Save our seaside – campaign to give UK beach towns the same status as castles and historic houses

Posted on August 27, 2023 by Admin

Votes invited for the public’s top 10 resorts and experiences, from beach huts and lidos to the Blackpool Tower

The British seaside may be derided by some for being as tacky as the candyfloss stuck to the side of your mouth. Yet tackiness is fundamental to its charm, according to campaigners who say that seaside heritage sites should be protected as fiercely as castles and stately homes.

The Seaside Heritage Network (SHN) says amusement parks, lidos and scenic railways are all part of the UK’s role in the creation of modern tourism and should be cherished.

Sir David Amess obituary

Posted on October 17, 2021 by Admin

Dedicated Conservative politician who served as Southend West’s MP for nearly 25 years

Sir David Amess, who has died aged 69 after being stabbed while holding a constituents’ surgery at a church in Leigh-on-Sea, was the Conservative MP for Southend West in Essex. Though he spent more than half his life in the Commons without ever attaining ministerial office, the likelihood is that he would not have wanted it any other way.

He devoted his career to the promotion of his constituencies – first Basildon, then from 1997 Southend West – and to dealing with their voters’ concerns. He had a high local profile and was always willing to meet constituents, advertising his regular weekly surgeries in advance.

Husband from one of UK’s first married Down’s syndrome couples dies of Covid

Posted on January 4, 2021 by Admin

Wife of Tommy Pilling ‘utterly devastated’ after partner’s death on New Year’s Day

The husband from one of the UK’s first couples with Down’s syndrome to marry has died from Covid-19, it has emerged.

Tommy Pilling, 62, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who had been treated in three different hospitals since early December with a chest infection, died on New Year’s Day.

Britain’s equivalent to Tutankhamun found in Southend-on-Sea

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Admin

Burial chamber of a wealthy nobleman in Prittlewell shows Anglo-Saxon Essex in new light

An Anglo-Saxon burial chamber found on a grassy verge next to a busy road and not far from an Aldi is being hailed as Britain’s equivalent of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Archaeologists on Thursday will reveal the results of years of research into the burial site of a rich, powerful Anglo-Saxon man found at Prittlewell in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.