5 o'clock and 8 o'clock, 2016

There are at least two striking clocks around about The Broadway and Leigh Road.

First of all, from The Library Gardens, St Clement’s Church chiming five o’clock. Next up (approx. 1m 30s in) Our Lady of Lourdes and St Joseph from Leigh Road. This has quarter chimes, but I missed the start of these. The last part (approx. 2m 20s) has traffic noise, then what sounds like a beer can rattling along the road. This is actually a boy on a bicycle; it’s a bit like when a pedal crank is bent and it knocks against the frame with each revolution, but it isn’t that, there are too many noises and it’s too irregular, but it’s something to do with the bike. Also chatter, traffic and the chimes for eight o’clock. Leigh Road has a pub, restaurants, bars, laundromat, and fish and chip shop so, at that time on a Friday, it’s fairly busy.

Southend, I think, is one of those places where if there is one complaint about noise it is acted on. I don’t know if this is the case here or if the churches have pre-empted any complaints, because they don’t chime all night. They used to, and you could hear them in the early hours, in Pall Mall maybe or Rectory Grove you might just catch it on the breeze.