With spare land being at such a premium around Wivenhoe, it is with a tremendous amount of shame that the developer that owns the small plot at the base of 58 Queens Road allows it to remain in ruin.
Both requests weren’t rejected - they weren’t even replied to: Shame upon the developer.
The economy may be buggered, but community spirit certainly isn’t. Avoiding the phrase *shhh* Big Society, but isn’t this is what is meant when we are told that we are all in this together?
QRRA isn’t after permanent possession of the small plot - simply temporary access to make the space more sustainable and attractive until funds are in place to build upon the development.
You only need to look across to the splendour of the Station Master’s Garden to see what can be achieved with genuine community co-operation. TTW is now in its second year of voluntarily attending and growing produce around the small patch.
The previous empty space harvests a considerable crop each summer. Commuters are rewarded for persisting with the pain that is a NXEA commute with free random offerings of fruit and veg, whenever it becomes available.
Meanwhile up at Queens Road and the space is starting to look like an eyesore. The AGM of the QRRA takes place this weekend, very kindly hosted in a private garden of one of the residents. How charming it would have been if the barren patch of land could have been cleaned up and used.
And developers wonder why so many locals view their motives with such cynicism…?
Having had the good fortune to inherit a mature, manageable garden just under a year ago, it is only now that @AnnaJCowen and I are starting to see the benefits of Wivenhoe in bloom.
Even a lost cabbage palm tree over the course of the severe estuary winter has provided some mid-summer joy. Half a dozen seedlings are now starting to emerge from the roots of the original. Mother nature is rather forgiving when it comes to bad gardeners.
Our plan all along was to try and encourage the existing garden, as well as to attempt to grow a secondary kitchen garden in the small extra space that is available.
Spring seeds were swapped with the good folk of Transition Town Wivenhoe back at the Farmer’s Market in March. We were rather reckless in our potting, forgetting that many great things grow from little seeds.
Being blessed with a conservatory that doubles up as a greenhouse has certainly helped. It’s also rather artistic apparently - the current Over the Sofa exhibition at the Wivenhoe Bookshop features prominently… my kitchen.
Cripes.
The joyous early summer estuary climes soon got to work. We are now fighting back the green shoots, both indoors and out as the various vegetables start to deliver.
Courgettes are growing out of our ears (and elsewhere.) The tomatoes are still green, but I fear that a freezer load of tomato goulash is going to be the only option to deal with the excess.
Peppers have slowly started to appear, along with the late developer that is the beetroot boys. I swear I saw an aubergine the other morning, although it just might have been my courgette addled brain taking over.
Keeping with the TTW ethos of share and share alike, tomatoes and courgettes have been handed out to family and friends. In return we received the most delightful bag of cherries from over the garden fence - thank you!
The decking that doubles up as a makeshift Death Row of all that was once green, great and good is even starting to come back to life. And here was me thinking that it was all about the daffs.
Anyone know what size is the largest courgette ever grown in Wivenhoe? I’ve got an absolute beauty that will bring tears to your eyes. Best enjoy it now Madam, whilst it is still ripe.
A weekend downpour of Biblical proportions, which can only mean that it’s time for the summer publication of Wivenhoe News.
Blimey.
Sea Defences Saga Flows On is the lead story.
See what they’ve done there?
“There has been much anger and dismay caused by the stripping of vegetation from the seawalls in Wivenhoe alongside our tidal river, both downstream and upstream from the flood barrier.”
The bad science justification that was bungled out by the Environment Agency is also re-published, as is a very kind plug for *cough* the Wivenhoe Forum thread.
What’s new here is the offer by the Natural England - the spineless body that rubber stamped the destruction - to re-plant 5,000 “compensatory trees” - you break our legs and we say thank you when you offer us crutches.
Eight hundred and fifty have been put aside for the North Essex estuary. Don’t go getting your digging spades out just yet, Comrades:
“In the Colne Estuary they [Natural England] have provided 850 small tress to Brightlingsea Town Council for a site to the east of the town.”
If you stand at White House Beach on a clear estuary morning, and then squint out over the water with one eye closed, you may just be able to see the benefits of the trees bestowed upon our beloved Brothers in Brightlingsea.
Cheers.
