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Selected highlights from the recently published Wivenhoe News…

The news with Wivenhoe News is that all of this online prefacing is probably in danger of a word count on par with the fine publication itself.

Oh, y’know - JUST GO AND BUY A COPY - it will be the most worthy £1 that you can spend in Wivenhoe this weekend that doesn’t involve asking for a king size jumbo saveloy at Papa’s Fish Shop.

A showdown (of sorts) took place in the station car park over the summer months. Biros were put down, blogs were on hold. A [rather charming] member of the esteemed Editorial Team met with, um, a hit and miss hyperlocal blogger to discuss crossovers and collaboration.

Or something.

Actually it was a rather random meeting, and the lovely chat was more about how I can best get away with snaffling the entire diary pages from Wivenhoe News and pass them off as semi-original content over on the Wivenhoe Forum.

Whoops.

Anyway - a compromise was reached, hands were shaken and I looked forward to the autumn edition with all the anticipation usually reserved for a king size jumbo saveloy.

And whaddya know - here it is. A mighty fine read as well. Having explained how m’blog is going to preface and not quote word for word within, I’ve probably already spunked away 300 plus words on the intro alone.

Hey hoe.

So anyway - about those selected highlights from the recently published Wivenhoe News…

Jacqui Dankworth at St Mary’s Church is deserving of the front page treatment. It’s not everyday that the rising star of UK jazz calls in at Even Song at yer local village church. Not every small North Essex estuary town can boast the guitar genius of Chris Allard as a local either.

>Who? >What? >Where? >Why> When?

>skip >skip >skip >skip 8th October, 7:30pm, tickets from the Bookshop.

The Workers of Wivenhoe pin up this quarter is Sid the Fish, the charming fella who rolls up outside the Co-op each Friday morning with his selection of freshly caught local fish. As well as kippers, eels and elks, Sid can also satisfy the prawn peccadillo of particularly fussy cat.

Meowww.

May Fair 2011 Raises Over £4,500 for Charity… tells you all you need to know about the KGV coming together this year. Oh - and for all ye doubters out there, it is convenient timing to convey that Essex police announced this week that NO charges came out of May Fair 2011.

Splendid.

The ambitious Church Ale weekend gets a deserved plug (17th - 18th September), sitting opposite the Editorial, which helpfully de-myths the Wivenhoe News relationship with the Friends of St Mary’s (I think we’re all friends around here.) There’s also an appeal for reader’s to support Wivenhoe Town Council’s attempt to register the land opposite Millfields School as village green status (meeting at the Loveless Hall, 24th September, 2pm.)

Janes Hughes looks at the history of Colchester Road, Ian Valentine rejoices with bell ringing at St Mary’s and Jane Lee elaborates on the new town map located opposite The Greyhound.

If in doubt - head down the Colchester Road and listen for the sound of the bells…

Nottage News updates with… all news relating to The Nottage. The range of courses is impressive - as was the Nottage Summer Exhibition 2011, featuring Pru Green, Alison Stockmarr and Barbara Pierson, which also gets a review.

Moving Image reflect on the first year of staging an independent community cinema for Wivenhoe, the Gilbert & Sullivan Society explore the new production of Ruddigore. There’s also an ad for open auditions (now passed) for Wivenhoe’s Pantomime Group’s production of Robin Hood.

Looks like I’ve missed out on wearing the tights for another year.

Cricket Week and the launch of Jon Wiseman’s excellent The Story of Wivenhoe Cricket is covered, as is a favourable review of Around the World 2 - the recent show from Angie Diggens Productions.

The Wivenhoe Poetry Prize 2011 proudly prints the winning entry - Digitalis by Martin Malone. A written copy of the verse can currently be seen along the platform at Wivenhoe Station. You can also hear the poem (and others) being read out over here. No poetic licence required - just balls the size of melons for pointing a mic in the face of some performing poets.

