Every Summer Sunday we went to the south coast for the day. Mum, dad, me and Shandy, the dog. Our regular haunts were Eastbourne, Brighton and Southend-on-Sea. I think we went out because if we stayed home there would have been a row, or maybe worse.
In the Autumn we returned to Southend to see the lights, a special treat as the dark evenings drew in.
A walk along the sea front, oohing and aahing at the decorations strewn between lamp posts, displays that winked on and off, a happy clown, a sad clown.
Although not on the scale of Blackpool’s famous illuminations, Southend enjoyed a considerable popularity in its own neck of the woods and many thousands of people thronged along the pier and promenade to marvel at the sights.
Along the cliff face various tableaux were arranged and it was here I remember the shock of grasping a hand I thought was Mum’s only to discover it was that of a stranger.
The moment was only fleeting as Mum was just a few steps behind in the queue and had been watching me all along. She laughed at my mistake, the stranger laughed, Dad laughed. I just stared. Petrified. I didn’t laugh, but then I didn’t cry either.
When I was thirteen we moved from London to Suffolk so day trips to Southend-on-Sea dropped off the radar and we started going to Clacton instead, but that's a whole different story.
Having just published a book about the lives of women in Swindon and their fight for equality I'm interest in reading about the experiences of women in other towns and cities across Britain.
Eastender Dee Gordon moved to Southend some thirty years ago and has written about the place she now calls home.
Like me, Dee has researched the lives of not only those women active in the suffrage campaign but women from all classes and from all walks of life.
The Struggle and Suffrage series is published by Pen and Sword and includes a growing list of titles. Copies of Dee's book are available online direct from Pen and Sword - paperback edition £14.99 and Kindle edition £8.99. My recently released book is available at £11.99 paperback and £5.82 Kindle.
Struggle and Suffrage in Southend-on-Sea
