1900 Belfields School, Victoria Avenue was built. The Baptist chapel, in Milton Road, was erected at a cost, including Sunday school, vestries &c. of £9,800. It consisted of nave, transepts and a polygonal chancel for the organ and choir gallery. 1901 Tramway service formerly opened. Eric Cole was born in Southend (EKCO Company). Havens store is established in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff-on-Sea. The church of St. Mark, with a hall and hostel adjoining, situated at the corner of Princes Street and Hamlet Court Road, was purchased from the Baptists, and later considerably altered. The church was a chapel of ease to the church of St. John the Baptist. The Southend Kursaal building was erected at a cost of over £250,000, and opened by Lord Claud Hamilton, chairman of the Great Eastern Railway, and a further sum of £50,000 was expended in 1910. The grounds and buildings covered 4 acres and comprise of a theatre, a ball room, a dining room, refreshment room, a rink and an arcade with 26 shops. By the time the Kursaal came up for auction again in 1903, £230.000 had been spent on buildings and attractions but the biding, which started at £30.000 reached only £50.000 and was withdrawn. 1902 The first Cliffs bandstand was built at a cost of £450. A water chute was built near the shore next to the Pier, it was short-lived, and was demolished in 1904, soon after it was replaced by a boating pool. The Countess of Warwick opens the Municipal College Technical School, Victoria Circus. It was erected, at a cost of £20,000. May. The Lord of the Manor of Prittlewell and Milton Hamlet, Mr. Daniel Robert Scratton, whose family had been connected with Prittlewell Priory since 1673, died aged 73 in Devon. He was chairman of Rochford magistrates, a member of Rochford Board of Guardians and Master of the Essex Union Hunt. 1903 Esplanade extended to Westcliff and Chalkwell. The chapel at Bournes Green was erected. Battleships of the Home Squadron of the Grand Fleet, anchored of the Pier. The Minima Yacht Club became the Nore Yacht Club, and Alderman J. C. Ingram was elected commodore. The club building, at the foot of the cliffs, was destroyed by bombs in the second World War. June. Chalkwell Hall Park, Westcliff, is opened by the Corporation, at a cost of £16,000. 1904 Hotel Metropole on Pier Hill opened, the attractions included “Lloyds A1Talking Machine with the world’s sweetest records.” Arches under construction as coach houses for Palmeira Towers. 1905 Arctic conditions, the sea freezes at Southend and Leigh. The chapel in Beedell Avenue was erected. New wing is added to the Municipal College Technical School, Victoria Circus at a further cost of £5,000, evening classes were maintained there. January. St. Erkenwald’s was an ecclesiastical parish, out of the parish of St. John the Baptist. The church, in York Road, was built on a site presented by W. Gregson esq. to serve the rapidly increasing population in the east end of the parish of St. John the Baptist. The foundation stone was laid by the Bishop of St. Albans, 16th March, and the first portion of the fabric, consisted of the chancel and two bays of the nave, erected at a cost of £5,000, was dedicated 28th Sept. In 1910 the nave was completed, and the baptistery and gallery were added. A carved oak pulpit was given in 1912 by William Gregson esq. The register dates from the year 1905. A monster cake weighing 6,927lb, with a base circumference of 24ft was made for Christmas by Garons. 