Southend Before the Storm

I took a walk along the front at Southend before giving a talk at Hadleigh Camera Club - always a difficult location to photograph with the mile-long pier but some late sunshine and impressive skies prior to a very violent rainstorm later helped the compositions. I couldn't resist the new versus old toilets or the rather starling moulting from fluffy juvenile to resplendent spotted winter adult.

Southend's Iconic Buildings

I made a brief visit to Southend this morning after talking at Benfleet club last night, hoping to have a bracing walk along the Pier and back but it was closed along with almost all the rest of the resort. So visited two of my favourite buildings and did composite images in really dull light. 

Originally named the Metropole, the Palace Hotel was built in 1901. It was one of the last great Edwardian Hotels. It had 200 bedrooms, a billiard room and a magnificent ballroom. During the First World War it was temporarily converted into Queen Mary's Royal Naval Hospital and treated over 4,000 soldiers.

In the 1950s & 1960s the Hotel got into financial difficulties and was then bought by Polish refugee Motel Burstin who turned the building into an old people’s home. 

In the early 1970s the Palace provided cut price bed and breakfast but fell into disrepair. In 2007 is was purchased by the Radisson group and the Park Inn Palace Hotel remains one of Southend's most prized hotels.

The Kursaal is a Grade II listed building, which opened in 1901 as one of the world's first purpose-built amusement parks.The word Kursaal means a "Cure Hall" or spa, but was adapted to mean a place of healthy amusement. Southend's Kursaal became the largest fairground in the south of England. 

Southend United F.C. played at the Kursaal until 1933, when they moved to Southend Stadium.The Kursaal declined in the early 1970s, with the outdoor amusements closed in 1973, and the main building finally closed in 1986. Although the outdoor amusements were redeveloped for housing, the main Kursaal building reopened in 1998, after a multimillion pound redevelopment, containing a bowling alley, a casino and other amusements. Now Tescos have put a shop there

Thorpe Bay Sunrise

I spent last night at Thorpe Bay after speaking to Hadleigh Camera Club - thanks for your warm welcome. It was an ideal morning with low tide and full moon, though the latter was behind the town. Wonderful to see and hear Brent Geese and a Curlew. Once the sun was up the beach huts took my attention.

 

Fun with Fuji and Beach Huts

Sometimes serendipity can play a part in creativity - here are some very strange images taken with the Fuji X-T1 sweep panorama mode - by mistake moved along the wrong axis!! Not very repeatable but managed a couple more after the first boats one, which is not quite in focus. I also include two 'correct' sweeps though I have gone a bit close at the tops, one image where I moved a bit fast and one multiple exposure image. Last four images normal mode just to show what a beautiful morning it was on Wednesday after the storm.

 

Stormy Seas at Southend

I arrived in Southend on Tuesday just after lunch to get a bit of a walk before an evening lecture to Hadleigh Camera club (thanks for the usual warm welcome). It was high tide with intermittent rain and a gale force wind. After observing a few hardy souls biking and dog walking I got out of the car and braved the elements. Most of the shops and cafes were closed but some were open and a welcome relief from the wind and rain.

By 3 o'clock the rain had stopped and the sky cleared to show a glimpse of the moon as the lights came on.