Southend-on-Sea | Escaped From London

Sunday at around 10.30am I boarded the train departing from Liverpool Street station in London, heading towards Southend-on-Sea. I was about to finally escape from London on a day trip to the seaside. The sun was shining…in fact it was scorcher of a day. I had my bag packed full of goodies, my swimming shorts, beach towels and lots of water…I was ready to chill out and relax in the sunshine.

I had checked online and as far as I was aware the train Journey would take a mere 55 minutes or so, fucking perfect. I have spent longer on a bus going from Kilburn to Oxford Street. Somehow the train journey took took 95 minutes to get to Southend-on-Sea, It was best not to think about why and just accept that trains and tubes are always, always late! This is the UK after all!

The train was rammed with people heading to the seaside, desperate for some sun, sand and the cool water of the North Sea. I couldn’t wait to get off the train, I was getting crushed by a Polish woman who’s big ass needed two seats. All nightmares come to an end if you pray hard enough, and finally the train pulled into sunny Southend-on-Sea.

Having never been to Southend-on-Sea before, I didn’t have a clue as to where the beach was. The simplest things was to follow the crowds and 10 minutes later I was standing staring at the sea, what a beautiful sight it was too…then as we got closer I could see the beach. I couldn’t see the sand though, because it seemed like every spare grain of sand was occupied. The beach was jammed packed full of people trying to impersonate sardines.

There was no way I was going onto the beach, it was pure hell.  I had come to the beach to chill out, relax and take things easy. This wasn’t what I had been looking forward too, this wasn’t fun. I had travelled all this way to come to the ugliest and most crowded  beach in the world.

At least  it was a beautiful day, the sky was blue and  the sun was hot. I  badly needed  some rest and relaxation, all I wanted to do was lie down and chill out in the warm air. After a bit of wandering around we found a fairly quiet park overlooking the sea. There was a nice slope and a tree which provided a bit of shade from the hot rays of the sun. And even better I didn’t have to look at that over crowded  beach. It was perfect.

Suddenly life was good, the picnic I had made was of course delicious and the park seemed like the best place to be in Southend-on-Sea and unbelievable there was hardly anybody there. It was a mere 1 minutes walk to the sea, so as you can imagine the view was good. I guess for people that don’t travel much and haven’t really been anywhere that  they may think Southend-on-Sea has a wonderful beach. I can honestly say it is the worst beach I have been to in my life, it was the pits. They may have won numerous awards and got blue flags galore, but they wouldn’t win any awards for prettiness or for the views.

After a few hours, lazing around, eating and getting fat. I heard a few cheers going up. I thought shit England have scored. My African Princess tuned into her radio, and fortunately there wasn’t any bad news, Germany had just scored their  second goal. Maybe Southend-on-Sea wasn’t so bad after all..!

There is only so much lazing around in the sun a sane person can take, before it drives them bonkers. I was hoping that because the England game was in full flow the beach would have became deserted, but no such luck it was still full of the rabble.

I couldn’t come to Southend-on-Sea and not visit the famous Southend Pier, well its famous in Southend-on-Sea! I must admit I enjoyed strolling along what is seemingly the longest pleasure pier in the world. I feel the pier deserves it’s own article, which is coming soon!

My African Princess wanted to feel the cool water of the sea on her feet. She comes from a land locked country and hasn’t experienced the joys of walking in the sea and I was in desperate need of getting my shorts on and going for a wee paddle. As we were sitting on the train taking us  back to dry land from the pier, the sea was disappearing…WTF.

The tide was going out, but in Southend-on-Sea it doesn’t just go out a wee bit, it goes out for fucking miles. Again the disappearing water needs its own article.

I’m quite aware know Southend-on-Sea has 7 miles of beaches in total and I probably only visited about 1.5 miles of it. So I know there must be quieter and emptier beaches further along the coast. But if the sand is the same ugly colour, full of pebbles and that disgusting muddy stuff awaits you as soon as you walk into the sea, you can keep it. In my mind it seems that Southend-on-Sea is full of boy racers that have nothing better to do than drive up and down the sea front all day long, boozed up teens walking around all over the place, and plenty of boarded up windows along the high street from the mayhem of the place on Saturday night! Cesspit is what springs to mind.

In my mind Southend-on-Sea, totally lacks style, class, character and is one hell of an ugly place. I will most probably never come back on a sunny day again, it is like hell on earth. I may venture back during the winter months when the sun seekers are safely tucked up in their homes. I would like to take a stroll along the Southend Pier when the cold winter North Sea winds are blowing and there are only a handful of people going about, that sounds like more fun to me than a sunny crowed day in Southend-on-Sea.

I did sort of enjoy my day trip to Southend-on-Sea. It was kind of good, lazing around on the slope looking out to the sea and the walk along the pier was fun. But all in all I would say that  Southend-on-Sea is totally over rated.

 

Related posts:

1. The Strangest Beach | Southend-on-Sea
2. Southend-on-Sea | The Longest Pleasure Pier In The World
3. Cheap London Day Trips | Here I Come Southend-on-Sea