1906 Southend United formed. The Southend Carnival starts this year. July. The helter skelter lighthouse slide on East Parade, near the Kursaal, on the site of the old Warwick observation tower, was opened. A drinking fountain called the “Nazareth Fountain”, was placed near St. Paul’s church. July. The Central Public Library, Victoria Avenue, which was financed by Andrew Carnegie at a cost of about £9,500, and designed by H.T. Hare, was opened by Sir Horace Brooks Marshall with Lady Marshall. The Mayor, Ald. J. R. Brightwell, presided at the meeting. May. The town council, by a narrow majority, gave permission the Southend and District Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd., to run bus services in Southend provided there was a maximum speed of 8mph and in the High Street and Alexandra Street 6mph. 1907 Southend Council rejects Thamesmouth as an alternative name to Southend. 1907 -1920. Entire tram route was dualled. May. Workmen found skeletons of men buried near the Rose Inn at Southchurch. They were believed to be those of suicides who a 100 years before were buried at the crossroads. The famous sugar cake bandstand is erected at a cost of £750. it was built by a Glasgow firm on the lines of that in the White City Exhibition. The old bandstand is moved to the Happy Valley. 1908 The Wesleyan chapel, York Road, was built in the Gothic style. 1909 Visit of Home and Atlantic Fleets (150 warships moored off Southend). 1909 - 1910. The Victoria Circus tramway office is built, by Messers. W. Macfarlane & Co. of Glasgow. The Southend-on-Sea Conservative and Unionist Club Limited, Clarence Street, is enlarged. The Roman Catholic church of the Sacred Heart, in Southchurch Road, commenced in 1909 and completed in 1912, and was a building of red brick with white stone dressings in the Romanesque style. It consisted of a nave, north and south aisles, chapel of the Scared Heart, chapel of Our Lady, sanctuary, and two sacristies. 1910 The Crowstone Congregational chapel in King’s Road, Westcliff, was built. July. The first aeroplane to fly at Southend takes off from Roots Hall, home of Southend United. 1911 The Hebrew Synagogue, in Alexandra Road, was erected, the cost being about £3,500, there are stained glass windows throughout and class rooms on the ground floor. St. Saviour’s was an ecclesiastical parish, formed by an Order in Council, gazetted October. 10th, from St. Mary the Virgin, Prittlewell. The church in King’s Road, Westcliff, dedicated in 1911, was an edifice of stone in the Decorated Gothic style, consisting of a part of the nave. The register dates from the year 1907. 1912 April. In the Titanic disaster, Mr. Thomas P. Franklin of Ceylon Road, Westcliff and Mr. Arthur Lawrence of Rochford, a steward, were drowned. May. Official opening of the Leigh Council Offices. August. Graham White and Messrs. Travers and Noel give exhibition flights in new seaplane on Western Esplanade. Palace Theatre is built by the Raymond Picture Company. December. H.R.H. Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, opened extensions to Victoria Hospital. 1913 Leigh-on-Sea is included in the borough. Population 82,000, rateable value £562,574. Area 7,083 acres. The high School for Girls, in Boston Avenue, was erected at a cost of over £20,000, including the site. 13th September. West Leigh Schools are opened by the Mayor of Southend, Alderman Francis JP. The Palace, Shoebury is built.