No worries. What we need is a smiling picture of a lovely local lady to add some cheer to the sea defence doom:
“Workers of Wivenhoe - Shelia Scammell, Lollipop Lady.”
Lovely.
Wivenhoe May Fair 2011 gets the p.2 treatment, in something of an after the Lord Mayor’s Show airing. Time to move on, time to plan and time to restore May Fair as a community event for 2012.
Speaking of Mayor’s, Cllr Sinclair is captured in one of his final acts of civic duty in what has been a busy year. The Guide’s Wedding Party is all part of wearing the Wivenhoe civic chains.
But it’s not all about the Brownies or Girl Guides. On a more serious note, there is a plea on p.2 for a new Scout Leader for Wivenhoe:
“Let’s not beat about the bush: twenty youngsters, full of energy and enthusiasm [and then some] raring to take up the opportunity offered by the Scouting movement.”
This is a BIG role that really needs filling. The Wivenhoe News editorial on p.3 plays with similar themes:
“Off the Rails seems to be looking for pretty much a whole new team, the Wivenhoe Society is limping along with no Secretary and a very small committee, the WEA has been without a Chair for a year and is about to lose its Secretary.
One of the things that you often here in praise of Wivenhoe is ‘there’s so much going on here.’ Well folks - things only happen because people organise them.”
Wise word, but maybe it is a reflection of the work / life balance? There are only so many hours in the day and bills still need to be paid. It’s no secret that I have had to severely cut back on my out of hour’s unpaid activity of late.
On a more lighter note and any news article that contains the phrase: “superb French folk music, played on hurdy-gurdies [geddin there!] and bagpipes” has to be a winner. The Town Meets Gown event gets a mention on p.3.
Dr Philippa Hawley and Halcyon Palmer pen a simply superb local historical account on the various Wivenhoe surgeries dating back over the past Century. It is apt timing, what with the STOP / START / STOP farce of the new Wivenhoe surgery by the Fire Station continuing to stall.
I’m not going to re-publish any of the copy here - this article is worthy of your purchase of Wivenhoe News alone. More of the same please.
The Two Ronnies of Wivenhoe local politics, Cyril Liddy and Dave Purdey, are given the It’s Goodbye From Me, and It’s Goodbye From Him headline.
With sixteen and eight years respectively serving as unpaid Town Councillors, both Cyril and Dave are rightfully given a short column to say a fond farewell.
Of sorts…
Along with Sheila Scammell and her lovely Lollipop Lady tales on p.8, Alison Kent also carries an ACE interview with Ray the Rubbish, the retiring litter picker of Wivenhoe:
“I think you should try to keep the front of your property clean, like the old days. Have pride in where you live.”
Hear, hear.
I didn’t realise that the job was only fourteen hours a week - Ray has seemed to be ever-present during my short stay here. Good luck to James, Ray’s replacement.
Aquatic matters are the concern on p.11. Lifeboat Week gets a deserved plug, as does the Wivenhoe branch of the Royal British Legion:
“Remembrance is a very large part of the Legion’s ethos. Those who attend the Legion Wednesday evenings will know that those who have given their lives in Afghanistan and other places in the service of their nation are individually remembered.”
The building fund for the Legion has been boosted by a donation of over £2,000 from the Boxing Day walk staged by WORC. £690 was also raised at the ACE fireworks display. October 29th is already in the calendar for one of the best nights that Wivenhoe is able to offer.
Next door but one at The Nottage and there is a plug for Water Marks - the Summer Exhibition, featuring local artists Alison Stockmarr, Barbara Peirson and Pru Green.
The exhibition is open on Sundays from 2pm - 5pm until 11th September, and on Regatta Day on 23rd July. It is VERY good. There’s a blog post already being lined up…
Speaking of the Regatta, Wivenhoe News reports:
“There will be the usual wacky races and about thirty stalls and a brass band. The pram race will take place on 22nd July.”
Wivenhoe Youth Hub continues to grow and develop new ideas and partnerships. Page 12 updates with reports on the gig at the Philip Road Centre by local band Rising Soul, a go-karting event organised with Brightlingsea’s 4Youth (reckon we got the better name…) as well as the ACEarchery and rowing evening.
