Not a bad little morning at the monthly Wivenhoe Farmer’s Market. The estuary rain may have persisted, but then so did the punters. Without the rain then there would be no leeks; and without the leeks then my world would be a duller place.
So yeah, all wellied up as the top of the High Street became something of a steady torrent, and then across the road to the Congregational Hall. It was great to catch up with the familiar traders, as well as some new faces for this month.
Baking spuds, carrots, onions and *swoon* leeks, all for under £4. And then a couple of bags of Braeburns, and still change from a tenner to investigate the stall from the chap selling chutney.
Splendid.
There is very little advertising that takes place for the Wivenhoe Farmer’s Market. Somehow it just seems to happen on the third Saturday morning of each month. Like most friendly trading places within the town, it’s also becoming something of a social hub.
Sadly other weekend commitments elsewhere made this a flying Farmer’s Market visit for me this month. I did pick up a wonderful piece of local gossip though. It was all about…
Oh, hang on - the leeks are frying and my appetite is even more insatiable than my thirst for gossip. Until next month, farmer boys and girls…
Any local traders wanting to rent a stall at the Wivenhoe Farmer’s Market each month can call 01206 367776.
I wasn’t planning on posting up a Photo Friday blog post, but a brief afternoon of image editing, and the temptation to share was too great. In response to Julia Cleave’splea for any photos celebrating the Colne riverbank pre the vandalism by the Environment Agency, I fired up iPhoto to see what was in my archive.
My time here in Wivenhoe has been very short. But in four months it feels as though I have witnessed all four seasons. Once again, I *really* can’t wait for those long summer months.
But what is truly heartbreaking, is to witness the extent of the rierside destruction in such a short space of time. The speed of the Colne clearance has caught locals by surprise. There is almost a sense of slipping this one through, before any local campaign or inquest has time to grow.
Everywhere I walk around the town right now and it seems that this is the one subject that Wivenhoe locals are talking (and frowning) about. In the post office, the Co-op and around the pubs - nothing but horror is being expressed as to how our area of natural beauty could have been devastated, all in the name of supposed protectionism.
And so as a reminder, here’s the scene that greeted me along the banks of the Colne, early Wednesday morning.
Urgh.
Now here’s a look back at my archive, featuring a mere four months when walking out towards the estuary somehow encapsulated everything about why we chose to set up our lives in Wivenhoe.
The next meeting of the Wivenhoe Town Council takes place on Monday 21st, 7pm at the Town Council offices. It will be interesting to observe what the view is about the vandalism from our local Councillors.
You may remember the wonderful story of the downtown NY State couple that came “on vacation” to Wivenhoe towards the end of last year. Eager to find out more about the North Essex estuary rural way of life, the lovely Chris and Heather came to stay in Wivenhoe and mix with some of the locals.
Following some online dialogue during the planning for the trip, I was then lucky enough to be able to meet up with our special relationship friends for a coffee one morning down at the Corner House.
Stories were exchanged, bonds were made and even a brief podcast was recorded.
Blimey.
Here’s where the story all starts to get slightly interesting. Intrigued by the story, the Editor of *cough*@Colchester101 then commissioned me to write a short piece about the rather unlikely meeting of American and Wivenhoe minds.
A quick OK with Heather and Chris, and then the piece then appeared in the January edition of Colchester 101. You can even read the tale of the Rochester folk in rural Essex on p.2 over here.
But this wasn’t to be the end of the transatlantic story. Taking the tale to its logical conclusion, it would only be right if a little bit of Wivenhoe then found its way over to NY State. An early Saturday morning trip to the Wivenhoe Post Office, and then soon a copy of 101 was USA bound.
And so to conclude this highly improbable tale involving a love of Wivenhoe, Martin Newell and the Station cat (cripes) - here comes the photographic evidence of Chris and Heather, very happy to be reunited with Wivenhoe back in their hometown. The descriptions are kindly provided by our American friends.
“Colchester 101 is hanging out on the Broad Street Bridge overlooking the river. In the background, you can see the Main St. Bridge (center) and a nice riverside hotel (right) that keeps changing management.”
“There we are in Aqueduct Park! This little park is part of the campus where I work (so we got free parking!) and it’s really kind of pretty. It’s right on the water and, when the weather’s nice, the city puts on free concerts some Wednesday afternoons.”
“Colchester 101 is featured with the Broad St. Bridge in the background (center). It’s a deep bridge because it used to be open and it housed the old Rochester Aqueduct that brought the Erie Canal into the city and across the river. Once the canal was diverted, they built the bridge and converted the aqueduct into a subway tunnel. The subways are long gone and the tunnel isn’t used for anything but graffiti now.”
