One of my favourite rides was, "The Bowl Slide" - next to, "The Water Chute" as I recall. It was brilliant. - Like a Helter-Skelter but built inside the structure. It had a beautiful giant wooden bowl - like a fruitbowl - at the bottom of the helical slide. To get up to the top, there was an electric inclinator system so you grabbed your mat & sat on little yellow platforms on a chain-drive & it carried you up.
Thanks for posting!!, remember it well back in the late 60's with my nan and grandad, scared s***less on the "wild mouse"?, also the water shute, also the "rotor" where you stuck to the sides of a big spinning tub as the floor gave way,( i may be getting confused with dream land on his one tho')Disgrace they tore it down for a housing estate!!.
My mum always raved about how good the Kursaal was when she was a kid in the 50's. She'd say this when we were in Southend in the 80's and I remember looking at it and finding it hard to believe it was ever anything special.
I'm only now researching it and I can finally see what she was talking about.
I remember the Kursaal well.. My Nan used to take me there late 60's/early 70's, We nearly burned to death when some French students set fire to Kelly's Cottage whilst we were in it !! Got to ride in a police car tho..which was fun.
Are all the arcades still about? They are some of my fondest memories growing up post Kursal in the 80's, it was always derelict, just sitting there but they did something with it eventually in the 90's. I remember the 'Pirate Ship' as I called it (the Golden Hind it seems!) and the waxworks they had in there - I loved seeing that as a kid, the rides were great and of course the fish and chips! Can't wait to go again but I bet its full of crime and immigrants.
Southend seafront and its pier is a disgrace. There should be a plaque somewhere showing all the councellors and Mayors names who have stuffed up the place.What used to be the Kursal is now a housing estate which even the police wont go in unless there are two or more. Private eneterprise offered to make something of the pier but sucessive councils have knocked them back over the years. Most of the culprits are dead but look at the legacy they have left behind. Shame on u Southend Council
Yes, Southend certainly was THE place to be. This film brought back so many memories of the 60`s. We lived in South London, but spent many many hours in Southend, particularly the Kursaal. Went back a few years ago, and it just didn`t seem the same.
Great old footage it brings back great memories...many thanks...
cuddieheadrigg 10 months ago
My grandparents met in the Kursaal ballroom in the late 40s :)
xxSweetxKandixx 1 year ago
One of my favourite rides was, "The Bowl Slide" - next to, "The Water Chute" as I recall. It was brilliant. - Like a Helter-Skelter but built inside the structure. It had a beautiful giant wooden bowl - like a fruitbowl - at the bottom of the helical slide. To get up to the top, there was an electric inclinator system so you grabbed your mat & sat on little yellow platforms on a chain-drive & it carried you up.
TechNed 1 year ago
Thanks for posting!!, remember it well back in the late 60's with my nan and grandad, scared s***less on the "wild mouse"?, also the water shute, also the "rotor" where you stuck to the sides of a big spinning tub as the floor gave way,( i may be getting confused with dream land on his one tho')Disgrace they tore it down for a housing estate!!.
tony2329 1 year ago
My mum always raved about how good the Kursaal was when she was a kid in the 50's. She'd say this when we were in Southend in the 80's and I remember looking at it and finding it hard to believe it was ever anything special.
I'm only now researching it and I can finally see what she was talking about.
sreymind 1 year ago
Wonderful film and great memories...than you so much.
michaelmorley61 1 year ago
Thanks for this, brilliant stuff !
ww1231 2 years ago
Thank you for loading this, it is great !
sharonessex 2 years ago
Sometime later I remember going to the Kursaal with some mates and checking out the What the Butler Saw machines...
WaltCoogan 2 years ago
I remember the Kursaal well.. My Nan used to take me there late 60's/early 70's, We nearly burned to death when some French students set fire to Kelly's Cottage whilst we were in it !! Got to ride in a police car tho..which was fun.
WaltCoogan 2 years ago
Are all the arcades still about? They are some of my fondest memories growing up post Kursal in the 80's, it was always derelict, just sitting there but they did something with it eventually in the 90's. I remember the 'Pirate Ship' as I called it (the Golden Hind it seems!) and the waxworks they had in there - I loved seeing that as a kid, the rides were great and of course the fish and chips! Can't wait to go again but I bet its full of crime and immigrants.
andy7666 2 years ago
@andy7666 The pirate ship is long gone and so is everything I remember from my childhood going up there. It's a dump now. It's all gone.
dirkbogarde44 1 year ago
Southend seafront and its pier is a disgrace. There should be a plaque somewhere showing all the councellors and Mayors names who have stuffed up the place.What used to be the Kursal is now a housing estate which even the police wont go in unless there are two or more. Private eneterprise offered to make something of the pier but sucessive councils have knocked them back over the years. Most of the culprits are dead but look at the legacy they have left behind. Shame on u Southend Council
petronopulas 2 years ago
Too true, a lost opportunity!
SOLDIERF1 2 years ago
shame the council decided to build a housing estate over the majority of it. bloody southend grrrrr
cheekyboymashups 2 years ago
Yes, Southend certainly was THE place to be. This film brought back so many memories of the 60`s. We lived in South London, but spent many many hours in Southend, particularly the Kursaal. Went back a few years ago, and it just didn`t seem the same.
merlinbus 3 years ago
Brilliant stuff - cheers Kenny.
Smudger830 3 years ago