What is rather humbling about The Hub is that those involved offer so much more back into the community. There was a considerable presence at the WivSoc riverbank clean up, help offered at May Fair, as well as support for the Crabbing Competition next month down by the Quay.
Likewise good news coming out of the ADP Theatre School:
“Angie Diggens has booked the Colchester Charter Hall for a show with her Wivenhoe students, combining the best of her last two shows at Clacton.”
Saturday 25th June at 7:30pm, £12 a ticket, details on 282020.
Helen Chambers writes a review of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society production of Oklahoma! at the Loveless Hall:
“The singing was faultless, the whole cast strong and talented.”
And keeping with the Wivenhoe artistic feel, Andy Brooke writes a well-deserved homage to Moving Image:
“It’s great to see people you know in the audience and have a genuine community atmosphere, rather than renting a DVD at home.”
Further details of the Moving Image summer schedule are up on m’blog over here.
The rock ‘n roll rollicking rollercoaster ride that is Radio Wivenhoe (blimey) get a plug on p.14, as does a call for “journalists, bloggers and poets” for Off the Rails. The Wivenhoe Poetry Prize looks forward to the 2011 results as part of the poetrywivenhoe evening at The Greyhound on the 23rd June. Meanwhile a new University of the Third Age art group is starting at the Loveless Hall on 14th September.
All ‘appening - all ‘appening I tell ya.
The good folk of Wivenhoe Bookshop have an entire page to plug future activity, such is the depth of the programme that is on offer. Too much to condense into a throwaway blog paragraph - my suggestion would be to head to the Bookshop for a perusal and a polite chat.
Open Gardens on p.16 is caught between the publishing deadline and the sheer splendour that was the most splendid event this spring. It remains the highlight to date of My Year in Wivenhoe - wonderful, wonderful community spirit and pleasure.
Keeping it green fingered and Wivenhoe Bloom explain a little more about the brilliant use of dead space on the Wivenhoe Triangle that is overlooked by the Co-op, the opticians and Jardine:
“The site belongs to Highways - it’s classed as a verge - but WTC has a licence to plant. Jardine has contributed a very generous donation of £250 towards the cost of materials and plants.”
I have no shame in plugging local businesses that put something back into the community. An excellent gesture and kind contribution, Cristian. Jolly good work, Jardine.
The Parish Paths Partnership column penned by Helen Evans on p.16 puffs out a huge PHEW after finding out that Essex County Council continues to support the hyperlocal initiative.
Three Wivenhoe rights of way have been worked on by P3 to day: the side of Broomgrove Schools, the back of the houses in Broome Grove and the path along the top of the sea wall - you might have already heard about the latter…
So successful is the Wivenhoe P3 project that the group has now become a roving project. It is the A-Team of parish paths partnerships. If you have a problem with some overgrown bramble around the North Essex estuary, this crack team of cleaners should be first on your To Call list.
Cripes.
The joyous news coming out of p.17 and the WAGA update is:
“Spring is finally here.”
Hurrah!
Mayor Needham (woh!) explains more about the recent Beating the Bounds walk around Wivenhoe:
“The tradition of beating the bounds came from a time when no one, except the rich, could leave the parish without permission. It was a method of ensuring that local youngsters knew the limits of their parish.
It involved choir boys, the Parish Clerk and clergymen, leaving from the church armed with wands or sticks.”
Splendid. Soft lot, nowadays. The tradition was restored on 5th June this year. No young child was hurt in reviving this most excellent local tradition.
Wivenhoe bird watcher supreme Richard Allen explains very helpfully the difference between swifts, swallows and martins on p.18. Recent local sightings include:
“Nightingales have arrived in good numbers with a particularly vocal bird near the railway underpass along the Trail. Butterflies have enjoyed the good early weather.”
The ever-observant @AnnaJCowen (blimey) has also spotted a Jay along the Trail.
It all gets rather saucy at the foot of p.18 with Spoons, Spurtles and Spatulas.
Oh Lordy.
“Members of the Wivenhoe Woods Working Party recently attended a day’s course in green woodworking. Instruction was given on how to turn wood on a pole lathe and make spoons and other utensils using knives and a shave horse.”
Phew.
