Tilbury - People and Culture

People and Culture

The Tilbury Band, dating from 1919, is among the leading brass bands in the UK. Tilbury and its environs have been used in some television episodes. Tilbury Fort was used as a location for Sharpe's Regiment, starring Sean Bean; an episode of London's Burning (a fireman drama show) was shot in the old fire station in Civic Square; and a scene from an episode of James Nesbitt's Murphy's Law was filmed at Tilbury Docks' Cruise Terminal.

Notable people who have had some connection with Tilbury include: two football players, John Evans (1929–2004), who played for Liverpool, and Tom Scannell (1925–1994); Noel Betowski, artist, who was born there in 1952; and Thomas Horrocks Openshaw (1856–1929), who was a consultant surgeon at Tilbury Hospital. Tilbury was home to one of the UK's most notorious gangs of skinheads, the Tilbury Trojan Skins, who were featured the headlines in a Sun newspaper article entitled Aggro Britain. The skinheads were also featured in the 1982 film Pink Floyd—The Wall.

Tilbury is featured in the award-winning 2009 film Fish Tank, with the star, Katie Jarvis, having been recruited after a scout saw her arguing with her boyfriend at Tilbury Town railway station.

Some of the scenes from the 2007 TV film of Oliver Twist were filmed at Tilbury Fort.