JANUARY College Rebranded - From 1st January 2010 the South East Essex College will be renamed 'South Essex College'. The college has grown in the town significantly since the days it occupied dominant premises on Victoria Circus, then Snow-Ville - Early January saw Southend caught up in some of the worst snowy weather seen across the country since 1987. A two week cold snap saw disruption created across the town through the heavy snowfall. Many schools closed and the council's gritting stocks were stretched to keep up with demand. City-Beach Starts - A ground breaking ceremony took place to formally start the works that will transform Marine Parade, under the project title of City-Beach. The idea is to make the seafront a day through to evening event area, with improved lighting, better access to the beach and new toilet facilities. Airport Gets the Thumbs Up - Southend Airport took another step forward towards its runway extension and subsequent development with a confident Channel 4 In Town - Four residents of the town will star in an episode of Come Dine With Me. Filming started in the borough on Monday 25th January and would last for a week. Many of the town's famous areas will no doubt feature as the cameras trail the cooks as they prepare for their meals. The Southend episode aired on a Friday evening in September and included among the diners Tracy Jones, former Southend Radio presenter. Opinions varied but some considered it to be albeit a little contraversial but probably one of the more entertaining versions made. FEBRUARY - Camp Cuckoo Moves in - Just as Southend Council started to move its plans forward for a Better Southend, so a familiar sight appeared on the edge of the roundabout junction of Cuckoo Corner in Prittlewell. The Deeping Closes - As the Victoria Circus development steps up apace, so one of the casualties of this multi million pound project, The Deeping would close for good. In transforming the busy traffic intercha MARCH Palace Hotel Opens - After years of refurbishment on 1st March the doors were thrown open to show a fabulous makeover of the newly named Park Inn Palace Hotel on Pier Hill. This long awaited addition to the seafront welcomes visitors from afar who may not have realised before that Southend does have at last a quality hotel offering; enabling the day visitor to stretch out and savour there visit, with town centre convenience and fantastic sea views over the pier. This landmark building first opened its doors in 1904 as the Hotel Metropole. Its colourful history has seen it change use during the war years as a military hospital which prompted Queen Mary to visit it; as well as providing a bed for the many celebrities that frequented the town's theatres including of course in 1952 Messer's Laurel and Hardy. Welcome back the Palace you have been sorely missed. Google View - Southend-on-Sea made its appearance on the controversi Prittlewell Fire - A large fir Ron Martin - The Palace Hotel hosted a fans Q&A with Ron Martin, Chairman of Southend United on 22nd March. He was responding to nearly 12 months of stark criticism over the running of the club's financial affairs. Ron delivered on all the questions and received applause at the end of the session. He revealed, he is more than just a businessman but a passionate fan, and will be looking to extend Steve Tilson's contract; why he let Paul Brush Assistant Manger go (due to his negative views and being to much of a prop to Steve Tilson), Ron also gave some insight to the struggles of contracting players and the issues the club has had to deal with some key players that the fans were not aware of. He assured the audience the outstanding tax bill would be covered by mid-April as required. The new stadium will start on site in the summer. There was no guarantee that the financial roller coaster would ease up any time soon, but he would do his utmost to ensure the club was in existence for as long as he could. May Big Brother - The very last Big Brother series started to air this month on Channel 4. With a contestant from Southend; Mario (Mugan) who entered the house dressed as a 'Mole', and became a firm favourite and stayed until the final but was finished third overall. Later in the year the former South Essex College lecturer could not resist inviting some of his housemates to sample Southend including the rides at Adventure Island. General Election 2010 - 6th May 2010 Southend West Majority 7,270 Southend East Majority 11.050
| Shoebury Gets New Youth Centre - The new landmark building will include an informal contemporary restaurant with a professional kitchen, a garden and terrace area, a dance studio, g Muddy Trudge - Thorpe Bay Esplanade on Saturday 22nd May, was awash with people as the second Mulberry Mud Run was run in blazing sunshine, on what was considered to be the first hot day of the year. Amazingly the race was held up due to mother nature maintaining the tide in rather than expected to be right out by the Mulberry Harbour, a historic munument in its own right representing, and reminding all that can see it from sure of the Second World War. When the race did start the many runners needed to trudge through the expected mud as well as becoming knee deep in water by the time they had reached the Mulberry. On return the Essex Fire Brigade assisted those covered in mud with a welcome shower. A great event that is getting bigger and bigger, Cliff Lift Returns - The funicular railway on Western Esplanade, started to come back to life with the return of the carriage to the rail after a period of refurbishment on 23rd March. The railway will soon reach its 100th birthday and should be back into full operation during the summer. Built as Reno's Electric Stairway 1901 immediately west of the Alexandra Yacht Club, patrons could travel on it then for the price of 1d. It was replaced in 1911 by the current Cliff