Memory Lane Southend Town Centre

[KevinJH]

https://www.myoldarndtlilley.com/postcards-exc-ww/essex/southchurch/

In this (currently) modern day and age of emails etc., who'd've thought postcards would play such an important part of our social history. Great site and the p/card about the few coppers from Southend - priceless......

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Here's a good aerial view of the old Westcliff baths. The days of Southend being a 'popular holiday resort for Londoners'. Note the Westcliff Hotel .. that hasn't changed!!

 

[Cricko]

We used to jump off the top to save paying to get in.. Kids eh!

 

[Ex-Member1]

The Westcliff swimming pool was a massive part of my youth too. What frolics we got up to!

 

[Ex-Member1]

Not forgetting Leigh sea water pool either, murky water but great fun too. Memories!

 

[The Big Dady]

"The public baths at the junction of Southchurch Road and Lifstan Way were opened in 1935. The present day church of St Augustine in Thorpe Bay was consecrated in 1935 as well, replacing the temporary church built in 1913."

https://www.myoldarndtlilley.com/postcards-exc-ww/essex/southchurch/

I can't find a picture,we need our resident super sleuth to find one @The Big Dady

Public baths at the junction of Southchurch Road and Lifstan Way were opened in 1935

A building on Southchurch Road which once housed the Public Baths, Many terraced houses would not have been built with a bathroom therefore some residents used the public baths.

I believe this building has now been converted to flats (see pic below)

 

[Cricko]

Bingo! well done mate, I still think it is there or was up until recently. (maybe altered) and it had the word Baths inscribed in the brickwork.

 

[rigsby]

Here's a good aerial view of the old Westcliff baths. The days of Southend being a 'popular holiday resort for Londoners'. Note the Westcliff Hotel .. that hasn't changed!!

Taken long before the Cliffs Pavilion was built.

On the film that Andy T posted....As Well as swimmers under the diving boards (remember those days) did anyone notice the young girl getting whiplash at about 03:10

 

[AndyT]

Watching it again. I missed the 03:10 dodgem crash. Funny, even now, I'm sitting here thinking I hope she's alright. Looked nasty, that!

Good to see the original boating lake by the pier and we definitely need more marching bands on the seafront.

All in all. Just superb!

 

[The Big Dady]

I thought it looked like she hit her head on the steering wheel, and was possibly knocked out.

 

[Cricko]

Not sure if this was posted before, but it popped up on my youtube prompts. Love it :-

A few things I recall after watching that. At the end of the pier of course in those days were many attractions, but as a kid I would spend as much time as possible on the two Red speed boats they had there I think they were called the Jet and the Swift. Great fun on he sea in those days.

Peter Pans playground had a Zoo and I spent many hours in there.

There was an indoor Dodgem cars in the huge Olympia amusement arcade on the ground floor and upstairs were some of those old what the butler saw flicker machines. It was opposite the old boating lake.

The Kursaal was closest to where we lived at the time which was above 2 cafes called the Beehive and Sunflower restaurants, next door to Terry Flynns Wonderland amusements. The cafes were shut down but my mum and her partner had a drinking club above them called The Little Ships club and we lived in the flat next door.

Ok back to The Kursaal, I have so many memories of that place Yvonne Stag was riding the Wall of death then and I will do a separate post later all about that place.

The seafront was my manor haha in those days so any questions on from when that film was released fire away guys.

 

[Cricko]

Who remembers the Guinness clock on the Westcliif cliffs? That was 1960 I think but I remember seeing it.

https://www.guinntiques.com/festivalclock.aspx

 

[AndyT]

Not Southend related, but a nice story about Olivia Newton-John in the news today.

Link

Video now to go with the story. Not a dry eye in the house! :-

 

[AndyT]

A few things I recall after watching that. At the end of the pier of course in those days were many attractions, but as a kid I would spend as much time as possible on the two Red speed boats they had there I think they were called the Jet and the Swift. Great fun on he sea in those days.

Peter Pans playground had a Zoo and I spent many hours in there.

There was an indoor Dodgem cars in the huge Olympia amusement arcade on the ground floor and upstairs were some of those old what the butler saw flicker machines. It was opposite the old boating lake.

