Hello all! Some of the shutters have now come down on Canvey Island’s own landmark – the King Caute public house. The building, which isn’t listed, is now under new ownership. Liam and I popped down to the club upon hearing that some of the shutters had been taken and upon arriving we spoke to the new owner. He said that he is unsure on what he’s going to be doing with the building, although it will be a few months until anything happens but he is keen to keep the building in it’s heritage condition despite being able to modify it as it isn’t listed. He also said that the building signage will be kept and most likely framed as he agreed with us that the history of building is important.
The short video below shows what the pub is currently like inside. The owner also said that we were welcome back in a few months to view more of the site. These clips will all be used in a documentary that we are working on which covers the history of the site!
Below is our collection of photos of the interior of the former pub, which we took at the same time as we filmed our video. You can also like our Facebook page where we also post our full set of photographs, videos and website updates including new content.
An old radiator with a photo/painting of the old building
The entrance to the cellar which is currently flooded
Inside the former pub
Inside with some of the window shutters that have been taken down
The sign used for the BTP logo after photo-shopping. Our original logo by Alex Evans
BTP Liam and Joe wish you a very happy and healthy new year. In 2014, Beyond the Point probably found itself establishing the high quality of content it holds today. Joe’s television-quality video equipment was firmly introduced to make our documentaries as professional as possible. Liam has focused on ensuring a high quality of presentation of our photographs and articles. The top menu bar on the website has seen drastic improvement, with a ‘News’ and ‘General History’ bar added, as well as others in the ‘More BTP section’ to modernise of all our past content, by ensuring it can be accessed readily. Likewise, the ‘Local Heritage’ section, which is pivotal to our site, has been added to and filled out as it lay with many sections blank for quite some time, as well many of our visits now receiving a place on the main website. We also welcomed the introduction of ‘iBTP’ late in 2014 which enables you to discover first hand for yourselves (visit the ‘Interactive Map’ and keep your eyes peeled for tomorrow).
Regarding the future of the BTP boys, we have a prosperous year ahead. Joe will be taking up a lifetime-opportunity apprenticeship at ITN in January, to further his media expertise developed to a professional-level via trial and error in his time at Beyond the Point, and more recently at Canvey Island Football Club where he holds the position of Video Content Manager, creating and running their YouTube Channel. He also passed his driving test and got a car recently, meaning Beyond the Point will be able to have more trips to further locations during the next year. We celebrated this yesterday by taking a drive to visit the site of our very first explore, which was responsible for the creation of BTP months later in 2011. Myself (Liam) will be finishing my A-levels up to completion of the exams in May, and afterwards I hope I will have time for many exciting explores, tours, and more for the website, when I will have a very long Summer holiday indeed! In September I will be moving away and taking a History degree at University where I can further my fascination from BTP, focusing it on areas of interest relevant to the environment that surrounds me today. University life will be more suited for me to carry on BTP however as the longer holidays mean more time to cram in visits, which I can plan and write-up whilst away at the university.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for BeyondthePoint.co.uk.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 48,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 18 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Happy Bonfire Night viewers. Before I begin I would like to inform you of a minor update to our content system. News updates once found on our Facebook page will now also be visible on the main website you are currently viewing. We will archive these in the ‘News’ section on the top  menu. This gives us the opportunity to post about the everyday side of BTP, integrating our social media content with our research here on BeyondthePoint.co.uk. This also means that all of our early posts will be logged and made easily-navigable via either the ‘News’, ‘Historic Locations’, or ‘More BTP’ sections.
2014 marks one-hundred years since the start of the First World War on the 28th of July 1914. Contrary to stereotypical imagery of the conflict; fighting abroad in Flanders Fields, it is important to remember that the Great War was also a struggle fought at home. Beyond the Point is proud to announce it will be investigating this side of the war, as a partner of the Imperial War Museum First World War Centenary Partnership. We visited the commemorative poppy display set up in the ground of the Tower of London last week to begin the coverage. Soon after we visited Rainham Marshes to investigate remains of a ruined Ministry of Defence firing range and coastal defence used in the Great War. Content is soon to follow. We plan a trip to the hopefully undisturbed site of Kynoch’s Munitions Factory, in Coryton.
