#HamletCourtRoad
A collaborative project exploring and documenting a changing community. Nicola has been working with fellow creative photographers from The -5 Community Collective to document the current community of a renowned local area, well established in Essex History. Hamlet Court Road in Westcliff-on-Sea has been a well-known retail area adjacent to the seaside town of Southend-on-Sea since the early 1900’s. Often referred to as the ‘Bond Street of Essex’, it was home to specialist shops, grocery and clothing stores as well as famous department store, Havens which served the community from 1901 to 2017 before recently becoming a Community Hub and home of Age Concern. With their #HamletCourtRoad exhibition at Havens cut short by the Coronavirus pandemic, Nicola tells us a little about the history of this area and shares some of their collective images. ‘In its heyday, in the early to mid 1900’s, Hamlet Court Road was an upmarket shopping venue with many residents of the large Victorian dwellings, housing London commuters. The shops which opened up to supply the community were highly regarded family businesses and the street became a well established hub of the South East. It was apparently not uncommon in this affluent area to see drivers waiting outside shops for their employers in what had become a fashionable coastal resort. In the 80’s and 90’s, the area was greatly affected by economic recession which lead to the eventual closure of most of its prestigious stores. Many of the splendid Victorian houses were converted into flats and bedsits and the population radically increased and diversified. Many businesses did not survive and new businesses often did not last with discount stores, charity shops, express supermarkets and take-aways the most consistent survivors. Within the last 20 years, local authorities have attempted regeneration of the area and as a result, some businesses have been able to flourish. A hugely cosmopolitan selection of restaurants, specialist food shops and quirky start-ups can now be found alongside some of the few businesses the survived the changes of the last few decades. As a group of professional and amateur photographers who came together purely to share their passion and develop their work, it was fantastic to be able to bring our different skills and perspectives to one project with the aim of capturing a snapshot of time in the history of this notable street.’ Curated by Nicola Parry and Cole Watkins, the project includes some of their own images as well as those of members Steve Bacon, Jane Bradford, Dinah Case, Keith Fenton, Emily McGreadie, Adam Hassan, Mike Skelton and John Thompson. References London’s Turning - The Making of the Thames Gateway: Prospects and Legacy. Edited by Philip Cohen and Michael J Rustin 2008. |