Grays, Essex; Town tour.

I find myself in Grays unintentionally, let's have a look around!

[@paulvbennett]

I admire your ability to adapt to changing circumstances. This walk was probably not in your top 10 of interesting meanders but your dry wit and tenacity made it work.

[@pauladams6802]

Paul thank you, I do try!

[@nilo70]

Thanks Paul for showing me things I’ll never see in person ! It’s a lot of fun Cheers from California !

[@pauladams6802]

Olin no worries, I will try to make more, thanks for watching all the way from California!

[@lloydmcguire4439]

I worked in the market in Grays ,selling flowers for a Geezer called Johnny Burkeham,he used to have a flower shop in corringham Essex that was in 1986 I was 15.blast from the past,but I dont think grays has changed much 😢 thanks for posting random places 👍

[@paulusarnhelm704]

The State cinema is a 1930's listed building.Been like that for about 25 years.

[@pauladams6802]

Paulus, I'm thankful for that!

[@oddcinema]

Grew up in Grays and it's changed so much - the centre used to have M&S, Currys, Boots, WH Smith, Woolworths, butchers, a proper Saturday market. A lot of that disappeared instantly when Lakeside opened, the rest has dwindled since. Even McDonald's left. The State (a former cinema, then a bar) is a Grade 2 building. Hopefully it isn't going anywhere but it's supposed to become a Wetherspoons. Whether that's a good use of such a building is ripe for debate.

[@krob2327]

It looks awful sorry

[@matthewhughes3749]

yeah I grew up in grays myself I was in Bruces wharf road he is in argent street yeah was loads better when I was a kid when they put Morrisons in that''s what killed it

[@kirishima2370]

I was born in Grays and grew up there in the 70s/80s. The old town centre (pre-Lakeside), was busy and had a Victorian feel to it It felt like a safe place to be, London felt close but very muchg detached. Three things brought about the town's downfall, the first was Lakeside which killed the town centre, the second were the multiple housing developments that ended up connecting Lakeside and Grays and essentially over-populating the area, and the third was mass migration from immigrant communities from the old East End of London, to fill the new housing - this killed off any residual sense of community. I moved away in the 1990s but still have friends and family there, most are trying to move north to Suffolk and Norfolk

[@Theboxingobserver]

2:10 this bredda sorted me a lovely bit of chisel there at the weekend.

[@timtheherald]

Amazing Grays, how sweet the sound…

[@stephenharrington667]

Left there 23 years ago, sad to see it so run down. The authorities need to clean up the streets and look after the historic buildings.

[@KistoDreams]

I was relieved when you said it was a sunday. I hope there's more vitality in the town during the week.

[@pauladams6802]

Hopefully, it's a shame that these industrial towns along the Thames estuary are becoming run down like this, in all honesty it should be a desirable place to call home, it has close rail & road links to London & to the coast in the other direction, it has estuary & countryside walks close by, I would think property is fairly cheap too compared to other areas of the South East.

[@kfc667]

Grew up in Grays, its bigger than it looks with nice housing & stuff. Really wished you showed Grays Town Park though, it's huge with about 6 different gate entries. Should of checked out Lakeside Shopping Centre, it used to be the biggest mall in Essex. You have to take a bus to get there but as a little kid we sometimes walked lol. I appreciate the footage, nevertheless

[@pauladams6802]

Many thanks for the info. Next time I will look around the park but I'll give Lakeside a miss, I've spent many time wandering through there wishing I was somewhere else!!

[@oddcinema]

Pretty sure that when Lakeside opened it was the biggest in Europe. Didn't take long for others to follow of course.

[@arjs44]

Grays born and bred myself. Thurrock to me is the best area of South Essex region and I'm blessed to have been brought up here. But yeah Grays beach is great :D

[@pauladams6802]

Arj thanks!

[@wombat1238marsupial]

It's a sign of the times as these towns have lost a lot of the river industry that made them more prosperous decades ago. A lot of towns these days have that generic centre with the same shops you could be anywhere. To most people when you say Thurrock they instinctively think only of Lakeside shopping and nothing else. This and other parts of Essex that make up the A13 Corridor have this effect of industry lost and not always replaced with sustainable businesses.

