To the William Loveless Hall! …late afternoon on Sunday for a back to the future wander around John Stewart’s most excellent Wivenhoe Memories exhibition. I firmly believe in connecting the past with the present, in order to see where future perspectives may lie.
This philosophy may sound like some Third Way political twaddle rhetoric, but for me it means looking around you, seeing what is left from the past, and then thinking of ways to move forward and preserve all that is good from what has gone before.
I never did get to fulfil those Third Way political twaddle ambitions…
But anyway - Wivenhoe Memories:
Many folk around the town will be familiar with John and the amazing local artefacts that he managed to amass as a Wivenhoe labour of love. This love also extends to many private collectors, who recognise the importance of John’s desire to share these memories each year at the Loveless Hall.
All four sides of the Loveless Hall were lovingly filled with original photographs, maps, deeds and even items of clothing. The badminton court was also taken up with personal scrapbooks and reading material, all related to Wivenhoe local matters.
Many themes and strands started to emerge as I made my way around each display board. Booze figured highly. You could fill the Loveless Hall twice over with tales of Wivenhoe’s long lost boozers.
An old image of The Station, dated 1863, showed how remarkably the scene looking up Station Road remains as true today as it was almost one hundred and fifty years ago.
An image of Wivenhoe Station revealed a covered platform for folk waiting for the Clacton train. Further down the line and photographs of the old iron bridge linking across to Brightlingsea over Alresford Creek were also on display.
A couple of pillars either side of the Creek and the rickety rackety old railway hut are all that remain at the mouth of the Creek today. Weather torn and looking further battered by each winter; it would be a sad loss from the local historical landscape if these were ever to disappear.
Residential housing then featured as I wandered down the Loveless Hall. My hyperlocal historical nerdiness nearly gave way to a punch of the air, upon seeing for the first time a photograph of The Nook on the corner of Belle Vue and Park Road.
My inaugural Wiv Chat conversation with the charming Peter Green touched upon this. He had the old and wise historical ears and eyes; I was but the new boy on the block. Both of us however remarked on how it is strange that a photo of the house that gave way to the Dene Park estate appears not to be in the public domain.
Not so now - I only hope that Peter managed to get himself along to Wivenhoe Memories at some stage over the course of the Bank Holiday weekend.
Speaking of the old boys, and it was lovely to hear the elder gents and ladies of the town talking at the Loveless Hall throughout the weekend. Folk are getting on, and probably don’t get out as much now as they use to. Jon Stewart’s exhibition is also serving as a social focal point in which to meet up and share in their local memories.
It was hard to not to hear what they were talking about as I slowly made my way around Wivenhoe Memories. This is exactly the sort of people that I need to be linking up with for Wiv Chat. It felt intrusive on Sunday however to break into the old boy chat. Great to hear all the old stories, all the same.
An image of the Wivenhoe Regatta from 1905 also fascinated me. I recognised that sense of silliness, a lack of pretension and all round feeling of making a fool of yourself down at the front. It could almost have been the Wivenhoe Regatta of 2011.
One thought which I dwelled upon during my wanderings is exactly what is my personal favourite period from contemporary history? Wivenhoe Memories covered in great details life in the town over the past two hundred years.
I have long been attracted towards the tradition of the Edwardian period, both in terms of style - and the substance of what must have felt like a major new political and economic period that was fast approaching.
But then *my* personal history of the 1970′s and 80′s is equally engaging. This period was also covered in the exhibition. Memories are not yet so booze addled that the two decades when I was growing up are blanked out. There is a sense that you can almost reach back and touch this period, such is the deepness of your experience and recollection.
But I wasn’t in Wivenhoe during the 1970′s and ’80s - I was falling in and out of love with a football team, falling in and out of love with the current girlfriend of the week and then immersing myself in music.
What Wivenhoe Memories was able to do was to match up my own memories of the period with what was happening at the time around the town that I now call home. Shaking buckets for the miners in the Old Market Square in ’84? Yep, that was being done around these North Essex estuary wilds as well.
Various team photos from Wivenhoe sport over the different generations proved the point of how the history of a town can be told through sport. Many of the surnames remained the same, even two or three different generations down the line.
An original Sunday Times feature from 1938 was pinned up against a wall, reading:
“By Essex Waters - the Charm of Wivenhoe.”
