Goodness Grays!

One of the great pleasures of being back in England, and of being retired, is the option to just go out for the day to enjoy the sunshine when it appears. And of course to eat an ice cream by the beach! When I was working in the UK, it always seemed that the sun shone during the working week, but hid away during the weekend when one was otherwise free to enjoy it! Now I have no restrictions, and since we had friends visiting we decided to explore the area around Southend-on-Sea as we were going to the Palace Theatre there in the evening.

Our first destination was Leigh-on-Sea for a late lunch. Today was a gloriously hot and sunny day, the trees were starting to show their leaves, the yellow/green flower heads of angelica plants lessoned the otherwise browny-grey vista. The photos below show the view from the town, looking out across the sea. To my mind, the term 'sea' doesn't quite apply to Leigh-on-Sea or to Southend-on-Sea for that matter. The sea you see is the Thames Estuary, where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea. It's a tidal river here and the tide was out exposing the shallow mudflats and the stranded boats. One can see why it would have been difficult for invaders to come up river if they missed the right tide.

We had a very very long lunch. The service industry in the UK seems to have been hammered by all the Covid-restrictions and resulting staff shortages. But, we were sat outside and in good company so put up with the long wait for food. But now it was time to visit a ruin! So far, a typical English day out… have lunch outside somewhere, preferably with some alcohol accompaniment, then visit a piece of history. Our history for today was the 13th century Hadleigh Castle. In the 1230s Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, spent a great deal of money building Hadleigh Castle. Hubert was chief minister to King John and then effectively ruled England during Henry III's childhood. But he fell out with the king and had to return his lands in 1239. The castle became the favoured royal residence of Edward II in 1300s, and in 1360-70, Edward II added on to the castle realising its strategic importance defending the Thames estuary from French raids during the Hundred Years War. You can see this even today, with commanding views across Canvey Island to the River Thames beyond. You might even spot the massive cranes at Tilbury Docks in the far distance.

Today Hadleigh Castle is just a ruin, having fallen out of favour as a royal residence and, more importantly, having started slipping down the hill side!| Still, ruin or not, it was very pleasant wondering around and imagining life here when the castle was fully functional. There are several walking trails around the base of the hill, and many walkers were out today also enjoying the fine weather. The Salvation Army Hadleigh Farm Rare Breeds Centre's carpark serves for those visiting the castle, and we spotted some rather large and well-horned goats almost hidden behind a hedge.

Our neighbour had suggested we visit Rossi's Ice Cream Parlour in Southend-on-Sea, so that was our next destination. My sister thinks it odd that Lawrence and I like ice cream so much. Having lived in Malaysia for the last six years, we missed ice cream. You could buy it in the Western-style supermarkets and often there was an ice cream vendor waiting for you as you left a country park, but nothing like the soft scoop or Mr Whippy ice cream of an English seaside. Malaysia's dessert treat was cendol, sweet and cold and much better suited to a tropical climate. It has become the thing the Grays do, that is to take a photo of us eating ice cream when on 'holiday'. So we had our Rossi's ice cream and walked along the promenade contemplating what it might be like to live here. Southend-on-Sea has a lively entertainment culture with three theatres, and we had tickets to 'An Evening Without Kate Bush' at the Palace Theatre. You really can't beat a live performance with a skilled standup comic who happens to have a fantastic singing voice (Sarah-Louise Young). So having had our fill of culture for the day, we finished with a tasty Indian meal and headed home.

So there you have it… lunch outside in the sun, a visit to a ruin, ice cream by the seaside, theatre, and a curry! All in all, an English Day Out.