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The weekend is here - hurrah! And whaddya know - it’s only a door-to-door delivery of the ACE Brightlingsea and Wivenhoe Chronicle.

Double hurrah!

The saving of the Brightlingsea Music Festival is the lead story on the front page. Flick through to page 4, and of interest to the #hyperlocal Wivenhoe patch this month is news of the Wivenhoe December Market taking place on 2nd December:

“The town’s acclaimed festive illuminations will be switched on by Town Councillor Brian Sinclair, Mayor of Wivenhoe. A Christmas exhibition of paintings and photographs will be held at the Wivenhoe Gallery, in conjunction with bespoke picture framers Cutting Corners.

Refreshments and Yuletide food will be available in St Mary’s Church. A number of stores selling a variety of items will be located in and within the vicinity of the churchyard.

The event will run from 6pm to 8:30pm and a local Salvation Army Band will be providing carols and live music.”

I’ve received a number of requests from readers of m’blog (hello, cheers for finding me and it would be lovely to meet up offline…) asking about possible stall provision outside St Mary’s.

I’ve not been sure what to suggest, apart from ask around within the Church or the Town Hall offices. Maybe even go for a chat with Andy Bass at the Wivenhoe Business Centre?

The festive theme continues in the Chronicle with news of yet more appearances around Wivenhoe from Father Christmas:

“Our special Greenland correspondent [um, bet it's Scoop...] reports that Santa Claus, assisted by his enthusiastic helpers from the Brightlingsea and District Rotary Club, will be touring Brightlingsea, Wivenhoe and Thorrington during the next few weeks.”

Wednesday 15th December is the date for your Wivenhoe diaries. The Chronicle lists the reindeer route as:

“Bowes Road, Claremont Road, Friars Close, Petworth Close, Castle Close, Wood Close, Denham Close, The Dale, Valley Road, Bobbits Way and *cough* Park Road.”

Best get writing that Christmas wish list…

But wait! There’s more! Father Christmas continues his whistle stop tour of Wivenhoe on Wednesday 22nd December, with the Chronicle adding:

“He will proceed along Heath Road, Broomfield Crescent, Broome Grove, Spring Lane and Tower Road.”

Down town folk needn’t feel left out. The big man with the funny beard will be at St Peter’s on the 2nd, as well as landing Quayside on Saturday 6th December in his Sinterklass guise. A helpful blog reader adds:

“If you want to see some Dutch and Belgian culture then come to the Quay at 10.30 on the 4th of December - Sinterklaas and his helpers will arrive by boat. Don’t miss it! Sinterklaas is the best friend of every Dutch child.”

Lovely.

But back to the Chronicle…

“An all singing, all dancing Christmas spectacular, Let Us Entertain You, will include a strong local cast from Wivenhoe. The show will be performed by the Wivenhoe based ADP Theatre School at the West Cliff Theatre, Clacton-on-Sea on Saturday and Sunday, 11th and 12th of December. Tickets are £10 and can be purchased at the theatre’s box office on 01255 433344.”

Page 14 provides a loving obituary for Wivenhoe legend Denis Wirth-Miller. A couple of quotes include:

“Denis was instrumental in changing the face and outlook of Wivenhoe” [Daniel Chapman]

and:

“The pair of them [Richard Chopping] were fundamental in making Wivenhoe the cosmopolitan and non-judgemental community that it is today.” [Celia Hurst]

Something to smile about in the Chronicle is the return of the Wivenhoe Funny Farm comedy club to the cricket club on 16th December.

“Acts include Marc Lucero, Ria Lina, Del Strain and Wivenhoe’s very own Chris Singleton. MC is Hazel Humphreys, who established the Funny Farm in September 2005 after helping to set up the University of Essex Comedy Club.”

Hazel adds:

“Wivenhoe’s Cricket Club has been kind enough to give us an opportunity to use their lovely room and bar for comedy. If this night goes well, we hope this can become a regular comedy night. I’d urge anyone who wants a regular live comedy show back in Wivenhoe to come along and support us.”

The show starts at 8pm, with tickets available at £6.50 on the door.

The recently opened forty-six-seater restaurant upstairs at The Greyhound gets a good write up on page 16.

“The decision to open a second and considerably larger restaurant at The Greyhound follows the overwhelming success that chef Michael King has achieved during the seven months he has been at the pub.”

The murals in the upstairs restaurant have been painted by Wivenhoe artist Hilary Lazell, depicting:

“A love story with a cheeky twist.”

Cripes.

Sticking with The Greyhound and the Chronicle reports that Martin Newell, the pop genius of this parish, will be hosting another of his highly successful seasonal nights in the downstairs bar on 29th December. Anyone who attended the Halloween reading will no doubt be returning for the Winter Story Night during the festive season.