Describing the town as:
“…typical of the charm of many quaint and drowsy [!] waterside villages.”
Some things never change.
Substantial documents were available to freely flick through. The Sainty family tree traced back ten generations of local folk, starting with Philip, b. 1754, and then providing a modern link with Rosemary Ann, b. 1970 in Colchester.
But the find of the afternoon for me was a personal photo album tucked away in one corner. It looked nothing special - I have similar items up in the loft, showing family holidays and new football kits being worn in the garden.
I almost didn’t pause to flick through, such was the splendour of the other exhibits lining the wall. Something triggered away on my mind though to have a brief browse. I’m lucky that I did as it provided me with my own Wivenhoe Memories personal gold for the afternoon.
On the inside cover was scribbled: Wivenhoe Arts Club, 1966 - 84. Jeannie Coverley had very kindly offered up for sharing her very personal photos of the farewell party that signified the end of the old Arts Club back in 1984.
I recognised many of the faces that were partying hard in the old Rectory - including one very prominent local Councillor, who seemed rather tired and emotional. Fine work, Madam.
In an age where taking a digital photo is as throwaway as eating a packet of crisps, I wonder what Wivenhoe Memories in fifty years time will be like? Still analogue based in a walk around Loveless Hall? Or maybe augmented reality as you sit at home and engage with whatever online medium of the day that is the preferred social tool of all the cool kids?
I hope not.
I hope I’m able to walk (or sit) in the Loveless Hall and reflect on them good old days of May Fair 2011, getting slightly tired and emotional at the Regatta and how we use to be able to cycle along the Trail and out towards Colchester.
Many, many thanks to John for giving up his whole Bank Holiday weekend to put on the exhibition. The past was connected; the future is… there to be made.
To the Quay late on Saturday afternoon for the Wivenhoe Regatta. We weren’t alone - half the town, and half of North Essex seemed to have been shipped in for all the aquatic fun and frolics.
With our friends from National Express East Anglia playing silly buggers once again, all routes into Wivenhoe were strictly via water only. Which is all rather appropriate for a Quayside event.
The chaps from the Romford Navy even made a special guest appearance in their blinged up pieces of plastic that somehow pass as boats. Next time remember to read your Wivenhoe bylaws, fellas - nicking a mooring and almost forcing the legitimate owners to be left stranded at sea isn’t exactly smooth sailing.
Hey hoe.
This was the only damp squid in what was otherwise an ACE afternoon down at the front. The participants in the raft race may tell a different story - getting wet was definitely part of the event. I only wish the boys from the Romford Navy had experienced the same sinking feeling before barging into the town.
For the record, I have been asked to point out that the good ship Papa’s Chip Shop won the raft race. The first homemade craft to pass the finish line had no formal association with Mr Papa and his fine fillets of fish; he was simply the adopted name in which to nail your colours to the mast. Or even oil barrels.
The boys from the Black Buoy experienced a Cambridge Boat Race sinking feeling, even before they had lifted anchor on the old Sailing Club hard. I suspect perhaps this was all part of the plan. I felt it picky to point out that sellotape isn’t actually waterproof.
We strolled up towards the Rose and Crown to try and gain a better vantage point. Local stalls, local conversation and local booze slowed us down. Brian next door looked resplendent on his balcony, conducting the brass band as they broke out into Rule Britannia.
What was wonderful about the Wivenhoe Regatta was the impromptu parties that were breaking out along West Quay. BBQ’s and booze seemed to appear outside every house. The Regatta is merely a convenient excuse in which to come together.
Our canoes didn’t make an appearance - too busy on photographic duties. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it, Comrades. Give us a year to find our sea legs, and we’ll be back next year, still not knowing our port from our starboard, possibly ramming the Romford Navy.
To The Station on Friday evening, and with sunshine in abundance, as well as an ambulance for cover (clever, Jase) it can only mean one thing: the pre-Regatta Wivenhoe Pram Race.
Oh Lordy.
The premise is that teams of mother and child are pushed around the boozers down towards the bottom of the town, sampling the fine ale and taking in the lovely Quayside view on a late summer’s evening whilst quaffing.
The reality of course is a rather messy affair. Half pints were necked, trolleys almost became de-wheeled along West Quay and a quite stunning pair of fishnets tights (nice, Madam. VERY nice) felt the full force of the pram Race rough and tumble.
