Southend-on-Sea

Southend-on-Sea is somewhere I have always wanted to visit, just to say I've been. Hubby and I popped down early June for a two night stay in the Premier Inn which had a lovely Toby Carvery net door. We couldn't see the sea from our room but the hotel was directly on the sea front so ideal to walk along. 

Arriving on a Sunday we decided to walk inland slightly to a micropub we'd found online. It was lovely, quite small and full of locals which is a good sign. There was quite a choice of beer, cider and wine. Hubby enjoyed Brewer's Gold and being a stout fan I tried the Mad Dog Black - very nice, dark, creamy with a good hint of coffee. 
 

Monday morning we set off into Southend-on-Sea walking along the seafront, it was just over a mile to the famous pier which stretches out 1.3 miles into the sea and has a train on it ... one of the main reasons for our visit. 

Southend Pier has so much history, it was originally needed for visitors to alight from pleasure boats to as the shore at Southend was too shallow.  - here's a brief timeline:

1829 - Foundations laid by the Lord Mayor of London 

1830 - a 600 foot wooden pier, using 90 oak tress, was opened

1833 - the pier was extended to 1.800 feet

1846 - the pier was extended further 

1848 - it was the longest pier in Europe and was sold for £17,000 (over £2million today)

1890 - a single track railway was installed

1898 - a further extension to 1.3 miles made it the longest pleasure pier in the world 

1903 - 250,000 passengers arrived by pleasure boat and over 1million people had paid to visit the pier.  

During World War I three prison ships were moored off the pier and the Royal Navy had a war signal station at the pierhead. 

1920 - more facilities were added to the pier as holiday makers returned

1927 - more work was done to the east side of the pier and named the Prince George Extension at a cost of £58,000
1930 - four trains, each with seven carriages, now ran daily on a double track

During World War II the pier was closed to the public and was used by the Royal Navy, renaming it HMS Leigh, the |Naval Control for the Thames Estuary. 

1945 - the pier was re-opened with visitor numbers reaching nearly 6 million by 1950, The Dolphin Café was built using timber left by the Navy and other attractions were opened. 

1949 - four new trains replaced the old ones
1959 - a fire destroyed the pavilion at the entrance to the pier, over 500 people were trapped on the pier and rescued by boat. 

1962 - a bowling alley replaced the pavilion but with holiday makers going abroad the pier visitors declined.

1976 - a fire destroyed the pierhead, the railway was deemed unsafe and closed

1983 - repair work was done with a grant from the Historic Building Committee

1986 - at a cost of £1.3 million the new railway service was completed and opened by HRH Princess Anne. 

1995 - a fire destroyed the bowling alley but did not damage the pier.

2002 - the RNLI Lifeboat Station was opened

2005 - another fire damaged the pierhead, the Southend lifeboat was used to transport firefighters to the blaze.

2009 - the new station platform was opened by The Worshipful Mayor of Southend

2012 - the new Cultural Centre was added to the pier

2013 - HRH Duke of Kent opened the Royal Pavilion and the new RNLI Lifeboat Station

2021 - new electric trains arrived replacing the old diesel trains

2022 - TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (now Our King and Queen) unveiled the new eco-friendly train sir David Amess

2023 - the pier was awarded Pier of the Year by the National Pier Society
2024 - new attractions were opened by the Worshipful Mayor of Southend

2025 - Clare and Nick had a brilliant time travelling to the end of Southend Pier on the Sir William Heygate 

Our first stop on arriving at the end of the pier was a coffee with cake in the lovely Tea with the Tide café. This cute blue wooded building was the location for Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast programme that was on Channel 4 from 2014 to 2021. Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty had a variety of celebrity guests each week, cooking a variety of meals. The building was a working café and was closed for two weeks every year to film the tv series.

Being at the end of the pier was an amazing experience, so far out at sea with the north Kent coast seeming nearer than Southend. There were some huge cargo ships sailing up towards Tilbury, the Thames Estuary is not a straight route, it looked quite a feat for some huge ships.

