Then and Now Images

I've found a lot of piccies of the promenade, with a bandstand (covered) that I didn't even know had existed, so I'll do that one soon.....and Ha'penny pier, where we used to have WW2 Submarines based, there are some good shots down there as well :)

look forward to that Bill :thumb2
 
Today's dog walk produced this.......Unfortunately I had the sun right in the wrong place so I'll have to come back to this in the morning one day.

As it was.....
(not dated, but from the dress I'd guess early 1970s or late 60s maybe :nenau)

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Today. much of the glory of this town has been swept away and replaced by unimaginative concrete and railings :rolleyes:

The covered bandstand (I have more of that area which I'll do another day) is completely gone, and the sea defences changed......including a boat ramp being built

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and the ghosties......


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if thats where i think it is , those flats in the distance i did the foundations for about 5 or six years ago. i look forward to more bill :thumb2
 
if thats where i think it is , those flats in the distance i did the foundations for about 5 or six years ago. i look forward to more bill :thumb2

Those flats are on the edge of what used to be Warner's Holiday camp, which is where Hi-De-Hi was filmed.
It was (as I learned only this week) used as a Jewish refugee camp during the war, as they fled through Holland into Harwich.


It's interesting this little project.......I didn't know we were a major submarine port until this week either.......and today I discovered how that came about.....apparently at the end of WW1 the existing German sub fleet surrendered by beaching themselves in Harwich, and it went from there.......I'll have to do a bit more digging on that though.

Old pics of pretty much any place are available........I even found one of your area from 6 years ago Chad me old fruit :comfort

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Today's (very soggy) walk took me down to what was, at one point, part of a moat that cut the tip of the Harwich peninsula off from the rest, making it an easier place to defend......That was back in the 17th C though, so no piccies :D

This is St Helens Green, Old Harwich

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This OLD pic was taken after the great flood disaster of 1953....
I know exactly where it is and will get a 'NOW' photo of it soon, but you can see the devasation :eek:

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Photograph of the junction of Albermarle Street and Alexandra Road in Harwich. The flood in Harwich was described as a two metre high wall of rolling water. Eight people drowned trapped in their basements in Main Street (T/Z 241/1) (Photo: Harwich and Dovercourt Standard).

The 1953 Floods in Essex

On the night of Saturday 31 January 1953 a severe storm coincided with a high spring tide in the North Sea, and the resulting tidal surge caused great devastation all along the east coast. In eastern England 307 people were killed, 120 of them from Essex. The worst hit communities in the county were Canvey Island, where 58 died, and Jaywick, where 36 people were killed (5% of the population). A major operation was mounted to rescue as many people from the flooded areas as possible. Along the east coast of the UK, 30,000 people were evacuated from their homes.

Damage was caused to over 1,600 km of coastline, as well as to thousands of homes. It is estimated that the damage in monetary terms today would be over £5 billion.

Anyhoo.......After the flood, Warner's holiday camp (He-De-Hi filming location and genuine holiday camp) two miles down the coast sent up a load of caravans to help house the homeless.....so I'm guessing this pic was taken in or after March '53 as it looks fairly well established

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The thing that looks like a lighthouse but inland, IS an inland lighthouse......It's one of a pair, the other of which is immediately behind the camera....they line up out at sea to let ships steer in for the Harwich/Felixstowe harbour.....there's a matched pair which you will see in more shots I intend to follow up on, about 2 miles along the coast but providing the first 'line up' point.......you steer to the first congruence, then set a compass course until the second pair of lighthouses line up, then you're bang on in the right channel.

The TODAY shot......

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The berm hillock to the left of the football pitch seems to be covering the Anderson shelter in the 'OLD' pic, and the church is still there, but the large tree obscuring it in the 'OLD' pic has long gone


The 'Ghosty' shot....."MUM!! The pikeys are parked on the footy pitch!!!"

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I can feel myself turning into an anorak local historian here :blast
 
nice one fanny :thumb2 growing up on canvey i remember my dad when he was decorating uncovering the tideline in the plaster on the upstairs walls about 10 inches from the ceiling :eek a stark reminder of mother natures power as are your pics :eek
 


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