Wivenhoe Bookshop cover, well, Wivenhoe Bookshop cover about bloody everything as per usual. Fine, fine work. Creative writing courses, readings, Philosophy breakfasts, book launches, reading groups - it’s a wonder they actually have time to sell any books.

Wivenhoe in Bloom put the green-fingered feelers out for possible bulb sponsorship. Open Gardens is reflected upon and WAGA look forward to the September show:

>Wivenhoe Allotment and Garden Association >annual show >Loveless Hall >why not >10th September.

Richard Allen looks ahead to the new birding season (first walk 10th September,) Sue Glasspool explains more about the Townscape Forum and Jo Wheatley from TTW addresses the big picture of peak oil and, um, the TTW barn dance.

Birds, historic buildings and a Barn Dance - blimey.

That’s not something that you are likely to read about in the next edition of OK magazine.

The Wivenhoe Diary 2011 is as vast as it is… plagiarised over on the Wivenhoe Forum. I hear that with so many new and emerging events around the town, a pull out A3 guide is currently under consideration for the next issue.

Diamond Jubilee preparations are well underway, writes the good Town Clerk, as are preparations for possibly the BEST night in the Wivenhoe calendar - Fireworks on the Quay, very kindly staged by WORC.

>WORC >fireworks and a fancy dress competition >the Quay >traditional >29th October, 6:45pm.

Margot Robertson, Don Smith and Andrew Nicholson are all lovingly remembered in wonderfully written obituaries.

The View from the High Street with Tom Roberts praises the “no brainer” decision of WTC to purchase the empty police houses along the High Street. Jokers to the left of me, clowns to the right - well the Loveless Hall and WTC offices - it seems the right move to make.

Cllr Robert Needham, the current Town Mayor, also reflects on this purchase, as well as managing the speed of change to the town that the University’s Knowledge Gateway is likely to bring to Wivenhoe.

“Potholes, pavements and planning concerns” are currently occupying the mind (and considerable time) of the good Cllr Steve Ford of Colchester Borough Council. The red flag waving Comrade of Cllr Julie Young of Essex County Council lambastes the failure to launch the 20mph limit in lower Wivenhoe.

Cllr Mark Cory of the Cross ward celebrates the success of The Hub, something which he hopes he can take with him in helping to put in place BRA (blimey) - the re-launched Broadfields Resident’s Association. 24th September is a date I’m hearing for the re-launch. The aim is to offer facilities for the yoof at the top half of the town.

Bernard Jenkin MP bangs on about the “surgery saga.” I suspect he will be doing the same in ten years time, should he still be holding public office.

The Sailing Club, Judo Club, Tennis Club, Bowls Club and Badminton Club all plug away with their sporting achievements. Over the page and the Chair of Wiv Soc admits to being “personally torn apart” over the planning issue for the old St John’s Ambulance Building.

Letters to the Editor praise the gravel garden opposite Wivenhoe Eyecare, bemoan Bernard Jenkin in making a party political point in Wivenhoe News and then concludes with something more positive in the Grand Garage Trail success.

And so that’s the preface out of the way - ready for the 5,000 word critical analysis written with a contemporary post-modern twist, as viewed from the perspective of a p-head down The Station?

Ah - I think I’ve just published it.

Wivenhoe News is sold at the Co-op, Crossways, the Post Office, Bryans Newsagents and the lovely Wivenhoe Bookshop.

To Granny’s Bench! [blimey] came the shout on a slow, smouldering Sunday afternoon as @AnnaJCowen and I tried to forget about the freezer full of pizza and went out foraging for food instead.

Stick two fingers up to THE MAN ‘n all that, with a hyperlocal approach to satisfying the nutrient needs of our bellies. We got bored before we reached Papa’s Chip Shop, and rather predictably ended up with double large chips and saveloys all round.

Only joking.

Our North Essex estuary arrival during the fag end of the Indian Summer last year was just slightly too late in the season to benefit from all the rural delights that scavenging for berries can bring. It wasn’t that the blackberries, sloes and rosehips had all over-ripened, simply that some other buggers had got there before us.

