As with any big town or city, there are parts that are nice and others that are not so nice. I’ve always loathed arcades, so I was never a fan of that particular part of the seafront. And, although I have seen a decline from afar (I moved away around 12 years ago having grown up there), Southend has a lot more to offer than just this section of the seafront, which only looks worse because he’s happened to turn up on a pretty rubbish day weather-wise (Southend is actually one of the driest towns in the country) There are far better stretches of coast, if he’d walked a little further beyond the Sealife Centre he’d have seen far better ones, especially if he got as far as Thorpe Bay and Shoebury East Beach.
As for the prices, well, who was surprised to hear a northerner complaining about prices down South…you’d think they’d see it as a good thing: just remember that you only have to live with them briefly, when you see what we have to pay everyday, it should make you appreciate how lucky you are up North!
Finally, the police situation is one those things that no one can ever win: decrease their presence and you’ll have people complaining that the police are useless and nowhere to be seen, meaning the town is unsafe; increase their presence and people will will say that it signifies lots of crime in the area, hence the need for so many… therefore it must be unsafe. But claims of out of control crime and especially ‘no go zones’ are just rubbish, which I’ve heard people say about many different towns and it’s almost always an exaggeration. The world didn’t become more violent, it just became more televised. Television then became 24 hours, meaning that you now hear about incidents you wouldn’t have necessarily heard about before. They have to fill all that airtime, and listening to it can give the impression of that UK towns are under siege. Yes, crime happens. But we’re not on the way to hell in a hand basket quite yet.
I live 20 mins from Southend (very rural)and love lots about Southend When you visited, unfortunately, Southend had been visited by a gang that recently terrorised Oxford Street London. It’s an easy trip from London. The Police presence was to deter any bad behaviour and now everything has calmed down. It’s not perfect but much loved by some of us…visit Leigh on Sea, ten minutes along the road…stunning
Sarfend used to be where the Mods & the Rocker Gangs had ‘Meet-ups’ back in the 1960’s. I went once with a cousin who lived in Ilford when I was 15 in 1962. It was a nice day, but once was enough for me.
I've never been to Southend and don't think I will be going anytime soon.
We love Saafend, but try Old Leigh instead 😂
Yes, I was there last week. I just loved the place. I'm going back very soon 😂
I live in chalkwell and the entire area has gone to shit. Leigh full of coke heads and lips, tits and Botox, oh and tramp stamps as far as the eye can see. I have young daughters and do not want them to grow up round here. C2c makes it too close and easy for the barking scum to visit at weekends. The area is Too dangerous and overly obsessed with how u look. Southend full of fat benefits scum….we’re emigrating, uk is broken.
Have your house burgled or your property damaged and you get a crime number... Have your sand castle kicked down in Southend-on-sea and you get armed back up
😂😂😂 Good video James 👍
Add wall paper paste to the sand before you build and also put big rock in middle of main castle for added stability of course 😉
Did it at Weston super mare few decades ago to karma gang of teenagers kicking down kids sand castles over a few days observation.
Hot day they were barefoot 😈 Ring leader carried off beach on a stretcher.
Karma 😁💪👍
Don't like bullies 😈
If you do get burgled it's best suggesting you think it was Tommy Robinson, plod be there in seconds
Anybody notice how many police cars & plods arrive for a misdemeanour crime but none for the possibility they may be harmed by the culprit
@@G4RY1159 Gud Un🤣😉👍
Is there anywhere in this country that has changed for the better during the past five to ten years.
No
At a guess , the home neighbourhood of each and every Tory MP .
@@spring899there is one party, the Westminster Party run by the World Economic Forum.until and unless fools stop voting for blue red and yellow we haven't a chance. And Tice is one of them, the allowed opposition . Independent is the way after careful scrutiny of their past political affiliations. Some of them are ringers.
Er.....No.
No
I think a lot of seaside towns are becoming a bit run down these days. Bournemouth, my home town has /is becoming that way. Shops closing, rising crime and just looking unpleasant. Take care James, all the best.
Bournemouth/Southbourne has many memories for me, always went as a child.
Went a couple of years ago - wow what a difference, I found it quite upsetting to be honest
Thankfully I have moved over to Christchurch now and it is very much night and day in comparison with Bournemouth town centre
I totally agree with you. I used to boast about Bournemouth being the best seaside town in the UK. But as you say it's really gone down hill. seems to be a beggar, Big Issue seller, druggy on every corner, and all those lovely shops now closed.
I visit Bournemouth most weekends, live not far away, and you are right. Lately it has gone downhill, and that kid getting stabbed to death hasn't helped the reputation.
There's exceptions, look what Margate has done in recent years. You wouldn't step foot in areas of Folkestone not so long ago, now it's booming.
Hi mate. Used to go to Southend regularly as a child. Was great back then, but recent visits have shown it's fallen on hard times and not worth much visit. Being an hour or so train ride from east London with absolute shitholes like Barking or Ilford means it's become basically London-on-Sea. Surprisingly, Leigh on Sea a few stops before is fairly nice for a short brief visit
Should see Blackpool these days, WOW!
Leigh is the last bastion of the area, but it's occupied by Leighples (all fur coat and no knickers). Kant has destroyed London and you are right, all the immigrants come down to Southend for the drugs and ujpsetting the locals.
