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Six months ago, I cycled off along the Wivenhoe Trail early one sunny morning for the first time. I was but three days into the Great Escape and wasn’t even sure where the Wivenhoe Trail would take me to.

My destination was @15QueenStreet in Sunny Colch for a member’s breakfast social gathering. I wasn’t a member, and if truth be told, I’m not really much of a social person, let alone a breakfast boy.

And so six months later, I cycled off along the Wivenhoe Trail early on a sunny Thursday morning for the 180th (ish) time. I am now six months into the Great Escape and have more or less forgotten what I was escaping from in the first place.

My destination was once again @15QueenStreet in Sunny Colch for a member’s breakfast social gathering. I am now a flexi member, I’ve become quite a social beast and breakfast is bloody ace.

But there’s far more to this story than some half-arsed compare and contrast calendar dates. I pretty much knew what would happen in Wivenhoe, once the Great Escape plan was first hatched back in South London.

I work online, I play online. Sometimes though it is nice to walk away from the modern interweb; this is when the conversation truly becomes social and meaningful. @AnnaJCowen was slightly concerned that she was more insular. I knew that the social web would bring me new opportunities and friendships in our new home.

The girl however has since joined an online local swingers club and returns home in the early hours with a slight limp.

Only joking.

Facilitating [urgh!] all of this (the social, not the swingers) has been the openness of the creatives @15QueenStreet to share and support others in their chosen work. There is absolutely nothing wrong in staying at home in Wivenhoe all day long, but without @15QueenStreet, my Sunny Colch misconceptions would have remained just that.

This informal ethos of sharing and supporting is producing a series of local projects that are genuinely impacting on the lives of local people. Witness the sheer joy from the fine students @ColchesterInst, upon seeing that the BBC had taken an interest in their @15QueenStreet inspired work at the Hidden Kiosks Project.

I’ve personally found some employment through my involvement. I’m always up front about how I’m paying the bills, and I’m very proud to be offered the opportunity to be an Associate Blogger with @creativecoop.

As well as the Hidden Kiosks Project, there’s Keep Colchester Cycling and the newly launched Mentor Me project. The mentoring and supporting approach of this project fits the @15QueenStreet way of working perfectly.

We’re also working towards capturing the feel of the Colchester Free Festival online, as well as the more long-term aim in creating regular content for Keep Colchester Cool.

In return, I offer what few online skills I have. And so after a glorious, glorious estuary ride along the Trail on Thursday morning, a quick catch up with friends, and then it was time to help out @firstsite with some online audio work.

I was rewarded with some fresh pastry and some personal pride in being able to mach @15percentkidney in the knobbly knees competition, despite surrendering some two decades to the dandy hipster.

I always end up leaving @15QueenStreet full of ideas and wanting more. There is a great deal of creative talent around these parts that is producing some fine work in isolation. The true social value however comes when the greater goal of collaboration comes along.

I came close to not cycling along the Wivenhoe Trail early one sunny morning for the first time some six months ago. I had boxes to unpack and a BT modern intwerweb network to set up. Taking my work offline and out into Sunny Colch has so far been a defining aspect of the Great Escape.

You could call it, um, co-operation, Comrades.

Published as part of the Hidden Kiosk Project.

A gloriously sunny Colchester lunchtime was the ideal setting for the latest launch of the Hidden Kiosk Project. Twenty-seven students from the Springboard course at the nearby Colchester Institute impressed the judges with their application to showcase their fine artwork in the local community.

The students study a pre-foundation course for adults with learning difficulties. As well as more traditional academic subjects being studied, art also plays a key element on this course.

As course tutor Janet explains in the podcast below, the students wanted to combine the community element in their course along with their artistic talents. The Hidden Kiosk was the perfect setting for this task.

This was a very special Colchester afternoon, with an impressive crowd coming along to the Hidden Kiosk to show their support. The students were thrilled when Cllr Sonia Lewis, Madam Mayor or of Colchester, very kindly accepted the invitation to formally open the art exhibition.

Planning for the occasion has also been a big part of the Hidden Kiosk Project for the students at the Institute. It was through their own initiative that they wrote and requested the company of Madam Mayor, as well as attracting support and publicity from our friends at BBC Radio Essex and The Gazette.

On a more practical level, the students have also been responsible for the physical preparation of the site to host the exhibition. Display boards have been made during woodwork lessons, and the interior design of the Kiosk is the work of the students as well.

Proudly on display down at the Kiosk until the end of the week is a mixture of traditional and contemporary art, as well as some examples of woodwork that the students have produced.

The launch day itself extended the artistic talents further. The gathering of well wishers were treated to a beautiful solo singing performance by one of the students, as well as a group collaboration effort, with an appearance of the Chinese Dragon that the students have produced.