Share and share alike, Comrades, but we weren’t going to make the same mistake some twelve months on. With the blackberries still bruising in a multi-layered colour of green, red and um, black, it is certainly a hit and miss time for any hyperlocal penny pinching produce pincher.

Taking the roughly the same route that we rather fortunately stumbled upon last summer, our Sunday afternoon stroll took us past the Sailing Club, along the water and up towards Granny’s Bench, and then back along the old gravel track and down past Ballast Quay House.

We almost didn’t get past the Sailing Club during the late summer of 2010 - the abundance of hedgerows and bushes by the water satisfied our scavenging needs. Not so this year with the sea wall vandalism of the Environment Agency leading to an absence of anything growing up along the banks.

The Wivenhoe Vegetable Garden is now starting to serve us well, but after a plate of Courgette Surprise - the surprise being that there is nothing else but corgettes - you need something slightly sweeter to set you up for the evening.

Have blackberry tupperware, will travel…

We deviated left of the river and along the stepping stones heading up towards Granny’s Bench, finding pockets of blackberry bushes, not yet quite blushing or blessed with the fruitful zing that one requires to start salivating.

Still - best get them now before the other buggers do.

We encountered some sloes en route and made a mental note to return in a few weeks to repeat the sloe gin experiment. The rosehips weren’t quite ready - and neither is my palette to be honest. The syrup of last year has left a nasty taste in the mouth, not to mention a few medical complications elsewhere.

A new addition for this year was the discovery of both elderberries and a steady supply of crab apples. It was around this point in the afternoon of picking that the conversation turned slightly fruity after I suggested a fruit fight with the girl.

I was alarmed to hear “look at these little tiddlers” and “prick” in the same conversation. I got slightly bored to be honest, and floated the idea of returning with the secateurs, hacking off the hedgerows and then picking off the blackberries at our leisure back at base whilst watching Eastenders.

You can take the boy out of South London, blah blah blah…

With bloodied blackberry stained fingers being displayed as a badge of honour, we walked along the Alresford Road and weaved our way down to Ballast Quay.

And so what next?

To quite the GREAT Lorraine Bowen, everybody’s good at cooking something, and I’m good at cooking crumble. Well, I can prick the blackberries and let the girl do the rest. It will be served up a treat with a pound of cheapo imported value ice cream, delivered especially via the online food order as Mr Supermarket burns up the food miles and makes his way through the back streets of Wivenhoe.

Ah - the Good Life.

Plus: don’t forget the plug for the most excellent Country Diary, via George Mac and Radio Wivenhoe.

Full flickr feed over here.

To the Wivenhoe Bookshop on Saturday morning for some Radio Wivenhoe interview training. We may revel in our amateur status, but to keep the big boys of broadcasting from getting hold of a community licence, a training programme has to be in place.

Which is no bad thing, given the bumblings around the edges of of an mp3 player that I have so far put out in the name of Wiv Chat.

We are blessed here in Wivenhoe to have Heather Purdey as a local resident. Having made a name for herself in fronting up radio newsrooms in the ’80s and early ’90s, Heather is now a highly esteemed academic, holding the post of Director of International Journalism at City University.

But that’s all for the day job. Heather very kindly gave up her weekend to help out a rag tag collection of hyperlocal broadcasting types to sit in the splendour of the backroom shed at the Bookshop, and help us out as we explore what lies ahead for Radio Wivenhoe.

We have pretty much been making it up as we go along in the short history of Radio Wivenhoe - have mp3 recorder, will travel. Physically setting up the station was the priority. Smoothing out the rough edges and coming up with the What Next has to be addressed now.

With news of the hyperlocal station just starting to spread around the town, we have a little grace to experiment and find some future direction; or even find how to turn on your portable mp3 player and actually record some content.

Whoops.

But Radio Wivenhoe needs a focus to keep the momentum and enthusiasm progressing. We certainly found this on Saturday, with a microphone being thrust into our face and an impromptu interview greeting each guest upon arrival.