A decent crowd greeted the start of the race outside The Station. The event was THE hot ticket in town - even hotter than a return ticket for the No. 61 bus, which had a few problems negotiating the station roundabout, such was the size of the Pram Race spectators.
Three teams contested the 2011 event. Not one to get all hyperlocal on your mother and baby bad ass, but two teams were Wivenhoe locals, and one was a bussed in ringer late entry.
Straight off the train, straight into the Station and then a compulsory Pram Race conscription for the two good humoured out of town chaps. Bets were being placed as to when our two visitors would first get lost on route.
Shortly after 7:15, and the grand countdown kicked in the start of the race. Or rather it kicked in the first half pint of the Station’s finest. Prams were boarded and West Street was next up en route.
Another swift half along West Quay, and then the crowds had gathered outside the Rose and Crown, midway point in the race. I could now see the logic in dressing up and running the risk of pre-Regatta injury - at least mother and child managed to get served speedily in the Rose and Crown.
No time for a top up, but another mad trolley dash up Black Buoy Hill, and then the glory of the sprint finish and another swift half. Phew. You needed a hyperlocal sense of cartography just to keep up with all the action.
And whaddya know - the two out of towners only went and stole the glory. I blame the Wivenhoe booze mentality for slowing the locals down.
This was a bonkers, but equally enjoyable start to the Regatta weekend. Well done to the three teams for stepping forward, especially so the ringers who made a number of new friends over the course of the evening.
There was a semi-serious side, in that a wandering crowd of local folk came out and did something of a mini-Wivenhoe run. Supporting local boozers has to be a good thing, especially so given the news I heard at the Black Buoy a lot later in the evening.
But a man can’t go wrong with fishnets and booze. It rather suited the ladies as well.
Serving Brightlingsea, Wivenhoe and Nearby Villages, another fortnight passes and whaddya know - it’s only a personal delivery of the esteemed Brightlingsea and Wivenhoe Chronicle.
Hurrah!
I often worry about those mystical Nearby Villages. I often worry about Brightlingsea, but for completely different reasons. It’s a fine job that the Chronicle does in covering a news patch (get you) that stretches out from the University all the way across to the coast.
Caught up in-between of course are those Nearby Village. Some may say the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. That’s the high price to pay for living in Alresford, Comrades.
But anyway - applying a BIG BLACK MARKER to all the Brightlingsea and Nearby Villages news pieces [as ever - start yer own hyperlocal blog] and what are we left with within the Wivenhoe news beat?
Um…?
Not a great deal for this fortnight, folks. Wivenhoe has been closed this weekend. That’s what Latitude does for a small estuary fishing town. But flicking through the newsprint pages, and those hyperlocal Wivenhoe news stories are there to be treasured, much in the same way as finding a reduced price loaf of harvest grain up at the Co-op.
I’ve been a hungry man of late - both for local gossip and harvest grain.
Sailing into town this weekend (see what I have done there?) is of course the Wivenhoe Regatta. Scoop Scarpenter recognises this with the snappy p.3 headline of:
The Wivenhoe Regatta
Tell It Like It Is, my good man.
“The Wivenhoe Regatta will start this year on the evening of Friday 22nd July with a pram race in the lower part of the town, and with main maritime and quayside activities on Saturday 23rd July.
Pram racing will start at 7:15pm outside The Station pub and will finish at the Black Buoy, with “mother and baby” having to drink half a pint of beer at all the pubs in lower Wivenhoe.”
Cripes.
I hope we’re not including The Legion, the Colne Social Club, the Sailing Club… etc.
“High tide is at 6pm and the maritime activities commence at 4pm. These will include a raft race, several rowing races and barge and smack races.”
And *possibly* some bonkers bloke still trying to work out how best to paddle his bloody kayak.
Blimey.
If you’re relying upon more traditional transport on Regatta day, then take the p.4 advice of Scoop, when he informs us:
The 74 Isn’t the Same Anymore
Tell It Like… blah blah blah…
“Recently the 74 bus route between Colchester and Clacton underwent a time saving alteration. It now runs along Rectory Road, Wivenhoe and misses out The Avenue and Belle Vue Road.”
It also leaves plenty of passengers, both elderly and young, somewhat stranded. Donctha just love this time saving progress?
But wait! What’s this?
