onionbagblog

Image: Tessa Spencer Pryse. Anchor Hill, in the Snow, Wivenhoe. Full copyright reserved.

Wivenhoe locals probably don’t need reminding that it is late night shopping down towards the front this Thursday, from 6pm onwards. And so if there is no need to remind you, then I may as well present some lovely artwork instead.

Although the main theme for the event is the celebratory turning on of the town Christmas lights by Mayor Brian Sinclair, the festive theme for the evening will also hopefully help to further boost the local Wivenhoe economy.

Stalls will be outside St Mary’s, with the Salvation Army adding musical accompaniment to the various snacks that are also availabe. Look around elsewhere around the town, and you find will many other events that are worthy of a look.

Christmas Presence will be open on Thursday evening, and indeed continuing throughout the weekend. This is essentially an initiative to join up the local businesses in the run up to the Christmas period.

There are some wonderful venues to explore, including the pop up art gallery down by the Business Centre, as well as the Dockside family home of the very fine folk I bought my house from.

Blimey.

The poster below explains a little more, and the map fills in all the missing locations. Disclaimer: I doubt if the map is drawn to scale, and so please don’t go picking faults with the fancy artwork outlining the venues.

Oh - and don’t forget that Father Christmas will be making one of his many planned Wivenhoe appearances around the front on Thursday evening.

Many thanks to Tessa for allowing me to use her wonderful painting at the top of this post.

Just as @AnnaJCowen and I debate dog or cat ownership (Grrrrr! Meowww! - um, let’s get a hamster, luv) news reaches me of the grand opening of Wivenhoe Pets.

Cripes.

Located down at the Business Centre along Brook Street, this all sounds rather exciting:

“Wivenhoe Pets Grand Opening, Saturday 4th December, 10am. Come and join the fun! Raffle with great prizes. All proceeds to the Guide Dog Association. Guide dogs and puppies from 12pm, refreshments…

Wivenhoe Pets will be able to supply local people with all types of pet related products, covering:

“Dogs [hurrah!] cats [mooted meowww] birds, fish and wild bird food. Plus toys, treats, beds, gifts and much more.”

I’m like a dog on heat, just thinking about it all.

I wish Wivenhoe Pets well with the launch of this new business. As I keep on telling @AnnaJCowen, Wivenhoe is dog walking territory. We’ve been doing plenty of walking of late, plus too much talking. Time to walk it like we talk it and get a woof woof.

There’s a lot going on down at the Business Centre right now. I’ve been tremendously impressed and encouraged in the way that the community has tried to recover from the devastation of the fire a couple of months ago.

As well as the more traditional businesses, there is now Nancy Taplin’s pop-up gallery at unit 28b, opposite the Wivenhoe Gallery. Both will be open as part of the late night shopping this Thursday, and over the weekend from 10am - 4pm.

So yeah - pets and paintings. Maybe I should strike a deal with @AnnaJCowen - I’ll allow her to use my dog as a life model, just to give the girl an excuse to dabble around with the oil paints her Mum has sent down from the Lakes.

Give a dog a bone, etc.

Off the Rails continues to grow, um, off the rails…

The lovely Wivenhoe arts based project that is using the very practical setting of the railway station as its base, has now managed to achieve some sponsorship from the good folk @firstsite. In these days of austerity, especially so within the arts, this is something of a success.

Disclaimer: I pay a paltry figure of £15 per month to @firstsite, which gives me access to the ace @15QueenStreet as a social member. Breakfast clubs, members’ brainstorming sessions and boozing - money well spent, I say…

Local Wivenhoe artist Martha Haversham has been responsible for many of the fine projects currently in place as part of Off the Rails.

Martha adds:

“Firstsite are now sponsoring Words Down the Line and the December edition has hit the ticket hall. January’s edition will be guest edited by Wivenhoe teens, so we’re bracing ourselves.

We have also recruited a young Greek poet and assistant writing curator for the station, who will be exploring a writing exchange with Wivenhoe Railway Station and the University of Athens. We think we could be on-track for a twining with a Greek station so watch this space.”

I *love* the idea of Wivenhoe being twinned and entwined in some mythical Greek poetry. I’m not sure who is in for the bigger culture shock - the Wivenhoe locals or our guest Greek poet.

With the recent wintery Wivenhoe weather making the wait for the mythical 9:07 into Liverpool Street something of a trying experience, the appearance of local art around the station has added some joy to these mid-winter mornings.

Choo choo.

Early Monday morning and my Wivenhoe working week was underway with some snow - brilliant!

But wait - what’s this? Only working back in London for today.

Bugger.

I had the foresight to sacrifice the morning shave (overrated,) meaning that I gained a precious few extra minutes in the vital morning routine for a quick wander along the Quay. My 5am morning shadow stuck out amongst the white, crispness of the early morning snow.

It was truly peaceful down at the front for such an early hour. Is it ever any different? I wouldn’t technically call this a snow covering, but the dress rehearsal was certainly welcomed, as I scramble around for some Wivenhoe images for my Christmas cards for this year.

More of the same is to come, according to Mr Weatherman. Bring it on, I say.

Thursday in particular would indeed be very apt timing. Another working day in London - it would be such a shame if the line into Liverpool Street was closed.

Plus the switching on of the Wivenhoe Christmas lights at 6pm on Thursday evening would simply be magical with more of the white stuff under foot.

Splendid.

