Estuary 2016

Took the ferry across The Thames at Gravesend to Tilbury port, Essex to experience the inaugural Estuary - a celebration of the distinct and important cultural significance of this part of the Thames.

There was the work of visual artists, writers and historians, and free boat trips on the Thames Clipper along the Thames and around Tilbury Docks, which are usually closed to visitors.

We went onboard the barge home of an artist, and visited the LV21 a 1963 steel- hulled Lightship which once acted as floating lighthouse for the Goodwin Sands.

There was so much to see and do - everything was free - a very successful festival. Next weekend Southend will be having a weekend of special events.

My blip is of the listed building now home to the Tilbury Cruise Terminal. In 1948 the first wave of West Indian immigrants from the Carribean docked here on the MV Empire Windrush.
Much of the art seen today in the terminal examined the way that artists are responding to issues of place and identity in the 21st C.

Amazing day and very thought provoking.