The old Post Office Southchurch, demolished for new boulevard.

The

Jones

Memorial

Recreation

Ground,

covering

11

acres,

was

presented

to

the

borough

in

December,

by

the

late

R.

A.

Jones

esq.

M.B.E.

(who

was

subsequently

admitted

to

be

a

Freemason

of

the

borough),

in

memory

of

his

wife,

for

the

use

of

children

attending

public

elementary

schools

in

the

borough.

It

contained

football,

cricket,

tennis

and

hockey

grounds,

and

a

grand

stand,

with

seating

accommodation

for

1,000

children,

and

refreshment

rooms,

dressing

rooms,

gymnasia

&c.

The

Victory

Sports

Ground,

in

Sutton

Road,

covering

some

14

acres,

nearly

opposite

the

Jones

Memorial

Recreation

Ground,

was

also

presented

to

the

borough

by

the

late

Mr.

Jones,

to

be

used

in

perpetuity

as

a

sports

ground

for

members

of

both

sexes.

It

is

dedicated

to

the

“memory

of

the

sportsmen

of

the

County

Borough

of

Southend

who

gave

their

all

for

Britain

in

the

Great

War,

1914-1919”.

At

the

entrance

to

the

ground are some handsome wrought iron gates.

1914 Marks & Spencer opened in the High Street on the old site of the Penny Bazaar. The Mission church of Little St. Francis, in Stornoway Road, was opened. 1st April. The town achieved County Borough status. April. Woolworths opened at 29 High Street. 28th July. World War I starts. Palace Hotel is turned into a hospital and named The Queen Mary’s Naval Hospital. Southend Corporation’s new loading pier is completed opposite the gasworks, cost £10,878. 1915 1st May. Westcliff open air swimming baths are opened by deputy Mayor. May. Zepplin raids on town. June. Visit of H.M. Queen Mary to Queen Mary’s Naval Hospital. 1916 March. Zepplin L15 crashes into the estuary east of the Pier. 1917 July. Visit of HRH Princess Mary to Queen Mary’s Naval Hospital (Palace Hotel) Pier Hill. 12th August. Raid by hostile aeroplanes. Thirty two people killed, many of them children, and 43 were seriously wounded. 1918 April. Blockships for Zeebrugge Raid lie off the Nore. Southend Corporation takes ownership of The Shrubbery. The Constitutional Club (Southend-on-Sea) Ltd. was formed. 11th November. World War I ends. 1919 July. Peace celebrations. Visit of HM Grand Fleet. Baum’s Furriers opens in London Road Westcliff. 1920 July. Opening of Priory Park, the “R. A. Jones” Children’s Memorial Ground and the Naval and Military club by HRH the Duke of York, K.G. which was presented to the town in 1917 by the late R.A. Jones. New Cliffs bandstand was erected. Floral Hall was built on the old Happy Valley site near the cliffs bandstand. 1921 Leigh bathing station was opened by the Mayor of Southend. Southend Council announce plans for the new Arterial Road (A127). Shoebury War Memorial was unveiled. July. Visit of King George V (Yachting Week). 27th November. Unveiling of the Southend War Memorial by Lord Lambourne, the Lieutenant of Essex, in the presence of the D Company, 6th Essex Regiment. The War Memorial, which was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens R.A. consists of an obelisk of Portland stone, mounted on a podium, and flanked on one side by the Union Jack and on the other by the White Ensign, which are carved in stone. A wreath was carved on the front and on the back of the obelisk. The podium rests on a large square base connected with wing and return walls, two feet thick, enclosing a court which is approached by six steps. The memorial stands 39 feet high. The names of 1,338 men connected with Southend who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914-18, are engraved on a tablet placed in the refectory at Prittlewell Priory. 1922 St. Paul’s ecclesiastical parish was formed from the parishes of St. Mary the Virgin, Prittlewell. 1923 The parish of St. Michael and All Angels is formed out of the parish of St. Saviour. Relics from a Saxon burial ground found during excavations at Cuckoo Corner for the new road. July. Visit of King George V (Yachting Week). 1924 Southend Britannia pleasure boat was built. Marine Parade was widened. A new Court House is added in place of the old one in Alexandra Street at a cost of £6,000. Pleasure steamer Medway Queen makes her maiden voyage. Southend Corporation loading pier is widened. 1925 Victoria Arcade in the High Street opens. New Court House in Alexandra Street was opened by the Mayor W. Miles. Southend’s first trolley bus service started with route from Victoria Circus to the Blue Boar. Nobles Chemist was established, it expanded to incorporate a newsagents and later developed into a large electrical store. 