Southend's Christmas-on-Sea festivities are taking place today (Sat 14th).
Here's a useful timing guide:
•9am till 8pm - Christmas Market with German sausages, gluhwein, gingerbread,
traditional gifts and much more
•8.30am till 5pm – Christmas Farmers and Craft Market with Christmas treats and unique gift ideas
•12noon till 2. Click to continue reading...

Ian Edward Wright, known now by many a name but during in footballing career he was fondly known as ‘Wrighty'.

Born in the fine year of 1963, he went on to be a half decent striker at Crystal Palace and then Arsenal and boy, did he love to score!

He had a bit of a strange start to his career in football, he had trials at both Southend and Brighton while in his teenage years but neither club thought he was good enough and let him go on his merry way.

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Back in the 1950s and 60s, the Southend Odeon was THE place in south Essex to see not just nationally, but internationally famous acts and groups. Doubling up as a cinema and an auditorium, the Odeon - on Southend High Street - was consistently putting on major shows and acts to more than 2,000 people at a time. Click to continue reading...

No decision will be taken over the future of the indoor York Road Market in Southend, until a comprehensive consultation has been carried out, longpier.com understands.
The 90-year old indoor market was suddenly closed on October 17, after a structural report on the building revealed potentially dangerous health and safety issues. Click to continue reading...

One of the world's largest banks, HSBC, is to cut a number of jobs in Southend as part of a cost-cutting exercise.
In total 1,700 jobs will be lost nationwide in the latest round of cuts - an unspecified number of positions will go in the town.

The union Unite said that the cuts would be centred on HSBC sites in Southend, Southampton, Leicester and Sheffield and would bring the total number of job losses at the bank to 4,600 so far this year.

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National League Division 2 South Fixtures

Would dearly love to go to a Richmond V Barnes fixture :

Saturday, 07 November 2009

Barking v Westcombe Park, 15:00

Bridgwater & Albion v Rosslyn Park, 15:00

Canterbury v Southend, 15:00

Dings Crusaders v Worthing, 15:00

Ealing v Henley, 15:00

Lydney v Clifton, 15:00

Richmond v Barnes, 15:00

Why?

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While Jensen Button was busy winning the F1 World Title on Sunday, a teenager from Southend was also flying the flag for Britain in motor sport. Robert Foster-Jones snatched the British Super 1 karting championship in a sensational showdown in Lincolnshire on Sunday.
Knowing beforehand that nothing less than victory would suffice if he was to stand a chance of winning the title, Foster-Jones then produced a scintillating performance in the first final to blow things wide open. Click to continue reading...

Major advice sessions are being held across Southend to help residents and businesses copewith the difficulties of the current economic climate.
Southend Together Partnership is hosting a series of ‘Beat the Recession' community-focused events to help cushion the blow. These give residents and businesses direct access to keyagencies that can offer real support and guidance on topics such as:
Finance – advice ranges from saving money at home with energy efficiency measures,to maximising your income and savings. Click to continue reading...

The biggest live music competition in Essex returns to Southend seafront this Saturday (24th), as local bands battle it out to be crowned Battle of the Band champions 2009.
It's the second set of semi-finals this weekend with The Peppermint Apes, Vanity Clause, The Summer Regret and Lazarus Rose performing live on the Southend Radio SoundStage from 6-8pm. Click to continue reading...

Southend is putting together an ambitious bid to become the UK's first ever City of Culture.
The year long accolade - beginning on 1st January 2013 - would enable the winning location to host big ticket national cultural events, as well as putting on a year-long programme of their own. Click to continue reading...

New controls for Southend Airport have been agreed by Southend and Rochford councils, after residents voiced concerns about plans to increase the number of flights over the area. If proposed expansion plans happen, then operators will be forced to cut the number of night flights by 87% from a proposed 900 a month to just 120. Click to continue reading...

If you're interested in classical music or just want to see musicians performing at their peak, there are a number of events in Southend to whet your appetite over the coming weeks. Perhaps you've always felt classical music was a bit "elitist", well now's the time to change that perception. Click to continue reading...

You can now watch top class basketball in Southend thanks to the introduction of a new team - the Essex Pirates.
The professional outfit has joined the British Basketball League and the team competed in its first ever game on Saturday (3rd), beating PAWS London Capital by 61 points to 60 in an extremely tight affair at Garons Park. Click to continue reading...

A record field of over 2,000 runners will take part in this Sunday's annual 10k road race in Southend.
It starts at 10.30am from Southchurch Park in Thorpe Bay. The current race records are 28m 49s (men) and 33m 18s (women). The course is virtually flat and is mostly run along the seafront. Click to continue reading...

Match Officials announced for tomorrow's match against Southend Utd

Mr. Steve Bratt, will be the man in charge at Edgeley park tomorrow.

Now aged 30 he started refereeing at 14 years of age and eight years later was promoted to level 3. After only one season stepped up to level 2 where he remained for seven seasons until promoted to the National list of referees in 2006.

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Although the summer's pretty much over, autumn provides an excellent opportunity to discover the coastline around Southend and surrounding areas.
You get some really crisp, but clear days especially in late October and that offers great views especially in places like Stambridge and Pagelsham. Click to continue reading...

A large scale multicultural festival kicks off in Southend this weekend, bringing together a wide range of people from many backgrounds, through art, theatre, talks and music.
'Going Out of The Box' is a joint initiative by the council and local education groups. It coincides with the nationwide Black History Month - aimed to promote knowledge, discussion and experience of different cultures. Click to continue reading...

