Most recently it was the bowling alley that was detroyed in 1995 where I enjoyed many birthday parties with schoolmates (it was never rebuilt) and nine years earlier, a boat trying to take the shortcut straight through the middle caused major damage. In 1976 another major fire destroyed most of the Victorian pier head, with repairs to the damage only being completed in 2002. The first fire of 1959 lead to the construction of the bowling alley to replace the original gutted Pavilion.

The pier’s feature – being the longest pleasure pier in the world – was also its downfall when attempting to deal with the blaze. Its 1.3 mile length was required in order to reach commercial and leisure vessels coming up/down the Thames Estuary at all tides. Anyone who has been on seafront will know how far out the mud stretches at low tide, and this was exactly the situation late last night when fire crews attempted to get their equipment to the pier head. Hovercrafts and other specialist equipment had to be called in.

A good BBC video clip can be found in this article, along with a great quote from a witness to the 1995 fire:

I also saw the fire back in 1995, and remember seeing bowling balls falling into the sea in clouds of steam.

Maybe those great balls of fire are still down there, buried in that pesky mud?

Everything is just about packed away into boxes at home now, all ready for the move at the weekend. I’d better try and remember which house I’m returning to after working til 1 am… methinks the new family would not be too impressed.

Haven’t managed to get a motor sorted yet as I haven’t had five minutes spare to properly look and make a decision. The old finances are a bit iffy as well. Looks like I might be getting the train back to Lancaster.

Just got back from an evening at Southend’s best (!) nightclub, Tots – my first night out in quite a while, as you may know. And it wasn’t up to much. I’m too used to the other side of the bar, methinks.

Started looking at motors with me ol’ man.. need something to take back to uni with me, but the insurance will no doubt be more than the car. Not that I’m gonna moan about it or anything! Best get some sleep…

And I’ve been working s**t loads as well. Started my fourth job this summer at Southend College on Monday, and it isn’t that busy yet. However, enrolling all the new AS students from next Thursday is going to be mad! Just as the pub will be tomorrow night as we’re going to be purposely short-staffed.

Saw the new bungalow last week – it’s actually quite nice, but needs a lot doing to it as it’s well over 80 years old. Right, need to clear the phone line. Next message in T minus three weeks-ish.

I’ve also just realised how frustrating it’s going to be next year without a permanent internet connection – I can’t even send my Lancs e-mail properly now (they’ve gone and disabled the smtp from anywhere outside the uni). Got a phone call from the landlady as well. She’d forgotten I’d already paid my summer retainer.

Oh well, back to work in half an hour…

But at the moment it’s all Sky Digital (well I’ve gotta make the most of it while I can). Parents have gone on holiday for a couple of weeks, so Hayley and I are attempting to fend for ourselves…

Just got back from a nice meal in Southend, and realised that I’m starting my new job tomorrow At least it isn’t an early start…