Downstream

deserted and a lone seagull
screams in the air. Southend
is a seaside town not yet open
for the day. Only it’s not
really a seaside town, it’s an
estuary town, where the River
Thames meets the waters of
the North Sea in one of the
largest coastal inlets in
Britain. A major shipping
route for oil tankers, ships
and ferries, it’s tricky pin-
pointing where exactly the
estuary ends or begins. The