LIVE BLOG:
1714 - Southend have lost 1-0 to Oldham at Roots Hall...very disappointing. However the sun continues to shine at Chalkwell Park. Billy Bragg is bringing his busking session to a close. The food and drink stands are still selling and loads of people are taking a chance to look around Chalkwell Hall. Click to continue reading...

Hello and welcome to Longpier.com's coverage of Southend's biggest free arts, drama and music festival - Village Green at Chalkwell Park. You've arrived at the live photos page (below).
Check out the LIVE VIDEO and the LIVE BLOG from the event. And CLICK HERE for the event schedule. Click to continue reading...

One of the most talked about men in the country, Peter Andre, will be in Southend on Friday night.
He's in the town to help celebrate the opening of the new Element nightclub, formerly Baker's Bar on Alexandra Street.
He's performing his latest hit 'Behind Closed Doors' as well as a few classics. Click to continue reading...

Hundreds of residents in Rochford are joining forces to campaign against plans to build 326 new homes on green belt land.
Developers - the Colonnade Group - have put forward plans for the new builds on land at Coombes Farm in Stambridge. On its website, Colonnade claim the
". Click to continue reading...

Southend's biggest free arts and music festival takes place on Saturday (26th) as Village Green returns to Chalkwell Park.
The 11-hour event, run by Metal, features a huge number of groups, artists and exhibitors all displaying the diverse range of talent in the borough.
It starts at 11am and Longpier. Click to continue reading...

One of the most successful British swimmers of all time, Mark Foster, will receive a honorary degree from the South East Essex College on Wednesday (23rd).
Mark - who was born and brought up in Southend - will join more than 300 students who will receive their certificates for passing various degrees in the summer. Click to continue reading...

Francis Laurent's injury time strike gave Southend all three points after an exciting encounter at the Withdean Stadium.
The Blues took the lead on 8 minutes, when Lee Barnard angled a header into the net from a Simon Francis cross. It was his eighth goal of the season.
The home side equalised through another in-form striker, Nicky Forster, on 21. Click to continue reading...

There can't be many men in the world that can claim to have traded a life of heights, bricks and tiles for shops, flowers and window dressing but that's exactly what Dave Grimes has done.
He now co-manages Fiori Florist in Southend and Leigh - a joint venture with his long term partner Emily Macaluso. Click to continue reading...

Ireland Under-17 manager Sean McCaffrey has today named an 18 man squad for the Under-17 UEFA qualifying first phase qualifiers in Bulgaria later this month.
Ireland will play against the host nation Bulgaria, Latvia and Sweden with the aim of securing a top-two finish in the group to progress into the Elite section of the qualifying series. Click to continue reading...

One of south Essex's major events takes place this Saturday and Sunday (19th-20th) as Old Leigh welcomes locals and visitors to its annual Regatta.
The charity event organised by the three Scout and Venture Groups, that are based in Leigh Old Town, gets going from noon on Saturday with entertainment, competitions, side shows, craft stalls and water events. Click to continue reading...

A planned week of train strikes on the National Express line from Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street has been called off.
Industrial action was due to have taken place on the week beginning 21st September.
Members of the ASLEF union have now accepted a 3.5% pay deal over two years, with the addition of a "productivity settlement", which could result in an extra 0. Click to continue reading...

The Swedish architect firm - White Arkitekter - will redevelop Southend Pier, if the council secures funding from a government grant.
The main feature of the new Pier Head design will be an open air theatre with a terraced platform that will create lee, view point and seating for the audience. Click to continue reading...

Did you know that arguably the greatest comedy duo of all time performed a series of shows during a week-long residency in Southend?
Laurel and Hardy travelled from London Fenchurch Street to Southend Central in August 1952 to entertain crowds at the Odeon cinema in the High Street.
The pair stayed, for seven nights, at the Palace Hotel (which is now being renovated and renamed Park Inn Southend) and travelled around the area during the daytime. Click to continue reading...

Southend United ended their visitors' 100% record in League One but it could have been even better for the Blues had Lee Barnard's penalty not been superbly saved by Leeds 'keeper Shane Higgs.
In a tense and tightly fought battle at Roots Hall, both sides failed to find an opening in the first half. Click to continue reading...

A brilliant, innovative and genuinely exciting arts project has hit Southend.
The former water works building on North Road has been completely transformed into a huge space for emerging artists to work and display their talents.
CoExist Arts run by Emma Emmerton and Amy McKenny is a fairly new project, founded in 2008. Click to continue reading...

This weekend (11/12/13 Sep) Southend plays host to its first ever Polish Arts Festival.
Around 3,000 people originally from Poland are estimated to live in Southend and surrounding areas, and the Essex town is twinned with Sopot - a Polish coastal resort on the Baltic Sea.
Over the weekend around 10 activities are taking place across the borough. Click to continue reading...

Postal workers in the Southend area are on strike today (Monday) in a row over plans to modernise the way staff work.
Members of the Communication Workers Union started action at 5am this morning and will not return to work until tomorrow. Letters and parcels due for scheduled delivery today may not arrive until Wednesday as the backlog is cleared at Southend and Basildon sorting offices. Click to continue reading...

"The Pier is Southend, Southend is the Pier"
Sir John Betjeman
Some of the world's leading architects are bidding to redevelop Southend's most iconic landmark - its record breaking pier.
The pier has been crying out for some TLC ever since a devastating fire at the end of the 1. Click to continue reading...