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To @ColchesterArts on Wednesday evening for the second time in a week. There’s even fighting talk of a third visit before the weekend kicks in.

Cripes.

I’m never quite sure exactly where the burgeoning Colchester Cultural Quarter actually starts and where it ends. In our short stay around these parts, we’ve found more artistic entertainment on offer than the bright lights of London ever tempted us with.

Price of course is all-important. Paying over the odds for a ropey West End production, or keeping it local in Sunny Colch, with a £15 ticket to see the magnificent Mark Thomas entertain us for more than two hours?

Yep, the “investigative journalist disguised as a comedian” came to Colchester this week for two performances of his Extreme Rambling show. I booked on the premise that I’m something of an extreme rambler myself - I did manage to walk all the way to Rowhedge once.

But how much humour can you extract from the Middle East? If you’re Mark Thomas, then two hours of punch lines, and still you leave with the deep political message contained in the performance.

Thomas walked the entire length of the Israeli Separation Barrier, crossing between the Israeli and the Palestinian side. Out of this experience he has put together the Extreme Rambling show, telling the story of the people he met along the way and their struggles.

The walk itself was 750km; the show is condensed into two hours, with the perfect pace and packed full of detail as his holiday by mistake unfolds. Thomas brings out the personal stories in the message, describing the madness that is the Middle East.

No laughing matter? His tale about a Palestinian zoo where a dead giraffe had been stuffed with a certain artistic licence, and then put up as a symbol of the resistance, was certainly unique for Colchester on a Wednesday night.

This was a decent Colchester audience. It wasn’t quite Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow - and thank heavens for that. It was a sympathetic local crowd, showing that there is a home for political satire in Sunny Colch.

Future shows @ColchesterArts include Mark Steel, Fairport Convention and the Colne Valley Youth Orchestra.

Now that’s what I call a Cultural Quarter.

Just to add to the wonderful work that the Wivenhoe Youth Hub is carrying out down at Philip Road, here’s a flyer for the re-launch night taking place next Thursday.

Remember: a youth club isn’t just for, um, youths. Adult volunteers would be most welcome. You can mail Michael over here.

A very kind invite from the good folk who give up their time to help out at The Hub, and come Tuesday evening, I walked straight into the energy that is the Wivenhoe Youth Club at the Philip Road Centre.

This was something of an eye opener. My only experience so far at Philip Road has been to watch some rather arty films in the blacked out main hall, staged by Moving Image.

Tuesday evening instead saw the hushed tones of the movie buffs being replaced by what to be honest, can only be best described as a hell of a lot of fun.

I have very fond memories of my own time spent at a village youth club back in the rolling wolds of South Nottinghamshire. It was the social highlight of the week - a time to dress up, escape from homework and just generally hang out, bruv.

How brilliant then to see that the power of a village youth club is still functioning so successfully down at Phillip Road. Sure, times have changed. My day job requires me to be CRB checked, and despite having my camera with me, I was very weary of taking photos of some of our young folk. A bit of artistic creativity, and you get the idea in the images below.

But what of The Hub, Wivenhoe’s very own youth club? More importantly, why was I tagging along in what seemed like a hybrid of a game of football / table tennis / snooker, all being played out to the soundtrack of some modern music that made me feel like a High Court judge?

Well…

Wivenhoe’s Hub doesn’t run itself. It is an incredibly valuable asset within the town that is in urgent need of some adult support. The very kind Michael Padmore invited me, partly to help plug the cause, partly to, um, probably just feel very old.

Volunteers are needed in order for The Hub to keep on growing. Finding the young folk isn’t the problem; for more members to be able to attend, more adults are required to help join in with the fun.

This seems a very rewarding role. Support is given by the current volunteers. No specific training as such is needed. All that is required is for a basic CRB check to be carried out, and then being able to offer a coupe of hours a week.