Must try that one at the locals stagger out of The Station after last orders on a Saturday night…

It wasn’t just the interview technique that Heather was able to condense into our three hour slot, but also the physical set up in putting in place a makeshift studio in your own front room.

With @AnnaJCowen covering all four corners of Studio Wiv Chat with a pot of Dulux back at base, there are some basics that I have overlooked. Body language is all-important, especially when you have strapped down your guest for an hour as you try and unearth that previously unknown piece of hyperlocal history.

Come mid-morning and is was time to be let loose on the locals of Wivenhoe.

Oh Lordy.

The practical task was set to tear up and down the High Street and come back with a short piece. I pondered going to Papa’s Chip Shop and delicately producing a piece of advertorial, all for the small price of one of the finest saveloys you can get your yer lips around in North Essex.

I buggered off down to the Quay instead: not a single soul insight. Wivenhoe is very good at sleeping though Saturday mornings. Questions were considered about the unwelcome boat, but no one was around to answer them.

Hard-pressed hyperlocal news hounds can probably find a story at the Sailing Club I though. Not at low water Jase.

Whoops.

The charming Pet Shop Girls at the Business Centre were also on my radar, but by now I was starting to get some slightly crazed looks after watching a couple of local lads roll around in the mud by the jetty, hovering with my mic, and poised to ask them what they hell they were doing.

“Having fun, innit?”

Hey hoe.

With the studio clock counting down, I made a dash for the Wivenhoe Trail. This has been a hotbed of hyperlocal debate of late over on the Wivenhoe Forum (whaddya mean… blah blah blah - oh, just…)

Permissive Use by Bicyclists doesn’t amount to free love and understanding being dished out by Ferry Marsh, but watch yer back - it’s only one of those lycra lovers about to take you up the backside.

THIS is local news. THIS was going to be my lead back in the Bookshop shed.

I wandered lonely as a cloud, almost as far down as the Hythe. Not a single cyclist or pedestrian passed me.

Wake up Wivenhoe: TIME TO DIE.

Eventually a charming Dutch couple slowed down outside the old Engine Shed as I waved at them on their touring bikes like a mad fool waves at a wet hen.

“Um, yeah, um, Radio Wivenhoe, y’know, so, right, what d’ya think of cycling?”

It wasn’t the best opening question and my guests were struggling slightly with the lingo. Still, I recorded three minutes of audio, which probably made more sense if you could see the head nods that got us around the language issues.

Happy with the scoop, and with a skip and a hop along Station Road, I listened back to my recording.

Don’t press DELETE Jase, press save. DON’T PRESS DELETE, JASE PRESS SAVE.

So yeah, I inadvertently deleted my three minutes of fame.

Back down towards the Hythe it was then.

Well, not quite. A couple of new to Wivenhoe locals walked past, I filled them in; they had heard of Radio Wivenhoe and were only to keen to help out the bumbling boy about town with a mic.

A closed question here and there went against all the theory that we were taught back in the Bookshop shed, but I quite like the short piece. It’s not going to throw the global financial crash off the top of the news bulletins, but then again the Dow Jones never really played out very strong in the beer garden at The Station.

Back at the Bookshop and all four students listened to the recordings that we returned with. Puffin came back with a brilliant insight into life in the village Post Office, ex Cllr-Cyril headed for the boozer and welcomed the new land lady at the Black Buoy for a bar side chat. Mr Mule talked about Led Zep with Heather.

We all had four unique interviews, with four very different interview techniques. Those Editorial Board meetings at Radio Wivenhoe are going to keep us up all hours over those long winter months.

And so some three hours later after first bumbling through the Bookshop doors, I reflected on what had been the most useful and practical Saturday morning that I have experienced in some time - I’m including my time spent getting lost in the gardening aisles down at B & Q.

No formal news gathering is in place as yet at Radio Wivenhoe, but there are stories out there to be told, I tell ya.

We concluded with some wonderful serendipity. I knew of Heather in a different life some twenty-five years ago as my first job as the bumbling boy at the local radio station. Heather was already running the newsroom, and was about to go on to even better things.