[@pauladams6802]

Beautifully put, that's a great analysis of the situation in these towns, thanks!

[@Anticommunism99]

Where's the history about these places? Why people don't preserve it?

[@krob2327]

@@Anticommunism99 sadly the councils don’t care and it seems greed takes over. Properties are seen as money makers instead of loved

[@curlyfm]

I’m from grays.. moved away. There is plenty of opportunity for young people to get jobs in either of the big factories of proctor and gamble, And Unilever also. Not that it’s an exciting life, but you can get by here.

[@scottwebb1978]

Thurrock council stole all the money it was all shown about it in a BBC Panorama programme

[@intelligentdesign8994]

I had no idea how run down Grays was yet it's so well known.

[@pauladams6802]

It is a shame, there are some nice historic landmarks!

[@voicevoice2053]

Haven't driven down Grays high street since the late 1960s..unrecognisable to me now changed so much

[@pauladams6802]

You know it bruv!

[@krob2327]

In what way? Shop closing? More flats? Seems like it’s been neglected

[@mattclark7634]

When i was a kid the Gull was there and we use get on the it when the tide was out. The State was a lovely picture house, use go as a kid, who framed roger rabbit was filmed in there and the video for Jamiroquai Deeper Underground. i moved away now, used by a nice place when i was a kid

[@KingSidJames]

Born and raised in and around the Grays area and just recently moved away. The truth is that Grays was a great, lively town until the early 90's. That monstrosity Lakeside opened and killed the town stone dead. All the big shops moved away, all the money went out of the town and to fill the empty shops a wave of Afro Caribbean hairdressers, euro mini marts and pound shops moved in. The State cinema was an amazing place and a big part of my childhood, but as with lakeside, two out of town multi screen cinemas killed the State and Morrison's (who bought it as part of the deal to build a store in grays) failed on their promise to keep the State in a good state of repair.

[@brianshunert7686]

Dont recognise much other than the state cinema from Saturday mornings back in the 50s and the railway crossing, used to be a old pow camp outside town headind toward sth ockendon

[@curlyfm]

I’m from grays.. moved away. There is plenty of opportunity for young people to get jobs in either of the big factories of proctor and gamble, And Unilever also. It’s a shame because it used to have character, but from the look of this video. Not anymore. Not that it’s an exciting life, but you can get by there. Typical estuary town.

[@pauladams6802]

I must admit it did seem a bit run down, seemed like there was no civic pride.

[@scottwebb1978]

Heres why Grays is run down BBC Panorama A series of disastrous investments has left Thurrock Council effectively bankrupt. Services are being cut and council tax raised to try to cover the second biggest deficit ever run up by a local authority. Most of the council's cash was invested in one man's business. Liam Kavanagh promised his solar farms would provide a safe return, but his companies have been wound up and the council faces big losses. Reporter Bronagh Munro reveals how the millionaire businessman spent council cash on himself and left local people to pay the price.

[@omarrkoroma5164]

In every town up and down the country people lossed their lives yeah... take me Morrisons!

[@omarrkoroma5164]

used to work in this one...

[@alexlolo9222]

Im planning next year buy a house in there , are you recommend guys this place?

[@pauladams6802]

Alex, Grays has close rail links to London & Southend, Lakeside, Bluewater & the motorway network, the house prices are relatively affordable for this part of the south east so yes I would recommend Grays if I my budget dictated affordability & access to London but ultimately it's entirely your choice!!

[@alexlolo9222]

Thank you

[@omarrkoroma5164]

The surface mixtape in connexsions... vanished!

[@omarrkoroma5164]

Lewis you frog

[@omarrkoroma5164]

if you have a copy of the mixtape can you email me some of the tracks?

[@julyfirst]

what would you rate grays out of 10 in retrospect?

[@pauladams6802]

10/10 for location, town centre needs tidying up though!

[@mecx7322]

Lovely town however requires slight cleanup🙂

[@krob2327]

When Londoners state they are moving to Essex to ‘colonise’ and ‘take it over’ I take them at their word. It’s very sinister.