I can remember quite vividly when I left my hometown of Southend-on-Sea, for the bright lights of London, way, way back in 1982. It was a decision I had actually made whilst at the age of 5 years old, living in Rylands Road and doing dance lesson's at Maylin Dance School at St. Luke's Church. When the day eventually arrived for me to pack my bags and go….I was more closer to twenty. When I was five, the decision had been an easy to make…. I was in love with the movies and believed that was were I could obtain a life of glamour and success. Dancing and singing on the stage and wishing I could be in the films like my heroes at the time. We had of course the wonderful RITZ cinema down at Pier Hill where my father had taken me numerous of times and when recalling it now, I still in my head, cannot believe it no longer exists! What idiot decided that to remove this wonderful cinema, was of a benefit to the people? I will find out of course.
Whilst I rant, coming into my adolescence, was of an exact scenario……I was aghast over the years at the demolition of beautiful buildings, hotels and the lunatic thinking of putting in place, the pedestrianised shopping area right through the middle of the town. Why? This decision, of course had to include two major roads one, burrowed under the area and another circling around the area. Both of these roads were ugly, cold and have major expense. Southend was beginning not to grow in beauty; it was just beginning to grow in concrete. The developers must have been rubbing their hands with glee, both then in the 1970's and just as importantly now with all the new developments recently made to shops and travel areas. Southend is once again left with more ugliness, more money spent and less effort on design, aesthetics, planting and the collaboration of the Southend people as to what they actually like!
No comments:
Post a Comment