Just as you start to organise a hike across half of the town in order to meet your loved one (s) off the No. 74 from Clacton (Kiss Me Quick, Comrades) and Scoop rather helpfully adds:
“However, it’s not quite as simple as that. On Sundays and during the evening after 7pm it will continue to run on the old route along The Avenue and Belle Vue Road.
Talk about a Magical Mystery Tour. I wonder what our friends from Nearby Villages make of it all?
The BEST headline in The Chronicle this fortnight of course goes to:
Wivenhoe Beavers Bury a Time Capsule
*straight face, Jase. straight face*
“As part of the activities nationally to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Beavers Scouts, an organisation for boys and girls 6 to 8 years of age [ah - I see...] the 1st Wivenhoe Beavers marked the event recently by burying a time capsule locally.”
And jolly smart and smiling the little chaps and chappesses look in the photo call as well.
“Contained in the capsule were various items including letters from the children about facilities and items they have now, but were not available for youngsters of their age 25 years ago.”
Like the 74 bus?
Whoops.
But for all the bad jokes, it’s better to leave it to the (semi) professional big boys and girls:
Comedy Time at Wivenhoe
I think you know what’s coming, chuckle friends…
“The next meeting of Wivenhoe’s very own comedy club, the Wivenhoe Funny Farm, will be held on Thursday 21st July [um, day of publishing for this blog post...]
The line-up will include previews from this year’s Edinburgh Festival with performances by Kevin Shepherd and Catie Wilkins. As usual the club night will be held in Wivenhoe Town Cricket Club’s pavilion, Rectory Road. Doors open at 7pm for an 8pm start.”
Splendid.
On a similar theme:
An Afternoon of Live Music, muses upon:
“An afternoon of live music and fun for all the family will be provided at Wivenhoe Town Cricket Club on Sunday 24th July. The event will run from 1pm to 6pm and music will be provided by the bands Bouncing Off Concrete and Praying Mantis.
“Tickets are strictly limited, no sales on the gate. They can be purchased at the Horse and Groom pub or at the cricket club on match days.”
Anything else to add? Alresford? Elmstead Market? Little Bentley?
With Wivenhoe Regatta still yet to grace our estuary shores, surely this must mean that it is time for… the start of the new football season?
Cripes.
Close, but no big fat Chairman’s cigar (except that Chairman Karl up at Broad Lane doesn’t look like your stereotypical cigar smoker.) Nope, the season doesn’t get underway proper until 13th August, although there are a number of pre-season friendlies coming up.
In preparation for another season of triumphant struggle and punching above its weight in the glory that is the Ridgeons Premier League, the Dragons are raffling off the opportunity to have a local company name displayed on the back of the home and away shirts for the 2011 / 12 season.
It’s a marketing idea that Essex boy Sir Alan would no doubt be proud of. It is certainly worthy of the £50 punt to take part. Any local organisation that takes out a pitch side banner or player sponsorship for £50, will then be entered into the shirt sponsorship draw.
A prize draw with a difference will be taking place on 31st July. Up for grabs is:
“First Prize: Your name or logo on the back of the First Team shirts plus a full page advert with our match day programme plus a logo on our official website plus 2 season tickets to all home league games for the up and coming 2011/12 season.
Second Prize: Full page advert within the programme.
Third Prize: Company Logo on the Clubs Official Website.”
Application forms for the sponsorship can be downloaded over here.
Keeping with the optimism and I hear the Broad Lane Future project is back on track once again. You may remember how the mystery Mr X and his £1.4m was reported to be in doubt last month. @TheGazette reported this story, leading many (including me) to believe that the deal was dead.
Not so.
A slight bit of confusion behind the scenes (which I am hopeful of clarifying this weekend) and it seems that The Gazette was fed false information under rather murky circumstances.
An incredible amount of hard work has been going on behind the scenes over the summer. Mr X and his £1.4m is still very much up for grabs, as long as the community comes on board with the scheme.
I have expressed concern as to exactly how this can be registered. The feedback I am receiving from the Football Club echoes this concern, but it is attempting to be addressed. Communication has been poor, but it is hoped that this will be improved over the coming weeks.
A good starting point to register an interest in the future of Broad Lane would be to attend the pre-season charity match against an Arsenal Celebs team taking place this Sunday.
“The game will be part of a joint family day organised by Wivenhoe and Arsenal to raise money for a selection of charities including the Sports Charity Trust, Football In The Community as well as regeneration funding for Wivenhoe’s ground and training facilities, as well as Arsenal’s charity partners.”
