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!

Known as the 5 minute museum to locals, you can spend an amazing ammount of time in here if you…read moretake time to look at the exhibits. Entry is free, and they rotate different exhibits all around the year, and even got some of the Saxon King finds on display when they were discovered. Also featuring a planetarium, (a small fee applies), this museum is a great day out, (or at least an hour), and the small collection of merchandise they stock is reasonably priced. Each exhibit has a information card by them so you can educate and entertain, and the staff will usually have some more information that wasn't placed on the card due to space reasons.

For Southend the building that hosts Southend Museum is the last of its kind in this key avenue…read moretowards the centre of the town. Fortunately listed so hopefully this status will protect it from development if plans afoot to build a new museum on the seafront go ahead. Ok as with most buildings circa 1900 they did not build in disabled access, so where it can be provided it is, but generally the building is large but inaccessible for wheelchairs. The collections have interest for local and visitor alike, Southend's geograpical position means it has been a focus for both World Wars and displays of Zeppelins, or WWII bomb damage is readily available. This museum too has taken on board the need to interact with it's audience so an activity room with plenty of touchy-feely, and try-out is available. Upstairs a planetarium provides views into the solar system. This museum might not have the wow factor, but it does have passionate staff who know their stuff, interesting displays, and the knowledge that the display areas are too small for the huge collection behind the scenes, hence the need for a new site. This review would not be complete without mention of the Saxon King finds recently discovered north of Priory Park, that reside currently in London, but until Southend can provide adequate secure premises for the significant collection then the town will not see them back. For those contmplating a visit to the museum, do so, It is free, provides a handy half an hour stop off on the way to the shops or on the way back, a great respite if the weather is bad, plus you could learn something.

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.