Tuesday evening is for the Year 6 and Year 7 young folk. This in itself encourages great interaction. Broomgrove, Millfields and Colne Community School pupils, all mixing together, both uptown and downtown. Thursday evening is set-aside for Wivenhoe teenagers.

Through talking with some of the volunteers and the young folk, I found out how The Hub was an idea that developed out of the Wivenhoe Youth Council. This is an initiative supported by the big boys and girls at the Town Council, where real power and decisions relating to the youth in Wivenhoe is handed over.

Thirty-eight Hub members attended on Tuesday evening. Michael mentioned that a figure of fifty is not unknown. Volunteer levels need to be matching this rise if The Hub can continue to flourish down at Philip Road.

As I’m finding with much of Wivenhoe life, gossip seems to tick over the social circle. Michael was keen to point out that The Hub IS NOT closing; likewise the future of the Philip Road Centre seems secure for now.

This is a community space that can only continue to be justified if the community carry on using it. Providing a release once a week, for parents and kids alike, has to be a good thing.

Anyone wanting to make initial enquiries about what a volunteer role at The Hub is all about can contact Michael via email over here. Helping out young adults is incredibly rewarding.

Youth - wasted on the young. I never did find out what that music was…

Many thanks to Rosie, Hettie and Louis for kindly agreeing to the podcast catch up below.

This is all rather encouraging: our fine Mr Mayor, Brian Sinclair, is making all the right noises about finding a future public use for the soon to be vacated Wivenhoe Police Station.

Speaking to the Gazette about the imminent move of PC Mick Bond, PSCO Louise Neville and Sgt Lou Middleton to (probably) Wivenhoe Fire Station, Mayor Sinclair has stated:

“If the police station is to be disposed of, Wivenhoe Town Council will be doing all it can to see if it can purchase it. It sits between the community hall and our offices and it would be a great pity if such a focal point in Wivenhoe was sold for development.”

With the William Loveless Hall built to suit a community that has now clearly outgrown the size of the community hall, many in the town are of the opinion that the opportunity to keep the police station in public use should be seized. Mayor Sinclair is in agreement:

“Wivenhoe is growing and there may be a need in the future to expand the community centre. The most important thing at this stage is to ensure any future expansion of Wivenhoe Town Council facilities is not lost to development.”

Hurrah!

The Town Council currently rents the offices from Colchester Borough Council. Wivenhoe Town Council owns the Loveless Hall. One would hope that a friendly local authority deal to benefit the community, and not private capital, could be arranged.

Wivenhoe police station is penciled in to close in March. Our three officers are expected to move to the fire station, following the pattern of the Tiptree experiment. Drop in sessions at Wivenhoe Library have also been mentioned as a possibility.

Added into the excitement (seriously) is the election of a new Wivenhoe Town Council this May…

A bit of a rounded blog post, taking in the wonderful Wivenhoe Bookshop, Moving Image and some mosaics. Oh, and a possible opportunity for local groups to grab some free books.

Blimey.

That’s what happens when you cast yourself a little too wide over Wivenhoe - updates start to come in on all fronts. Many thanks to all for the various heads up. Funny to see how they are all inter-related. Keep them coming…

First off on this #hyperlocal literary tour and we take in the Wivenhoe Bookshop. Pantomime action sadly kept me away from the Drum unplugged gig at the weekend. All reports however suggest that this was an incredibly successful and intimate evening. More of the same please.

But sometimes a bookshop has to do what a bookshop has to do - y’know, sell books ‘n all that. In the Wivenhoe Bookshop mailout for this month, there is news on the Perfect Seasonal Read:

“Still time to bag a space on An American Tale For Winter, our short course on Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, which begins on 3rd February.

The six informal study sessions on this dramatic Gothic novella include a screening of the film with Liam Neeson and Patricia Arquette, and homemade cake.”

Yummy.

If you fancy yourself as something of a scribe yourself, then how about Finding the Writer Within?

