| Product: |
Southend-on-Sea in General |
| Date: |
26/10/00 (161 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Lots to see and do
Disadvantages: Usual seaside town problems
Southend on Sea is in Essex a 40 minute train journey from London. In years gone by Londoners used to frequently visit the town with their families for days out.
Southend has the longest pleasure pier in the world although it needs a lot to be done to it after several fires and an accident with a boat. It is one and a quarter miles long and has a pub a cafe a shop and the RNLI lifestation at the end. You can either walk up there or travel on the train. It used to have a ten pin bowling alley at the beginning of the pier but after an awful fire it's been taken down. Underneath the pier on the shore is a pier museum which is really worth a visit they have a lot on show there.
Every year Southend hosts a free airshow this has been running for 11 years now and is an enjoyable day out. As well as the aeroplanes there is market stalls and little side shows.
There is also an annual carnival which attracts visitors in their thousands and has recently had entrants from the Notting Hill Carnival. Well worth seeing. Always finishes with a firework display.
Southend has a pleasure park which is thriving very well and has new rides added every year.
The shopping centre at Southend has all the major shops plus a few less known. It has a large indoor area with a lot of shops in there.
If you are looking for somewhere to spend the weekend I would strongly recommend a trip to Southend. There are various bed and breakfast places to stay and are all reasonably priced.
See you there.
Summary:
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Last comments:
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- 06/11/02 I was impressed with Southend when I first went there. To begin with, the town's rail links were (both) very good, I particularly liked the line that runs along the coast. I thought everything about the seafront was scenic and presentable (which is pretty remarkable considering Southend's sprawling location, situated opposite from the industrialised Isle Of Sheppey, and effectively buffered from London by the terribly drab South Essex landscape around Basildon and Thurrock). And then, exploring further into the Southend borough, I was stunned by the wonderful period architecture of the town's vast (and largely upmarket) residential areas. The parks and gardens (even away from the main tourist areas) are beautifully landscaped and maintained, and the town's suburbs are incredibly leafy and often quite idyllic. Southend is most definitely the finest town in Essex, even if (and it has to be said) the local population can often appear to be rather too affected by regional stigma. Outside of Essex, I have never heard so many terrible accents. That, sadly, is the reason that I could never live in such a place. |
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- 04/07/01 Methinks you do not live in Southend. Southend is not as sophisticated as Brighton, yet not as thrilling as Blackpool, and whatever the local papers seem to suggest, Southend is just a bland in-between. |
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- 13/12/00 I agree. Southend is a great place to visit, shop, or do just about anything. The Airshow is the best and free. There is also a Planetarium, Museum, and Airport. A good day out whatever the intention! |
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