@@G4RY1159Really sad what's happened to Blackpool. Had so many great times there years ago but it's just gone downhill.
@@tonyska Same! Not been back since 2018 and I went most years from the 70's
@@jaydunstan1618 Don't be daft, it's a lovely place.
I was bought up in Essex and my childhood was the early to mid 1960's. Back then seaside towns like Clacton, Walton and Southend seemed wonderful. As soon as I could travel independently I discovered the beauty of the Suffolk Coast with towns such as Woodbridge, Aldeburgh and Southwold. Dodgems, Candyfloss and Whelks and slot machines had no hold over me anymore.
Maybe I wasn't alone and that's one reason why Sarfend is clinging on to ever diminishing returns.
Maybe they'll one day realise that to keep doing the same thing over and over with the same results is a type of madness.
Sign of the times with the Police and security. It was interesting to hear your opinion of us down here. I'm a Southerner, I did a TOPS course up in Hull 1975 to 76. I was blown away by the friendlinees of the folks up there and of course the fish and chips, cooked in beef dripping. Half a whale and a bucket of chips for 39p. Amazing and very nice. Have you been to Nellys of Beverly ? If they are still open, a pub that realy must not be missed. Thanks for your input, you are a very polite man and enjoyable to listen to thanks :)
Yes nellies is still open.
Hey Nellies
Nellies in Beverley , cheapest beer in England. Love it.
I’m a southerner as well, and was in Beverley about a week ago, lovely place. Also had a weekend in Hull and would agree, the people were really nice, and great fun as well
I saw it in 1975 and was amazed. The history of the place is fascinating and really should be sampled by pub goers. Lovely beer too. Thanks :)@@orsettcock
Went there about 18 months ago to relive some childhood memories. Stayed at the hotel you showed opposite the pier and guess what, full of illegal immigrants being paid for by you and me. What shocked me most was the way that they spoke to the staff expecting them to run around for them. Never again, it is a dump.
The high police/security presence started around the same time the main beach along the golden mile became known as (London) City beach and the ‘new’ Londoners are encourage to come (and run a muck) at weekends.
Southend has always been the main seaside town for Londoners in years gone by but it’s a different Londoner now.
@@jackfrost1572 I won’t go into London now. My mates think I mad but I’d rather remember how it use to be.
@@spencerdodds2207 Central London is amazing, I’m 47, from London and with all due respect you are being a bit over cautious. London is a brilliant place to spend time, and very safe. The unsafe bits aren’t places anyone visiting would ever go
@@leesmusic1 it’s not caution old bean, it’s principle.
I was born in Bethnal Green 55 years ago. My family go way back there but it’s not our home anymore.
@@spencerdodds2207 yeah, I’m from Vicky Park, and Bethnal Green is basically the same as it was in the late eighties, except its been gentrified. So if anything actually a lot safer. My Nans sister used to have a stall down there, but they don’t have stalls there anymore. In the late eighties to the mid nineties I lived around Broadway Market, and it was rough as old boots, nowadays it’s lovely around there, lovely cafes and restaurants everywhere. The hipsters there now are a lot better than the scumbags that skulked around when I lived there. And Central London is fantastic, I was up Covent Garden and the city today, it was great.
@@leesmusic1 again it’s not a safety issue, I don’t fear it I loathe it.
Being a lass from Somerset but currently living
East.took a trip to clacton on sea spent an hour looking for something open to eat .but ended up walking into a venue whilst thinking it was a good place to eat but actually ended up walking in on someone’s wake.I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Oh my days.
But did you get a ham sandwich and a glass of sherry? : )
@@KennethHall-tp4hw Was just about to ask the same question! 😉
@tupelomiss8315 - I reside a couple of miles from Clacton town. I notice your comment here was posted 2 weeks ago. When you visited Clacton as per your comment, what season and what time of the day did you spend one hour looking for somewhere open to eat??? If you visited in the winter on a week day, and you were looking in the latter part of the evening, yes, that would be difficult. If you visited 2 weeks ago, ie., this summer, you would not have struggled at all - it is the height of the season! There are loads of places to eat, all manner of restaurants etc., including open in the evening.
Much prefer Frinton to Clacton…. Only a few miles up the coast…..
Hi James, Clacton and Southend were worth a visit 40 years ago but unfortunately as with many coastal towns they are a little shabby, if the tide was in and the sun was shining it would look a bit better
I went to Butlins Clacton in 1958 andI thought it was absolutely brilliant, safe journey
Steve Haggis
U do realise your name is above the comment.
Cheers 1 day ago!
@@Paulhanratty885 might not be his name 🤔.
Richard Gamlin 😁🤣👍
@@Paulhanratty885😂😂
Clacton council are putting an effort to modernise the seafront, I do have to say they are making and excellent effort, well worth a visit
I’m quite impressed with the changes in Southend. When I last went it was a complete dump. Police presence is reassuring. I’d pay another visit after seeing this video…Thank you for this review video..
Absolutely brilliant sir. You are a breath of fresh air. I had one holiday there in 1977 aged 15. It was a safe and happy place and we wondered around for days on our own without any drama. Sad how the uk is financially diminished. Too much cash stashed under the beds of the rich lol. Looking forward to your next adventure.
