Grays, Essex; Town tour.

I find myself in Grays unintentionally, let's have a look around!

[admiralcraddock]

I was born in Ockendon about five milea away from Grays, and it was the go to place for shopping in the 60s and 70s. The State cinema is one of the last large screen cinemas in the UK, it had a seating capacity of well over 2, 000. I spent many hours in there, and remember being turned away by the uniformed commisionaire as it was a full house. At 9.0 was Congress House, a large department store and I remember the lift had an operator, once again, in a gold braided uniform you asked you what floor you wanted. Such a shame to see how far Grays has fallen, such is the feeling of decay about the place, just like its neighbours: Southend, Basildon, Romford and many many more town centres around Britain.

[paulvbennett]

I admire your ability to adapt to changing circumstances. This walk was probably not in your top 10 of interesting meanders but your dry wit and tenacity made it work.

[lloydmcguire]

I worked in the market in Grays, selling flowers for a Geezer called Johnny Burkeham, he used to have a flower shop in corringham Essex that was in 1986 I was 15.blast from the past, but I dont think grays has changed much 😢 thanks for posting random places 👍

[nilo]

Thanks Paul for showing me things I’ll never see in person ! It’s a lot of fun
Cheers from California !

[KingSidJames]

Born and raised in and around the Grays area and just recently moved away. The truth is that Grays was a great, lively town until the early 90's. That monstrosity Lakeside opened and killed the town stone dead. All the big shops moved away, all the money went out of the town and to fill the empty shops a wave of Afro Caribbean hairdressers, euro mini marts and pound shops moved in.
The State cinema was an amazing place and a big part of my childhood, but as with lakeside, two out of town multi screen cinemas killed the State and Morrison's (who bought it as part of the deal to build a store in grays) failed on their promise to keep the State in a good state of repair.

[oddcinema]

Grew up in Grays and it's changed so much — the centre used to have M&S, Currys, Boots, WH Smith, Woolworths, butchers, a proper Saturday market. A lot of that disappeared instantly when Lakeside opened, the rest has dwindled since. Even McDonald's left. The State (a former cinema, then a bar) is a Grade 2 building. Hopefully it isn't going anywhere but it's supposed to become a Wetherspoons. Whether that's a good use of such a building is ripe for debate.

[kirishima]

I was born in Grays and grew up there in the 70s/80s. The old town centre (pre-Lakeside), was busy and had a Victorian feel to it It felt like a safe place to be, London felt close but very muchg detached.
Three things brought about the town's downfall, the first was Lakeside which killed the town centre, the second were the multiple housing developments that ended up connecting Lakeside and Grays and essentially over-populating the area, and the third was mass migration from immigrant communities from the old East End of London, to fill the new housing - this killed off any residual sense of community. I moved away in the 1990s but still have friends and family there, most are trying to move north to Suffolk and Norfolk

[paulusarnhelm]

The State cinema is a 1930's listed building.Been like that for about 25 years.

[mattclark]

When i was a kid the Gull was there and we use get on the it when the tide was out. The State was a lovely picture house, use go as a kid, who framed roger rabbit was filmed in there and the video for Jamiroquai Deeper Underground. i moved away now, used by a nice place when i was a kid

[kfc]

Grew up in Grays, its bigger than it looks with nice housing & stuff. Really wished you showed Grays Town Park though, it's huge with about 6 different gate entries. Should of checked out Lakeside Shopping Centre, it used to be the biggest mall in Essex. You have to take a bus to get there but as a little kid we sometimes walked lol. I appreciate the footage, nevertheless

[KistoDreams]

I was relieved when you said it was a sunday. I hope there's more vitality in the town during the week.

[wombatmarsupial]

It's a sign of the times as these towns have lost a lot of the river industry that made them more prosperous decades ago. A lot of towns these days have that generic centre with the same shops you could be anywhere. To most people when you say Thurrock they instinctively think only of Lakeside shopping and nothing else. This and other parts of Essex that make up the A13 Corridor have this effect of industry lost and not always replaced with sustainable businesses.

[stephenharrington]

Left there 23 years ago, sad to see it so run down. The authorities need to clean up the streets and look after the historic buildings.

[intelligentdesign]

I had no idea how run down Grays was yet it's so well known.

[Theboxingobserver]

2:10 this bredda sorted me a lovely bit of chisel there at the weekend.

[voicevoice]

Haven't driven down Grays high street since the late 1960s..unrecognisable to me now changed so much

[arjs]

Grays born and bred myself. Thurrock to me is the best area of South Essex region and I'm blessed to have been brought up here. But yeah Grays beach is great :D

[brianshunert]

Dont recognise much other than the state cinema from Saturday mornings back in the 50s and the railway crossing, used to be a old pow camp outside town headind toward sth ockendon

[krob]

When Londoners state they are moving to Essex to ‘colonise’ and ‘take it over’ I take them at their word. It’s very sinister.

[christopherhines]

This part of town looks a little bit smarter!? thats because the new(ish) council building is there.And their car park.what stood in their car park before the council building, was council houses.They knocked them all down, to make a car park!