FEATURE: THROUGH THE WASTELANDS

Local resident Bradley Vaughn on Southend’s infamous ‘Cliff Slip’…

Southend’s seafront has been an important part of our image for decades. Who among us hasn’t taken a jaunty stroll down the pier or enjoyed the bright lights and games of our arcades and Kursaal? But down that same seafront sits an eyesore that has offended motorists and passers-by for years, a mass of dried earth and wild grass barely contained behind a wooden fence.

The Cliff Slip is a result of many years of decay and erosion, the site has grown progressively worse until it was decided to close the area off to protect the public. Many businesses were forced out and the council has even faced legal action from embattled residents who tried and failed to carve out a living on such unstable terrain.

Like an open wound, it has remained in plain view. Reminding the people of Southend of the unpredictable, often destructive, forces of nature that can turn our lives upside down in a moment. But that unpleasant history seems on the verge of changing. In June of this year, Southend Council announced plans to construct a new museum which would showcase the treasures of our fabled Saxon King. And if all goes to plan, the hideous mound of earth and twisted concrete will be a thing of the past.

So, let us take a look back and soak up the bizarre sights of Southend’s biggest disaster area: The Cliff Slip.

Although access was not strictly barred, the terrain alone should be enough to deter most people from risking a trek through the wastelands. To reach the main site requires navigating a huge dip in the ground, one wrong step and you take the chance of incurring serious injury. On the way in, I suffered a nasty gash around my ankle, on the way back I decided it was best to jump.

Once this obstacle is passed you face what used to be a pathway. Once upon a time, happy families would amble along the way and perhaps take in the sight of a Ferris wheel catching the sun in Peter Pan’s. Nowadays it can hardly be traversed without fear of falling over. The ground juts out in uneven lumps, making each step perilous, and to add to the danger are open manholes which threaten to suck you in for one false move.

The fear of being severely hurt is unsettling enough, but what is even worse is looking around and picking up on the small signs of a lost world now buried beneath a mountain of dirt. Chairs sit peacefully in the middle of the chaos, as if the occupants had been there only moments earlier when the world came crashing down around them. An old set of stairs, sunken into the vegetation, leads to nowhere. And at the top of the massive hill a set of rusted metal railings balances precariously, waiting to roll down and wipe out anything (or anyone) in its way.

The sights range from the menacing to the peculiar, with full cartons of milk and packs of broom-heads inexplicably resting amidst the weeds.

Beyond fulfilling a certain curiosity value, the Cliff Slip will not be missed once it is removed. This is not a story of cat-killing psychopaths, or suicide-ridden shopping centres or even a tunnel dwelling Ratman. This is a story of a thriving, prosperous town’s brush with disaster. A disaster residents have been reminded of every time they pass the looming monstrosity.

Plans come and plans go, many have reacted with cynicism upon hearing news of the new museum and point to all the other schemes to remove the wreckage that have come to nothing. But the hope still remains that one day our seafront will once again bathe in the light that was snuffed out so long ago.

Have any strange stories about Southend? Bizarre sights that have to be seen to be believed?

Then contact Brad at: www.talesofstrangesouthend@hotmail.co.uk