A Personal View of Transition Town Wivenhoe by the good Bob Mehew on p.19:
“I considered Wivenhoe a good place for a Transition Town: strong community spirit; a great awareness of climate change, environmental and sustainability issues; a willingness to get involved, to learn, to educate, to participate.”
TTW continues to grow and innovate. Wivenhoe is all the better for it.
The Wivenhoe Townscape Forum (*not* the Wivenhoe Forum…) gets a deserved article on p. 19:
“There is much in Wivenhoe of historic interest. There are 73 buildings in the town which are included in the English Heritage list of buildings of national interest.
The local list of historic assets is being carried out with the support of WTC and WivSoc, in order to list some of the best historical features of Wivenhoe which have not yet been recognised so that they do not become forgotten in the huge amount of new building and development.”
Bill Ellis writes a brilliant personal account of life at Cook’s Shipyard when the order books were full, with comparisons of the modern day site. Photos of the new jetty accompany this on p.22.
We return to the seawall clearance on p.24 with Peter Kennedy, the esteemed Editor of Wivenhoe News, explaining the depth of debate that this has delivered:
“We have received many pages of emails and submissions, and I shall attempt some sort of overview.”
A summary of comments and complaints follow. The consensus is that the Environment Agency has been crap at communication.
Fine work then from Wivenhoe News, which has put some direct Q’s to the EA, and received some rather direct answers:
“Q: Were any badgers found during the Wivenhoe work?
A: No - there were no badgers found for the Wivenhoe work.
Q: Are any of the proposed sites for compensatory replanting located in the Wivenhoe area?
A: No. Wivenhoe Marsh has found to be unsuitable.”
That’s what happens when you rip the entire natural habitat out, fellas.
Whoops.
The Surgery Saga Grinds On is the p.25 message from Bernard Jenkin, MP. Nothing to do with your national coalition NHS policy, I trust, Sir?
To be fair to the MP for Harwich and North Essex, our Conservative colleague airs a sense of frustration over the continued delay:
“The Government’s decision to review its health legislation raises the immediate concern that the new Wivenhoe GP surgery will be beset by even more uncertainty. There is no case for this. There is no excuse for further delays, and I have made this clear to the CE of the PCT.”
Speaking of the impact of coalition policies on a hyperlocal level, p.26 explains more about the £9k (!!!!) tuition fees that @Uni_of_Essex proposes to introduce.
Some PR fluff from the University is then re-printed. Twenty-one summers ago and I was fishing around for a University place. £9k (or the inflationary equivalent) would have put me off considerably. I wouldn’t have heard of Wivenhoe. I wouldn’t have moved here.
Oh how fickle is the Invisible Hand that pushes and prongs us through the life’s great adventures.
Blimey.
Town and Gown fiscal relations are restored with news of the £2,200 raised at November’s dinner at the Nottage, and now handed over as a bursary to five grateful local Wivenhoe students.
Broomgrove Infants updates on p.28 with reports of the Royal Wedding celebrations; Broomgrove Juniors explain more about the Outside / In project with Slack Space in Colchester.
Celebrations also at Millfields - a fond farewell to Angela Eglington after twenty-five years of teaching, as well as the school’s very own 30th birthday.
WivSoc rightfully reflects on the success of the riverbank clean up, with seventy volunteers stepping forward to help clean up the Colne. The sad winding up of the Wivenhoe Youth Theatre is lamented, with more positive news coming from the Colne School Choir’s recent performance in Wivenhoe.
Councillor Sinclair reflects upon his past year of civic service wearing the gold chain on p.30:
“I would have like to have seen a healthy election this year as we are entitled to 13 Councillors. Sadly there were only eleven candidates, hence no WTC election.”
Plus:
“A planning application has been lodged to demolish the St John Ambulance Hall for replacement with a privately owned project. I am part of a project to save the building. A group of people have come together, with funds, to keep it as a usable community facility.”
Mayor Needham writes on p.30 about the challenges that lay ahead for his administration:
“The proposed medical centre, a future for the former police station; reaching a satisfactory conclusion to the planning gains associated with the Cook’s Yard development and keeping an eye on the gains that maybe derived from any further development.”