The Crab and Winkle Gallery gets a look in on page 19, and finally…

“A course entitled Great Tsars of Russia [blimey] will be run by the Wivenhoe branch of the Worker’s Educational Association, starting on 17th January, at the Methodist Church on The Avenue. Contact Janice Allen on 01206 824470.”

And so that’s yer lot in the Chronicle for this month. I was privileged to be able to share a pint with Scoop Scarpenter in The Station earlier in the week. As most locals know, Derek IS The Brightlingsea and Wivenhoe Chronicle.

He was apologetic during our drink for the ad heavy appearance of the current publication. Not an issue my friend, not an issue. For the town to be able to support (and share…) a genuinely independent publication, is something to celebrate and be proud of.

Everyone needs to make some dosh. If a local newspaper is continued to be funded by carrying local adverts, which in term generates local business, then the mix of news stories with ad copy sits rather nicely.

The Brightlingsea and Wivenhoe Chronicle is distributed free amongst local households. Additional copies are 25p from local newsagents.

Roll on next month.

A freezing Friday night in Wivenhoe and whaddya know - @AnnaJCowen and I only ended up back on campus.

Blimey.

The *ahem* ‘warmth and hospitality’ (booze…) of The Greyhound was just too convenient. Time to explore, time to head back to the future at Essex University.

The lovely Lakeside Theatre was lined up, and in particular, the regular Comedy Central Live gig in the rather splendid space that is the refurbished theatre underneath the library.

Gym Bunnies were burning away those Friday night calories as we walked down through campus; some extra studious Essex students were even spending their Friday night working away in the library; muscle power and brain power - it’s what revolutions are built upon, doncta know…

But anyway - the Lakeside:

Comedy Central Live is a much welcome, um, comedy night taking place occasionally around the campus. With the Wivenhoe Funny Farm having taken a short break (but soon to be back! BACK! BACK!!!!) the campus comedy nights keep students and locals laughing.

It’s not quite Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow (and thank heavens for that) but the format is familiar. A compare warms you up and breaks the silence, before introducing some rising stars, and established names, currently working the comedy circuit.

Joe Wells was the first act on Friday, telling tales of Marxist humour and BNP bashing. Plus he had a very funny line in how to deal with bad reviews. So Joe was, um, rather ACE.

But the main reason as to why a two thirds full Lakeside audience had bypassed the SU bar, the Gym Bunnies and even the appeal of the library, was for the headline performance of the incredibly talented Simon Munnery.

This is an established comedy name, not only as a live act, but also with a proud TV and radio comedy background to boast of. The name wasn’t so established however for the hapless @AnnaJCowen, who was under the impression that we were spending our Friday evening with Simon Nunnery.

Whoops.

A guitar intro, and then we were straight into rambling tales of social etiquette and dissing Richard Dawkins. Plus you can always spot a skilled performer, when with the perfect sense of timing, Munnery/ Nunnery seamlessly incorporated a tale of Greek myths with a toilet bound audience member.

Anyone expecting to see the ace Alan Parker, Urban Warrior, wasn’t so much disappointed as grown up. Parker was perfect for the time, but that time has now moved on, and so has the performance. With Munnery now living a more rural lifestyle, the jokes (and personal parallels) have been refined.

And so two hours of witticism and warmth, and we ended up walking back down to Wivenhoe and the hospitality of The Greyhound - hurrah! It will be a lot more #hyperlocal next month, when the Wivenhoe Funny Farm returns to these parts. Thursday 16th December sees Hazel Humphreys comparing a night at the Cricket Club from 7:30 onwards.

Best keep the evening Gym Bunny and library free.

With a big heads up to @MatthewLinley, here’s something rather lovely that you can find down at Wivenhoe Station right now. The Crab and Winkle Gallery is open for your viewing pleasure as you wait for the next train to take you out eastwards and the bright lights of Great Bentley.

Blimey.

As part of the wider Off the Rails arts project, the Crab and Winkle Gallery is a pop up art space in the perfect local location. Named lovingly after the Wivenhoe to Brightlingsea line (last seen around these parts just before the savage Beeching Axe) the idea is to give local artists a public space in which to exhibit.

As the Off the Rails website explains:

“Off the Rails’ have adopted Wivenhoe railway station using National Express’ Adopt a Station voluntary scheme with the assistance of Community Rail Partnerships.

Off the Rails is about celebrating and sharing Wivenhoe’s creative talents by hosting a rolling exhibition of visual art and writing that travels down the line.”

It’s not just visual art either - poetry and prose are also part of the project, with verses being sent up and down the line that connects us with our Colchester friends.

With the railway being responsible for such a historic shift in fortune for the town, Off the Rails is also keen to explore the legacy of the Beeching axe, and the memories of the old Crab and Winkle line that use to run all the way along to Brightlingsea.