The Kursaal was closest to where we lived at the time which was above 2 cafes called the Beehive and Sunflower restaurants, next door to Terry Flynns Wonderland amusements. The cafes were shut down but my mum and her partner had a drinking club above them called The Little Ships club and we lived in the flat next door.

Ok back to The Kursaal, I have so many memories of that place Yvonne Stag was riding the Wall of death then and I will do a separate post later all about that place.

The seafront was my manor haha in those days so any questions on from when that film was released fire away guys.

Another quality post.

The collective memories on here of the old place are quite something.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

A few things I recall after watching that. At the end of the pier of course in those days were many attractions, but as a kid I would spend as much time as possible on the two Red speed boats they had there I think they were called the Jet and the Swift. Great fun on he sea in those days.

Peter Pans playground had a Zoo and I spent many hours in there.

There was an indoor Dodgem cars in the huge Olympia amusement arcade on the ground floor and upstairs were some of those old what the butler saw flicker machines. It was opposite the old boating lake.

The Kursaal was closest to where we lived at the time which was above 2 cafes called the Beehive and Sunflower restaurants, next door to Terry Flynns Wonderland amusements. The cafes were shut down but my mum and her partner had a drinking club above them called The Little Ships club and we lived in the flat next door.

Ok back to The Kursaal, I have so many memories of that place Yvonne Stag was riding the Wall of death then and I will do a separate post later all about that place.

The seafront was my manor haha in those days so any questions on from when that film was released fire away guys.

The Olympia arcade was a strange one in those days, dominated downstairs by that dodgem track. Upstairs was huge and they didn't have enough amusement machines to fill it. The center piece was a huge machine with American sex symbols on it like Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, etc, etc. A light would flash on about 8 sex symbols, and you had to guess where the light would stop. Upstairs later became the Olympia Bingo hall, and downstairs they took the dodgems out and filled it with the more modern latest amusement machines. I was in my element, as the seafront started filling up with more skill machines. I kept off of the pure luck ones. My friends kept asking where I was getting my money from, and it wasn't until a few came down there on the bus with me, that they saw it for themselves. I spent a lot of time in Wonderland, and I know you wasn't keen on Terry Flynn, Cricko, but he took to me and was always good to me. When the Kursaal closed in 1974, Yvonne Stagg took the Wall Of Death to Margate's Dreamland before her tragic end. I'm sure Cricko will add more to the Kursaal story, as he said.

 

[Cricko]

I didn't mind Terry Flynn as a kid, it was great when he did the big scalextrix track upstairs and in Hamlet Court Road. I got on more with Pam his well girlfriend but not. He didn't treat her very well and was an arse to me later on in life when I was looking for a motherboard for a tabletop Missile Command game. Said he wanted £300 for it,. Jesus we were like his kids when we were younger, my 3 sisters and I were in there every day.... in the end I went to his old workshop up by Tots and one of the old guys gave me 2 for nothing.

Banging the machines haha @THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK , we were rich until they started putting alarms on them grrrrrrr.

 

[KevinJH]

Memory's probably playing tricks on me again but I seem to recall in the Kursaal there being an indoor, wood-strip kind of well, not so much a slide, more a sheer drop into a bowl area. Great fun if you didn't have your back taken out by someone following close behind

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Memory's probably playing tricks on me again but I seem to recall in the Kursaal there being an indoor, wood-strip kind of well, not so much a slide, more a sheer drop into a bowl area. Great fun if you didn't have your back taken out by someone following close behind

Your memory is not playing tricks with you. It was called the Bowl Slide. As a kid, it was brilliant. You went up to the top on little wooden seats that was on a thick strong chain. Then you got on a mat and a huge drop into the wooden bowl.

 

[rigsby]

I thought it looked like she hit her head on the steering wheel, and was possibly knocked out.

She was wearing her safety seaside bonnet.

Looked like those lads in white had to be more alert attending the bumper cars than our defence are at the moment.

 

[KevinJH]

@SNB - that's the one

Recently found this link to some more shots of the Kursaal going waaay back......
http://www.joylandbooks.com/themagiceye/galleries/kursaal-memories.htm