The gates open at Broad Lane at midday, with a 3pm kick-off. This is being run as very much a family day out with plenty of activities lined up ahead of the game. Tickets are £8 for adults and £4 for children - or even half this price if you get a move on and buy them in advance from the Post Office along the High Street.
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.
To The Greyhound early on Tuesday evening to hear plans all about the prospect of launching the hyperlocal Radio Wivenhoe here in the town. A public meeting had been called by Jerry Davis of Wivenhoe First to explore the local interest and local angle.
In my best BBC broadcasting voice, I hereby announce that these plans are VERY ambitious; I also add in the belief that they are equally VERY achievable.
Put simply, the plan is to put together a uniquely local Wivenhoe programme schedule. The station will start off as an online venture, with a view to applying for a community licence, once Ofcom pimps out the franchise in 2013.
I strongly support the idea of doing it yourself, right here in Wivenhoe, and preferably right now before the big boys of Radio Ga Ga come cashing in on our local patch. If there is sufficient support and evidence that a station can be operated locally online, the ambition to secure a community licence becomes all the more realistic.
Jerry opened the meeting echoing these very same thoughts. He explained how SGR in Colchester was swallowed up by the radio behemoth that is GWR, which promptly then switched the programming down the road to Chelmsford.
I grew up in an age where local radio mattered to the local community. I worked on local stations that genuinely impacted and improved the lives of those that listened. The last thing that Wivenhoe wants right now is some soulless corporate radio beast bangin’ out bloody Jon Bon Jovi every hour, on top of the hour.
Just under forty local folk gathered Upstairs at The Greyhound to hear the plans, and then to think about ways in which to progress. What was truly humbling was to witness the cross section of community support that had come out to participate.
The good Councillor Ford, Poetry Peter, Pantomime Puffin, May Fair Mike, Bookshop Sue and Mr Mule - all on fine fighting form, all wanting to be able to offer up their own specialised and unique perspective on Wivenhoe life to the local community.
The beauty of this back to basics approach is that the online space makes all of this possible. What exactly is radio in 2011 anyway? It’s all audio, Comrades - you don’t need to be sitting in some plush penthouse suite in Leicester Square to call yourself a radio station.
Wivenhoe Business Centre (blimey) can serve the purpose of a base. The initial plan is to offer live weekend programming from the Business Centre, with a small studio currently being sourced.
Pre-records or repeats can be streamed for the rest of the week. As one would expect from a Wivenhoe venture, there is a gloriously creative collective approach to all of this. Some ideas may work, others may not.
The skill is to simply get out there and try something. Sitting back and allowing Radio Ga Ga to come into our town would kill all creativity, as well as bypassing (and out-pricing) our genuine local businesses.
We are fortunate to have Heather Purdey, a former Director of the International Journalism MA at City University on board. Heather is happy to help out to train up local broadcasters, as well as to advise as to how we best approach Ofcom.
As for the programme schedule itself? It waves the stiff mast of two Wivenhoe fingers up in the air at Radio Ga Ga and the goons, with a gloriously bonkers mix of all that is great and diverse within Wivenhoe.
Classical, swing, 80′s, rock, soul, local sports broadcasting (hurrah!) local comedy (hurrah! hurrah!) and interviews with local politicians (hurra… um, hang on.)
Add into this the possibility of outside broadcasts at events such as the Wivenhoe Regatta, plus close involvement and participation from both schools, and you can see the potential for hyperlocal radio within the town.
Oh yeah - some hit and miss bloke is threatening the possibility of a local chat show.
Blimey.
And so with a tight schedule to stick to (news coming up at the top of the hour blah blah blah) the meeting was wrapped up at just under an hour of offline broadcasting. The closing message from Jerry was:
“This isn’t my radio station - this is for Wivenhoe. Whatever the community wants, we would like to get them involved.”
Jerry speaks of being the “facilitator” - he is actually much, much more, having personally taken the financial hit for setting up Radio Wivenhoe and purchasing the software required. Running costs are around £50 a month - the value of a genuinely local radio station for Wivenhoe can’t be calculated.
Mr Mule rallied the troops in typical poetic and inspiring style:
“If we want this to happen, we have to do it ourselves. We have to prove that we are up to the job.”
Someone should give that man a microphone. And a radio show.