Back on land I was surprised to see Southend was actually up a small hill and not a flat town along the shore. It was fairly quiet when we visited but in the summer and at weekends I can see it being very busy with the funfair and amusements. 

Many of our trips in the UK involve a visit to Wetherspoons, mainly because we know the food will be good, especially the breakfasts, and in all honesty a lot cheaper than breakfast in hotels. DH has the Wetherspoons app which, to his delight, records which pub we have visited ... we are nearly at 80!

One thing I like like about Wetherspoons is the way they look after our old buildings, a lot of our heritage has been saved. The Last Post in Southend was once Southend's head post office built in 1896. It was closed in 1993 and converted into a pub. I loved the characters on the roof inside, I do think Wetherspoons pubs are more than just a hospitality venue.

We had a lovely few days in Southend-on-Sea, it was not at all as we expected but as I said it was not holiday time or a weekend. I'm not sure we'd visit again as there was not much more to see than the pier but I'm so glad we went

Sutton Hoo

Back in May we visited Sutton Hoo on our way home from Southwold. I remember doing a project at school about the Anglo Saxon burial ground, in fact I made a scroll and wrote on it in runes, it has always been a place that intrigues me.

It was Edith Pretty and Basil Brown who discovered the burial ship and it's amazing treasures. It is said to be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries, Time Team have completed work on a cemetery at the site and recently some additional excavations. The replica of the boat at the visitor centre shows just how big it was.

It's a very large site, high above Woodbridge and te River Deden. It's amazing to think they pulled the boat up to the chosen site. It would be a hard task today with our modern machinery, it must have taken ages and many men.

It's quite a walk from Edith Pretty's house, with many burial mounds. I imagined it was just one but there are large mounds and smaller ones. Standing tall but not in an obtrusive way is a viewing tower, the lower level is accessible but it was quite a lot of stairs to the top .... it was so worth it, what a view.

Edith's house stands high above the river, it's a lovely house in itself. The upper floors are closed and are used by the archaeologists still researching the site. Downstairs is mainly exhibits of photos and records, very different to a furnished National Trust property.

The visitor centre however had many finds, including replicas of important discoveries that are now in the British Museum. The intricate designs are amazing, such skilled craftsman. The collection of coins and the helmet were my favourite but all the items were impressive.

We had a great visit and will be watching Time Team as they have discovered the other part of a highly decorated bucket. The top half had already been found but thought yo have been broken by ploughing. They have found and removed the bottom and are now cleaning and investigating it ... their YouTube channel has lots of videos, hopefully later this year we'll know more.

Wimpole Estate

On our way home from Southend on Sea (I'll be blogging about our time there later) we called in at Wimpole Estate, a National Trust property. It's a large estate with a cafe, restaurant, farm, bookshop and manor house.

The estate is just off Ermine Street the Roman road that runs from London to York. It is listed in the Domesday Book in 1086 with being a moated manor house. Over time the house and estate has been owned by many many families including the Chicheley's for over 250 years. It was passed on to daughters, nephews and finally Francis Agar-Robartes the 7th Viscount Clifden.

With so many occupants the house had many changes including the main domed entrance that involved making upper rooms smaller to allow the high double storey ceilings. 

George Bambridge and his wife Elsie purchased Wimpole in 1838 after being tenants for 6 years. Elsie, Rugyard Kiplings daughter, made many decorative changes to the house leaving it as it is seen today to the National Trust on her death in 1976.

There was so much to see around the house in the many rooms, the décor, furniture and objects. I was intrigued, if a little un-nerved by the beaded eyes, with the Lord Chancellor's purse. It belonged to Philip Yorke the 1st Earl of Hardwicke 1690 - 1764 and although an important item and beautiful beadwork it did look a bit macabre. 

The dining room held another superb object, a huge ice bucket/bath for wine. It would certainly hold quite a few bottles which would be needed with such a large dining table

In the final part of our tour we were very surprised to discover a sunken bath with shower. The guide informed us it was installed for the gentlemen to bath after playing sports or horse riding. It must have been quite a state of the art thing to have at one time. 

