There’s nothing better than getting together for a nice, happy group photo.

But don’t expect to see many smiles in these vintage pics, which have all come from our Roaring Twenties image archives.

The photos were all taken in 1922 and include group photos of Southend Police Constabulary, Southend Fire Brigade and the entire workforce from the Southend Tramways Corporation.

Interestingly, the photo of the police was taken to mark the fact the men had just undergone jiu jitsu training to help them tackle violent offenders.

Photos also show some of the popular stage attractions of the time. The Fol-de-Rols concert party were the hottest ticket in town in 1922 and were resident for several weeks at the Floral Hall in Southend.

Westcliff Operatic Society were also wowing audiences with their production, the Bell of New York at the New Palace Theatre (later re-named the Palace Theatre).

Another nostalgic photo pictures men from a new charity set up to help disabled ex-servicemen who had come back from the Great War with life-changing injuries which meant they could no longer return to their old jobs. The men are pictured in Orsett where they were making baskets to sell.

Our gallery also includes some very smart, yet stony faced Southend firemen who posed for a photograph with their new appliance equipment as well as a group photo of very stylish female congregation members of a Southend church.