"Too much cash stashed under the beds of the rich". You seriously think that's the root of the problem, do you? 🤦♂
Stumbled across your vid, From Southend-on-Sea mate, yes lot of trouble in Southend the past year with kids coming in from London... Great video mate 👍
Did the people make you feel uncomfortable, or did the security presence make you feel uncomfortable?
The blocks are there because on a weekend late at night, cars would park up along the front and squeeze in where they could, almost blocking the whole pavement. Good perspective of Southend there!!
I went to Southend recently as I fancied a day or at the seaside. Unfortunately, I only stayed for a couple of hours as I only had just over £400 on me to spend.
...and I'll bet the bulk of that went on car parking / petrol after you'd driven up and down half a dozen times to try and find a place .... our council squeeze every single penny out of us , TOTALLY ineffective management .
Unfortunately just recently there was a gang related incident that happened in London and the same gang decided to come to Southend for a day of trouble. I've lived here for 17 years and love it here, I live in Leigh-on-Sea which is a stones throw away. You could have parked up for FREE if you'd driven 5 minutes up the road towards Thorpe Bay and you can actually park over night for free too. Please don't be disheartened come back again and give it another try 🙏
Yeah totally miss a trick, 7 miles of cost line which includes Leigh on sea often voted one of the best places to live, Thorpe bay etc and he walks 2 miles of the middle section and then comments on just that but hey ho there is miles of beach’s if you looked a little harder and you can park for free lol
Hi James. A good revue of Southend. A large police presence because a few days earlier a group of young teenagers via tik tok tried to raid the town centre and sea front. Also on a day like you visited it was nice and quiet so they can do their shift easily and go home.
Youngsters of a ‘ Diverse ‘ type as usual..
Lets be precise, they wasnt of the indian , chinese or jewish minority group as they were probally studing hard to get good jobs to get good homes and oay for the things they need .
It was the same minority group who moan about how hard done by they are .
Check the govement stats on arests between 2020/21
Per 1000 just 3 were chinese, 6 indian,8 whites 14 Pakistani and 28 black !
Good and bad in all but looting is generally done by black people .
@@martinsaunders2942the unmentionable fact of this new "shoplifting"
Thanks for a great overview, lots of sea side towns are going down hill due to overseas low cost travel. As a little boy going to the seaside was a great event not always sunny but we made the best of it.
Also cause they just run down and dont have loads to offer
That 'overseas low cost travel' is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, even in relative terms.
Still looks OK! Given it is a London proximal area and the massive change in population (complete population replacement) that has happened there in last 40 years! The amusements seem quite cool! The town centre would have been an interesting walk see how many empty spots.
The line in the song by Chris de Burgh comes to mind from Fatal Hesitation There is nothing quite like an out of season holiday 😢town in the rain. Sadly it the hight of the season or should be. Totally agree with you that these working class resorts are struggling from lack of funding. While we all got the jist of what you thought of South End on Sea I am glad you didn’t slate them on the video but recognised that there are a lot of business struggling to make ends meet and need some support if we only visit for one day, It would help boost the economy. But the local authorities don’t help with £8.50 car parking fees for 3 hours that’s an instant put off for people who are just passing through and may consider stopping off for look round, with them prices I would probably not bother and drive on. But hey James loved the video xxx
Thank you, I agree with you 100% 😊
Police taking a beer of some guy on seafront but Sue's getting her house robbed
😂
I’m glad I’ve seen this video as I often say I’d like a day out in Southend, but this has changed my mind + reading what other people have said, I used to go with my mum and dad in the 50s and everyone was happy, then I the mid 60s with my mates, I’m now happy not to go anymore 😢
Well I live here and don’t be put off by peoples comments, Leigh and other places which are part of southend are lovely. It’s a seaside place with loads to do, yes if you just go to the seafront etc then you really missing out
Hi James love the way your mixing up your videos love watching all of them everytime I'd like to see a bit of single van life you put one up brilliant it's a great insight into it
Keep it up you and Helen it makes my week ☺️
For a Seaside town it looked quite tidy. Go further up north and it gets grim. The sun shining doesn’t make them any better.
£2.50 to walk on a pier! Is breathing extra?
Its the longest pleasure pier in the world its an attraction it has to kept up & maintained nothing is free
A bottle of water is £5 at the end aswell
I’m guessing it helps with the upkeep
It said to walk both ways.? What happens if you just get a single? Do they phone the Samaritans?
I thought £2.50 was madness too but it’s an especially long pier 😂, I’m not even sure if we still have the Samaritans Stan, you wouldn’t have their number by any chance? I could be doing with a chat about the state of the UK 😂. I despair for the young people growing up here now! I’m glad I’m 59 cos it’s frickin sad but you gotta get a laugh else we’ll simply go crazy 🤷🏻♂️
There were lots of youngsters from London meeting up and causing troulbe same lot who met up in Oxford sreet in London recently apparently. We saw it first hand the other Thursday.
Da ethnic overspill
They would be easy to recognise
I witnessed a shop raid by a gang of 'teens' in my south coast town only this week. Bunch of 'erberts.
Nice to see the old place, used to live in Hockley, just a stones throw away. That was in the 90's, used to go to clubs etc and never had any problems. It was cool seeing where we used to go, walk along the sea front, always parked in the streets up from the front and walk down. Those boxes were where cars used to park and there was no charges, even the arcades still look the same. Won't be going back but have loads of memories of the place, and had a load of friends there too.