“Following the success of our recent Memory - Place - Belonging writer’s course, tutor Thorunn Bjornsdottir Bacon joins us again from 25th Feb.

This time Thorunn, founder of Raven Creative Writing, is offering a six week Short Story Writing course. Places are limited, so early booking is advisable.”

A bit of book cross-pollination, and the Wivenhoe Bookshop also gives a heads up to PoetryWivenhoe:

“Acclaimed poet Katrina Naomi returns to poetrywivenhoe on 27th January, supported by popular local writer and poet Mike Harwood

Her latest pamphlet of poems, Charlotte Bronte’s Corset, penned whilst Writer in Residence at the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, and very well received, will be available in the bookshop, and on the night.”

Phew.

Time for a sharp intake of breath before turning the next page…

Ever wanted to see the Wivenhoe Bookshop in mosaic form?

“Anne Schwegmann-Fielding loves to recycle the old into the new. In her skilled hands buttons, crockery, shattered glass, tools, and utensils take on new life and are transformed into vibrant and beautiful sculptures, collages and mosaics.”

Anne’s work will be on show until February in our favourite local bookshop.

Next challenge: produce an accurate mosaic model of the old Engine Shed in all its glory.

Only joking…

Keeping with the story-telling theme however and here comes a rather lovely project, with a little help from @firstsite and our very own Moving Image, the independent community run cinema for Wivenhoe:

“The Vintage Mobile Cinema Bus:

Firstsite can proudly introduce a unique slice of cinema and automotive history. The Vintage Mobile Cinema Bus is touring around Colchester and Essex, showing free screenings of fascinating archive footage of twentieth-century Essex.

The luxuriously appointed mobile 22 seat cinema, converted from a unit built for the Ministry of Technology in 1967, is a unique slice of cinema and automotive history.

Rescued from a field in Essex, it’s the only remaining bus from a fleet of seven, and the renovation includes 1930s velvet cinema seats, HD projection, and Dolby surround sound.”

Sunday 6th February is the date that Wivenhoe can welcome this venture. The Station will be the location, with screenings at 11am, 11:45 am, 12:30pm, 2pm, 2:35pm, 3:30pm and 4:15pm.

And finally, a literary related word from the good George McKissock, known to some around these parts as *ahem* Squire Adamant (a role which suits the fine fella rather well…)

George has been incredibly successful in being able to secure from World Book Night just under fifty copies of Selected Poems by Seamus Heaney. This is a community led institutive, with the idea to bid for books that can then be released back into your own local patch.

George hopes to spread the good words of Seamus Heaney out amongst PoetryWivenhoe, the Library, Tudor Tea Rooms and The Station (I think he means the railway station, but you never know. Chin chin…)

The message from George is that there may still be time for others within Wivenhoe to apply for a particular book. With all these austere talk of cuts to libraries, this may be the start of a new form of community distribution of reading material.

Although the deadline has officially passed, an email from World Book Night states:

“Nevertheless we are still asking people to sign up as givers on the World Book Night website or by calling 0207 467 0855 to ask for an application form. If you know somebody who you think would make a great giver, please let them know that the deadline is rapidly approaching.”

Broomgrove? Millfields? Um, The Greyhound?

20,000 books in total are up for grabs. Many thanks to the Squire for the heads up.

Read all about, blah blah blah…

So here’s an update on the work currently being undertaken by the Environment Agency along the Wivenhoe Trail.

In one word: muddy.

Actually, it’s not all that bad. A bit of man flu has kept me off the Trail for the past fortnight. The ever-competitive @AnnaJCowen has been cycling along the banks of the Colne each morning, returning with the verdict of:

“It’s a right b****y mess.”

The girl’s sense of reality at least matches her inflated competitive streak.

Saturday morning, and with the man flu bidding farewell (um, beer festival duties in the afternoon) and I gave the Trail a spin. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is passable; it’s even rather enjoyable, if you like getting your bottom rather brown.

