The Development of Telecoms - Southend-on-Sea
The Southend-on-Sea telephone area is one of the smallest in the Kingdom, covering an area of 400 square miles and having 37,012 telephone subscribers.
Known as "Sunny Southend" the Headquarters town takes its name from the fact that it is situated at the south end of the ancient parish of Prittlewell, which contains the famous Priory founded in A.D. 1100.
It possesses the longest pier in the world, which is one and a third miles long and the farthest receding tide of the coastal towns. The Borough also embraces Shoeburyness, the driest spot in Britain, Westcliff and Leigh, prominent in ancient naval history and now famous for its cockles.
Southend enjoys the greatest popularity, both as a holiday resort and as a residential locality. Indeed, the area as a whole, with its proximity to London, has become one of the dormitories of the metropolis and this largely accounts for the high telephone density of residential subscribers.
The principal industrial area is at Chelmsford, the County Town of Essex, where much engineering and electrical equipment is manufactured, whilst at Basildon one of the "New Towns" is being created, bringing into the area further industrial and residential development.
With the coming electrification of the railway tracks and large scale development planning in the area, it is not unreasonable to expect a high rate of telephone expansion within the next 10 to 15 years (1954-1969).