“We took Colchester 101 farther down the river to to the High Falls district. I’d never actually seen the High Falls themselves but Chris knew of a terrifying pedestrian bridge across the gorge. We couldn’t get far enough out on the bridge to get a shot of the falls due to extreme wind and my fear of bridges but we did get this shot of Colchester 101 posing with the Genesee Brewing Company!”
Welcome to Wivenhoe. Please drive carefully and please look after our cats.
For a community that is often characterised by uptowners and downtowners, I can now add a further geographical dimension to Wivenhoe’s spatial definitions: East or West when it comes to the Colne.
I am very much a West side sort of guy, cycling along the Trail most mornings en route for a swim. It was during this daily journey where I first saw the signs for the sea wall clearance being put in place by the Environment Agency.
I’ve blogged before about how the rather severe haircut of the bushes and brambles has taken away some of the natural beauty heading out towards the Hythe. We can even see a clear view of Rowhedge, what with Ferry Marsh now reverting to being simply a marsh, and not much else.
But I had no idea of the parallel work that was being undertaken out past the Sailing Club and towards Alresford Creek. This is my usual running route, but I’ve been crocked since Christmas.
Therefore I was indebted to the Wivenhoe Forum (whaddya mean you’ve *still* not signed up?) user Fiona, for kindly sharing and showing some concern about the brutal act of countryside vandalism being carried out on the eastside towards the estuary.
Fiona is not alone in feeling that this is countryside pruning being taken a step too far. Login to Facebook, and you can read about other Wivenhoe locals all horrified about the overnight disappearance of some of our outstanding patches of rural beauty.
A spare hour in the working day on Wednesday, and I went off to have a look for myself. I knew it would be a worthwhile trip when the first person I spoke to was Fiona, up towards the top end of Queens Road.
Fiona prepared me for what was to follow - a savage cutting of the bushes, brambles and hedgerows, all the way from the Sailing Club and out as far as where the woodland starts for the old Crab ‘n Winkle line.
The concern now for Fiona and others is exactly how far will this culling of the countryside creep into? All the way out towards Alresford Creek? The signs put in place by the Environment Agency are unclear; clarification has been asked for - no replies have been received as yet.
The issue of communication is quite central to this whole clearance from East to West. It has been confirmed that Wivenhoe Town Council was informed about the planned mass clearance back in August of 2010. The appearance of the bulldozers in recent weeks is the first that many Wivenhoe locals have known about the destruction.
The wander out towards the Creek is perhaps the most scenic and beautiful stretches in all of Essex. This is the view put forward by bird watcher Alex Bass during his talk to the Wivenhoe Society towards the tail end of last year.
Likewise it is used by Wivenhoe birder supreme, Richard Allen. Before the bulldozers moved in, Richard was passing the message around to head down past the Sailing Club for the rare chance to see fifteen waxwings, temporarily taking up residence in one of the now bulldozed bushes.
On a purely personal and selfish front, this now all means that I will have to scramble around somewhere else to pick my blackberries, rosehips and sloes come next September. I’m just pleased that I managed to capture some of the stunning scenery in my hit ‘n miss bike ride video.
And so it seems that the work has been carried out with little public consultation, and at such an alarming pace that has caught uptowners, downtowners, east and west all by surprise.
With most of the Wivenhoe boundary having now been cropped, the Environment Agency diggers are working their way menacingly towards the Crab ‘n Winkle patch that technically falls under Tendring District Council [#bigsocietyahoy!]
Sure, most of the vegetation will eventually grow back - but how long? A year? Two years? Longer? And will the brutal destruction by the Environment Agency then become a regular event in the Wivenhoe calendar? And what of the wildlife, waxwings et al, that we may not see around these parts for some considerable time now?
As a reminder, the reason for the culling is supposedly all about protecting the sea wall. From looking at the images below, I can’t but help think that the exact opposite has been achieved.
Two months of intense expectation (um, we actually forgot where we left the bottles…) and whaddya know - yep, it’s only time for the Ye Olde Nottingham meets Wivenhoe Sloe Gin to be decanted.
Blimey.
I say decanted - the technique was much more in line with pouring the contents of the cheapo Sainsbury’s gin straight into the large kilner jar to separate the sloes, and then straight back into the cheapo gin bottle.
Such hasty speed in seeing gin pass from one vessel to another was thirsty work.
Chin Chin.
We were left with a rather sweet smelling and rich treacle like mixture. The booze connoisseur, um, @AnnaJCowen was bang on the money with her classy observation that it tastes like “cough mixture.”
Whoops.
Actually, that’s rather unfair. The £5.49 (I think) bottle of Sainsbury’s own brand gin has indeed had some extra value to it. How wonderful as well that this extra value was sourced somewhere between the Sailing Club and Alresford Creek.
