User:Davidstewartharvey/sandbox
William Arthur Smith benson
Southend council commercial growth planning https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=f3dJEGQIAS4C&q=%22southend%22+develops+commercial+1960s&dq=%22southend%22+develops+commercial+1960s&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiH6e37gZuIAxUQUUEAHc2kDnYQ6AF6BAgMEAM#%22southend%22%20develops%20commercial%201960s https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Tk4A400x4I0C&q=%22southend%22+1960s&dq=%22southend%22+1960s&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjorfb9mpuIAxUPXUEAHRacIwE4vgEQ6AF6BAgJEAM#%22southend%22%201960s
Southend Air museum closing 1983 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NFspAQAAIAAJ&q=%22southend%22+1960s&dq=%22southend%22+1960s&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVoZaUk5uIAxV5UEEAHdlXAKw4HhDoAXoECAMQAw#%22southend%22%201960s opened 1972 https://southendtimeline.co.uk/2/southend-timeline-historic-aircraft-museum-history-of-southend-on-sea.html
Pier visitor no. 1949-50 5.75m. 1969-70 1m visitors https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZeANAQAAIAAJ&q=%22southend%22+1960s&dq=%22southend%22+1960s&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwikstLflZuIAxWPWUEAHZFrEo04MhDoAXoECAkQAw#%22southend%22%201960s
69-70 loss £45,000 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZeANAQAAIAAJ&q=%22southend%22+1960s&dq=%22southend%22+1960s&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwikstLflZuIAxWPWUEAHZFrEo04MhDoAXoECAkQAw#%22Southend%20route%20had%20disappeared%20by%20the%20late%20sixties%20,%20and%20in%201969-70%20the%20pier%20made%20an%20overall%20loss%20of%20some%20%C2%A3%2045,000%20.%20The%20end%20of%20the%201960s%20saw%20such%20piers%20as%20Southend%20endangered%20by%20increasing%20costs%20and%20decreasing%20patronage%22
1973 maplin sands Airport Thames Estuary Airport
Electronic telephone exchanges Post Office Telecommunications Journal Vol 22 No4 Winter 1970-71
73% reduction in visitors between 1950s and 70s https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TMcmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA107&dq=%22southend%22+tourists+1950s&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjH6MeS65yIAxUJWkEAHbUlFGIQ6AF6BAgHEAM#v=onepage&q=%22southend%22%20tourists%201950s&f=false
Drop off in tourism hotel numbers https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sSFHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA193&dq=%22southend%22+tourists+1950s&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5mv208JyIAxV1UEEAHWFYGtY4KBDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=%22southend%22%20tourists%201950s&f=false
Decline and regeneration
[edit]After the war Southend soon opened up to visitors again, with pier officially being given permission to open by the Home Office in March 1945, although the Prince George Extension was still out of bounds to the public. The Chelmsford Chronicle reported that the public returned in their droves, with 79,000 visitors turning up in the first nineteen days, though it wasn't until 30 September that the pier was officially derequisitioned by the Navy.[1] The town, which had been heavily fortified, slowly started to remove the defences during 1945, however the dust and noise attracted unhappiness with the holidaymakers, with two elderly ladies complaining to the police that it should be stopped while they were on their vacation for the week. Many of the fairground attractions only opened at weekend due many of the men who worked them still being enlisted.[2] It wasn't until 1946 that the town started to return to normal,[1] and by 1949-50 visitor numbers had returned with over 5.75 million visiting the pier alone.[3] The visitors would have used the replaced pier railway, newly installed in 1949,[4] or may have visited the newly opened Golden Hind replica containing waxworks by Louis Tussaud by the pier.[5][1] These numbers grew to a peak of 7 million the following year.[6]
Southend would use the Kursaal and Pier as nodal attractions to promote the town to tourists during the 50s and 60s.[7] On 31 January 1953, Southend seafront was affected by the North Sea flood, with Peter Pan's Playground left underwater. However the town was not affected as badly as other parts of Essex.[8] The town however was more joyous in June, with the town holding a week of celebrations to commemorate the Coronation of Elizabeth II. This included an air race at the airport featuring aerobatic displays by supersonic jets, a military tattoo, a coronation ball at the Kursaal featuring Ted Heath and his Music and a grand fireworks display on the seafront.[9] In 1956, the Great Eastern line was electrified[10] which encouraged more Londoners move to the town, further making it into a dormitory town for the capital.[11] On 14 April 1955, Air Charter inaugurated its first vehicle ferry service between Southend and Calais using a Bristol 170 Mark 32 Super Freighter.[12] It was the sign of the future for tourism in the town, with the British public moving from UK holidays to foreign vacations that saw the start of the downturn on for the British seaside towns,[13] though Southend still had strong numbers visiting.[14]
Between 1948 and 1962, it was recorded that 22% of the town's population were working in holiday related industries.[15] The council were concerned that the town was to reliant on tourism and being a dormitory town, that they decided to try and grow the commercial industry in the town, which coincided with plans in central government to de-centralise services.[16]
- ^ a b c David C. Rayment (2023). Celebrating the City of Southend. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781398115811.
- ^ "How Southend coastal defences were removed after WW2". Evening Echo. 10 June 2022.
- ^ Simon H. Adamson, Antony Dale (1994). Seaside Piers. B. T. Batsford. p. 60. ISBN 9780713402421.
- ^ Anthony Wills, Tim Phillips (2014). British Seaside Piers. English Heritage. p. 16. ISBN 9781848022645.
- ^ "Southend Golden Hind memories after El Galeon visit". Evening Echo. 6 June 2023.
- ^ Gareth Shaw, Sheela Agarwal (2007). Managing Coastal Tourism Resorts. A Global Perspective. Channel View Publications. p. 40. ISBN 9781845413590.
- ^ Stephen Page (2011). Tourism Management. Taylor & Francis. p. 348-349. ISBN 9781136433917.
- ^ "The 1953 Floods in Essex". Essex Records Office. 31 January 2013.
- ^ "Coronations of past: how south Essex celebrated them". Evening Echo. 6 May 2023.
- ^ Commonwealth Survey. Central Office of Information. 1957. p. 75.
- ^ Reginald Davies, M. D. Grant (1983). London and Its Railways. David & Charles. p. 75. ISBN 9780715381076.
- ^ "Britain's Carferry Airlines". Airliner World. Key Publishing, Avenel, NJ, USA. July 2005. p. 34.
- ^ Mark Clapson (2009). The Routledge Companion to Britain in the Twentieth Century. Taylor & Francis. p. 333. ISBN 9781134476954.
- ^ Christopher Thornton, Herbert Eiden (2012). The Victoria History of the County of Essex. Boydell & Brewer. p. 11.
- ^ Christopher Thornton, Herbert Eiden (2012). The Victoria History of the County of Essex. Boydell & Brewer. p. 12.
- ^ Stephen Ward (2005). Selling Places. The Marketing and Promotion of Towns and Cities 1850-2000. Taylor & Francis. p. 78. ISBN 9781135818944.