25th March. A new arterial road to London, constructed by the Ministry of Transport at a cost of over £1,000,000, was formally opened by HRH Prince Henry K.G., P.C., G.C.V.O., the road, which is 30 miles long and 100 feet wide, took about three years to complete. c1925. Children’s playground opens in the Sunken Garden. Southchurch Hall and grounds are given to the town by the family of the late Alderman Dowsett, the first mayor of the borough. The Hall is a medieval house, surrounded on three sides by a moat and earthworks, parts of the building date back to the 14th century. December. Mr. Reginald Blackall, a distinguished scientist who lived at Marine Avenue, Leigh, was regarded as an X-ray martyr when he died aged 44. He was a pioneer and while radiographer to London Hospital, carried out much valuable research into the rays but in so doing lost his hands. 1926 Westcliff High School for boys opens. Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff, bridge was widened and rebuilt. February. Viscount Elveden, the Conservative M.P. for the Borough, announced his gift of the site at Prittlewell for a new hospital, plus a gift of £20,000. July. Opening of Municipal Golf Course at Belfairs Park. 1927 David Lloyd George, the Liberal leader, and his daughter Megan Lloyd George, visit Southend. The Central Library, Victoria Avenue, extension was opened. 1928 Frederick Ramuz starts the first speedboat service off Southend Pier. November. The British Legion’s new Headquarters in Victoria Avenue was opened by Admiral of the Fleet Earl Jellicoe. 1929 Sea freezes off Marine Parade Southend. The Corona Cinema Leigh opens. The Plaza Southchurch opens. Luker’s Brewery was sold to Mann Crossman and Paulin for £65,000. The church, in Mount Avenue, was erected to replace a former temporary church in Leigh Road. July. Opening of eastern arm of Pier Extension by HRH Prince George K.G. November. Laying of the New General Hospital Foundation Stone by HRH the Duchess of York. 1930 The Luker’s Brewery building, High Street, was demolished. 1931 Canvey Island ceases to be a true island. The first ever bridge to the main land was opened. Southend fire department takes delivery of there first new Miles fire engine. July. International bowling matches at Southend. 1932 Westcliff High School for Girls opens. Southend Corporation bought Porters from Sir Charles Nicholson. Southend East Railway Station opens. July. Opening of the new General Hospital, Prittlewell. 1933 Chalkwell Railway Station opens. October. Inclusion of Shoeburyness and Eastwood. Population 130,000, rateable value £1,381,269. Area 10,333 acres. The land of Southend Airport is bought by the Corporation, the 157 acre site cost £20,000. 1934 Keddies reveal their new look shop front. St. John’s Ambulance Southend take delivery of their brand new 22 horsepower Commer vehicles. Leigh Railway Station rebuilt half a mile west to it previous location. 1935 Astoria Cinema Theatre, High Street opens on the site of Luker’s Brewery, over 2 million bricks and 1,000 tons of girders had been used in its construction. Grove House/School, Grove Road was demolished. Ritz Cinema Pier Hill opened. Southend Corporation opened Porters as a Civic Reception House. The Council purchased Leigh cliffs and the foreshore from the Salvation Army for £33,500. February. J.H. Burrows dies aged 80, Councillor, Mayor and Publisher, (J. H. Burrows and Sons publishers of the Southend Standard and others). May. Visit of Home Fleet. HM King George V Silver Jubilee Celebrations. July. Centenary of the Pier and opening of the new Lifeboat House. September. Southend Airport opened by the Secretary of State for Air, Sir Philip Sasson. 1936 June. The heaviest man in the world, Dick Harrow, aged 38, weighing 40 stones dies, while on show at the Kursaal. He served in the Royal Artillery in the first World War and was of normal weight, but in 1920 began to put on weight and became so heavy he could hardly move. A huge container-like coffin was made for his body and lifted on to a lorry by crane. He was buried in Sutton Road cemetery in a huge grave, Cannon Gowing conducted funeral. 1937 First double decker bus to run in Essex. It ran from the L.M.S. Railway Station to Shoebury. The town acquired the area now known as the Seaway car park, of 4 ½ acres at a cost of £31,000. Building of the cycle track along the Arterial Road starts. Floral Hall is destroyed by fire. Empire Palace Leigh closes. January. Southend Welfare Council opens soup kitchen. May. Visit of Home Fleet HM King George VI Coronation Celebrations. A Photographic Studio opens in the High Street called Dixons. c1937 Building of Argyll Flats. 1938 Southend’s last tram ran this year. Belfairs Nature reserve opened. May. Holiday pleasure vessel the Dreadnought is wrecked by terrible gales, of 90 craft moored off Westcliff, only 15 were left afloat. October. Laying of foundation stone of Municipal Hospital Extension at Rochford by HRH The Duchess of Kent, C.I. 1939 Southend Arterial Road was dualled. July. Southend Women’s Voluntary Service was formed, when 1,658 women came forward to help if war came. By 5th September, there was a highly efficient organisation under the leadership of Mrs. Leyland, Mrs. Sylvester and Mrs. Copeland, and throughout the war years the W.V.S. rendered magnificent service in a great many directions. Southend High School for Boys, Prittlewell Chase opens. 