@@morthren I didn't even notice it was you who had filmed this video when I started to watch it off my suggestion list. When I noticed that, I was like, I KNOW this will be excellent!!
I live here in Southend n can’t remember the last time I visited the end of the pier. I must go & visit it soon, before another catastrophe happens! 👍🏻
Thanks for posting. I lived in Leigh on Sea for many years, so this bought back memories for me. I was there during the seventies and eighties - so witnessed those disasters. I remember the two fires very well.
Your videos are always interesting and informative. This one had particular fortuitous timing as I am about to start building a model pier with railway, so there were lots of interesting details. Thanks for sharing!
Such a shame we've lost the electric railway, the rolling stock and shore terminus of the original electric line were really impressive. Thanks for uploading this. I'd previously been having a gander on Google earth trying to see the state of the pier railway, but couldn't see much there, so this was spot on. Anyone remember the North Thames Gas Board pier further up the beach? Thanks.
I have very fond memories of Southend-on-Sea. As a boy it was our day-trip from London's East End. We had holidays there as well. There was the Kursaal, Mayflower waxworks, Peter Pan Playground, gardens opposite Peter Pan Playground, and I remember there being a track with motorized cars. Not forgetting - The Pier - especially the train with my memories being of the Green and Cream jobs. Loved Southend. Bryan
Brilliant memories of many happy times at Southend-on-sea. I had relatives that lived there so a lot of time visiting was spent on and around the pier around 1955-1963. Just a few of my memories are The Kersal and the marvellous water shoot, The Southend Lights open top buses along the front and under that low bridge. And of coarse the trains which if my memory serves me right were green and white. and they had reversible seat backs. Thanks for bringing back these memories.
I adore this place. Sadly though you get the the end and there is nothing really there! Southend Council needs to do something better - theatre? Market stalls? Anything!
In the late 40s they had a "toastrack" train. It was electrically operated and the carriages were pretty much flatbed with seats on. The only guardrail to stop you falling off was a chain attached to the end of the row of seats and hooked onto the next row. This was replaced in 1949 by the green and cream, fully enclosed electric trains that most people remember. At one time (early 60s) 3s 6d (17½p) gave you a return train ride + a lunch in the Dolphin Restaurant + the afternoon performance in the Sundeck Theatre.
i lived in westcliffe between 1980 to 81 loved southend the kursaal the top of the town night club only went on the pier once to go bowling i think .. will never forget southend on sea it was a great place .. i may visit again soon its been to long .. great vid tho thanks for posting
A very nice vid, thanks for up-loading. It takes me right back to my childhood in the 1970s, trips down the pier on the green & cream electric trains. And i remember the fire that destroyed the pier end in 1976, it was said to have started on the ghost train in the pavillion, the lower floor was an amusement arcarde type place with a few rides inside. I remember going back shortly after the fire, some of the amusements had re-opened at the pier end along the edges of the pier near the station. Some of the workers showed me coins they had rescued after the fire, all bent up & burnt as i remember! Happy days (Southend in general, not the fire......)
the shore, an amusement park, a pier, arcades, sea food places Wonder where this formula originated & how many seashores replicate with the same elements. Coney Island Myrtle Beach Atlantic City Santa Cruz Does Amsterdam do this? Always Fun Thanks for posting
I can remember going on the old green and cream electric powered trains back in the early 1970s with my dad, we used to go fishing right at the end of the pier, it's was great back then. Used to be my second home Southend-on-Sea, spent many of my childhood days fishing on the pier and visiting the old Kursaal amusement park, before they pulled it all down. I enjoyed your video and gave you a thumbs up 👍 Regards from Ricky Greenleaf
Haven’t been on Southend Pier since the 1950s.......good to see it again. Not sure if one should call it the sea here, or if it is still the mouth of the Thames.....(for those who do not know, the Pier runs out from the southern Essex coast, towards the northern Kent coast which you can see quite clearly.). Thank you for an interesting well shot video.
The beauty of Southend Pier lies in the fact that it remains understated. Nothing better that to take a walk along the Pier out of season to clear the mind. It's got an unspoiled charm that money can't buy. There are just a few shops and a cafe at the end but that's what makes it unique in my opinion. It's WELL worth a visit if you want a calm relaxing day out. On return how about a trip to Rossi's ice cream parlor and a walk to the more chilled out beaches of Chalkwell or Thorpe Bay. 👌
Hythe in Hampshire has a narrow gauge pier railway, the oldest continuously running pier railway in the world. It serves the end of the pier and ferry service to Southampton, used daily by commuters and sightseers. The loco dates from 1917.
You're not very talkative but your videos are always really interesting and informative. I never knew about this pier so I shall be making a trip there at some point. I really saddens me to see how many of our piers have been so sadly neglected and allowed to fall into disrepair. It's good to see one that is thriving.
I get a mixed reaction about not talking. Some people prefer it because it's about the scenery and ambiance rather than me talking. But then others say they don't like the subtitles.
Ahhh my hometown.... wish I was old enough to remember it in its heyday with the proper trains... i was born in76... The original trains were more like trams and were sold for scrap (they were made by AC Cars) but a couple of carriages survive in museum...
Jed .Clampett I have fond memories of the 'old' trains. Green and cream, they were like a cross between a tube train and the old Blackpool streamline trams. The coaches were 28 ft long 4 wheelers with a 14 foot wheelbase. The noise was amazing. Perfect rhythm!