Hi james thankyou for showing us Southend
I dont think ill ever be in a rush to visit the place
Looks run down and outdated to me xx
Hi Dawn, I didn't like it at all but didnt want to say that in the video!
@@bythecurb i know exactly where your coming from, looks dirty to me
All those police and security people are there for a reason and that alone has put me right off 😝
Ayup James. You’d have to pay me £8.30 to go there.
Hi mate, thought you did a good job considering the poor weather and everything. But an answer about the police is fairly simple. We started getting a lot of London gangs down, so with the higher presence they stopped. But normally when the weather is really good, you'd barely see police through the crowds. It also shows an inflexibility on their behalf because they could patrol a few other areas if so many aren't needed because its not busy. But to be honest, there is very little trouble in town, and I'm out a lot at night. I think a lot of the night life that sucked out of towners into Southend, have closed, and that keeps them away. But was great to see your perspective, I'll keep an eye on your travels. Nice to see a decent honest and straight forward video, rather than some of the crap that gets pushed out.
Hi James, thank you so much for this vlog, im from Essex but moved up north over 30 years ago, I used to visit Southend On Sea as a youngster, and altho its changed a lot, it still bought back good memories. I prefer Clacton On Sea myself having lived there for a couple of years, so I am really looking forward to that vlog, all the very best from Nick in Wolsingham.
Thanks Nick, glad you liked it
Thank you sir, completely understand , working man, bricklayer 45 years, good luck.
Thanks for sharing your experience of Southend on sea. It's good to see the palm trees by the beach, could do with a bit of sunshine to go with it. In a bit
Yes it wasn't a very nice day!
It wasn't like that 55 odd year's ago when we used to go there for day trips , cheap hats , amusement arcades , candy floss and the rides inside the Kursal amusement park. It looks like a town underseige .
Southend used to be my favourite place as a kid, but that was a long time ago so nice to see it again, thanks for the video !!
It's gone down hill. Shame. I loved it, plenty of feet washers in summer
Seafront was always a bit dodgy during peak pub hours but always had a good time as a kid. Then when I reached my teens the big draw were the gig venues. It was a great place to see bands, big and small. Above all, of course, the Kursaal but also some fo the big hotels. Grungy and unpredictable, I loved it. I think if Southend had repositioned itself to focus on its club and music scenes it would be doing a lot better today, but their council went the opposite direction and closed many down. Lost opportunity.
The security outside the arcades are known for stopping local photographers from shooting outside the premises so you were lucky you weren’t approached by them. Crazy as the law isn’t on their side with that, but they seem to flex that rule quite often. The weather looked pretty dire & didn’t give the best feel to our town sadly on the day of your visit. It’s true we get a lot of day trippers & Londoners running the area down with crime & littering and of course it is a working class area. I guess I’m just used to it all, being my hometown - but when you get to visit so many beautiful places in our country I can see why you’d never want to visit again 😆 I’d be doing what you are if I could 🚍
They aren't allowed to stop you photographing if your on the pavement, they would be the ones breaking the law.
Perfectly legal to take photos from a public place .. if they so much as lay one finger on you then sue for assault .. simply as .. record all interactions with any security or police for your own protection..
I moved to Southend in 1992 from the north and have lived here ever since , I must say I have never in all that time experienced any trouble . Not one incident in all that time , mind you I did move from Manchester where we were burgled twice and I was mugged once . Then I guess Afghanistan is peaceful and law abiding compared to there.
When I moved here there was still pie and jellied eel shops , they have all gone and the town has gone down market generally . Compared to Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales though it's still none too shabby. If you had gone up the end end of the sea front it's so much nicer In Leigh on Sea, great place to have breakfast at the Arches .
It’s now September 5th and the sun is FINALLY here in Southend - just as the kids go back to school. On a nice summer day the seafront is buzzing but sadly there’s been little of that this summer so it looks awfully dreary. It’s an estuary really more so than a sea but does look nice with a summer sheen on the waves. Not a bad place to live imo but was definitely better 40 years ago when I moved here from London.
Old Leigh is my favourite place on the weekends and the other end of southend is Shoebury East Beach it’s more quieter and to enjoy a paddle out quite a way when the tide out or it’s low I’m 67 and my grandad used to bounce the Londoners out of the pubs at close time 😂
Thanks for doing this James - I've never been to 'Saafend' despite living about 25 miles away, (as the crow flies). You've convinced me that I made the right decision - anathema springs to mind...
😂😂
This video isn’t a fair reflection on the place, I live here and it’s lovely in the summer, if you visit Leigh on sea which 2 miles up the way (there is 7 miles of beach, if you had stayed a little longer and gone further in both directions you would have seen nice beaches etc) from where his filming it’s lovely and that’s part of southend area, often in the top 5 places to live in UK. So don’t pay much attention to a very small video of someone who literally been to a 2 mile bit of a city which has 200k people
I was born in Southend in 1972.... It was a lovrly place to grow up. By the end of the 80s it started becomming more a commuter town as Londoners (working) moved East. By the early 2000s the town started to fade away... many High Street Brand names left and although some of the Sea Front is very nice, it does have a certain type that comes and spoils it. As is much of the Country now. A real pity, as had you of been able to go to some of the Locals places you would of had a great time.