Lift structure. Reopened on 25th May 2010. Royal Anglians on P Winter Wonderland - Southend became the wonder of the natural world when a mass of caterpillars spun a velvet web over trees, benches and gravestones of Sutton Road Cemetery. Leaving the ;place in mid summer looking like a frost covered area. This unique incident was captured on TV and national press. Transfer Embargo Lifted - Southend United in 2010 has put the fans through all kinds of emotions. Finally during the first week of August the courts agreed Southend had paid its dues to HMRC, and on Friday 6th August the long term transfer embargo placed by the Football League was finally lifted. Paul Sturrock entered the first game of the season at home to Stockport the next day with a squad, with no less than nine debutees. The final score 1-1. World Record - Southend on Sunday 8th August entered the Guinness Book of Records by having the most people ride a roller coaster NAKED. The event happened at Adventure Island with 102 participants baring all from all parts of the country. The story was picked up internationally by many press outlets including many of the national news broadcasters. SEPTEMBER Beached Oil - The end of the month saw volunteers dressed in protective gear clearing oil spillage from Southend beaches, due to a ship in the estuary dispensing it illegally. The clean-up operation went smoothly but did attract regional TV news. OCTOBER - New Future for Education - Southchurch Boulevard had a colourful addition open this month in the shape of Future's College. A collaborative exercise putting what was Thorpe Bay High School and Prospects College in to one, under one brand. The new model will deliver a range of normal school based academic, including sixth form, activities while applying vocational training with building skills such as carpentry, bricklaying and plumbing. This new development has had a domino effect through building acquisition in the town, as the former Prospects site on Fairfax Drive as been vacated, and will in time be part of the Sainsbury's development that will take over Root's Hall football ground when the club moves to the new stadium. Lights, Camera, Action - The movie industry took up residence in the town this month. The film stage was no more glamorous than the old gasworks site off Eastern Esplanade. This area including the old block building, in a state of semi demolition, made for a perfect scene of Baghdad in the new up coming movie 'Screwed' starring James D'Arcy. Props, including a replica tank and extras poured onto the site to make it seem like an old market town resplendent in fake palm trees. The film will follow the story of a young guy (D'Arcy) who leaves the military to become a prison warder, who then gets emmersed in the seedy side of underground prison life. Warrior Square Closed - The town centre swimming pool closed on 31st October. Making way for the new swimming centre due to open on 15th November. Kane Stars - Southend comedian Russell Kane has had some year, not only winning the best stand up act at the Edinburgh Festival in August, but also getting a key column in The Sun's new Saturday magazine. On TV He starred in a stand up special filmed at the Palace Theatre and shown to much acclaim on cable channel Dave. His busy schedule also included another stint as a presenter on top ITV reality show 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' set in the Australian jungle. Cycleways - 2010 will be remembered in Southend for its push towards making the town much more cycle friendly. This November saw the official opening of the cycle paths lining the Prittle Brook from Priory Park heading west. New Seafront Sturctures - As part of the City Beach scheme which in October was in full swing. The first of 6 pylon styled structures emerged, these new light columns will dominate Marine Parade and provide a unique modern feel to the area. Visitors to the final fireworks display on the seafront on 6th Nov, marvelled at there height, and although not yet plugged in still thought they brought a different feel to the seafront. That Festive Feeling - To kick the Christmas shopping period off a full day of celebration was held in the High Street, on 13th November. Real reindeer, a flying Peter Pan along with the traditional light switch on, were on the menu. Joining the Mayor at the switch on were Josh Dubovie Eurovision SInger, Mario Mugan Big Brother contestant as well as Peter Pan. The day was rounded off with a spectacular evening display of fireworks.
November New Swimming Pool - Southend opened a brand new swimming facility on 15th November. Ipswich-based Charter Architects has designed the 25m pool, four diving boards and an area where divers can train, along with spectator seating. Based within the Southend Leisure & Tennis centre off Eastern Avenue. Mark Foster, local lad and former Olympic Swimmer formerly opened the pool on 30th November, with the Mayor. Good Bye Farringdon: Demolition begins on the Farringdon Multi-storey car park closes. The site being cleared for the proposed Elmer Square Library development. Sarfend Visitors Book - Southend has one more attraction for locals and visitors alike as the Sarfend Visitors Book was officially opened on 18th November by the Mayor Cllr Ann Holland. This unique book will collect comments turning it into a unique piece of interactive history for the town. Originally an idea by Brian Mendes one time resident of Southend, but now living in Kitchener, Canada. Brian made the opening ceremony on the phone. Read the full story here.
Kara Tointon - Winner of this year's BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. Kara and family fly the flag high for the Borough, but this accolade will certainly warm the hearts during a very cold spell locally. From Southend Timeline we would most definitely like to sat CONGRATULATIONS KARA. |