Wonderland The Curious World of Frinton-on-Sea part 1

Documentary about extraordinary ordinary people. Frinton-on-Sea is a town that doesn't like change. The shops, the sea front and even the people haven't changed for decades. So when Network Rail announced it was going to automate the town's manually operated level-crossing gates, there was a call to arms. Filmmaker Marc Isaacs meets the people who have decided to grow old in England's most conservative seaside resort.

After this was shown the people were very angry about this show and say it has been made to make them and the town look bad.

news update 20/409

A manually-operated wooden railway crossing which marked the gateway to the genteel Essex seaside resort of Frinton-on-Sea has been ripped out under cover of darkness by railway authorities.

In a move branded "cowardly" by campaigners who wanted to keep them, the 19th-century railway gates were demolished at about 2am on Saturday following a three-year battle with residents keen to preserve their town's spirit of independence and history.

The historic structure features on the town's crest and, as it was on the only road into the town, came to exemplify Frinton's traditionalism.

Now it will be replaced with a modern version, complete with flashing lights and sirens which will be operated by CCTV camera from up the line in Colchester.

"They came under the cover of darkness by stealth at 2am in the morning," said David Foster, 63, chairman of the Frinton Gates Preservation Society.

"They knew we were going to be there in the morning to express our dissatisfaction as a community at the way we have been treated. The gates are an important symbol, not only iconic and the best-known gates in the country but they are known throughout the world. Network Rail don't care about heritage."

Foster said more than 100 people turned out from the town to gather at the gates in protest hours after they were removed.

He said Network Rail had told the campaigners the move to replace the gates with a state-of-the-art unmanned crossing was aimed at improving performance and safety and reducing costs. But the campaigners believe operating the gate remotely is "like trying to referee a match from 20 miles away".

The mayor, Terry Allen, said: "It is like taking the university out of Oxford."

The campaigners had hoped to mount a protest on Saturday against the demolition of the structure, but were apparently outmanoeuvred by the railway authorities, whose contractors came at night.

"It seems a bit cowardly," said Foster. "We have been treated with contempt."

Allen, who has lived in the seaside town for more than 20 years, said: "Paris has its Eiffel Tower, London has Tower Bridge and in Frinton we have the gates. All over the world people talk about them."

A spokesman for Network Rail said: "Network Rail notified residents that work would take place this weekend. The replacement of the level crossing was the first job in a major modernisation of this line and to fit all this in the work commenced as soon as the last train went through on Friday evening."

He added: "The original gates will be saved and eventually mounted at the entrance to the village."

Folklore has it that fed-up townspeople used to lock the gates to keep out coachloads of tourists, and a woman was caught driving without a licence, road tax, an MoT or insurance because she did not think the normal laws applied within the gates.

It took a fiercely-fought planning battle to allow the first fish and chip shop to open in the resort in 1992, and the first pub did not open until 2000.

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[baybeeaimeexx]

they made everyone who lives in frinton seem crazy,,this really isnt true,, i mean i live in frinton and it really isnt like this,,i bet they employed actors

[ClactonRadio]

It was on the news just now and they were replaced last night.

[drlemoncobra]

I did reply, hope u got it ok.

Btw, I think Charles' dark secret is that he is made of polystyrene.

[cottonclubber]

STRANGE LITTLE WORLD

[MasterPebsie]

@gangafam

Heh. So that makes me a freak. You obviously don't know a thing about frinton. Shut the fuck up.

[MsEllaenchanted]

I was a pupil at a boarding school in Frinton On Sea. We used to have games lessons on the beach!

[JonWayneEastLondon]

lol soft area

[JonWayneEastLondon]

lol at ghetto. frinton looks about as ghetto as pat butchers earings. as it goes it looks like a nice place to live in. ok u might have a few cars on fire like u all say. some drugs, some robberies, but believe me it aint ghetto. come an live where i live in hackney east london. people getin killed every few days, shot, stabbed, robbed, driveby shootins, black on black gang wars. postcode wars if u get caught walkin in an area where u dont belong u get shot. lol ulot have got it well easy

[cdname47]

What do we want? Safety!

When do we want it! The gates!!

Harry Hill's the lunatic with the gate button! Up with the gates, down with the gates! Up with the gates! Down with the gates!

[HelloWorld1947]

@samwiseganjee O MY GOSH I LOVE UR SCREEN NAME!!!! I REALLY DO. LORD OF THE RINGS is one of my all time favorite movies. keep it up.

[stepneyguy]

walton,frinton,clacton,jaywick­,the most boring,dull,crapy place ,i should know i lived there for 15 years.

[pbuk]

Not keen on piers myself,especially piers morgan.

[qwazzymodo191]

my mate lives in frinton lol he thinks its the most boring place on earth lol