Excellent review which expressed modern views. When I was a kid Southend was a once a year day out on a charabanc and we thought fabulous. After 30 years motorhome travel all over the uk we have noticed not the decline but the changes all over. When we used to go up north we used to love it when locals heard our london accents and would stop and talk to us. When in pubs we used to compare the prices of drinks and realised as londoners we paid a hell of a lot more the same with fish and chips which always tasted better. The last time we were in Whitby which was a few years ago , it was so crowded which made it less enjoyable. Being nearly 80 now we realised we have had a better time perhaps than people have today. Nowhere was crowded it was easy to park and it wasn’t necessary to book everywhere in advance. It was good to see a southern review through the eyes of a northerner. Keep up the good work.
Hahaha … yes James! You have found your way down to the bad-lands 😂 … your instincts were spot-on about this place. I worked in this area and stayed in an air bnb a few streets back from the seafront for about 6 months (Tuesday-Friday) . The place gets mental on weekends!! Friendly folks and freaks that will rob you blind if you blink your eyes for to long! (And everything inbetween!)
… have fun but keeps your wits about you 😉
exactly ! us locals have perfected the technique of sleeping with one eye open .... 😞
Southend brought back a lot of memories from over 60 years ago when my mum use take us on a day trip, we use to get an old steam boat called The Queen Mary from Strood in Kent and it took about an hour and half, we would get off at end of pier and get the little train, The Pleasure Park use to be called the Kursal and we would go there before our trip back to kent. It has changed a lot, Thanks for sharing. Linda.
Hi James I got the name wrong for the paddle steamer it was called The Medway Queen not The Queen Mary, I knew there was a Queen in the title of the boat somewhere , lol.
Hi James . Quite mad to see you in my neck of the woods ( Essex).
Southend council currently have a zero tolerance to the old wacky baccy. Often smelled walking up and down the Promenade. Hemce the Police presence. Also the evenings at the weekend are filled with Boy Racers driving up and down .
Cool content bruv 👊
You should have looked at Leigh on sea James. Gorgeous little place.... Excellent video again mate.
I actually loved this, was a good take on it all. I've never been South End either, looks alright, I like the idea of alot of Police presence, puts people off doing bad things. Xx
As a kid the rare visit to Southend was always exciting , from London we would travel by ship , the Royal Sovereign , disembark on the pier , then continue via the narrow gauge railway to the Fun Park . Those distant memories from the 1960s are still a source of pleasure , the place was abuzz , trendy and new , everything had a shine and looked larger than life . Today the change is obvious , the vacant seaside digs are filled with illegal migrants , while holiday makers travel abroad . A great pity , but thankyou for making this video . I feel like I walked the streets with you, so 'By The Curb' is certainly well named !.
Ah Southend! My home town. Haven't lived there since the late 90s but I still have friends and family there. I ended up in Weston Super Mare for some reason, and my feeling is that most British seaside towns are like this now. Weston has similar vibes and like Southend, a dead high street. I remember Southend town centre on a Saturday in the 70s and 80s and it was the busiest scene imaginable with loads of choice. I guess online shopping has killed that off so all we get now is charity, mobile phone and fried chicken shops with the rest boarded up. It's like that here in Weston too. But, Southend was a great place to grow up as a teenager in the early 80s although not without it's trouble then. If the footy was on in town, then I always avoided the town and seafront as it regularly kicked off. Same with bank holiday Mondays when all the Mods, Bikers and Skinheads turned up. Would I live there again? No. It feels too much like a London suburb now and the place is far too overcrowded thanks to the council allowing too many houses to be converted into flats. In fact, the new flats you mentioned at the beginning of your video stands where the Esplanade pub once stood. A great venue for bands that "mysteriously" burnt down so that the land could be re-developed....into even more flats. Ho hum!
I think they have the same plan for Mauri.
Mark Dolan brought you the loaded generation who usherd in the type of lad culture that creates a down ward spiral that can only be stopped by cappuccinos ,ciabata bread and paninis a sense of style and a strong European and inclusive forward thinking attitude offering real culture as in a love of history and protection of architecture and promotion of traditional crafts etc. Everything that GB news uses to hold working peaple back.
Southend was my childhood resort living in Essex. I think its a bit rough these days, Lea on sea used to be nicer with local ships and sea food. Westcliff was nice and quiet, used to have picnics with my grandparents
I went to Southend 50 years ago on a coach trip organised by a club. Probably 40 blokes and 10 girls aged 17 to 25. Within an hour there was a huge fight between a gang of bikers and us. The cause was said to be one of the bikers said something to a girl from our club, and bingo. My mate ended up in hospital for 2 or 3 days. Apart from that a good time, even then the police had a large presence.
At least it would have been home grown violence and gang violence was just part of Southends culture 50 years ago.
@@Tony11806 Home grown violence, lmao, pathetic.
@@RaphaelDawkinsCombatRadio You are not seeing the irony of my comment.
I did the opposite, driving a furniture van all over the country ...... I was living just outside London but when my marriage broke up I moved to a place in Yorkshire where I used to park up ...... and it's flippin' lovely up here, it reminds me of where I grew up with its sense of community.