12th August. The Mauretania passes the Pier on her outward voyage to New York. 1st September. World War II starts. October. Construction starts of the Cliffs Pavilion on the Shorefields site, but is delayed by the War. After the War Southend Council cancelled the scheme. In 1960 the Council agreed to the first stage of the scheme which included a hall seating 1,200 and restaurant. The building opened in 1964. 1940 May. The Home Guard was formed from the old Local Defence Volunteers, and when the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Col. Sir Francis H. Whitmore, took the salute at the Home Guard stand-down parade in October 1944, there were 4,000 members in the Southend battalion. Vessels from Southend sail to Dunkirk, the Pleasure steamer Medway Queen rescues 7,000 men at Dunkirk beaches. 1941 Winston Churchill visits the military establishment at Shoebury. 1942 Last Southend tram runs. October. Three people killed when a lone Messerschmitt 110 bombed and strafed the London Hotel in the High Street. 1943 9th June. Nore Lightship was removed and replaced by the Nore Fort. 1944 The Astoria, High Street becomes the Odeon. August. SS Richard Montgomery supply ship sinks in the Thames Estuary. The mulberry harbour, one small section of the concrete caisson (code named the “Phoenix”) can be seen today in the estuary from the shore. The caisson was being towed to France when it sprang a leak off the coast near the River Crouch, it was towed into the estuary for inspection, the section sank settling on the sandbank where it broke in two. 1945 2nd September. World War II ends. 1946 May. Presentation of Freedom of the Borough to Essex Regiment. June - October. Visit of British and American Warships. 1947 June - September. Visit of British and American Warships. August. Official re-opening of the Municipal Aerodrome after war time requisitioning and first international Air Rally. October. Official opening of the Municipal Hospital Extensions at Rochford by HRH The Duchess of Kent. 1948 National School, Southchurch closes, failed to meet requirement of modern education. 1949 Workmen erect The Golden Hind on its concrete base in the mud of the old boating pool. April. Inauguration of the new Pier Electric Trains by Lord Broadbridge, Lord Mayor of London. 1950 George Warwick Deeping, the famous writer dies and a memorial stone is placed in St. John Baptist Church graveyard. 2 ½ Million people are using the Pier. 1951 June. Visit of Swedish Naval Training Squadron. 1952 The comedy duo Laurel and Hardy come to Southend and stay at the Palace Hotel whilst appearing in a variety show at the Odeon in the High Street. 1953 Pier entrance gets a special Royal Archway to celebrate the 1953 Coronation. The trolley bus service ended. February, Canvey flood disaster. Prospect Place along the seafront is demolished after irreparable damage caused by flooding. March. Opening of the new Crematorium at Sutton Road. October. Opening of the Beecroft Art Gallery at Westcliff-on-Sea by His Worshipful the Mayor, Alderman EN Selby. November. Opening of Crowstone House Old Persons’ Home by the Rt Hon Iain Macleod, Minister of Health. 1954 The Royal yacht Britannia passes the Pier with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh aboard on their way home from a commonwealth tour. 1955 March. Opening of new schools by the Rt Hon Sir David Eccles, Minister of Education. May. Official launching of the new lifeboat and visit to Carnival Bungalow estate by HRH The Duchess of Kent. The Palace Cinema, Shoebury closes. 1956 November. The famous sugar cake bandstand beloved by millions who knew Southend decades ago, ended its place of entertainment. 11th December, First electric train to reach Southend under its own power arrives at Southend Victoria Station. 30th December, Last scheduled steam train leaves Southend Victoria Station. 1957 January. The famous sugar cake bandstand, this grand old white and gold relic of Edwardian days was demolished. June. Opening of Southend High School for Girls, in Southchurch Boulevard, and St. Christopher’s School by Sir Edward Boyle, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Education. December. Opening of Pantile House Old Persons’ Home by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, R. H. M. Thompson. 1958 March. Opening of Municipal College Extension, Victoria Circus by Sir Hugh Beaver. 1959 The Corona Cinema Leigh closes. The Plaza Southchurch closes. 1960 January. Opening of the first stage of College of Technology, Civic Centre. October. Britain’s first supermarket opens in Southend, Keddie’s Supa-Save Warrior Square which three months previous had been a cinema. 1961 The Fenchurch Street Railway line was electrified. March. Founder of the Beecroft Art Gallery, Mr. Walter G. Beecroft dies aged 76. 