When the Underground Went To the Seaside

Time was, you could get the District Line from Ealing Broadway to Southend.
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[@brad_mcallister]

21 views in 2 minutes at 8am... That's an achievement in itself, the power of interesting content

[@martin.feuchtwanger]

Leigh-on-Sea was considered to be in TfL Zone 9 during the 2012 Olympics. It was because mountain biking was at Hadleigh Farm (near LoS).

[@aquilarossa5191]

Highlight for me of going to the beach as a kid was always getting a stick of rock. It backfired. Now I have to follow a strict anti-diabetes diet. It's probably for the best that best Londoners can't go direct to the beach now. Too much rock eating would overwhelm the NHS and the Tories apparently want to protect it now, instead of flogging it off to Branson like everything else.

[@1963TOMB]

It's a shame that the Northern Line never got to Skegness

[@timblacker37]

You are, in my opinion, a latter day Jonathan Meades. Not sure if you are familiar with him, but he made a series of fascinating documentaries on a variety of topics in the early 90’s called ‘Abroad in Britain’ and his documentaries were delivered in an absolutely deadpan style with complex language, laced with caustic wit and surreal interludes. He was an absolute genius, and take it as a compliment that I think you deliver your documentaries in a very similar style to him.

[@michaeldwyer3352]

Entertaining report, but please supply maps for non-Londoners. My July 1922 copy of Bradshaws Guide shows that this service ran daily including Sundays throughout the year (see pp 650-652 Midland, London, Tilbury and Southend). A typical through service from Ealing Broadway to Southend took about 2 hours: eg weekdays depart Ealing 9.36, arrive Southend 11.35, arrive Shoeburyness 11.40. Passengers from Ealing would have needed firm bladder control unless (as one of your subscribers hints) there were on board retaining toilets.

[@Hammondfreak]

I can understand why LT withdrew services to Southend. If they had kept it with four rail upgrade perhaps Brighton would have eventually wanted the Northern line to be extended from Morden. What a ride that would have been !!!

[@syedhoque8009]

Southend has been granted city status in tribute to its late MP Sir David Amess who campaigned tirelessly for his constituents to make it a reality. Because Southend has been granted City Status The District Line is certain to be reinstated to continue from Upminster to Southend.

[@188basstrom]

Um 1939 outbreak of World War II. Beaches became off limits and sometimes mined as a precaution against invasion.

[@simonjames2974]

Ceased in 1939 due to the threat and then outbreak of WW2. The water tower at East Ham is a survivor from the service which once ran from there to Gospel Oak before it was diverted to Barking. Some of the coaches from the through train which were jointly owned by the District and Midland Railway were sold to the Army and ended up on the Shropshire and Montgomery shire Railway when the army took that over in WW2.

[@richardbrown9911]

The reason for the demise of this service was that the ancient electric engines used by the District had mostly failed, and by 1939 there were only two left. One took a direct hit early in the War, and the service was therefore not sustainable. These engines dated right back to the times when the big railway companies had running rights over underground lines in certain places, and therefore used steam engines. There was starting to be a lot of consumer resistance to smoky filthy tunnels, so Government required the big companies to buy these electric engines for use underground.

[@oldplucker1]

Southend was the south end of the village of Prittlewell in the 1700’s but because of its close location to London and miles of beaches became a seaside resort. Stagecoaches, Trains and Steamships brought holidaymakers from London. The Pier was one of several on the east coast including Clacton and Walton which paddle steamers visited. There was also a service to Kent to Hern Bay, Margate and Ramsgate. My Father lived in Southend working as a portrait artist and actor with his own theatre company and often took the steamer to Hern Bay and back.

[@timsully8958]

Gosh! My stomping ground! 😀 As far as I know, the water tower at East Ham has probably been there since the year dot as it is on the original alignment. Funnily enough, I use it when travelling eastbound (down) to pop a bit of brake on to slow down for a speed restriction around East Ham depot 😉 Those abandoned platforms are actually used as refuges to allow passengers to alight if there is a major fault.😳

[@martynnotman3467]

The allure of possibly seeing from a mile away a lady scandalously showing her toes must have been a great draw. 😂

[@Peasmouldia]

I liked the LTS route as a kid 'cause it was still steam then. Passing a BR standard as we got off at Benfleet was truly awe inspiring as a 5yr old. Sometimes, engineering work would divert your train over the Tilbury route coming back from "Sarffend", which seemed to take forever for us kids. Bear in mind, it would often be non-corridor stock.

[@rhyslindup5974]

The pier also had a steamer service to a town called Herne Bay in kent.

[@michaelcharles4797]

I grew up in Benfleet in the 50s. I'm fairly certain that the BR trains on the Fenchurch Street line still stopped at East Ham at that time. At Tilbury there used to be a rail extention down to the wharf where the passenger liners used to dock. The old customs hall is still there, right next to the ferry that still runs across the river to Gravesend.

[@alexritchie4586]

'By the 19th Century, Southend had become a fashionable seaside resort.' (Deliberate pregnant pause)

[@Jo1066milton]

Very interesting. I live in Southend on Sea. The line used to be known as "The Fenchurch Street Line" by locals until C2C was invented. I didn't know about the underground connection. We're still "The Eastenders' playground" and have hundreds of thousands of London visitors every summer.

[@zane990]

I've never been to London or even the UK, but this was still a very interesting video. You have a good voice for documentaries, I think. And good storytelling.