Old Town High Street Leigh-on-Sea Pt 1

#leighonsea #History #essex
Welcome to the Leigh on Sea History Channel where we walk the seashore of the past. In this video we look at the Old Town High Street (East). As more of Leigh-on-Sea's heritage disappears we wonder if a new generation will copy residents of the 70s and step up to save old buildings from the developers and council.
Bibliography:
‘History of the Rochford Hundred’ by Philip Benton
‘Old Leigh’ by H. N. Bride
‘Southend-on-Sea & District’ by J. W. Burrows
‘Old Leigh A Pictorial History’ by John F. Bundock
‘Leigh Parish Church of St Clement’ by John F. Bundock
‘Smugglers Moon’ by L. E. Jerram-Burrows
‘Joscelyne’s Beach’ by Arthur Joscelyne
‘Hadleigh Past’ by Ian Yearsley
‘Leigh-on-Sea (A History)’ by Judith Williams
‘Voices of Leigh-on-Sea’ by Judith Williams
‘The Old Town Leigh-on-Sea’ by Carol Edwards
‘The Life & Times of the Houseboats of Leigh-on-Sea’ by Carol Edwards
‘Broadway Leigh-on-Sea’ by Carol Edwards
‘Leigh Hill’ by Carol Edwards
‘Leigh-on-Sea Postcard Memories’ The Leigh Society
'Swin Swale & Swatchway' by H. Lewis Jones
'1953 Essex Flood Disaster' by Patricia R. Smith
‘Legends of Leigh’ by Sheila Pitt-Stanley
Links:
The Leigh Society www.leighsociet...
Leigh Lives www.leighlives...
Leigh-on-Sea Town Council www.leighonsea...
St. Clement’s www.stclements...
These videos are created under creative commons licenses, public domain, or via permission. Images Belong To Their Respective Owners in the Present & the Past... Used Under Creative Commons Licensing as of 26/05/2023

[@williamcorbett6496]

Born in Broadway West in 1947, I remember a lot of Old Leigh. The Peter Boat where I had my first pint, the signal box and the level crossing - not to mention the old metal bridge over the railway. I don’t remember the Mayflower pub though - I am sure that that building was the Beach Shop where we were bought our ice creams and sandcastle flags for our afternoon on Joscelyn’s Beach. The steps down to that beach are familiar in my memory as is “climbing the greasy pole’ competition on the same beach. Thank you for all your hard work in portraying all this.

[@johncochrane2707]

Thanks William for your kind words. The Mayflower originally occupied the left hand side of the building, the right hand part was The Rock Shop and was probably the 'Beach Shop' prior to that. I think the pandemic put the Rock Shop out of business around 2021 and the Mayflower took over the entire building. Thanks again for watching!

[@williamcorbett6496]

@@johncochrane2707 I’ve lived in New Zealand for fifty years now and these videos are the closest I can get to “home” now. I can even see myself quite happily standing on Bell Wharf as a young lad watching the Leigh Regatta before returning home to the flat across from Leigh Library. It can become a bit overwhelming ….

[@alanrobbo6980]

The Railway made a Right Hatchet Job on the old Town.😢

[@leighonseahistory9523]

Very true Alan.

[@markohanrahan2961]

Great channel. Do you have any old photos of Hadleigh Road? I’ve looked everywhere can’t find anything.

[@leighonseahistory9523]

Thanks Mark. I haven't come across any old photos of Hadleigh Road either I'm afraid.

[@williamcorbett6496]

Actually I doubt very much has changed in 100 years. St Michael’s School at the London Road end looks exactly like I left it some 70 years ago. The large house at the corner of Hadleigh Road and Grange Road is STILL used for dentists - but I guess the wire drives for the drills have gone and the seat is not as leather- bound and hard.