onionbagblog

“Let’s pop out for a brief Saturday morning stroll,” was the suggestion. “There’s this Art on the Railings thing going off in the churchyard. We’ll be back before the first drinks break in the Test.”

Three hours later and we had missed the drinks break and luncheon. The tea interval at Lord’s was creeping up on us.

Cripes.

So yeah - you try and live yer nonsense running around urban lifestyle in little Wivenhoe, and once again you find that you simply have to go with the flow. This is no place for the cut fast and loose kid. Which is sort of why we moved here, Comrades.

Art on the Railings was simply ACE. The jangly 60′s pop of Mr Mule is always a joyous sound to welcome in your Saturday morning. A quick hat tip just as Rain (the song, not the weather) was welcoming Wivenhoe folk to Art on the Railings, and then we went about our wander.

It took @AnnaJCowen and I an hour and a half to complete one circuit of the graveyard - which was pretty good going considering the company we were keeping underfoot.

As well as all the artwork, crafts and cakes to consider, it was the many, many lovely conversations that put an end to our cricket watching ambitions back at base.

My own Wivenhoe experience is still incredibly limited. I move in circumscribed circles, and ones which usually involve alcohol. But it seemed that most of the folk that I have befriended over the past nine months had made their way down to Art on the Railings to start off their Saturday morning.

A great catch up with @papershed37, and the Brightlingsea Boy told me that although the sales had been worth his short trip to Wivenhoe, it wasn’t quite as busy as in previous years.

I was still impressed with the range and affordability of the artwork. We’re on the look out for a number of pieces (ooh - get you) to start off our local collection. No Dodds on sale on Saturday (still sourcing…) but we came very close to buying a lovely Quay print.

As the conversations followed, so did the time. We turned around to find that it was packing up time and the poor chap missed out on our sale, simply because @AnnaJCowen likes a bit of a chat.

Next time, fella.

It was great to see the May Fair folk having a very visible presence, and being open to talk with anyone about the actual facts that took place last weekend. The Art on the Railings demographic probably isn’t your typical May Fair mosher. The transparency of the group was greatly appreciated.

The truth is out there, Comrades.

And so shortly after 2pm, we exited back up the High Street, and finished as we started with more conversations with Mr Mule. The chap was on fine form, and full of optimism for the future of Radio Wivenhoe (open meeting on Tuesday night at The Greyhound, pop pals.)

We missed most of the cricket, but caught up on the far more important matter of local conversations.

Howzat?

Splendid.