1962 The Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria line was electrified this year. Last scheduled steam train service on the Southend to London Fenchurch Street line. Queen Victoria statue is removed from her position on Pier Hill and placed on the cliffs in Clifftown Parade. October. Opening of Whittingham House retirement home by His Worshipful the Mayor, Alderman O. A. Moss. 1963 Medway Queen paddle steamer sinks but is raised again. January. Cold conditions, sea freezes at Southend. May. Opening of Delaware House and the Bungalow, Connaught House Old Peoples’ Homes by the Rt Hon Enoch Powell, Minister of Health. May and December. The Beatles appear at the Odeon High Street. 1964 Season of Golden Jubilee celebrations to commemorate the 50 years of the constitution of Southend-on-Sea as a County Borough. Earls Hall, Prittlewell demolished. Mascot Cinema was destroyed by fire. July. Kent Elms Clinic and Branch Library is opened by His Worshipful the Mayor, Alderman E. E. Morris. Opening of the Cliffs Pavilion by Bernard Miles. Baryta House Victoria Avenue is built, this was the world’s first completely pre-cast multi-storey building. Office accommodation in New Civic Centre occupied. September. Central Fire Station opened in Sutton Road by HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services, Mr H. M. Smith. 1966 The Hotel Victoria was demolished. Eric Cole dies aged 65 in St. Kitts, Barbados (EKCO Company). February. The new Court House is opened by the Rt Hon Lord Parker of Waddington the Lord Chief Justice of England. December. First stage of pedestrian High Street created between Queens Road and Warrior Square. 1967 October. The new Civic Centre is opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. 1969 Victoria Arcade in the High Street was demolished. British Home Stores opens in the High Street. Westcliff open air swimming baths closes. March. Leigh Fire Station Blenheim Chase opened by HM Inspector of Fire Services, Mr A. J. Frame. April. Amalgamation of Essex and Southend Police areas and formation of Essex and Southend-on-Sea joint Police Authority. May. The new Southend Swimming Pool, Warrior Square is opened by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent. 1970 The old Rinkeries Skating Rink/Strand cinema/Essoldo cinema/Keddies Supa-Save Supermarket building, Warrior Square is demolished. 1971 Government announce Maplin Sands would become the site for London’s third airport. 1972 Southchurch Hall library transferred to a new library building in Lifstan way. 1974 March. The new Central Library, Victoria Avenue is opened by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex. July. The Maplin Sands airport scheme is cancelled. December. HRH Princess Anne opens Indoor Riding School for Southend Riding Club for the disabled at Belfairs. 1976 July. Destruction of the Pier Head by fire. 1977 June. Visit by HRH Princess Margaret to Southend General Hospital. 1978 1978-1979. The Royal Hotel is restored by its owners, Southend Borough Council. 1979 March. Official opening of the day centre and workshop at Queensway House Health and Social Security Services Complex by His Worshipful the Mayor, Cllr R.B. Marriott. 1980 September. Visit to the district by HRH the Duchess of Kent taking in Kingsdown School, The Royal Hotel, The Brambles and Rochford Hospital. 1981 The entertainer Jerry Jerome dies. April. Official opening of the Central Museum in Victoria Avenue by His Worshipful the Mayor, Cllr W. F. Bowyer. 1986 May. Official opening of new Pier Trains and launch of the new RNLI Lifeboat by HRH Princess Anne. 1988 March. Royals Shopping Centre was completed. 1991 January. Official opening of Southend Hospital Scanner and new Lifeboat House on Southend Pier by HRH Princess Anne. The South Essex College became South East Essex College of Arts and Technology (SEECAT). 1992 Borough Centenary Celebrations, Lord Mayor of London takes part in Civic Procession and opened Centenary Garden in Priory Park. Extension and refurbishment to the Cliffs Pavilion. 1994 Chase Sports Centre opened by Trevor Brooking, Chairman of the Eastern Council for Sport and Recreation. 1995 Pier Bowling Lanes destroyed by fire. 1996 March. Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre, Garon Park, Eastern Avenue, opened, and was expanded in November 2010, adding Southend Swimming and Diving Centre to the site, and a new reception area. New Odeon 8 screen multiplex cinema is built. 1997 6th April. The old Odeon in the High Street shows it’s last film, the building stood unused until it was demolished in July 2004. 1998 The Kursaal returns, reopening of the Kursaal Palace building after refurbishment. Council achieves Unitary Status. Baum’s Furriers, London Road Westcliff closes after 69 years. 1999 March. Official visit of HM Queen Elizabeth and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh to Southend-on-Sea. October. Southend was twinned with the town called Sopot on the Bay of Gdansk, Poland.