I worked there in 1994 we went out one thursday night 2 of the lads stayed in the nightclub until the end we went for food, the next thing one of the lads came running back to the van saying they had been beaten up. One of the lads ended up with a metal plate in his face all this was outside m and s in the centre yet nothing was caught on cctv or anyone ever charged. Totally unprovoked attact
Several years ago I had a run in, for no reason, with this massive bloke. Managed to get to Tesco Mini store and grabbed a pair of wine bottles, holding them like weapons. Looked straight at him and he backed off. Why did he want to attack me ? F knows, if he had of done Id have ended up in hospital, he was bloody enormous. Place is a shate hole
@@creightonjason Jason Creighton, I love your movies man!
Same thing happened to me in the 80s, I was walking back to my car with two other friends about 10pm, when in the distance I saw a group of about 5 lads that must have come out of TOTS, they walked past my two friends then one of them for no reason punched me in the mouth smashing my tooth out. I turned round to him, I was about 17 and they were about 25ish, and said what did you do that for?. His friends had to restrain him for attacking me again and I heard them say, leave him alone he's only a young un.
I fooking hate Southend, night clubs and tossers that drink.
There are many here trying to allege that this sort of thing is a recent phenomena 😂🤣😅
@@RaphaelDawkinsCombatRadio Nah it's not a recent phenomena, I've seen them ever since I started taking drugs in the 90s.
That little cafe in pier is Jamie Olivers Southend Pier
The programme is presented by Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty. The series was filmed in Jamie and Jimmy's Café, which is based at the end of Southend Pier. Each week the Café is filled with members of the public and a celebrity guest joins Jimmy & Jamie in the Café and helps to cook a recipe of their choosing.......if u went further up the road u would be at Leigh on sea where all the cockle sheds are
I took the family to Southend last year for the day. All we had or did when there was one drink in the pub and takeaway pie and chips all around, this being all we intended to do. The total cost was £160. That is about as cheap as it gets, and I could have spent double this without doing a whole lot more. Therefore, many of these families are spending £300 plus for a single-day trip to Southend. Back in the early-80s, for not a lot more, they could have found a two-week full board, all in, somewhere in the Costas. It now cost me around £150 just to take my two sons carp fishing for the day including packed lunch. Suffice it to say, on paper, I have never been richer, but in reality, never felt poorer, and I am sure that I am not the only one.
I tend to believe, but have no way of knowing, that many of the people spending money out there really should not be spending hardly anything at all, or spending even less than I do. £28 a head just to make your family feel sick for a couple of hours? Or £56 a head to make them feel sick for a few more times over the next 12 months. Why do people still do this, is throwing up supposed to be a pleasurable experience? Almost the only reason why we used to go to Southend when we were alive was to pick up a drunk Essex tart after she had spent her own or someone else's money getting into that state, for some backseat activity. We never failed, not even once. To be honest I still don't understand why anyone else would want to go there?
Those were the days my friend we thought they'd never end.............
It all now looks so boring, sad, overpriced, and depressing in comparison it is hard to even look at all.
Come to the Yorkshire coast. It's lovely 😊
@@bythecurb I enjoyed that but at 69 years old,I am, obviously,still naive so why were those coloured blocks there, please?
@@Isleofskye The blocks are to help prevent someone driving a van/truck up on to the pavement to run down pedestrians.
Me and my friend used to go clubbing here in the nineties. We would drive down from London with no accommodation booked, get changed into our glad rags in a park down the road, go out to the clubs around the back of the seafront, come out sloshed, sleep in the car, shower on the beach the next day, chill on the beach, and do it all again the next night. Happy times
Awesome 😁
I live around the corner not far, Canvey Island, I noticed the police around same time you went had increased a lot then normal, I can only put it down to the young lads all coming down from London because of a TikTok trend to go shoplift, same group that did Oxford street. My misses takes kids all time and has them an annual pass for Adventure Island as its great for summer time while off school, but without Adventure Island it would really struggle. It can get really busy down there due to the easy connection to inner London using the C2C train service, the beach really could use some investment and good clean up.
You should be more concerned about the invasion on canvey and how they don’t integrate and are leeches
I've lived in the Southend area for 61 years and it was lovely up until about 15 to 20 years ago when it took a horrible nose dive. It is now an absolute 💩hole. I stay away from the seafront now for fear of being mugged or even stabbed for no reason. Terrible place.
Never been to Southend myself but i'm sure the miserable July we have suffered didn't show it in it's best light.a bit of Sun and everyones mood goes up a notch or 2😊
The longest pier in the southern hemisphere is 1.14 miles each way and is in Busselton south of Perth in Western Australia my home town. I have been to Southend on sea as a child when I lived in the uk
Hi James
Should you be in this part of the world again try Frinton on Sea which is close to Clacton. It is like going back to the 1950s, low crime and a very pleasant seafront.
Sounds like my type of place. I thought Clacton-on-Sea was ok
Dont worry, it will be diversified very soon
@@bythecurb Frinton-on-Sea is a very quiet place for retired people. If you have kids, Walton-on-the-Naze (just 6 miles NE of Clacton) is much better; a very chilled atmosphere, lovely beach and pier, quaint town, and much more familly orientented than stuffy old Frinton (which even banned chippies until fairly recently - I'm not joking).
Often wondered what both places looked like .I now will know .
Thanks James.
Keep on keeping it real.