The local politicos were caught cold ahead of publication deadlines. Columns from Essex County Councillor Julie Young, Colchester Borough Councillors Steve Ford and Mark Cory, were all penned before the re-election of the latter two.
Great fun to watch from the sidelines, mind.
On the sporting front and Wivenhoe Tennis Club has a call for new members; Andrew Nightingale, the Chair of the Wivenhoe and District Sporting Facilities Trust is also asking for help - financial help - for Broad Lane. Anymore updates on the mystery Mr X and his millions?
And to finish on some hyperlocal happiness - Wivenhoe Helping Hands publishes a rather humble piece, explaining more about the volunteer work of this organisation and how it is genuinely helping folk around the town.
Wivenhoe News is sold at the Co-op, Crossways, the Post Office, Bryans Newsagents and the lovely Wivenhoe Bookshop.
OK, Comrades - so here’s the calling card to signify that THEbiggest weekend is almost upon us. I have some grubby fivers stashed away in the arse end of my jeans, a fridge full of Special Brew (blimey) and a weekend away ticket back to the mean streets of South London.
Only joking.
There is something of a mini May Fair fringe weekend, dahhhling, becoming established around Wivenhoe this year. Wilds horses wouldn’t keep me away - or even pneumonia, as is the case for a close friend that is coming to recuperate from a recent run of ill health by taking part in the Wivenhoe Run.
Good luck, fella.
But why wait until Bank Holiday Monday for all the madness to begin? The May Fair Fringe (NOT a haircut and NOT a phrase that you would be wise to repeat at The Station come closing time) starts on Thursday.
Where can you look for the highest cultural delights that can be found within Wivenhoe during a weekend when the whole town looks likely to fall over before the Bank Holiday comes crashing down?
How about some poetry?
Cripes.
Poetry Wivenhoe (or is it poetry wivenhoe, poetrywivenhoe or even poetrywivenhoe? These literary adjustments matter to the wordsmiths, apparently…) are putting on The Joy of Six.
I’ll ‘av a bit of that, thank you very much.
“The Joy of Six offer much more than a traditional poetry reading. Their vibrant multivoice performances blend five very different voices and styles into a seamless, unpredictable whole. Their style has been likened to a great jazz quintet, only with voices.”
Upstairs at The Greyhound, and another grubby fiver on the door should gain you entry on Thursday evening from 8pm.
The good folk of the Bookshop are staging the second of their Unplugged nights on Friday. This doesn’t mean a book reading with no words, but a very, very intimate acoustic performance in the back room across the sofa.
Hot Club / Tub Gitane will be performing, ahead of an appearance at the May Fair itself on the Sunrise Stage:
“The extraordinary Hot Club Gitane are purveyors of Manouche Jazz (Gypsy Jazz), and play an intriguing melange of Hot Club de Paris swing (Django / Grappelli) and French / German cafe standards of the 1930s / 1940s (Edith Piaf / Marlene Dietrich).”
Smells Like Teen spirit ropey covers probably aren’t included in the set. My sources tell me that only a few tickets are remaining, on sale at the Bookshop for the bargain price of a fiver.
But it’s not all about Gypsy Jazz.
Phew - Rock’n Roll and all that, which brings us nicely to Saturday evening and the Moving Image screening of The Runnaways. Billed as “an in-your-face look at teenage life and the rock scene in the 1970′s” - the setting of the Philip Road Centre seems perfect.
Essentially the story of Joan Jett, expect sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. But probably not on the back row of the Philip Road Centre.
Assuming that the pneumatic friend is still standing, then it’s time to sit down once again on Sunday afternoon. Moving Image is staging a double bill, a feat in itself that requires stamina of epic rock ‘n roll proportions.
Separado! and Oil City Confidential are being screened, in a carefully thought out mini May Fair season of films that seems to fit the mood perfectly.
But sometimes you just need to get back to the music, man. Which is why I plan to shoot off down The Station (steady) sometime on Sunday evening to catch the very good Mr Mule and friends performing some Beatles covers.
Ace.
“There is a Beatle-ish gig at The Station Hotel, night before the May Fair. Probably about 8 to 8.30. I must point out here, that this is not MY band per se. It’s a fun occasional project. There are five of us, Roddy, Darryl, Dan, Phil and me. What we do, as we did for one night only last Christmas, is to try and recreate about 20 Beatle songs, from the entire canon, 1963 -1969, as accurately as we can.”