The main work that has been carried out so far is centred on where the slip path takes you up towards the University. Essentially the trees have been cleared, along with all the bushes that were growing slightly out of hand.

As previously blogged, the reason given by the Environment Agency for the work is:

“Woody growth, brambles and trees on any part of a seawall can cause structural weakness and can encourage tunnelling from rabbits. This increases the flood risk to people and property.”

“Removing the vegetation makes the embankment more resistant to high tides and wave action. It will also increase the effectiveness of our planned inspections and maintenance.”

It’s a far from a finished job. My understanding after attending the WivSoc Committee meeting last week is that a further top layer of rubble is going to be added. I have been enthused to find that all of the wood chippings from the chopped down trees have also been spread out across the path.

Ferry Marsh meanwhile has had a similar severe style haircut. I’ve not got any pictures (too busy competing against @AnnaJCowen along the Trail) but this really is landscape changing. Not far from past the train station and Rowhedge takes on a completely new perspective.

This may *or may not* be a good thing…

And so that was the @ColCAMRA Winter Beer Festival. This blog post has the possibility of being the shortest ever published, given the unforgiving ability of the booze to play around with your brain cells. A quiet Saturday afternoon drink soon became Sunday morning.

Whoops.

#chinchin.

But first, something about the wonderful @ColchesterArts Centre, which staged the four-day drinkathon. Holding a beer festival inside the once sacred surroundings of a church has to be something of a coup.

The building is brilliant as an intimate live music venue. Transport over 100 different varieties of beer around the vestry, and the surrounds soon became the perfect place to worship booze. The original occupants always did like their red wine during evening sermon.

But it wasn’t all about the booze. It just felt that way…

If there was ever any justification in arranging a dreaded tweet up, then a beer festival has to fit the bill. Online dialogue had been building up since the start of the week, with a call for any #Colchester based boozers to seal our online friendship with five pints of the roughest, darkest ale that was on offer.

How wonderful then to meet up with @benlocker, @zemblamatic, @LeePugh10, @nickjbarlow, @bonniehoward and of course @CoolColchester - the one man promotion team who is largely responsible for all that is good in Sunny Colch right now.

Oh yeah - @AnnaJCowen tagged along at the back.

Between us we managed to boast a yellow shaded Colchester Borough Council cabinet member (blimey,) and then the acceptable face of political opinions at the two opposite extremes.

It may have been something to do with the beer, but the conversation all afternoon was one of positive thoughts for the town, and how best to promote Colchester. There’s a definite lesson to be learnt there. Perhaps all politics should be conduced when politicians are completely p***ed.

I always try (and fail) at beer festivals to keep a set list of what I’m necking. Saturday afternoon was no exception. I do remember trying to keep it local, and sampling the fine beers from our Essex and Suffolk breweries.

My broad rule of thumb for these events is to stick with the dark stuff. If you can see across the room through your pint glass then you are probably drinking a Babysham.

Black Adder bitter from Mauldons brewery was the high (low?) point of the afternoon. It even managed to get something of a wild yarn being told involving the Honourable Bernard Jenkin MP, which I couldn’t possibly commit to print.

I became rather tired and emotional mid-afternoon, and had something of a lost half hour. I ended up backstage briefly, and then face to face with a Brian Clough look-alike. Now then, young man - it was that kind of afternoon.

And so sometime before (um, really can’t remember…) I was bundled back on the train by the good @LeePugh10, and all bound back for Wivenhoe. On reflection, a top up at The Station was a mistake. Apologies to @Wozzy138 for the iPhone confusion from the deluded @AnnaJCowen.

Like all good nights out, we ended up at Papa’s Chip Shop.

Blimey.

I’m sure there was some in depth conversation with Mr Papa. Once again apologies ‘n all that, and if in doubt, blame it on the Black Adder booze. Or even Bernard Jenkin.

Chin chin.