Hi James you certainly picked two extremes there with Southend-on-Sea & Grasmere still at least the pint was cheaper in Southend. You were a little unlucky with your timing of your Southend visit as the Home Secretary was due to visit and there had been talk of "unrest" being planned on Social Media so I hear.
I filmed this a couple of weeks ago and never planned on publishing it because I dont think its one of my best but with the news over the last couple of days I thought Id put it out there
Enjoyed that. I just love the old seaside towns, although over the years they have started to get a bit tasty especially late at night. Londoner btw now retired in the west of Ireland and loving it.
Ah the peace barriers of diversity, welcome to cultural enrichment!
Thanks Tony Blair.
Enjoyed the video James. Thanks for posting. I live in Cornwall and one of the premier surf resorts is Newquay. When I was a kid back in the 50/60’s, it was a lovely place to visit. Then it was taken over firstly by surfers(nothing wrong there) then back packer hostels, then cheap Jack tat shops, then hen and stag do’s etc etc etc. So it became “not such a nice place to visit”. I was informed by a local that there were 3k ‘ish rooms in Newquay on AIRB&B. So the small family guest houses and small family hotels have gone. Once you’ve gone down this path there’s no going back. Massive population growth in the county, massive influx of tourists, so what could possibly go wrong?
Oh ps. Still only one major hospital in the county!
£8.50 to park for 3 hours and £2.50 to walk on the pier is extortion
Great video fella. I live in Leigh on sea just a few miles away. There’s been a few gangs turning up (hoodie types) causing trouble. There’s not normally that many police down there. The pier is so long because in the old days that’s as close as the steamers could get to the shore to drop off trippers. That hotel up the top of the hill has got a cracking bar overlooking the estuary. Keep up the filming mate. 👍
Remember the cockle sheds. My cousin still lives there. I’m 76 and live in Somerset now so it’s a bit far. But Southend in the 60s. 😁😁We get a lot of motor bikers in Minehead. They all park up and have fish and chips. Lovely bikes, lovely people. All a bit older. We do get the scooters too, big line of them. Never any trouble. Good job, we have hardly any police.
My cousin doesn’t live in a cockle shed by the way 🤣🤣🤣
The area is Changing demographic for the worse.
Southend is a great day out,never had any problems therebin the 20 years ive been visiting.its the same anywhere in the world if you're looking for trouble you'll find it
I used to be taken to Southend as a kid in the 50's my parents would "lose" me deliberately so the kind people or a policeman would take me to the Punch and Judy compound where no child was let out until a parent came, and way back then they would ask if it were your real mum or dad. In my 70's now and Yes Back to Essex, I lived in Norfolk and Suffolk for 40 years and wanted to come back to my home county. But I was seriously warned off of buying a house in Southend. I bought a bungalow on the outskirts of Clacton not bad here but rarely go into town, it is pretty much a down and out place to be honest, but for sure Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft they are all run down like pretty much every coastal town. All the big stores are gone or going, old established firms shops etc that had traded for decades passed down through the family for hundreds of years,gone. Mostly I think the councils are to blame, they ramp up the let prices on the businesses people are screwed by the taxes, and the councils kill the trade by pedestrianising the high streets thus killing trade, and they charge quite high prices for parking. So everyone goes to retail markets and The big retail estates , free parking plenty of room and good well known stores!
One important thing to remember though is when you are out and about during weekdays there are going to be the unwashed lazy idle unemployed layabouts, drunks, druggies and "females" with mouths like gutters spewing vitriol and verbal diarrhea etc, because they have nowhere else to go. Go on weekends though and the decent people the workers the nice people come out to do their shopping have a coffee have lunch etc, then the places are alive and smiley.But alas the damage dine by the councils , weeeeel just look at how many empty shops there are and of course the "charity" shops, the Nail bars, the Beauty parlours the Hairdressers Coffee shops thick on the ground all foreigners because the council's let the immigrunts have them rent free for 3 years, then of course the "business" is passed to another immigrant "relative! These so called councils should be run by locals for the locals in the interest of the locals. Run by decent people whose lives and families are locals.
Spot on
I was in Southend on sea ten years ago . It pissed down torrential rain all day. I knew it was getting bad when I observed a guy beating bricks out for weep holes in his garden walls with a sledgehammer because it was starting to flood. I could see the water running out of the holes he had already made. The only reason i was there was to collect to bostitch nails guns i had left in for repair. One of my mates I shared a house with in north London used to live in southend. He says he was on the beach there in the summer. He said it was like watching a colony of penguins. There was a sea of burkas !
🤣🤣🤣
Alan’s snack bar must have been rammed.
Such an underrated channel, every time I watch one of your videos, you or helen always say something to make me laugh, Such a watchable, down to earth, funny, entertaining channel, deserve a million subs and I’m sure if you keep doing what your doing you will 100% get to that milestone, so deserving 👏⭐
Thank you so much, I really appreciate that :-)
@@bythecurb welcome 🤗
I would love to see you at beamish near Newcastle it’s a Victorian town they do films in there as well it’s lovely to walk around then go to the angel of the north 😊
Yes, it's great at Beamish. The Black Country Museum at Dudley is just the same.
Yes the countryside is fab at Beamish I live few mile from there.
Beamish is brilliant.