We had a great visit but we didn't see it all as it was a stop on our journey, it really needed more time to explore the farm and gardens and wooded walks. it's always good to visit a National Trust property and this is another we can now say we have enjoyed. 

Whisky tasting in Birmingham

We took a trip to Birmingham for a whisky tasting, a Christmas gift from our son and his girlfriend. As usual the train journey was not great, thankfully just under 30 minutes but standing all the way.

Our tasting was at Grain and Glass who are located in the Jewellery Quarter. Managing to negotiate the lively crowds and parades for Birmingham Pride (we didn't realise the date clash) we walked uphill out of the city centre. 

Needing refreshment, and having plenty of time we enjoyed a beer outside The Jewellers Arms. My Staropramen half pint glass was so cute, not the usual comments for a beer glass but it was. Hubby enjoyed his pint of Black Country Ale.

Needing a bit to eat before our tasting we headed inside The Jewellers Arms where we enjoyed the nicest cheesiest batch I've had in ages. I should really say cheese cob as we were in Birmingham. Whilst we were sitting in the pub Hubby realised he'd been there years ago for a work lunch when visiting a small engineering factory, small world isn't it.

Arriving with plenty of time we settled down in the Grain and Glass with a glass of bubbly, a bag of my favourite Brown Bag Crisps and a wee dram of Antiquary 15 year old (a whisky I rarely see in a bar, I'm on the hunt for Antiquary 12 year old after discovering it in Ayr last year).

The tasting room was very inviting with a large table laid ready with six whisky tastings poured each. The room was light and airy with a relaxing blue and copper colour scheme, I really liked the whisky themed glass panel.

 

Our first tasting was a bourbon, Michter's US*1 Small Batch Bourbon. At 45.7% ABV it was quite a strong drink and not having tasted Bourbon neat before it took a second sip to appreciate the flavours. As expected with bourbon there was a slight sweetness, caramel, but I didn't expect the herby edge.

I enjoyed it but it didn't pull me in and I'm not convinced I like bourbon without a mixer.

Our second tasting and first whiskey was from Ireland, Drumshanbo Single Pot Still. Irish pot still whiskey is made using malted and unmalted barley and can use other grains. I really liked this whiskey with its creamy vanilla nose and rich fruitcake flavours. The whiskey really developed in the mouth revealing chocolate notes and a hint of orange zest.

Moving closer to home our next whisky came from England, White Pesk Wire Works Alter Ego. At 51.5% ABV this was too strong for me, not just in alcohol but it had a strong tropical nose and quite heavy flavours of toasted oats and citrus. It was the only whisky I didn't finish and which gave me heart burn

A completely new experience came with whisky number 4, China Distiller's Reserve from Japan. This was very smooth with plenty of honey flavours leaving an orangey finish. Made by the distillers who make Roku gin this whisky was enjoyed by everyone at the tasting.

Our last two drams were from Scotland and although I still have many whiskies to try ftom many countries I really do like Scottish whisky with Speyside one of my favourite areas. On a holiday a few years ago we stayed in Dufftown and visited Glenfiddich distillery which is the sister distillery of Balvenie, our 5th tasting.

The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask was delicious, there was certainly a richness from the rum cask with dark sugar flavours. It reminded me of a well spiced apple crumble, in fact that would be a great pairing.

All through the tasting I was apprehensive for the final whisky. I'm not a fan of peated whisky and have tried Laphroaig 10 before, not liking it. I find it hard to get past the Germoline smell and initial medicine taste but our host encouraged us to try a little sip and fully coat our mouths and then take another sip. I won't say I'm a convert but it certainly softened out and the off putting medicinal flavours began to disappear.

We really enjoyed our tasting, it was great to discover new whiskies and to learn more about the World of Whisky.

Thanks to our son & girlfriend for a super gift and thanks to Grain & Glass for a great tasting.