Well shake it on baby now, etc.
Which all leaves the rather minor event of May Fair itself on Monday. The line-up of local artists is impressive. Ady Johnson is the rising star of the Sunny Colch circuit. The former Fuzzface singer looks set for wider recognition, and so now is a good time to catch him in Wivenhoe.
CAV OK are a little more than OK, and Housework are a damn hard working and tight funk rock band. Local lad Lou Terry on the Sunrise Stage should also be put aside as a time to take it easy on the Special Brew and appreciate this incredibly special local talent.
The Open Mic stage is brought to you by the same good folk who have made such a success of late of the Open Mic nights down at the Black Buoy. Any local performers wanting to do a turn (oooh) should sign up from midday when the stage opens.
Stalls of course will be aplenty. Some will be selling ethical, worthy and rather worthless tat, but hey - it’s got to be better than a burger van. Some will be selling wonderful local Wivenhoe produce and deserve your loose change (helloooWivenhoe in Bloom.)
Others will be selling booze. You should pitch yer tent up here.
If you still want more (more? MORE?) then I’m sure you can navigate your way around to the back door entrances of the well know watering holes around Wivenhoe. I’ve been told that many will have a local’s only policy later in the evening - which may make it a little inbred, but yeah, I’m up for that as well.
And so that’s the Wivenhoe May Fair fringe weekend. If pulling a sickie at 7am on Tuesday morning is required, consider coming down to the KGV at 10am to help out with the clean up.
To the Congregational Hall on Saturday morning for the monthly Wivenhoe Farmer’s Market. The musty smell inside sums up village halls, as the not so fragrant @AnnaJCowen remarked to me. No worries - I rather like the aroma of history giving you a sense of nasal perspective.
For those not wanting some eau de Congregational Hall, thankfully most of the stalls were situated outside. Early summer is upon us and now is the time to bask in the great outdoors and stock up on all that winter veg.
The lovely, lovely herb man (steady) was incredibly helpful as ever, advising us on some rocket action back at base. If we’re not dining out on fine rocket and parmesan salad by the end of the week, then there will be a rocket around these parts heading perhaps where it shouldn’t.
The Colne Soap Makers (seriously) were equally charming. I took advantage of the local produce and stocked up the for the bathroom cabinet. The girl surprisingly scrubs up rather well.
Transition Town Wivenhoe were once again offering the seed swap service, as well as many other green and great activities. I’m pleased to report that rocket aside, our own seeds sourced at the last Farmer’s Market from TTW have transformed the garden. Give it another month and I’ll have courgettes that will make middle-aged ladies lustful.
It was slightly disappointing not to find the farmer’s basics of fruit and veg indoors at the Congregational Hall. Only tomatoes were added to the basket. No worries - Mr Irish Soda Bread Man very kindly made up for the oversight; a trip down to Cansdale and Ross soon put us right with our five a day.
The next Wivenhoe Farmer’s Market takes place on Saturday 18th June in the Congregational Hall. To rent a stall, call 01206 367776, or to volunteer help, call 01206 826226.
With less than two weeks to go now before May Fair weekend, you can almost hear the bells ringing from St Mary’s to signal the hangover from hell as the big day (and morning after) approaches.
You can also see how Moving Image has put together a well themed mini May Fair fest of films to coincide with the Whitsun Bank Holiday hangover in the making over at the KGV.
It would have been so easy to play to the gallery and screen any old muso or festival film - but nope, Wivenhoe’s independent community cinema has very cleverly come up with a bill to match the Essex occasion.
The Runaways will be screened at the Philip Road Centre on Saturday 28th May:
“An in-your-face look at teenage life and the rock scene in the 1970′s starring Kirsten Stewart as the original riot grrrl Joan Jett. The movie serves up a sex’n'drugs’n'rock’n'roll biopic of The Runaways and their foul-mouthed Svengali, Kim Fowley.”
OK, so The Runaways may not have Made in Essex running through the celluloid, but I like to think that it captures something of the mood around these parts.
