This is favourite place in Southend. The ancient house has been vamped up to form an informative…read moretour of different parts of It's history.The beauty of the walled gardens is breathtakingly beautiful and tranquil. Other spots are wild and tadpole and frog hunts in the small are organised - only educational and observation. There's a big play area and bandstand with bands sometimes and a quite good cafe. Football and tennis activities bike riding and joggers around. But the best part is the cultural and age mix from ladies and parents to the elderly all out to enjoy themselves and dogs properly under control.WONDERFUL !!!!

Priory Park is a huge park just outside of Southend. If you have kids its a must as there is loads…read moreof space for them to run about and play including a large kids playground! Although its not only kids that would enjoy it, the park features a walled garden with bedding displays and borders with climbing roses and shrubs, as well as the 12th Century Priory Museum. Some parts of a Cluniac monastrey still remain forming part of the museum. Walking around the park the amount of wildlife you see is amazing! From the ducks and swans on the pond, to the rats and voles running around the edge of the pond and the squirrels running across the path in front of you! Park opening times vary throughout the year, depending on the time of the year obviously being open later during the Summer compared to the Winter. Entry to the park and museum as well as all the facilities apart from the cafe are free so its a nice cheap day out too!! Facilities Include Basketball Courts Bowling Cafe/Restaurant Childrens Playground Fishing (Although you do need a licence) Football Pitches Museum Parking Picnic Area Tennis Courts Toilets Nature Reserve The Walled Garden Large Pond (Great for feeding the ducks with the kids!)

Southchurch Hall and gardens have so much potential and could be a really special place…read more Unfortunately the gardens are too often full of people having one too many drinks, at times the rats are a little too obvious (used to be known locally as the Duck Park, now more commonly the Rat Park) and the water in the ponds is stagnant. Having said that the gardens are beautiful and fantastically maintained - I had my photos before my wedding taken there. The Hall can be used for weddings but only seats maybe 30 people. There is some interesting history and displays inside but again not used to full advantage - and not open many days. Do some excellent seasonal events there though e.g. Victorian Christmas days

Lovely setting hidden between the houses on Southchurch Road, you wouldn't even know it was there…read more A quiet park with a large duck pond although not that well kempt. The museum is a slice of history and weddings can be held here too. Southend Shakespeare often perform on the clearing in the summer - a must visit!

£2 per person just to walk the pier. £5 something to walk one way and to take the train back. It's…read morethe longest pier in the world, 1.33 miles. It goes out really far. It's not too wide, there's a few seats along the way. There's nothing along the way, you just walk. cafes, stalls and a venue are all at the very end of the pier. I'm more used to piers that gave rides and arcade on the pier itself. But this is really nice too. No fishing going on from this pier. Someone told me you can see seals from the pier, but I didn't see any myself.

For £1 you get to walk 3miles before treating yourself to food. The other option is £3 to take the…read moretrain. I did the walk simply because the sights, sounds, and smells really brought back memories of my childhood. Plus I wasn't in a rush to get anywhere. The Pier is located right in between adventure Island. It's pretty hard to miss considering it's quite massive and usually attracts the eyes of many tourists. I didn't actually see the waking option until the day of. I saw the train from a distance and my curiosity peeked. I wasn't even sure where the train was going but it was on a bridge heading somewhere. It's a beautiful experience and often times it's the locals that's venture out more than tourists. At the end, there's a few restaurants that serve fish and chips, coffee shops, washrooms and a mini museum.

To the new visitor to this far corner of England, will wonder what this park is, but if you…read moreunderstand it's not too distant past then it might be accepted. So expect, a seafront location, lots of flat green area. Then find small lakes and a War history of bunkers dotted along the coast, then you start to discover a new angle to this area. The former Garrison is now deserted of military and Gladedale are busy building through on the area while preserving the military history. Consider looking out over the sea from this point and into the yonder the next shore line depending wher you point could be Belgium or indeed Germany, so you can understand the sensitivity of this area, and the lengths taken to defend this from invasion whether by air or sea, so strong elements of this are in place but left generally to the elements. I feel if this was Dover this would be bristling with tourists being guided over the area and explaining the issues of warfare; this could be for another future year. As a park goes, don't think conventional swings and gardens, but maybe consider exploring into new areas and taking in new views.

I've gigged here on open-air events, and aside from the crowd being amazing, so was the scenery…read more Situated very near a lorry yard where my Father used to work and some small pubs and a couple of shops, Gunner's Park is located within a minute's walking distance of several busy bus routes, and is easy to get to. The park is most famous for it's cannon situated at the entrance, hence the name. Several events are held there all year, both corperate, and public.

Located deep inside Priority Park, this museum is nothing compared to what it used to be now…read moreseeming like nothing more than an old building that you can walk around and look at the furniture. This museum needs to be publicised more and get in some of the larger exhibits, and perhaps form some form of collaboration with other local museums in the area such as the Central Museum near the Southend Town Centre, and perhaps share exhibits and information, perhaps offer some sort of buy-out. The museum itself is decently laid out with some small exhibits from (very) Old Leigh, and provide information on the local area over the past centuries, as well as the museum itself, of which the staff are very educated on. It's not a day out, but if you're spending some time in the park and the museum is open, it's well worth a peek inside for 15-20 minutes.

The museum has recently been completely refurbished and renewed now telling the story of the…read morerestored Priory. Old reviews before 2012 are out of dated now. Lovely building with very interesting story told of monks and their lives in a fascinating building. Well worth seeing.

I have not been in this cinema but it is worth a look at the exterior. Still has many features of…read morethe original 1930's.

Can't really add more than Essex-Girl; fabulous value for money and leather settees in the back…read morerow!! Hardly modern, but still a brilliant experience!

If you like railways here's a little place to visit. It's just plain eccentric though, 3/4 a mile…read moreof track, buildings, trains & carriages just brought into an old farm, there was never any connection to or from this place, makes you proud to be British. At Christmas they have a Santa Train and other special day in the year.

If you've never been to a Railway Museum before and you live in Essex, then it's on your doorstep…read moreand well worth a few visits. If you live further away then I suggest you make plans to be there a while because it's not just a Museum but a working Railway and a restoration yard. It is all privately owned and features a 1 mile long standard gauge line with restored stations, signal boxes and ancillary equipment removed from various sites throughout East Anglia. Six Steam and 10 Diesel locomotives are currently on site, ranging from a (and this is for those who know what I'm talking about) 48hp Ruston & Hornsby shunter, to a BR Class 47, a 120 ton 2750hp monster. There is so much to say about Mangapps Railway Museum that it would take a day to say it so, visit soon. Find out more at http://mangapps.co.uk Allthough this Railway Museum has nothing to do with me, I visit it regularly and hold it dear to my heart.