A quarter of a century later, and we were both in the backroom shed at the Wivenhoe Bookshop and about to take the next step for Radio Wivenhoe.

The local radio station from back in the day has long since been lost to the big boys of corporate radio. Heather told me of how a breakaway hyperlocal online station back in the Fair City has since sprung up.

Now *that* sounds like something you want to here…

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?

So near, yet so far.

Different world, Comrades. Different World.

To the canoes! …was the rally cry come Saturday morning as @AnnaJCowen and I decided to sea test the kayaks that make us feel like we are proper sailing types.

Ahem.

Having bought a couple of basic entry level models from a rather charming sailing shop just outside of Clactonia, a whole month has passed where they have been sitting in the dry dock that doubles up as a back garden.

Whoops.

Time and tide, ‘n all that, and bugger me - we’ve not exactly been blessed of late with a tidal pattern that can be easily accommodated into a weekday and weekend working pattern.

A detailed study of the tidal charts and a consultation of the shipping forecast the night before (I lie - high tide for Brightlingsea - there’s an app for that…) and we were scheduled to be sea bound shortly after 1pm on Saturday.

But first how to get the beasts down to the Quay? This has been occupying my mind a lot of late. It’s not quite on par with a Middle East peace proposal, but warfare of sorts broke out around the regions of Park Road on Saturday.

Apologies to m’neighbours - the girl and I got in a strop over straps. The Rolls Royce of kayak trolleys had been bought, but the small print overlooked attaching the kayaks to the rock ‘n roll wheels.

No worries. A trip to B & Q and some industrial strength ratchet ties were ours for the taking. But not for the tying. We bodged a solution of sorts, and then fell flat on our feet before we even hit the Colne Social Club.

Back to basics it was, and we resorted to the good old-fashioned backbreaking method of carrying the canoes by the handles down to the Sailing Club. The High Street was well off our radar - no one wants to see a feuding couple encased in tight black rubber with additional S & M cable straps wandering past the Deli on a Saturday lunchtime.

Anglesea Road was a pain, but the pleasure was all to come once we hit the water. Wivenhoe is surprisingly short on slipways - there’s either the old Sailing Club entry point by the Ferry launch, or out towards the barrier and the current Sailing Club location.

It was to our very good fortune that just as the champagne bottles were smashed against the hull (not as a symbolic gesture, but as something of a tonsil tickler before hitting the water) we encountered another canoeing couple.

Cripes.

Tips were exchanged, black bondage was mutually admired.

And then we were water bound.

Blimey.

I potted about in canoes as a youth, thinking that a bright red phallic fibreglass body would aid my sexual chances. I know how to control my wrist action, especially so when sitting in an unnatural position.

It was to my great joy then to relive this moment of frisson from my youth, making those first few strokes into the muddy water of the Colne and drifting dangerously close to the flood barrier.

I looked back at the girl and found that she hadn’t even managed to wriggle free of the slipway. I’ve always doubted her technique, to be honest.

It may be a beast to carry down to the Quay, but the kayak glides like an absolute beauty once you are in the water. Observing Wivenhoe from a low water level provides a stunning new perspective.

You can of course get over-romanticised about a bloody canoe, but there was a great sense of history approaching the town from the water, something that generations of folk in Wivenhoe have been accustomed to.

Soon we were paddling past the Rose and Crown, onwards along the side of West Quay and then a sharp left up the Roman River. Fingringhoe had to be done, and preferably so before the already outgoing tide stranded us.

Five minutes up the twist and curves of the Roman River, and the North Essex aquatic nature totally immerses you. Thankfully no baptisms took place along the muddy waters of the North Essex estuary on Saturday afternoon.

Various birdlife accept you as part of their environment, flying incredibly close along the water and offering up spectacular viewing points. The Pisces within was a one happy man in a canoe. Meanwhile the Libra that is @AnnaJCowen was struggling to balance her boat, let alone her astrological scales.