With the final portaloo hopefully having been put in place at the KGV on Sunday afternoon (it’s a dirty job…) then there should be enough time to relax ahead of all the May Day madness with a double bill at the Phillip Road centre once again:
“The first of Sunday’s fabulous double-bill is the wild and wacky Separado, a psychedelic-Welsh-Patagonian-road-music-movie with Super Furry Animals Gruff Rhyss almost out-Booshing the Boosh in this enjoyably quirky and thoroughly engaging music experience.
It follows his South American quest in search of Rene Griffiths, an obscure 1960s pop star who sang Welsh ballads in the style of an Argentinean cowboy.”
And then keeping it Essex and concluding the mini May Fair fest, Oil City Confidential will send you to bed on Sunday evening with an Essex boy wide smile on your face ahead of the fun and frolics to come:
“Julian Temple’s film about the world’s greatest local band, Dr Feelgood, reminds you why you love music and Essex equally. Fictional archive footage, stunning photography and beautifully composed interviews.”
Moving Image is selling a bargain price £8 ticket to cover the weekend. There will also be input from the independent community cinema on May Fair day itself, with a collaboration with Transition Town Wivenhoe and the Revolutionary Pedal Powered Cinema.
Now then - I did hear a Wivenhoe whisper that keeping with the May Fair themed run of films, The Man Who Fell to Earth and Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence may have a secret showing ahead of the *shhh* very special guest appearance come May Fair Monday…?
Anyone wanting to witness the growing cycling community around Colchester could have seen evidence of the current boom in bicycles at the Green Fair staged at the University this week. With the broad aim of promoting the University’s Sustainable Travel Strategy, many friends and groups across Colchester came together to promote a more sustainable lifestyle around the campus.
Transition Town Wivenhoe had a very strong and visual presence. The striking drop handlebar tandem may have been the source for much cycle envy, but it was also the powerhouse for the Revolutionary Pedal Powered Cinema. The local sustainable group were powering up a Playstation in Square 5, as well as rolling out later in the evening with a film premier around the Lakes.
Our friends Andrew and Emily from the Colchester Travel Club were also represented, helping out students and staff with local cycling maps, as well as being at hand to talk about anything and everything that involves cycling around Colchester. Which sounded like the perfect opportunity to pitch for a podcast…
Our Keep Colchester Cycling partners Re-Cycle were staging a successful cycle sale. Based down just off East Street, Re-Cycle’s main mission is to collect secondhand bicycles and ship them to Africa. On a more #hyperlocal level and the organisation is very kindly working with Keep Colchester Cycling in providing our fleet of hire bikes.
Cycle UK was also holding a sale, with a healthy level of competition with our friends from Re-Cycle. Seven beautiful Dutch town bikes had been bought by lunchtime. Expect heads to turn around campus over the coming weeks.
Other events included the University’s very own Cycle Watch tagging bikes with a micro chip shuttlecock (blimey!) updates on the Cycle to Work Scheme and general bike mechanics also on offer.
All of this activity left us thinking that cycling certainly has a future on campus and around Colchester in general. It wasn’t simply the range of cycle related groups that was encouraging, but the conversations and co-operation between partners that was to be applauded.
Now then - who wants to build a Dutch style tandem?
“The Lakes at The University of Essex will be transformed into a giant outdoor cinema on 4th May to host a free, UK premier of Home, the internationally acclaimed film from Earth From the Air’s Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The Film will start at 8:30pm.
The event is a collaboration between the grass roots group Transition Town Wivenhoe, Essex University and the Student Union Environmental Committee.”
TTW’s use of pedal power to offer free films around the area is now firmly established. With a Halloween screening of Ghostbusters down at Wivenhoe Quay, and a recent showing of The Incredibles outside The Station pub, the local sustainability group has plenty of expertise in powering up generators with pedals.
The group will also be powering a performance of local films at the Wivenhoe May Fair, as well as hopefully being able to screen a series of of films at the Colchester Free Festival later this summer.
The technology required is really quite simple. Workshops have been staged in the town to try and encourage pedal power as a sustainable form of generating local energy.
The Green Fair itself will run from 10am - 2pm, taking place in Square 5 on campus. We are pleased that our Keep Colchester Cycling partners Re-Cycle will also have a presence on the day.