  If you are subscribed to our Facebook Page or YouTube Channel, you will know that on the Halloween we released the prequel to our ‘Canvey Island Monster Returns’ spoof which we made exactly three years ago when we set up Beyond the Point. It makes for a tongue-in-cheek change to our usual local history-based content. Enjoy this Halloween short film above, or read about the actual  ‘Canvey Island Monster’ that washed up on the beach in 1953 here: http://beyondthepoint.co.uk/historic-locations/canvey-island/canvey-island-monster-1950s/. We filmed the production using our professional-grade equipment, that we usually use for our historic documentaries, over three filming sessions. Below you can see some of the ‘beyond the scenes’ photographs that I took during filming. You may also notice us sporting our new BTP fleeces which we recently had printed with community funding, as well as some polo shirts. We will be wearing these in future videos and photographs to add to the professionalism and uniformity of BTP.
Jewel Tower is an overlooked treasure English Heritage holds directly opposite from The Houses of Parliament. It was built from 1365-66 to house the personal treasures of King Edward III – like a giant safe. Then in the early 17th Century the House of Lords used it as a records office, holding valuable documents. It survived a large fire in 1834 which destroyed much of the ‘Old Palace’ (the original Houses of Parliament dating back to the medieval era. From 1869 to 1936 the tower was used by the ‘Board’s Standards Department’ for the standardisation of measurement. Currency, weight, and lengths, were all standardised here – the definition of ‘one inch’, all the way to ‘how heavy should an ounce be?’, was all decided in this historic building.
This photograph, courtesy of English Heritage, shows the tower cramped among many more modern buildings in September 1950. The tower was exposed when these buildings were demolished shortly after.
  The structure is of quite an impressive size considering its publicity for tourists, and is of a rough ‘L’ shape, constructed with Kentish Ragstone, and designed by Henry Yevele. It features a large defensive moat around it still visible today (an artificial body of water surrounding it to prevent enemies entering) which was also used for transportation of the King’s goods. The tower was built in the corner of the Royal Gardens, and its ‘L’ shape is said to be due to King Edward ordering that it didn’t take up any of his garden space.
  On the bottom floor it features a fascinating set of ceiling bosses in the Royal Presentation Room, where the King would have been presented with valuable gifts, and meet individuals. Bosses are the meeting points between the ceiling ribs made of a kind of clay which does not fully dry hard – they are still flexible to this day. This acts as a shock-proof way of fixing the ceiling to allow it to move as the foundations move over time. This rare set holds some intricate carvings, making them an incredibly important archaeological artefact.
The defensive moat being curated
The ceiling showing the ribs joined by one of the central rare bosses
  Today the tower stands as an excellent English Heritage museum. We explored all the levels, learning about the building and its use whilst taking photographs for this article, and video footage for the video seen at the beginning. We would like to thank the man from English Heritage running the museum at the time, who was based at the downstairs desk. We were very grateful for his information on the ceiling bosses and use of the bottom floor. To add to this, not only did he allow us to film in the building, but he even closed the museum for ten minutes for us to gain some video footage – many thanks sir!
The two BTP boys, and occasional accomplice Jack Swestun, set off at McDonalds in Southend Airport, to investigate pillboxes once defending Rochford airfield, established in August 1914. Although it became an airport in 1935, it wasn’t designated for civilian use until late 1946, after the war. Using sources such as the Defence of Britain Project, coupled with Google Earth, we were able to mark out the locations of 8 pillboxes on a map we printed out of the area.