We actually got lost up the Roman River - how is that possible? I’m not entirely sure, but we also managed to get lost along the Wivenhoe Trail the first time that we cycled it. The welcoming tower of St Mary’s was our guiding principle back to base.

A brief paddle upstream towards Rowhedge, and then a drift along with the outgoing tide back to the Sailing Club. Saturday afternoon tea was calling, as well as a hot shower. The Colne really is very mucky little pup.

And so a success of sorts. The struggle with the canoes back to base ‘aint great. We’re exploring other options (*cough* Sailing Club membership…)

But yeah - footloose and fancy free to explore the Colne, the Creek and all the many tributaries in-between. Any excuse to become encased in thick, black rubber.

Good news - re-growth has begun on the hedgerows that the Environment Agency so brutally vandalised back at the start of the year.

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.

Image copyright: Richard Allen.

Another month, another update from Richard Allen, Wivenhoe’s bird watcher supreme. Perhaps the one downside to an estuary spring is the disappearance of the many splendid visitors we have been blessed with over the winter months:

“A beautiful sunny spring morning after a hard frost, and the walk started well with a newly arrived Chiffchaff singing its cheery song behind the Sailing Club.

Other signs of spring included several male Reed Buntings perched up singing or collecting Reedmace down for their nest, and a Meadow Pipit performing its Parachute display flight.

A Dunnock popped up briefly, Robins were singing, as were a group of Siskin which unfortunately remained invisible in the tree tops. Two Greylag Geese were obviously paired up, and others dotted the far bank.

The fast rising and very high tide unfortunately soon pushed the Godwits and Teal off the mud banks, and this combined with some disturbance from canoeists meant few waders were on view at the creek. A single Avocet, a couple of Grey Plover, and a group of Black-tailed Godwits were all that could be mustered.

Flocks of Shelduck loafed offshore, a single Little Grebe bobbed mid channel, whilst a Cormorant took two attempts to land on its favourite drying post. Walking an exaltation of Skylarks, serenaded us, and a pair of Long-tailed Tits finally gave reasonable views.

A strange owl-like call foxed me for awhile until I realised it was a male Marsh Harrier calling high overhead, we were then treated to views of the male and two females over the far reed beds. The final excitement for the tail enders on the way back was an adult Mediterranean Gull showing its fine black hood and red bill.

Recent Sightings: Lots of Chiffchaff and the first Blackcaps, and a pair of Egyptian Geese over Ferry Marsh.”

With the changing season, there’s some changing birds to seek out towards Alresford. Richard has two more walks coming up - Saturday 23rd April and Saturday 21st May. Walks start at 10am outside the Sailing Club, costing £8 per person.

You can contact Richard over here.

Image copyright: Richard Allen.

Another month, another update from the good Richard Allen, Wivenhoe’s very own bird watcher supreme:

“A large and enthusiastic group joined me on a rather grey, but mild morning. There were a lot of birds on show, and we were treated to some spectacular fly-pasts as the flocks of waders were spooked by mostly unseen birds of prey.

We did see a couple of Sparrow hawks which put the roosting flocks of Lapwings and Golden Plover into panic, rising high into bunched defensive formations. There were also large groups of Avocets and Dunlin swirling around along with Redshank and a few Curlews and Black-tailed Godwits.

Earlier a single Mediterranean Gull with its white wing tips had been picked out amongst the more common Black-headed Gulls, and a number of Little Grebes had bobbed around a buoy mid channel.

There was a hint of spring with Skylarks, Robins, Wrens and Chaffinches singing, and a pair of Oystercatchers seemed to have set up territory. On the way back the roosting herons had increased to three, a Little Egret stalked the salt marsh and a Marsh Harrier perched atop a bush beyond the far seawall.

Recent sightings: Buzzards have been in evidence when the spring sunshine has given them some lift above the woods, and a few Fieldfares and Redwings are lingering. Woodpeckers are very active at the moment, and hopefully the first Chiffchaffs will be arriving soon.”

