Editorial

Hello,
The year seems to be flying by and what a busy year it has been so far. We continue to include new information on the website which we hope is of interest to you. If there is anything you would really like featured, or enhanced, please let us know. As always, the information and photographs you provide help us to develop and improve the site and our archives for the future.

Site News
We have decided not to go ahead with the idea of focussing on Westcliff-on-Sea as a separate feature on the website and have removed the temporary button on the navigation bar. On review it became evident that from the early days of Southend and Milton, there was so much in the way of 'blurred borders' that a move like the one we intended would fragment the information and probably cause some confusion for visitors to the site. As the old adage says: "If it ain't broke don't fix it".

KELLY'S APPEAL:

We are looking for some Kellys Directories of Southend to assist us in our ongoing research. We have been keeping an eye on ebay, but it is proving to be a fairly fruitless task, and although we have 1948, 1957 and 1969 directories, we would like to fill some gaps to gain better knowledge of the changes. The Essex Directories turn up now and again, but they lack vital information about the town. We are looking for any, but especially directories from the turn of the last century up to the late 1930s. If you have a copy you would like to sell, or spot one when you are out and about please let me know the price and condition.

There are also some Pigot's Directories of Essex, which by now are probably only available on CD-rom. We would like to hear about any of these too. Thank you.

Ekco Website Back to Top

The Ekco Electronics (www.ekco-electronics.co.uk) website is online following a switch of server and reformatting of the pages. There are a few problems we are aware of regarding 'banner bounce' that is happening when viewed on some browsers, and we are working to fix this as soon as we can. The Ekco Galleries, which will hold an immense amount of images of the company from every aspect of its undertakings, is taking a little longer as the numbered photographs had become separated from the database, and it is a matter of going through them one by one, and matching them to the descriptions and sources of origin before we can place them in their appropriate sections.

Your Memories and Stories Back to Top

As always, we would like to hear of your own stories of Southend from any stance; schooling, the workplace, entertainment, holidays, events, etc. Use the 'Contact Us' button on the website to reach us in the first instance, and we will respond as quickly as possible. Please bear in mind, however, that we check in once a week only for website updates and to read emails.

Our Online Shop

The South East Echo Online Shopping System does not collect personal information, but simply creates a unique 'session ID' which is not personally identifiable, but allows the user to select, add and remove items for purchase. The System protects all transaction details by making payment requests to PayPal (if the chosen method of payment) within the server environment.

The South East Echo Online Shop

THE COMPLETE RADIO BROADCASTS of D-DAY

Twenty-four hour-long tracks of 'live' radio news coverage of the Allied airbourne assault, troop drops and the invasion of the beaches of Northen France on 'D-Day', 6th of June 1944.
Click here to listen to a sample of the original recordings (mp3 format).

Winston Churchill speeches on CD
This CD has 78 mp3-format tracks of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's wartime speeches including 'The Hour of Armistice', 'The Battle of France', Dunkirk Escape', 'The Battle of Britain', 'Until Victory is Won', 'Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat' and 'Unconditional German Surrender.'
Also on this CD! 45 tracks from World News Today, News of the World, CBS, and other radio broadcasts from 1938 to 1945.

Other items currently available from the shop:
WINSTON CHURCHILL Wartime Speeches.
(On disc: 14 tracks in mp3 format; 75 minutes running time)
WHITE'S DIRECTORY OF ESSEX 1882
(On disc: 45MB in PDF format)
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
(On disc: The Mercury Theatre 1938 Radio Broadcast by Orson Welles)
ROCHFORD HUNDRED
There is also a selection of files, created in PDF format, from The History of Rochford Hundred (1867)

Click here to visit the shop (opens in a new browser).