Would we repeat the exercise? Possibly. Compared to home brew beer (still got the Euro ’96 special brew fermenting away) and the whole process is a lot simpler, and nowhere near as messy.
But the proof as ever, is in the pudding. Or even the drinking. Ask me again sometime over the weekend when half a bottle of Ye Olde Nottingham meets Wivenhoe Sloe Gin has put me under until Monday afternoon.
On yer bike was very much the message given to Wivenhoe locals last month when the Estate Management team from the University tried to explain the confusion that the new Knowledge Gateway is going to create.
Clingoe Hill is clogged up. It ‘aint gonna get any better with a new feeder road being built. The serious suggestion for folk commuting out of the Tendring Peninsula was one of pedal power. Fine in theory, but you need the infrastructure to convert people to two wheels.
Coming from the good folk that brought you Keep Colchester Cool, the Colchester Free Festival and pretty much all that is good in the live music scene around Sunny Colch, keepcolchestercycling.co.uk is being launched to simultaneously showcase Colchester, and encourage people to enjoy the town from a free to hire bike:
“The Colchester cycling community has donated the bicycles. They are made available for use by members of the public who do not own the bicycles, but can pay a fully refundable deposit to hire them for personal use.
Every Keep Colchester Cycling bike will come with a lock, a safety pack and set of cycle maps, including discount vouchers for venues along the different routes.”
It is a fascinating project, combining transport practicalities with social art. As well as getting from A to B, it is hoped that users will use social media to document their ride, and open up the culture of cycling to others.
The project is being rolled out by asking for memories about your first bike. It’s all about creating a buzz about bicycling, and proving that the purest form of transport can open up new lifestyle possibilities. I’ve blogged my little bit over here.
More locally and a similar scheme is already informally in place down at Cansdale Ross & Co. Frustrated by the pace of an officially sanctioned Wivenhoe bike hire scheme, the lovely Nigel and Lisa simply put a couple of bikes on the racks outside the grocers for locals to use.
This bottom up approach to transport is incredibly effective. Keep Colchester Cycling aren’t quite sure where the project will take them - this is a deliberate approach, as well as being half the fun. You start the wheels rolling, and then see what possibilities come your way.
Wivenhoe itself is incredibly accessible by bicycle, both from the outside and within. You need something quite sturdy for the Trail; mudguards are essential.
I tend to walk around Wivenhoe doing my various bits of local business during the day, but anything north of the Cross sees a cycle trip. The notorious Wivenhoe parking woes aren’t a factor, and I’m free to pretty much allow my day to unfold wherever my travels may take me.
So yeah - if you’re clogged up on Clingoe Hill over the coming months, think seriously about Keep Colchester Cycling. I appreciate that it’s not for everyone - young families, work materials, suited ‘n booted - all of these aren’t exactly bicycle friendly.
But it’s got to be better than banging your head against the dashboard as you crawl down Clingoe Hill.
So yeah, I can confirm that the victor in the Great Wivenhoe Cat ‘n Dog Wars is the species least likely to drag you out of bed at 6am on a Sunday morning for a walk. Never argue with @AnnaJCowen when it comes to cats. Her bark is worse than her bite.
And so the plan was always to have an extra mouth to feed, once we became settled in Wivenhoe. I was all for the dog walking lifestyle of waving to fellow walkers along the Wivenhoe Trail. The girl wasted no time in getting her claws into me.
But it wasn’t the constant catcalls that wore me down. An unwelcome (but adorable) guest finally won me over. Cats are territorial and so we need to lay down the boundary lines. P***ing in the back garden isn’t keeping the unwelcome guest away.
It was with perfect timing then that the wonderful Wivenhoe Pets opened up down at the Business Centre, shortly after our estuary arrival. A weekend trip of planning, and I think we’re all set for the new arrival(s).
Wivenhoe Pets really was perfect in putting us on the right path. The basics have been bought, advice has been given. We even got a lift back to base to help carry all of the cat paraphernalia.
Colchester Cat Rescue is on our radar next. They employ a very clever copywriter who can pull at your cat heartstrings with a flick of the, um, mouse:
“Adelaide came to the sanctuary with her kittens. She’s around two years old and is now looking for a new home having completed her motherly duties. We have no background on Adelaide as she was a stray but it’s quite likely she has had a rough start to her life. We are seeking an adult home with somebody who is calm around her to help her gain in confidence. Adelaide is a very sweet little cat and with some one to one time she should blossom.”
Awww…
It’s not a beauty contest of course, but pictures have been provided. My eye is immediately drawn to the most ugly [double, double awww... awww...] sorrowful looking of the lot. She needs some love.
Daddy, what did you do during the Great Wivenhoe Cat ‘n Dog Wars?
Um, I gave in to the demands of @AnnaJCowen and re-opened the cat flap [NOT rude.]