Sad memory - the original trains, after decommissioning were stored at the back of the kids playground in Christchurch road before (presumably) being shipped to the breakers yard.
You should do a follow up video on another attraction in Southend - the world's shortest railway. There's an old Victorian "lift" which goes up the cliffs from the seafront and it's technically a tiny train on rails.
Funicular railways are prolific in costal towns, most Victorian, some gravity/water powered so very green today. This works by both cars having a water tank beneath, the tank on the lower car is drained making it lighter than the car at the top, which has a full tank, as it descends it pulls the other one up, which has the tank refilled at the top often using water fed from a stream.
If I ever won big on a lottery I would invest in building a pier at a small seaside town. When run properly they are beautiful structures and profitable.
@@spencerwilton5831 Probably not because the reason those are in poor keep is a lack of business. The piers brought in huge crowds to small seaside towns and then the towns grew and offered more to holiday makers than the piers could. The pier only works profitably as a destination where it can compete against businesses on the land. So wouldn't it be better to build a new pier somewhere small but looking to expand their tourist reach, thereby establishing a profitable business and helping the local economy grow?
I grew up on the Isle of Sheppey, the island you can just about see from the pier head in the distance, and never been to Southend, I now live in Manchester but one day I'd love to visit Southend and the pier although I think I'd walk up first then train back lol 😂 😉 😉 great video and thanks for sharing. 😁 😁
It is a shadow of its former self. I grew up in Rayleigh and we often used to visit Sarffend and one of the things I remember were the trains on the pier. If I remember correctly they were German made, very stylish electric multiple units. They had seat backs that could be reversed. Later (1973-74?) on whilst at college we used the train every Wednesday afternoon to get to the end to go fishing. It looks totally different now for the reasons you stated. But it still brings back memories. Thanks.
I was born and brought up in southend in the 50s 60s 70s I used to love that place always down the front and pier and the cliffs as a kid it was fantastic. All my family still live there I left because it changed so much I could not recognise it they spoilt it.
Days of my childhood; at least one Saturday spent up from London and last things were a visit on the pier and the Golden Hind. To this day I'm still not sure if that sea front galleon was for real or a replica. Haven't been back for a visit since my early teens but have been thinking of going back since I moved to Norfolk. Still not sure since I learned about the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery - US ammo ship sunk to the South-West off the Isle of Sheppey during the war with at least half it's cargo still on board. I say, are those fish & chips hot? BOOM! One thing I do remember about the train, it used to go 'domidy bom' and now it goes 'clickerdy-clack.' Fings ain't what they used to be. Almost a Mod last time I went there, important to remember that beach was more mud than sand and what it could do to a pair of Levis.
Many happy days spent in Southend in the late 50s and 60s. We used to live in London but traveled there by train. Hot summer days on the seafront and the pier, and always a visit in winter to see the illuminations and go in to Never Never Land. I have to agree with Nigel Mathews below, before Adventure Island Peter Pan's Playground was much better. The Golden Hind was a smaller replica of the real one . I now live only 10 miles away so no excuse not to go.
What a great interesting video it was want to go to Southend soon as possible now just to go on the pier thanks for uploading the video. Used to think Skegness Pier was long and that cost over 20.ooo in the 1880s .
Oh, memories of my teenage years. Yes, back then, it was double track, electric trains, as we are talking last trip around 1976, or so! Interesting to see the modern version though
I was on the old pier in the 50s the fun fair was called the Kersal the big wheel was constructed mainly from wood, happy days. and a short ride from London easily reached by bike.😊
I can remember the pub at the end of the pier, and going ten pin bowling with the school, where the pavilion used to be, sadly not there anymore lots of great memories of the pier, going fishing with my grandad was always great perfect to visit on a hot sunny day, but just as good to wrap up warm on a cold windy day and walk down to the end and back !
Southend Forever ....... It was better when the Bowling Centre was there. It was also a record holder with the highest linage in the world . I know because I worked there and I also worked the last shift before it burnt down.... I make this comment in Memory of Kay Hills who was my boss and the most honest and hard working person I have ever worked alongside.
When I lived in Southend the train livery was green and cream. I used to lie in bed at night when I was a kid listening to the pier trains clattering along the wooden track. My brother used to go fishing off the pier.I will always remember walking along it one Easter time clutching a chocolate egg. The wind was so cold it gave me an ear ache.It not only had a lifeboat at the end of the pier but also many amusement machines which disappeared after the last fire.
The trains were originally red and we're only changed to Blue about 15 years ago. Their electric predecessors were green and cream and at least one car survives in a museum not far away.
Thanks for sharing. This peer is indeed worth a visit. Funny that pier in English is exactly the same as pier in Dutch. Now who copied it from the other? :) I think because of environtmental reasons it would be better to make the train electric again. Maybe a 3rd rail?
The previous railway was electrified with a third rail. They probably chose diesel trains because it was the cheaper option at the time and funding was limited
You also forgot about the most recent fire just before 2012 I think it was that destroyed the station at the far end of the Pier but still a great video
This is similar to the one in Busselton jetty, Western Australia. It has a train line on it too and has an aquarium at the end and is 1.8 km long. But this one is still a lot longer xD!
I lived in Southend for 16 years and I was on the seafront in 1976 when the fire started. It was devastating. It made me very sad to see such an amazing landmark burning in the night sky. I don't originally come from Southend, but I have a great affection for the area and the people. I was in Southend in July and managed to get some great photos for my collection. Long may the pier give so much pleasure to all the people who visit and who also live there.