A request has been made for any old tickets, timetables and photos, to try and piece together as many physical artifacts as possible in memory of the ghost line that has now given the gallery its name.

Opportunities for Wivenhoe artists to become involved are also explained in more detail on the website. There is an educational value as well, with the Colne Community School and College booked in to take part in future Crab and Winkle Gallery projects.

It’s almost enough to make me get out my old CSE Art (Grade 3, natch) notebook, and take up random paintings of all life that passes by. I think however that the *ahem* artist within is probably more suited to sticking with The Station pub.

Chin chin.

This just in from the Wivenhoe Society:

“On Saturday there was a public meeting at the William Loveless Hall organised by the University. Unfortunately the publicity for the meeting was virtually non-existent, and a very small number of people attended.”

The meeting was indeed incredibly poorly advertised. I only found out about it the night before, and then only threw the good fortune of *wine tasting* (yeah, right…) with the very lovely Mayor Brian Sinclair.

“The purpose of the meeting was to inform the public (particularly Wivenhoe residents) about the University’s Knowledge Gateway project, and in particular, to give details of the potential inconvenience when the new road junction onto Clingoe Hill is built next year.

The roadworks are likely to take place in March / April 2011 and will cause some disruption for about 5-6 weeks. They will be constructing a traffic-light controlled junction with slip roads from Clingoe Hill to enable cars to enter and exit the north campus (to access the research park).

Since the meeting was not adequately advertised, the University will be arranging another meeting in the New Year, and have undertaken to give much more notice, so we will let you know when we are informed.”

Birding commitments (blimey) kept me away from the Loveless Hall. It seems that I wasn’t alone. Although I’m not a user of Clingoe Hill, the consensus from my conversations with folk around Wivenhoe is that the traffic situation can’t get any worse.

Can it…?

Here’s hoping the University provide better forward planning for any future Knowledge Gateway meetings locally.

The River Colne, looking downstream from the Hythe end of the Trail.

I knew that I would get along just fine with Neil Watson, even before we finally met for the first time at the weekend. A Boat for my Pot Plants was one of my first online introductions to Wivenhoe, just ahead of the Great Escape over the summer months.

Enjoying a bottle of beer together on board his lovely little boat on Saturday afternoon, pretty much summed up what m’blog is all about: exploring ideas online, and then making friendships offline and working together in the real word on local issues. This is a theme that thankfully seems to have a great deal of support of around these parts.

Much like myself, Neil is relatively new to Wivenhoe. He has a head start on me, but has wasted no time over the past year in reaching where I would love to be in twelve months time - namely owning boat, and having a brilliant quayside mooring right outside the Rose and Crown.

Neil has been documenting this project online, via his Boat for my Pot Plants blog. The title says it all - a blog explaining why Neil has a boat, as well as using it as a springboard to develop new ideas and adventures.

Having followed Neil online for a short while, it was inevitable that we would hook up at some stage outside the Quay. Emails were exchanged; phone calls were made, and soon I was walking the plank (quite literally) and taking up a seat all aboard the good ship Pot Plant.

Neil has grand plans to use his prime location quayside during the summer months, to offer a service to locals sitting around by the Rose and Crown. Tentative plans are being hatched for Radio Wivenhoe, which may (or may not) being slightly hazy along legal lines.

I very much liked Neil’s approach of try it, and see what will happen. It is an attitude that has served me well online, and then following through offline. Sure, you get the setbacks and the cynics, but ultimately, it is all about giving it a go and seeing where the tide takes you.

And so yeah - the dream of Neil to have a boat for his pot plants has paid off. I feel that both our North Essex adventures have only just started.

Local Wivenhoe households should have hopefully by now received a copy of the wonderful Wivenhoe Business Directory 2011. Actually it’s 2011 - 2012. In these ever changing economic circumstances, I rather like the optimism and belief that the fine traders within will all still be in business in two years from now.

The Directory is an extension of Wivenhoe First, the initiative in the town to help promote the businesses in Wivenhoe to local residents. The basic idea is to look after your own. Job’s a good ‘un.

Jerry Davis at Wivenhoe First writes:

“About two years ago I thought that we needed to revive Wivenhoe First and so I created the Wivenhoe First website. This was with the intention of giving all the businesses in Wivenhoe, no matter how large or small, the opportunity of advertising not only locally, but also globally through the internet.”

Over 100 local businesses now benefit from Wivenhoe First. The Directory aims to accompany the website, and act as an offline resource for local traders.

It’s all with rather apt timing as well. This weekend I have been in need of an electrician and a heating engineer. Bad luck comes in threes; I note that the Wivenhoe Business Directory also lists dentists…

Jerry adds:

“To register for your free webpage, go to wivenhoefirst.co.uk, complete the online form and we will create a page for you. Once completed, you can securely add, edit and update the content.”

Extra copies of the Business Directory are available - simply contact Wivenhoe First over here.