epw000445 ENGLAND (1920). Southend Pier, Southend-on-Sea, from the south, 1920

© Copyright OpenStreetMap contributors and licensed by the OpenStreetMap Foundation. 2024. Cartography is licensed as CC BY-SA.

Nearby Images (43)

EPW000445
  0° 0m
EAW042705
  104° 67m
EPW000561
  81° 70m
EAW002211
  24° 94m
EPW036623
  77° 102m
EAW002214
  87° 103m
EAW002212
  33° 104m
EAW002209
  44° 113m
EAW054228
  112° 126m
EAW002210
  32° 128m
EAW042706
  144° 137m
EAW017029
  134° 146m
EPW024880
  143° 150m
EAW026939
  157° 156m
EPW000446
  123° 156m
EAW002213
  63° 161m
EAW017026
  146° 183m
EPW036622
  126° 183m
EAW002216
  140° 184m
EAW026895
  4° 185m
EAW026898
  4° 185m
EPW062737
  142° 194m
EPW024882
  145° 197m
EAW026901
  183° 204m
EAW026903
  142° 204m
EAW026890
  30° 207m
EPW040977
  147° 207m
EAW026900
  146° 210m
EAW038548
  135° 212m
EAW026938
  144° 216m
EAW026896
  358° 223m
EAW002215
  137° 235m
EAW017027
  139° 235m
EAW017028
  136° 237m
EAW038547
  142° 238m
EAW026940
  150° 241m
EPW062736
  138° 242m
EPW062734
  143° 244m
EAW042704
  19° 251m
EPW062735
  132° 251m
EPW040976
  142° 278m
EAW026905
  135° 282m
EAW017030
  137° 285m

Details

Title [EPW000445] Southend Pier, Southend-on-Sea, from the south, 1920
Reference EPW000445
Date April-1920
Link
Place name SOUTHEND-ON-SEA
Parish
District
Country ENGLAND
Easting / Northing 588839, 183196
Longitude / Latitude 0.72194393013956, 51.515593904319
National Grid Reference TQ888832

Pins

The railway runs for nearly the full length of the pier- 1.25 miles of the 1.34 miles length. THe electric railway ran the full length from 1891. The gauge is 3 feet 6 inches (1067 mm). The single track electric railway was made fully double track in 1931 with four trains operating at peak periods. Rolling stock was replaced in 1949, in green and cream, each of the four trains could carry 260 passengers at 18 miles per hour. At this time there could be a service every five minutes with the last train at 11pm. The electric railway was closed in 1978 and reopened as a diesel-operated railway in 1986 with a new line gauge of three feet (914mm), initially in burgundy but later in blue. A single battery carriage was introduced in 1995. There are now two diesel trains which today at peak periods can operate a service every 15 minutes. One train is named Sir John Betjeman, and the other Sir William Heygate. The current line is single track with a passing loop in the middle.

totoro
Wednesday 9th of March 2016 09:46:02 PM
Southend Pier The second pier which replaced an earlier wooden pier, completed in 1889, with an extension in 1897. Further extended in 1927. Reputed to be the longest pleasure pier in the world at 1.34 miles. The single track electric railway was made double track in 1931. During WW2 the pier was "HMS Leigh" The shore-end pavilion was destroyed by fire in 1959 trapping several hundred on the pier who were rescued by lifeboat. The pier head suffered much fire damage in 1976, with firemen working from the pier, boats and an aircraft. By 1977 the shore end pavilion had been replaced by a bowling alley which was damaged by fire that year. It was proposed to close the pier in 1980 but a grant was forthcoming by 1983. The structure is Grade 2 listed. The electric railway was closed in 1978 and reopened as a diesel-operated railway in 1986. Between 1986-1989 the pier head was severed from the rest of the pier by a boat collision which destroyed the lifeboat house. In 1995 the reinstated landward bowling alley was destroyed by yet another fire. By 2005 it was again the turn of the pier head to suffer destruction by fire- destroying the Old Pier Head including the railway station, pub, shell shop, snack bar and ice cream shop. The final 15 metres of the railway track was lost. The pier reopened again in 2007. In 2012 a new pier head pavilion to a contemporary design (eg odd) was built to hold 185 people and serve as a theatre / exhibition space.

totoro
Wednesday 9th of March 2016 09:44:06 PM