Then and now - when more than 100,000 visited Southend for naval event

The ‘then’ photo illustrates the excitement of the crowd at the time when the city was adorned with colourful bunting.

It was on Saturday July 17 of that year, that the weeklong Great Naval Pageant began.

During the day, revellers travelling from all over country arrived at Southend Central and Southend Victoria Railway stations.

Huge event - The Southend Great Naval Pageant took place in Southend (Image: Jon Wennington sourced from Pinterest)

Just off Southend Pier was the mighty Dreadnought, the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief of the fleet, Admiral Sir William May.

Anchored close by were 23 battleships and to the east were armoured cruisers and torpedo craft as well as scout vessels, submarines and auxiliary vessels lined up to the west on the Thames approach to London.

Popular event - hundreds of thousands of people descended on Southend (Image: Jon Wennington sourced from Pinterest)

Southend Council had been charged with arranging the onshore festivities and welcome for the fleet which was handled.

The next day, Southend was filled with an estimated extra 100,000 people in the town who came to enjoy the spectacle.

Now - a quieter scene in Southend (Image: Jon Wennington)

In 10ft letters were the words 'Welcome to the Fleet' emblazoned on each side of Southend Pier.

The ‘then’ image was sourced by Jon Wennington from Pinterest, member of the Ros Southend Past in Photos. Old Southend and memories. Facebook Group.