FORMER boxing champion Billy Walker will be in Southend next month on a sentimental journey.
Billy, nicknamed the Blond Bomber in the heyday of his career in the 1960s, will be signing copies of his autobiography, When the Gloves Came Off, at Waterstones bookshop in Southend High Street.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Billy and his brother George were powerful figures around Southend.
The company they founded, G and W Walker, which later became Brent Walker, had major assets in the town.
They ran the two Garons banqueting suites in the High Street and Victoria Plaza and converted the former Westcliff swimming pool into the Westcliff Leisure Centre, now the Westcliff Casino.
Brent Walker planned to build a marina in Southend but, after much debate, the plan was defeated by a narrow margin at Southend Council, a decision which is still criticised by many people in the town today.
The firm acquired what remained of the old Kursaal amusement park and planned its refurbishment as a water theme park. But problems grew for the firm and it went into liquidation.
Billy will be at the Waterstones on Saturday, September 1.
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