My untrained birding eye is still very much learning how to search and identify many of the remarkable species that find their way around the Colne estuary. With the main winter season almost over, I’ve got a whole summer ahead to play catch up with the reference books.

Still squeezing the last out of the winter wine is Richard, with a couple more guided birding walks before we reach those heady summer days. Saturday 19th March, and Saturday 23rd April, with binoculars at the ready for a 10am start outside the Sailing Club.

You can contact Richard and book a place over here.

Back on the domestic front and @AnnaJCowen has insisted that we take down the bird feeders from the back garden. We’ve been attracting a variety of colourful little friends as the spring starts to settle in North Essex.

Our feathered friends have also been attracting the interest of someone else…

A couple of quotes coming my way via the Wivenhoe Forum:

“I have today written to the Environment Agency to formally object to the destructive work taking place along the sea wall from Wivenhoe Sailing Club to Alresford Creek. I suppose it’s probably too late to do anything about it but feel I must object to the lack of local consultation and publicity about the scale and extent of these works.”

As a bit of a busy body Wivenhoe local, I wasn’t even aware that the work being carried out by the Environment Agency was taking place out towards Alresford Creek. My daily commute takes me in the opposite direction, heading for the Hythe.

It’s a shame that it has taken such a heartbreaking issue as the vandalism of the sea wall, but yeah - hopefully the Wivenhoe Forum is now finding a use and a shared purpose.

Some more quotes on the same subject:

“I have spoken to Wivenhoe Town Council who received a letter from the Environment Agency in August 2010. I’ve seen nothing locally about these works.”

This is exactly what I had in mind when setting up the Wivenhoe Forum towards the tail end of last year. Having an engaged local community, sharing in dialogue and hopefully co-operation, can only benefit the town as a place to live and work. All information is good.

“An explanation of why this work is being done by the Environment Agency has been posted on the Wivenhoe website.”

This came from user gene, who is also responsible for running the most excellent Wivenhoe Encyclopedia (many thanks for the link, btw.) I have found this online volume of local knowledge invaluable since planning the Great Escape. It is formally linked with Wivenhoe Town Council. I prefer my independence…

Plus as comprehensive as the Encyclopedia may be (and it truly is a source of great knowledge) there isn’t the functionality for locals to talk together online. Once again - this is precisely what I had in mind when putting together the Wivenhoe Forum.

“Personally I am very disappointed that Wivenhoe Town Council was made aware of these works in August 2010 by the EA but that this information has not filtered through to the population of the Town.”

To which the response was:

“I have passed your comment to the Town Council.”

Ace.

Proper hyperlocal online communication that is being channeled in the right direction. Many thanks to the users involved for helping this process to work.

I then received a very kind comment to m’blog, from a non-Wivenhoe resident, stating:

“After a long drawn out decision – initially inspired by a Guardian Let’s Move article in 2007 – the time has come to house-hunt and school-hunt in Wivenhoe. It is very exciting but with two primary age children and a Liverpool street commuter the over subscribed schools and the crazy train fares are a little scary.

It was good to find this forum.”

Ahhh - lovely. It was good to see that the reach of the Wivenhoe Forum is also starting to spread outside of the town. This was another reason behind the initial idea - helping to promote Wivenhoe from within to the outside.

The Wivenhoe Forum is still only under two months old. My problem is that I’m far too impatient. I actually have higher daily traffic to m’blog than to the forum right now. Ironically this is actually up on the Lambeth levels from back in the day. Must be something about the content, Comrades.

In terms of membership, the Wivenhoe Forum is now up to seventy registered users. Not all are active of course, plus we have about half that number of lurkers each day. Online dialogue and co-operation is only ever any good if you can get a greater number of conversations started.

I’m still loath to go out there and start pimping out the forum around the town. But I’ve been encouraged as to how an issue such as the Colne clearance has acted as a springboard to realise the possibilities that this form of online contact can create.

Oh - and I personally managed to pass on an unwanted chair via the forum.

Cripes.

Onwards.