Excellent Vlog
Am from up North myself I know am going to come across as a snob but am not I was raised and brought up in the rough area of Liverpool and just dragged myself through college and uni but have never forgotten we’re I lived. My Daughter married a Lad from Leigh on sea 5-10 mins from Southend, its the direction you was walking at the end of the Vlog towards the castle ruins and a lot better, it’s more picturesque like a village vibe and a nice harbour front with nice pubs and restaurants.
The Daughter and Son in Law refuse to go to South end town centre I went once with the wife and totally understand why, Little bit better than Blackpool and that has gone Down hill the Last few years as well.
Keep up the Good work 👍👍👍👍
Thanks, a few people have mentioned Leigh on Sea, I will check it out
Overall, a good video! Thank you.
It is a changing country/world.
The police seem basically, another patrol camera, engaged in state surveillance.
😂😂😂😂😂
Thanks for the vid. Haven't been to Southend for over 40 years. As East London kids, we used to get the train from East Ham Station - and a bit later we would cycle there Along the A13 on our "Choppers". The port of call in those days was the Kursaal, so was wondering why you skipped past it. Is it no longer operating?
Hey James, my sister used to live in Essex and we'd take a trip down to Southend on Sea once in a while and couldnt believe it when our kid said there was a chippy on the front (where that new apartment block is now) and it sold gravy, mushy peas and curry. Yeah, not shitting ya mate we went in thinking our kid was winding us up and guess what we heard the owner say as walked in? "HEY UP!" He was only a Bolton lad who'd moved down their years ago and started his chippy up. Wel chuffed., oh by the way only a couple of miles down the road from their is Leigh-on-Sea, well posh but apparently the G's from London mostly have pads down there. Braap braap 💥💥
Im going to have a look at Leigh-on-Sea
@@bythecurb I'll show you the sights if you like
I used to visit Southend as a young child in the early sixties so this is nostalgic for me. We used to catch jellyfish, take rides on the funfair, build sandcastles and pig out on ice cream and candy floss and of course head down the pier. There was a ghost train/horror house somewhere which we loved. It's great to see how much of it is still quite similar to what it was back then; I swear that blue cafe building on the pier is the same one! And the pier train, still with that iconic green and cream colour scheme! We used to take the train down from London, even that was part of the fun for us. At that age, at that time, it didn't take much to have fun. Time for a return trip I think.
i grew up in east London this was a day out . we went by train and spent the day there went to cockle stall , thena pub with my dad , slot machines ,the Kursaal, with the Wall of death etc, ended up at the ocean fish restaurant and then to peter pans playground on aeroplane ride and the crooked house, before the train home. Happy days xx
That's the pier off minder where Arthur forgets his wallet 😊
Ha ha, love little nuggets like this. Cheers fella.
I used to love going to Southend as it is the closest coastal town to me but NO MORE, so very sad the place has gone so bad. I truly wish Southend can get some sort of funding for improvement, it could be a real gem if money was spent.
Gov cant afford it, they pay too much in foreign aid and to illegal immigrants.
Southend DOES get funding for improvements from the government... to the Council. If they are not spending it as you wish, then you should take it up with the local councilors, not blame the government! 🙄
We went over that way in June and drove to through South end on sea. Never again, the best thing about it is the road out.
Thanks for sharing this video, James.
I've been thinking of a short trip down to Southend just to check it out.
It's very sad that there seems to be trouble around that area (no doubt heading there from other areas), but I'll still give it a crack when it's not too busy.
Will be interesting to see how it goes 🤞
Used to always go to Southend when I was younger for hen doos and even then it was really rough. Loads of fighting in pubs and that's why there is so many police. You should visit Southwolds in East Suffolk it's lovely.
Thanks, I'll look it up!
I was born and bred in Southend it was lovely growing up there but it is nothing like it was. I go back to visit family and friends but cant wait to get back to Cornwall which is my home now since 1988. I have brought up a family here and i would never go back .
Maybe they're having a busman's holiday, day out!
Walk up and ask one, "excuse me Constable is there something I am not aware of, why so many police about?"
I really thought he would've asked one of them, I probably would.
Best thing about Southend is that you can see Kent on the other side of the Thames and Medway Estuary...the reason why the Pier is so long is because it was where Steam ships and paddle steamers could bring people from London and the Medway Towns to Southend,,, the sea is shallow and goes out such a long way.
Don’t bother going anymore as Southend in general is known for trouble! Very good video 👍
Thank you
Nice to hear a Yorkshire accent.I’m from Leeds myself but have lived darn sarf
for over thirty years.But still talk like a dalesman.A very good honest assessment of Southend.
Try cumbria has siloth its lovely place . St bees sandy beach . Then youve also got the lakes 👍
Silloth, Skinburness, Abbeytown & Carlisle cathedral is beautiful & Carlisle Castle 👍
I used to live in Southend and met some salt of the earth people. We never went out on the sea front as it could get violent on Friday/Saturday night. We went into the town centre instead and in groupswhich is safer. The casinos are a good spot for a few beers after the pub, as they're safe. You get a taxi there and back yo be doubly safe.Lots of eastenders go to Southend for a weekend away and they go out to the sea front and there's quite a few fights
Been a few incidents past few weeks with ‘multicultural ’ youths, it’s gone downhill sadly
It's always them lot
It's too close to massive S/Asian communities in the "east end". It used to be mods n rockers. The demographic has changed, not the place. That's it.