As for your involvement? Well…
A good starting point would be to step forward and offer any skills that you might have - broadcasting, sales, admin, organisational - all are vital to the success of the Radio Wivenhoe.
Test transmissions will continue until July, with local programming hopefully then being broadcast out of the Business Centre. There is a pirate approach to all of this, but brought up to date for the modern interweb age and all totally legit.
An aborted mountain bike scramble across the Rowhedge Lagoons during those dark, depressing estuary winter days didn’t exactly endear us to that other lot across the Colne. My mountain bike met its match; I met a great big stinking fresh cowpat, which was amazingly the only organic substance that hadn’t frozen solid.
There is something much more civilised though to messing about on the water. For a town that has a history and heritage based around boats, sailing along the estuary provided a lost link to the old and new.
Ever respectful of the river tide, there is roughly a three and a half hour window of opportunity to flirt between Fingringhoe and Rowhedge. With friends staying for the weekend, we chose the Rowhedge route for our first sail. I don’t think I could have kept a straight face explaining that we were off to Fingringhoe.
Running approximately every half hour, it is this relaxed way of working that is the appeal of the Wivenhoe Ferry. Dashing to make the 9:23 out of Wivenhoe Station once a week does my head in. Travel is all about the enjoyment of the journey, and not about a means to an end in reaching your destination.
And so with a half of lager shandy in my hand from the Rose and Crown, we waited by the Ferry boathouse. Our fellow passengers were a young family and a charming dog. Transporting animals and bicycles is at the discretion of the Skipper. You’ll probably be fine with a hound, but I wouldn’t push your luck with a horse.
With the Ferry Man paid (and a bloody ear worm of Chris De Burgh) a single fare of £1.50 was a bargain price for exploring somewhere so close, yet so far away. I made sure that a return leg was possible - spending the evening stranded in Rowhedge wasn’t on the sea faring radar.
We passed a couple of eager young canoeists during our crossing, as well as a tired and emotional crew on a craft that was doing its best Oxford University Boat Race sinking impression. The good Captain was swigging from a bottle of red, and toking on a fag end. If yer gonna go down, best do it in style, fella.
And then just under ten minutes later, we landed.
What now? Bugger off back to Wivenhoe?
Um… Nope. A swift pint in the The Anchor soon became something of an early evening session. This is truly a delightful local pub - a charming landlord, a well-kept beer cellar and the most pleasing of toilets this side of, oh, Fingringhoe up the road.
Fast becoming tired and emotional ourselves, you can see how the booze has the effect of some rather boastful boyhood behaviour from some folk around these parts. Bugger that - a quick consultation with the brilliant Ferry Timetable programme, and our return sail was soon waiting.
Chin chin.
The programme to accompany the 2011 season of sailing has been lovingly put together by the small group of volunteers that so kindly keep the service running. It is worthy of a blog post alone, such is the quality of the beautiful content and ideas based around sailing along the banks of the Colne.
Poems about the river and woods, a short story from David Williams and the usual exceptionally high stand of local bird illustrations from Richard Allen, Wivenhoe’s bird watch supreme. Historical maps sit beautifully with the as ever striking linocuts from James Dodds.
The Chairman’s Note looks ahead to the 2012 season - the 20th anniversary of the restoration of the Wivenhoe Ferry. Funding remains an issue as ever. Special thanks is given to Mr Mayor for kindly offering his support through the Mayor’s Charity Fund, as well as generous support front the Wivenhoe Regatta Committee and RBS. Local businesses advertise in the programme, proving that the benefits of the local economy working closely with local service providers.
Having made the brief journey over to the Dark Side, we soon found ourselves back in The Station, purely as part of a scientific experiment to compare and contrast the booze from both sides of the Colne.
New possibilities have now been opened up to us - the Rowhedge Strawberry Fayre in the Village Hall on the 9th July, anyone?
A WivSoc Wednesday with a difference this week - it’s only the AGM of our lovely local town civic society.
Cripes.
To the Nottage, fashionably late, and not so fashionably dressed. I did make an effort on the nautical front, sporting one of my latest charity shop finds from a recent trip to the Oldest Recorded.
Turns out that I wasn’t alone. For all yer Essex Man jibes, Wivenhoe Man is something of a salty sea dog. I wasn’t the only WivSoc Sir wearing a captain’s sea hat (although I take pride in the knowledge that mine was the biggest.)