And so having turned my back on the London fixie scene in favour of a more traditional form of bicycling for the Essex flats, I’ve only gone and bought another fixed wheel bike.

Whoops.

But wait - it’s alright. This one is a heavily modified fixed wheel Moulton.

Blimey.

Much like my bonkers multi-coloured Moulton, the eBay auction of the Little Red Wivenhoe Devil was a temptation too far for me to resist. Not to sure about the BMX mag wheels (although I know a neighbour who will probably put me right…)

I don’t think that the gearing will get me up Boundary Road on the way back to Wivenhoe. A ride along the Trail at high tide will probably end up with a baptism in the Colne. Looks like my new Moulton is strictly a Co-op bike, then.

The beauty of shed ownership has afforded me more bicycle storage space. I admit that six frames stacked up back in the old London kitchen was stretching it a bit. I now have parking space for another half a dozen down in my little den at the bottom of the garden.

As I’m sure the good @thebikeshow would agree - everyone needs one red bike. Or possibly two, or even three…

I better stop there.

I took out the Little Red Wivenhoe Devil for a brief spin around Valley Road and the surrounds over the weekend.

“Look Mummy! There’s a silly man on a funny bike!

…was the only publishable comment of choice.

I’m tempted to take it out for a spin at Herne Hill Velo. I doubt if old Dave would allow me on the track with it. Technically it isn’t breaking any velo rules. But BMX Mags ‘aint exactly Herne Hill etiquette.

Like it’s owner, the Little Red Wivenhoe Devil is proudly Made in Nottingham (although both have now buggered off to Wivenhoe…) Dear old Alex would disown me. My membership of the fine Moultoneers would be no more.

The Wivenhoe Mini Moulton Fixed Wheel scene starts here.

Any takers?

When in Rome - or when in Alresford Creek, even. And so to complete great the autumnal food rummage around these parts, I’ve only been out to pick a bowl of sloes.

Blimey.

Having been given Ye Olde Nottinghamshire recipe for sloe gin by a very good friend, I finally got my act together over the weekend and went about my business of getting my fingers pricked.

I accept that my sloe assault is very late in the season. You must pick them *before* the first frost of the season, is all that I have been hearing. Thankfully I managed to find a gloriously sun drenched secret (ish) spot en route to the Creek.

The Wivenhoe winter evenings of late may be creeping up on us, but the sloes were still ripe for the recipe. Either that or my finger pricking produced a very dark claret of a more biological variety.

No worries - given the industrial strength of the Sainsbury’s Basic gin I have waiting in the wings, any additional full bloodied ingredient may even enhance Ye Olde Nottinghamshire recipe.

I haven’t quite succumb to the legendary Wivenhoe Disease, but two months into the Great Escape, and the urge to make some cheapo sloe gin has got to be a good sign.

The plan is to donate the final product to the very fine folk of @15QueenStreet for one of the Mini Bar Colchester events. Having spent another fantastic Thursday with the Sunny Colch creatives, I feel that now is the time to demonstrate my own creativity.

Chin chin.

A spare Saturday afternoon, and so time to see how the other half lives - time to pay a visit to that other lot from across the Colne.

@AnnaJCowen and I approached our rendez vous at Rowhedge with an open mind. Sure, we’ve heard all the Wivenhoe talk of Roughhedge. But the great divide can’t be that gaping, can it?

But first off the route. I rather like the splendid isolation of the Colne. Low tide and you could probably wade across from the Quay. You might come a cropper though, and would look a rather undignified sight as you plundered down deep into the mud, right in front of the Rose and Crown.

Nope, there was nothing for it. A round trip taking in the Hythe, up along the Lagoons (seriously) towards Rowhedge, and then all the way back again for the return leg.

It was the estuary equivalent of the Grand Old Duke of York, cycling all the way along the Wivenhoe Trail. When we were up we up; and when we were down we were down. And when we only halfway up we were stuck somewhere in the boglands of the Lagoon, wondering what exactly we had taken on board with our bicycles.

It is only here that you truly appreciate the ease of access of the Wivenhoe Trail down towards the Hythe along the other side. Navigating past the old industrial banks of The Colne, and you can become a cropper. This was especially the case as we cycled past the sewage treatment works. A stray skid mark here, could have led to a stray skid mark elsewhere.

Whoops.

With the late afternoon sun creeping up on us, we had time to make up if we were to reach Rowhedge before sunset. The wilds of the Lagoon were something of an unexpected surprise, much like the sign warning us of Essex adders.

Blimey.

This is cow country, and where there are cows, there are of course cowpats. Layers and layers of them, which made for cycling not quite a smooth experience. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it.

And then around half an hour later and there it was - Welcome to Rowhedge. Um, what now?

A pint or two seemed only appropriate. But I had the appearance of a mad man that had been bog snorkelling. @AnnaJCowen didn’t exactly scrub up any better.

We walked along the front, not really taking much interest in Rowhedge, preferring to remark on how picturesque Wivenhoe appeared on a crisp, winter late afternoon.

And so that was Rowhedge ticked off. I wish our very near neighbours well, but I think that we have made the right decision in relocating to the other side of the Colne.

I can’t see that we will return, not until those cowpats have lost their winter pitfalls. Come the spring, and I’m sure that the Rowhedge Ferry will be seeing some custom from us. A brief sail across, a pub lunch, and then a boat back across the water.

Splendid, splendid isolation.