The art exhibition may only be running for one week, but it is the memories and experience that will remain. This is a project that is all about being proud of the work created, and celebrating what it means to have more involvement within the local Colchester community. A selection of students explain what it means to have taken part in the videos below.

Many thanks to all the Springboard students @ColchesterInst for stepping forward and showcasing their fantastic artwork. A special thanks as well to Lee Pugh for acting as a wonderful mentor on this very special project. The support of Madam Mayor and the many family and friends of the students is also greatly appreciated.

Students from the Colchester Institute will be on site at the Hidden Kiosks until Friday 1st April. They are very keen for any locals to come down to the Kiosk and to learn more about their fine work.

Full flickr stream over here.

Thursday night is social night in Wivenhoe and the surrounds - or so it would seem, with an itinerary of entertainment that would stretch the imagination of even the most social of butterflies. Or even bored bloggers.

Blimey.

With the good folk of the May Fair Committee holding an open source meeting to plan for the merriment later in the year, the Funny Farm continuing its fine run of form up at the cricket club, and even Poetry Wivenhoe proving that there’s more to words at The Greyhound than simply ordering your next pint.

Oh - and to top it all, there was a Neighborhood Watch Meeting at the Town Council Offices.

The crazy world of rock ‘n roll, etc.

Spoilt for choice, and I took my social interests out of town. You scoundrel! You bounder!

Steady the buffers. I wasn’t turning my back on this fine parish, simply taking the 19:32 out of Wivenhoe Station for the monthly Creative in Colchester meetup at the ace @15QueenStreet.

As a social member, then I was keen to explore further the social elements of the ever-growing hub of connected locals centred around @15QueenStreet. Although this is most definitely *not* a mini-bar event, oh no Sireee, no, no, no… but I was rather hoping for some booze as well.

I wasn’t disappointed. On the creative front and it was great to catch up with @tinysketchbook, @15percentkidney, @coolcolchester, @madebysplendid, @LeePugh10, firstsiteHannah, ColchCircleMag, HESAIDtalent and not forgetting @Singyamatokun & creativecoop for making it all happen. Plus heads up to the top soulful tunes being spun by the rather cool CantCutCarwyn.

What is great about these events is the informality, which is then matched with a purpose. Sure, you socialise around the room and talk about collaboration and co-operation to help promote Colchester. But you need action to back all of this up.

Which is why shortly before 9pm, @marcde_ath called the crowd of creatives up to the board room for a couple of presentations and planning from some local folk operating out of Colchester.

First up we had the excellent @hiddendingbats. This is a collective in every true sense, with one half of the partnership firmly bedded down in Wivenhoe. Lauren and Phil are fresh design graduates out of the Colchester Institute. The way in which they promote their work enables them to come across as experienced pros.

Copyright: Hidden Dingbat Collective.

With a portfolio that already includes @firstsite, Colchester Free Festival and Wivenhoe’s very own Moving Image, the Dingbats are a collective that have firmly established themselves on the local design map.

What was wonderful to hear however was the plans for the next phase. We all need to pay the bills, and the Dingbats work incredibly hard to do this during the week. At the @15QueenStreet social though they outlined an ambitious plan to put in place genuine co-operation for Colchester based creatives.

The idea is to to stage a series of weekend camps @15QueenStreet. The Collective brings together anyone that can offer a skill - design, developers, networkers, video artists, audio specialists - even bloggers.

Blimey.

With no client to please outside of the working week, the team identifies a possible project, priority or even problem that has a local agenda. We then explore how our various skills can build a solution, be it digitally or using more traditional media.

It may lead to a commercial enterprise; it may simply lead to a fun way to spend the weekend with like-minded individuals who are working off the many hands mantra. With events such as the Colchester Free Festival almost coming on to the horizon once again, this seems like an ace way in which to move forward.

You can contact the Dingbats on twitter, or email them over here. No dates have yet to be set; no skills base or experience will be turned away. Beer and pizza will probably also be involved.

A round of applause in the boardroom, and then the floor was handed over to Black Box Press, to proudly showcase some of the beautiful books that the not for profit platform has been helping to put together over the past couple of years.

Having purchased a Risograph GR3770 printing machine, it was refreshing to hear how this more traditional approach to design and creativity totally overlooks the digital landscape.

This doesn’t mean that Black Box Press is living in the past - the online presence is still there. But there is recognition that design needn’t be digital, and judging by the order books, there is still definitely a market for this elegant way of spreading a message.

It reminded me very much have the iconic EP and album covers put out by Crass in the early ’80s. Part of the message is contained in the process of design and production, an operation in itself that is a labour of love.

Back downstairs in the non mini-bar, and the socialising carried on. Keeping with the not for profit theme, I handed over a bottle of Wivenhoe Sloe Gin to help liven up the spirits. I couldn’t wait to get rid of the rank concoction to be honest.