Blimey.
But anyway - what of the business end of the WivSoc year? It was all routine stuff, with Mr Chair admirably sticking to the agenda, and sticking it (in a very, very polite way) to anything that might upset the balance of the old meets the new, that makes Wivenhoe such a charming place to live.
Which is precisely where the incredibly hard working WivSoc committee members come in. The meeting opened with the approval of the previous minutes, plus some fool wearing a silly sea hat walking in halfway through.
Whoops.
Mr Chair’s Report was deliberately brief - new members were made to fee most welcome.
The Secretary’s Report was the opportunity to outline in more detail some of the fine work of WivSoc over the past twelve months. Monitoring and responding to planning applications remains the main priority.
New procedures mean that objections now have to be channelled through Borough councillors, thus further complicating matters. WivSoc wishes to place on the record the support so far offered by Cllr Steve Ford of Wivenhoe Quay ward.
The WivSoc Newsletter was praised, providing members with quarterly updates not only on Society matters, but also locals items of a more general interest. I hear that the next issue has a half-decent front-page pic snapped by some hit and miss photographer.
For a Society that is all too conscience (often too Conscience in my opinion) of the ‘mature’ nature of the membership, it is rather ace to see the modern interweb being explored.
Members’ email updates are sent out when ever a matter of urgency arises. The Secretary highlighted recent issues such as the proposal to build on the land near to Millfields School, the sea wall clearance, Transition Town Wivenhoe updates and the impact of the Knowledge Gateway on the town as recent examples of online dialogue.
Outside of the internal mechanisms of WivSoc and it was also mentioned that the Society has a formal voice at the NAP meetings, the Wivenhoe Townscape Forum (local list) and still my fave ever group, the Wivenhoe Wood Working Party.
A big thank you went out to Cllr Bob Needham for giving up his Wednesday evenings once a month to offer feedback on WTC meetings. Nice hat m’Cllr friend - never mind the length, feel the thickness etc.
The Secretary wrapped up by saying that the WivSoc membership continues to grow, as well as observing developments within the town that reflect well for the future of Wivenhoe.
Helping Hands, Moving Image, TTW and *cough* the Wivenhoe Forum - all of these are positioned well to help out in Wivenhoe as we face what is likely to be unstable economic times ahead.
Speaking of all things fiscal - it’s only the WivSoc Treasurer’s Report…
The Society’s finances are “healthy.” Let’s leave it at that. Well, not quite… A *shhh* three figure surplus was made in the last financial year. No deficit deniers upstairs at the Nottage on Wednesday night.
£200 was donated towards Wivenhoe in Bloom. All social events made a profit. The increase in membership numbers covers the running cost of WivSoc.
Thanks were rightfully given to our friends from Rollo Estates, Eyecare, the Co-op and EWS skip hire, for very kind sponsorship and support over the year.
Chair’s Q & A simply put out the request for any tree expert within Wivenhoe to step forward. Help is needed in identifying any trees in the town that might need a little TLC. Having accidentally managed to floor one in my own back garden after only three months of living here, I thought it best not to volunteer.
The election of officers followed, with the motion to keep subscription rates as the same level also passed.
Any Other Business?
Um, booze?
Almost. Time first for a splendid talk by Anthony Roberts, the esteemed Artistic Director@ColchesterArts. With a #hyperlocal artistic history boasting Francis Bacon (sort of,) the Lakeside (not quite Wivenhoe) and the grand plans for the old Engine Shed (um…) Anthony was preaching to the converted.
We heard a wonderful social history of the old building, covering a barely plausible Humpty Dumpty reference, and leading up to the opening of the ace arts space in 1980.
Anthony then spelt out his vision for @ColchesterArts to champion new and emerging talent. The importance of online culture was emphasised, with a brilliant explanation of how the modern interweb has helped the centre to build new communities and change the artistic experience.
And then it was time for booze. Except @AnnaJCowen and I took something of a liking to the food first, and didn’t really move away from the buffet table. Some charming conversations followed, and then soon it was chucking out time at The Nottage.
No worries - we stopped off at the Rose and Crown and necked eight pints of Carlsberg each, and were back at base in time for the Ten O’clock News.
Only joking. It was the Eleven O’clock News. Fashionably late, and timing has never been my strong point. Nice nautical hat though.
