When these photographs were taken almost a century-ago, the Kursaal was still very much the main attraction in Southend.

It’s advertising slogan was ‘The One Bright Spot.’ It certainly was a colourful place for people to let their hair down and visitors would pack out the domed-pleasure palace in their thousands each year.

As a consequence of such heaving crowds the Kursaal’s rides had to be meticulously maintained and repaired so that they continued to function safely.

By 1924- when most of the photos in our gallery were taken- the big hitting rides at the Kursaal were the Ice Toboggan, the Scenic Railway, the Bowl Slide, The Rivers and the Alpine Ride.

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Other notable amusements were the Whip, the Joy Wheel, the Snake Pit, The Wiggle and the ‘Over The Falls Palace of Illusion’.

By this time one specific sideshow attraction- the Joy Grotto- had been phased out.

Four years earlier in August 1920, tragedy had struck when daytripper Laura Lee, aged 54, from Hoxton fell down the stairs of the grotto.

One of the features of the amusement was a floor which moved suddenly and shook the legs and feet of visitors. Lee somehow fell and was rushed to St Barts Hospital in London but died of her injuries.

Despite health and safety issues being thrust to the fore, there would continue to be accidents at the Kursaal- nasty ones!

In August of 1928 a gruesome tragedy occurred when Henry Slough, the owner of an amusement ride known as ‘The Glider’ was killed by his own machinery.

Slough, aged 55, had invented The Glider himself and it had only been installed at the Kursaal that season.

The ride consisted of a number of cars which were connected by cables and travelled round on a circular switchback.

During one ride, which was rammed with passengers, something when wrong and Slough went underneath the mechanism to investigate.

A cable snapped and entangled him- dragging him into the machine. An inquest later found that death must have been instantaneous after his head became trapped in a cog wheel under the ride.

A year later in August 1929 one of the worst accidents to occur in the Kursaal took place when 11 people were injured when the ‘flying boat ride’ came a cropper.

One eye witness recalled the terrifying scene: “The occupants were thrown in a heap and several people who were standing on the platform were hurled to the ground as the boat fell.”

Several people were taken to Victoria Hospital, where, after being attended for cuts and abrasions, they were able to go home. Four women and two children were among the casualties.

Luckily the boats had been slowing down when a cable fell about 50 feet from the ground - and snapped.

Elizabeth Warren, 21, of Welshpool Street, London Fields, had her right arm broken. Frank Phillips, of Seaview Road, Southend, the attendant working on the landing platform, was hit by the falling the cable and his right arm and chest were injured. The cable cut down a flagpole, and this fell among the dense crowd of holidaymakers it scattered them in all directions. A large number of people were grazed by the wire and had to receive medical attention.

The driver of the aerial ride was so shocked by the drama that he fainted after bringing the machinery to a standstill while several people manning the sideshows near the ride were also overcome by the horror of seeing the boat collapse.

An eye-witness told a reporter that the roundabout had just started when the crash occurred.

“There were eight boats,” he said “and all of them, each holding twelve, were full.

“The boat fell without any warning and the people standing below did not have much chance to leap clear.

“Women screamed and there was a wild rush to the spot where the injured were lying in heaps.”

By sheer coincidence early that day in Southend another dramatic crash had occurred. The Thames Estuary pleasure steamer, the Medway Queen, had crashed into Southend Pier with 200 passengers aboard. It wasn’t a great day for the town.

Two year later another Kursaal landmark made the headlines for the wrong reasons.

In August 1930, Mary Osborne, 44, and Mary Holmes, 47, both from, Mile End were on the top of the popular Bowl Slide when one of the women’s clothes became trapped.

Mrs Osborne fell against Mrs Holmes, who was on the next seat, and knocked her off on to the steps.

Both were quite badly injured.

On the same day Louisa Wilson, aged 44, from Euston, was being taken to the top of the ice toboggan at the Kursaal when she became tangled in the machinery.

She was left with a badly lacerated leg.

Just a month later there was a mishap on the equally as popular Scenic Railway.

Arthur Stevens, age 37, fell out of one of the cars on the ride and was left with a fractured skull and two broken ankles The Alpine Ride was another well known amusement at the Kursaal, but again, this wasn’t immune to bad publicity.

In July 1931 a bloody accident occurred on the ride when Alfred Davies, aged 33, of Dartford, Kent, stood up from his seat in one of the ride’s cars and struck his head on a bar. He fell out and was killed.

The ride had been going at about 35mph. There were signs all around warning people not to stand up but Davies had told a fellow passenger that he ‘wanted a thrill’. An inquest recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

Again, on the exact same day Stanley Osborne, of Ilfracombe Road, Southchurch, fell from the platform on the Whirlpool ride, and one of shoes had to be cut away before he could be released.

In December 1938 the Ghost Train at the Kursaal mysteriously caught fire and was totally destroyed. It was all the more strange as the ride hadn’t been used for two months. It had been boarded up for the winter.