The Guildhall was the centre, once, of this wonderful Essex village. It was a wonderful sunny day…read moreso a trip out was needed to revive the spirits. Finchingfield, with its duck pond, nice pubs, tea shops and church is worth a visit. Wander around and check out the windmill, the oldest in Essex and the only one of originally seven that survives. As I have said, a nice choice of tea rooms around the green at reasonable prices. But, if you wish a stronger beverage, The Fox pub will draw you in. A nice afternoon stroll so relaxing. Lucky people that live there.

£2 per person just to walk the pier. £5 something to walk one way and to take the train back. It's…read morethe longest pier in the world, 1.33 miles. It goes out really far. It's not too wide, there's a few seats along the way. There's nothing along the way, you just walk. cafes, stalls and a venue are all at the very end of the pier. I'm more used to piers that gave rides and arcade on the pier itself. But this is really nice too. No fishing going on from this pier. Someone told me you can see seals from the pier, but I didn't see any myself.

For £1 you get to walk 3miles before treating yourself to food. The other option is £3 to take the…read moretrain. I did the walk simply because the sights, sounds, and smells really brought back memories of my childhood. Plus I wasn't in a rush to get anywhere. The Pier is located right in between adventure Island. It's pretty hard to miss considering it's quite massive and usually attracts the eyes of many tourists. I didn't actually see the waking option until the day of. I saw the train from a distance and my curiosity peeked. I wasn't even sure where the train was going but it was on a bridge heading somewhere. It's a beautiful experience and often times it's the locals that's venture out more than tourists. At the end, there's a few restaurants that serve fish and chips, coffee shops, washrooms and a mini museum.

A lot of people don't know what this is its Stratford Circus that it is in a literal sense because…read morea lot happens here. It's a venue that can be and is hired on a regular bases for a range of events there might be performance that includes dance or the performance that could be a monologue or showcase. There are a lot short courses that are run here such as IT, Music and Poetry for young people as well as adults. They're an information shop as they provide information about on what's going on currently within Stratford Circus as well as offering other information, with receptionists to help. If they are offering dance lessons which they often do they'll often hold the auditions there (they sometimes hold auditions because they get a large number of individuals wanting to take on this particular course). It's clean and well maintained they have quite a few mini rooms on the first floor (two floors) and when your in there, there is a sense you feel you won't be disturbed while in that space. Ground floor they have two theatre halls on either side with a café that serves hot drinks in the middle which you see as soon as you enter right in front of you and chairs with tables.

This is a very nice place to go to a few times a year as there are always nice free to see shows,…read morefrom youth shows to top performers - this should be even nicer with the new Olympic renovation.

Having been here both as a performer and an audience member, the venue is a lot bigger than you'd…read morebelieve, as are the shows. Thriller: The Michael Jackson Story was here a while ago, and blew me away, (even though I felt only the young kid was the only one to pay a true tribute to the undisputed King Of Pop). Sometimes they do have the sound a little too loud for the venue, but this is only on the more rock/metal style live performances, such as Thriller, and other such shows. If you do have a balcony seat though, beware of the steep overhang, and the low hand-rails, as a 6'2" Epileptic, I could easily fall over these, (I've had further drops though, heh), and I feel that as far as safety is concerned, (not just for me, but also for others, such as blind people such as my Mother), that these hand-rails should be raised more. In short, a great place to go for a reasonably priced show, but don't get a balcony seat if you've had a few to drink, lol.

One of two theatres in Southend, the Cliff's performances can be a bit hit and miss so it's best to…read morecheck the website in advance to see if anything interesting will be playing. However, sometimes musical productions form London will tour and they often have a short run of a week or two at the Cliffs. I have been lucky enough to see the touring production of Fame and also The Woman in Black (which was terrifying!) here. The prices are also much less expensive than going to the West End and the theatre is smaller and more intimate - you definitely get a better view of the stage. The sweets are just as pricy though!

Located deep inside Priority Park, this museum is nothing compared to what it used to be now…read moreseeming like nothing more than an old building that you can walk around and look at the furniture. This museum needs to be publicised more and get in some of the larger exhibits, and perhaps form some form of collaboration with other local museums in the area such as the Central Museum near the Southend Town Centre, and perhaps share exhibits and information, perhaps offer some sort of buy-out. The museum itself is decently laid out with some small exhibits from (very) Old Leigh, and provide information on the local area over the past centuries, as well as the museum itself, of which the staff are very educated on. It's not a day out, but if you're spending some time in the park and the museum is open, it's well worth a peek inside for 15-20 minutes.

The museum has recently been completely refurbished and renewed now telling the story of the…read morerestored Priory. Old reviews before 2012 are out of dated now. Lovely building with very interesting story told of monks and their lives in a fascinating building. Well worth seeing.

I really like Showcase cinema in Newham. When I was a student at UEL I would pop over after class…read moreand watch a movie. The entry was reasonable for London at around £5.75 (before 4pm) and the auditoriums are large with great screens and sound. It is important to me that the popcorn, nachos and hot dogs are good quality. Showcase didn't let me down and the food was good. With small inner city cinemas popping up everywhere around London, it is great that large atmospheric theatres like Showcase in Newham are still going strong.

What I really like about this cinema: - the big comfy seats…read more(it's worth your money to pay the little extra for them) - the lack of people (many times I have sat in the theatre with only a few people) - you can book your tickets with the app (don't forget to get them printed at the cinema) - ample car park - cleanliness - drinks, food, sweets Room for improvement : - when busy (quite rare by my experience) the staff at the popcorn/ drinks station could be faster and more efficient - sometimes it stinks outside (not the cinema's fault) Overall: pretty good cinema, showing a range of films. My regular!

nice and comfortable, seat, the show was 0 Oct - 25 Oct…read more'Allo 'Allo Meet René, the most wanted man in occupied France: women want his body, the Resistance wants his brain and the Nazis want his sausage! Vicki Michell it was very funny in places, well acted, they put on a dam good show so on the e whole it was a good night, out, also for future ref they now server ice cream half way thouught, so they run out quick, so we have to settle for a bag of chip on the way homes,

Every time i go to the theatre which sadly isn't often enough i am impressed wether it's the yearly…read morepantomime or a drama i am pleased. The performances are always faultless with the theatre offering a wide range enough to suit everyone.

I've been to see a few shows over the past year at the Towngate. The shows that I saw were…read moreexcellent. The only downside on the last occassion, about 4 months ago was the temperature in the theatre. Everyone was freezing as the air conditioning was set to high. I did ask a member of staff in the interval if they could turn in down, which they did. I was so cold by this point that it ruined my enjoyment of the show. Always take a jumper just in case, even in the summer. A nice theatre with helpful friendly staff and a nice bar for the interval. The main theatre has just been refurbished. I will update my review on the new decore the next time I go to see a show. I have now been in the refurbished main theatre and I could not notice any difference!