The University is well served by public transport, but of course the best way to reach Wivenhoe Park is by bicycle. There is ample cycling parking provision on campus. Volunteers to help power the Revolutionary Pedal Powered Cinema will be most welcome.
It’s been a while since I’ve been to Moving Image, Wivenhoe’s very own independent community cinema. Nothing sinister, simply the domestic responsibility of trying to re-house a very scared little cat, and the constant reassuring that the big bad cat at the bottom of the garden isn’t going to gobble her up.
There’s a film to be made out of that, donnchta know…
But anyway, come Saturday evening and we were Philip Road bound to give the beastly multiplexes of North Essex a run for their money.
“Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their birth father into their family life.”
Blimey.
The film itself was, um, alright, although I can’t but help think that the film title was conceived ahead of the plot. I was rather hoping for an early 70′s British film about yoof growing up in a bleak landscape, all soundtracked by The Who.
As for Philip Road?
Well… this was our first trip to the Centre during daylight hours. The good folk of Moving Image had put up various blackout cloths, reducing the glow of the late evening sun, but not quite pitch darkness.
It all added to something of a community feel - you could actually see who you were sitting next to, and y’know, should you feel that way inclined sitting on the back row of your local independent community cinema on a Saturday night, then at least you knew what you were letting yourself in for.
I was sitting next to @AnnaJCowen; I sat back and enjoyed the film.
Moving Image has put together yet another impressive season of films as we approach mid-summer: 127 Hours, Chico and Rita, Black Swan and Wimpy Kid.
Speaking of which - TTW will be up at the University for the Green Fair this coming Wednesday:
“The Lakes at The University of Essex will be transformed into a giant outdoor cinema on 4th May to host a free, UK premier of Home, the internationally acclaimed film from Earth From the Air’s Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The Film will start at 8:30pm.
The event is a collaboration between the grass roots group Transition Town Wivenhoe, Essex University and the Student Union Environmental Committee.”
So yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve been to Moving Image, but the beastly multiplexes of North Essex have nothing on the Philip Road Centre, the KGV, the University Lakes etc.
You may remember how the excuse of protecting the sea wall from burrowing rabbits (nope - me neither) was put up as the justification for the savage destruction of our beautiful local walkways. Strange then that the diggers left in place the roots of the rosehips, blackberry and hawthorn bushes.
Unlike the Environment Agency, Mother Nature has all the answers when it comes to the natural way of protecting our environmental heritage. A Mediterranean month of April in Wivenhoe (steady) and the first signs are starting to show of re-growth along the walkway past the Sailing Club and out towards the Creek.
Even the manufactured marshland - the mess made by the digger’s caterpillar tyres - is starting to heal. No sign of re-growth here, but at least the mud has hardened and looks slightly more pleasant on the eye.
Heading back in the opposite direction towards the Hythe, and it is a similar celebratory spring story along the Wivenhoe Trail. The Environment Agency decided to butcher the bushes all the way down to the University Quays accommodation, leaving a very exposed and bleak landscape.
Now I’m not great identifier of all that is good and green (um, it’s grass, isn’t it?) but some rather charming weeds with white flowers are now lining either side of the Trail out of the wooded area, three, four deep, greeting you as though you are Royalty as you cycle along.
Which is some ways, Comrades, we all are, of course.
The next challenge is to make sure that the Environment Agency isn’t given the opportunity to devastate our landscape with such ease ever again. A formal letter of warning (and it was a bloody warning) was sent to Wivenhoe Town Council last August, ahead of the vandalism.
This was slept on, with the diggers surprising councillors, and locals, with the unannounced speed of the devastation some six months later. I like to think that having seen the reaction to the folly of this mass enforced policy, Wivenhoe won’t give the diggers such an easy ride, should they return around these parts once again.
Now then - keep it a secret, but *shhh* - I’ve found a supply of hawthorns that should be ripe with rosehips in six months time. Don’t tell the Environment Agency; do tell however those nice folk from Transition Town Wivenhoe who are putting together a Free Fruit Map of the area.
Kate the Kayak Wannabe: I’m inspired. Am currently in the process of buying a Kayak, probably from aforementioned shoppe outside Clactonia, and launching off from Wiv for the first time. How...