The first pillbox we saw was bare concrete and of Type 24 design (guide to pillbox variants here:Â http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_hardened_field_defences_of_World_War_II#Type_24). It was hidden behind the McDonalds car park, facing out onto Rochford Road. It was accessible but featured a fair degree of graffiti inside.
After this we crossed the railway line via the bridge that the road continued onto. There was some old signage to be seen. We passed the current airfield control tower, the Avro Vulcan bomber (an impressive model of plane used by the RAF from 1956 up to 1984) that the airport holds there, and another Type 24 pillbox similar to the one we saw first.
Still heading along the Rochford Road-side, we made an impressive discovery. Jack spotted what appeared to be an Anderson shelter from the Second World War. it looked old enough, and has been confirmed to likely have been one, although possibly lifted (originally sunk into the ground for extra strength against bombing). It appeared to have been used as a general shed, as various tools and a couple of chairs were hidden in it, although even these appeared to be rather old. Being in such a hard to reach, overgrown location, it is probable it had been left to ruin.
After a few directions from the locals, and a walk through a public park, we ended up at another type of pillbox – this time, of ‘Cantilever’ design, which we would see two more of later on. Cantilever pillboxes were designed and built by F C Construction for airfield defence, and ’53 examples are still extant’. The roof was disconnected from the sides of the pillbox, supported only by a large central pillar, meaning a 360 degree firing slit was possible. They featured a rail around the sides of the slit for the mounting of weapons. The slit was only slightly higher than ground level, as the main pillbox body was sunken, enabling what appeared to be an effective defense. This one was against the railway fence, although a way from the actual track. Its door and firing slit was bricked up.
We next passed a hut which looked as if it was likely to have been from the days of the Rochford airfield, underground some kind of conversion or restoration work which seemed to be fairly vacant. The three of us then joined up with Rochford Hundred Golf Course, finding a pillbox on the outskirts with a fresh puddle inside. We looked out at the golfers, all over 50, wondering which bad-boy could’ve been responsible. It was rendered in brick from the casting process, although much of this had crumbled away to reveal the concrete underneath.
Next we passed a few derelict planes within the airport site, and a small stream. This lead us out onto a field where we would see the last four pillboxes together. One of the bunkers was infact a possible ammo store (‘magazine’) and not used for firing upon enemies. It was basically a covered brick pit sunken far into the ground, with steps going down into it. Although beyond the airport fence, these fields would originally have been part of the site of the airfield. Finally, we checked out two more cantilever pillboxes in that field, along with another Type 24. One of the cantilevers had an aircraft tyre in, which looked rather old too!
3 years on today, tens of thousands of website views later and many more explores on, from when we set up the website in 2011! July 17th 2011 was when we set up this blog, and when we were biking around Two Tree Island, we never would have thought how iconic that day would be. A nationally recognised community archive was founded, a friendship was strengthened further more and my spelling and grammar was corrected for the next 3 years by Liam! 😉
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Above are a few photos from the first few albums on our Facebook page. As today marks 3 years, we have looked back at our journey and have answered some questions to give you even more of an insight into Beyond the Point, including answering the question that we’re asked the most – How did BTP start? Below is a feature length documentary that we have produced for our third birthday special. With 7 hours editing, 6 hours rending and even longer uploading to Beyond the Point TV, we hope you enjoy it. We show some old clips to remind you of us three years ago (something we don’t mind forgetting) as well as ourselves talking about how we set up the site, what the ‘BTP room is’ and also answering the questions that you’ve asked us on Facebook/Twitter. It’s been strange looking back at some of the visits that we don’t remember quite as well and even more strange to see them in videos!
Thinking back that today was actually the day we set up this site 3 years ago (if that makes sense!) is quite surreal, I can remember setting up the site with our first page/post being the about us one. We’ve met many great people and have also had the chance to experience many things that we wouldn’t have normally so we would like to thank everyone for supporting us, and we look forward to the years to come.
Beyond the Point - Classic Blog 
