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The sixth Wiv Chat recording is something slightly different. Having had a historical approach to the previous recordings, my conversation with Marika Footring looks ahead to the first staging of a new event in the Wivenhoe calendar - the St Mary’s Church Ale.

Chin chin.

There is still a fascinating historical story here. We talk about the origins of the Church Ale and how they emerged during Mediaeval times as a means to help bond the community together. There really couldn’t be a more suited location to resurrect the Church Ale than Wivenhoe.

As Marika explains during our recording, Ales took the form of many different guises during Medieval times:

“The Church Ale, held to encourage parishioners to come and pay their tithes and so to help pay for the upkeep of the church building; the Bride Ale, benefited a newly married couple; the Clerk Ale, to support the impoverished curate.”

But it’s not all about the booze. First off here are the basics:

The St Mary’s Church Ale will take place over the weekend of 17th and 18th September. Essentially it is a celebration of the community involving a grand procession, traditional crafts and… ale. The event is free to attend, with any money raised being used to help maintain the upkeep of St Mary’s.

We talk about the events planned for the Church Ale during our chat. Mr Mayor will lead a Medieval procession from the KGV down to St Mary’s. A costume competition is in place for the kids, and traditional crafts such as rope making will be available to experience.

Oh - and there will be beer, very kindly brewed from the local Sticklegs Brewery at Elmstead Market.

I found the conversation fascinating - Marika has clearly put a tremendous amount of planning and time into the resurrecting the Church Ale. Hopefully the recording can also act as a rallying call - as ever, volunteers are always needed.

A Church Ale open planning meeting has been called for the evening of 24th July, taking place at 7pm in the Black Buoy. Anyone with an interest in the event is urged to attend.

Radio Wivenhoe meanwhile has just completed the end of a highly successful first week of broadcasting. The range of shows has been as diverse as one would expect from Wivenhoe. We’re far from a slick operation - we recognise that. The idea is very much to start with realistic ambitions and see where the project takes us.

Next up on my Wiv Chat schedule is an interview planned with Jon Wiseman, the Wivenhoe Town Cricket Club historian extraordinaire. With Jon’s The Story of Wivenhoe Cricket book about to be published during Cricket Week at Rectory Road, this will be a timely recording.

I’m working my way through my hit list of local folk to chat with. Please do volunteer yourself - or others - if you would like to take part in this project.