I had a great catch up with @firstsitehannah over the progress of the flagship arts space for the east of England - it was all very encouraging. The Colchester Circle magazine folk were on fine form and full of ideas for the town. I even managed a rather tired and emotional (apologies) conversation with the inspiration behind walkies. Oh - and an ace idea from @creativecoop to help promote the Wivenhoe Forum at the May Fair.

So yeah - I may have missed out on the #hyperlocal Wivenhoe action for the evening, but a quick trip into town filled me with enthusiasm to hopefully put ideas into place back at base.

Many, many thanks to all @15QueenStreet for being so encouraging and supportive as I find my feet in my new patch. This is an incredibly welcoming crowd, genuinely keen to collaborate and exchange ideas with other locals keen to promote all that is good in Colchester.

The next Creative in Colchester meet up is on 31st March. Best start bottling that sloe gin.

Chin chin.

This piece was first published in the brilliant Colchester 101 magazine. Copies are available for free around pubs, shops and other public places in the town.

Welcome to Colchester: Britain’s Newest City - nope, it’s not working for me either. For all the jokes about Britain’s Oldest Recorded Town, Colchester has an incredibly proud history that we need to not only celebrate, but also use as a springboard to build upon. Being sucked into becoming a sterile new city shouldn’t be part of this process.

Debate is growing around the town over a bid for Colchester to take on a city status. As part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations to mark the Queen’s 60th anniversary on the throne, Her Majesty is keen for a new city to emerge in 2013. It’s part of a growing populist trend to assimilate micro local history into a nationwide identikit sterile appearance. We built this town on Roman records, not on rock ‘n roll, yer Maj.

Colchester Borough Council has confirmed that it is “looking into” the city status bid; Destination Colchester is already talking of a survey to see what the good people of the town think about becoming a metropolis. And that really is where the debate is centred. City status probably won’t change your day-to-day life. The High Street will continue to evolve; trains out of North Station will still be *ahem* occasionally delayed and Colchester United sadly won’t be playing in the Champions’ League anytime soon.

What will happen with a city status however is the perception of Colchester, both from within and wider afield. A city mentality takes away all that is good about the local environment. Townsfolk have civic pride; city dwellers start to become postcode property snobs. Colchester is an amazing town as it is. We don’t need to be told that we are officially a city in order to have ambitions above our size.

Ah, but you’ve got to think outside of this small town mentality, the cynics will no doubt say. The cynics are also usually the folk who work within PR or advertising, and think nothing of feeding off the London economy, rather than keeping local Colchester industry afloat.

A town has personality - a city soon becomes anonymous. Should we really accelerate growth at such a pace, simply to shop dress the city branding? Celebrating what Colchester can offer to people looking to escape the city, seems more acceptable to me.

For all the folly of Britain’s Oldest Recorded Town, Colchester Zoo or even the crazed traffic islands - these are all unique to Colchester. Think then of Highwoods Country Park, the University, the emerging Cultural Quarter, theArts Centre, firstsite - even Blur, Jay Kay and dear old Darren Day. We don’t need to measure our status to create what is great about Colchester. Never mind the length – feel the thickness. Keeping it local allows the town to grow organically, without the PR boost of being dubbed a city.

The esteemed civic leaders of our town should be allowed to indulge in the chest beating PR circuit, but please don’t take it all too seriously. It’s nothing but putting your name out there and pimping out your past. It’s the Town Hall equivalent of writing your profile for an online dating site and then being slightly economical with the truth: Mature town with good connections would like to sell its soul and be shafted by someone from outside the area. Safe, um, cities only please.

Sure, we should play along with this beauty contest of a bidding process. It’s all about raising the profile and creating a buzz about Colchester. But the town has so much more to offer than simply calling itself Britain’s Newest City. Be careful what you wish for. Colchester City FC just sounds silly anyway.

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…

I tell you what - it’s all kicking off at the railway station car park this Sunday. As if the bonkers (but brilliant) the Hounds of Wivenhoe photo shoot wasn’t enough to drag you away from the Archers omnibus, then how about the arrival of the Art Bus right outside the station entrance?

“The Art Stop Bus is coming to Wivenhoe Railway Station on Sunday 19th December 11am - 3pm. A free event for all the family to make Christmas decorations, led by Alison Stockmaar and other artists to stock our station with wonderful artwork and words for 2011.

This is an Off the Rails Wivenhoe event, sponsored by Firstsite and National Express.”

How absolutely ACE. This is a wonderful example of how the good folk of @firstsite are actually taking art out into the Essex community, with close involvement from local Wivenhoe artists as well.

Alison was heavily involved with the Wivenhoe Christmas Presence event around the town. Her input on Sunday will involve “artist-led workshops for little elves – make one, leave one.”

More information is available on the Off the Rails website.

Chin chin, choo choo.