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City Times Intro Hello readers, Due to the latest national lockdown, we are back online only again this month unfortunately. Fingers crossed we will be back in print soon! Stay safe! Regards Paul & Nick www.thecitytimes.co.uk | www.moulshamtimes.com Advertising Editorial Nick Garner Paul Mclean 07970 206682 01245 262082 / 07595 949701 ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk editorial@itsyourmedia.co.uk
it’s your media Ltd Disclaimer: It’s Your Media Ltd publish The City Times. The opinion expressed in each article is the opinion of its author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of It’s Your Media Ltd. No part may be reproduced without the prior written permission of It’s Your Media Ltd. Registered offices: 15 Hayes Close, Chelmsford. Reg No 9154871. Printed by Warners (Midlands) PLC.
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City Times Food Keto Baking - by Lisa Whittle
being gluten-free too.
I am not a baker, at least not until now. Why bake if you avoid sugar? This means you can’t eat cake. But a virtually caloriefree sugar called erythritol has changed all that. Now you really can have your cake and eat it and also make and eat very low carb cakes, biscuits and desserts that keep you slim and healthy while naturally benefitting from
It’s an incredible, almost disorienting change for me. In the last lockdown the popularity of baking soared, this time I’ve been able to take part in this craze. To this end I’ve spent Christmas learning keto baking with this new ingredient - and I’m now a person who eats cake and dessert and even hot chocolate sweetened with erythritol. Most of what I have learned has come from a book called The Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking by Carolyn Ketchum. Its subheading is ‘master all the best tricks for low-carb baking success’ and when you consider this is baking with no grains or sugars as you know them, tricks are indeed needed. The new ingredients do not behave as you might expect - the chemistry is entirely different. To this end you will find yourself buying odd things you may never have bought before, such as xanthan gum or collagen peptides, which have the main aim of helping your creation stick together. Fortunately, Amazon has been a great source for these and also a provider of the erythritol itself in its various forms - white, brown and powdered, which is like icing sugar.
been possible relatively recently. Erythritol benefits from being crystalline, so very sugar-like in consistency, and is about 70 per cent as sweet as sugar. It contains zero calories because the human body has no enzymes to digest it. 90 per cent of it is thought to go into the blood stream and out in the urine unchanged and not affecting our metabolism. This means there is no change in blood sugar or insulin levels and therefore it has no effect on cholesterol, triglycerides or other biomarkers; so it’s perfect for people with diabetes and other metabolic issues. The 10 per cent that does reach the colon can feed the bacteria that live there, creating gas, and may have a laxative effect. In my experience at a reasonable consumption level this doesn’t happen. Its only if I have had a real blow out (excuse the pun) that this has happened, and then only mildly. And neither does erythritol mean dental decay. Like xylitol, erythritol has been found to inhibit mouth bacteria, meaning it can actually prevent tooth decay. The only downside is that it currently costs ten times as much as normal sugar (approximately £7 for 500mg) and, as yet, it is not widely available (for example, I couldn’t buy it in Chelmsford). I predict we will see more of this in the future and it will become easier to source, perhaps even a standard ingredient. In the meantime, just buy it online. Ready to get going and try it? Here are some recipes from Carolyn Ketchum’s book. Classic Yellow Birthday Cake (in other words, rather like Victoria sponge) The measures are in USA ‘cups’ - a volume measure instead of weight. Where possible I have given the equivalent in grams, though it is also possible to buy a measure for cups. This is for a 2 layer 8 inch round cake, serving 12: 20 minutes preparation plus 25 minutes cooking.
Astoundingly this is natural and is technically what is known as a ‘sugar alcohol’ similar to xylitol (as found in sugar-free chewing gum), maltitol and sorbitol - but far fewer calories. It was approved by the World Health Organisation in 1999 and the Food and Drug Administration in the USA in 2001 and in Europe in 2006, although Japan was making and using it commercially in the 1990s. If you google it you will soon find that it is made by fermenting glucose with yeasts and it is described as extremely safe. A Scottish chemist, John Stenhouse, first discovered and named erythritol as far back as 1848 when he found it in a lichen plant. It occurs in nature only in small quantities and making it commercially has only
Ingredients 3 cups of almond flour (source online) 1/3 cup of unflavoured whey protein 2 teaspoons of baking powder ½ teaspoon of salf ½ cup of butter (which is just under half a block, about 113g) ¾ cup of granulated erythritol 3 large eggs 1 large egg yolk 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract ½ cup of almond milk Method • Preheat the oven to gas 3 or 165C. • Grease two 8inch sandwich tins and line with greaseproof paper (it is worth making this effort now to ensure you can remove the cake from the tin when its cooked). • In a medium bowl, mix together the almond flour, whey powder, baking powder and salt until all evenly distributed.
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3oz (75g) of cream cheese 2/3 cup of powdered erythritol (like icing sugar) 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder A pinch of salt (to bring out the chocolate taste) ½ a teaspoon of vanilla extract 1/3 - ½ a cup of thick double cream • Heat the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave for 2 minutes or until liquid and stir well. Leave to cool to luke warm. • Mix the butter, cream cheese, erythritol, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla extract together with an electric whisk for a few minutes until soft and well mixed. The mixture will be quite thick at this stage. • Add the cream slowly to adjust the consistency so it can be smoothed onto the cake. • Add the chocolate cream to the flatter side of one of the sponge cakes to become sandwich filling and place the other sponge cake on top, flat side down. Cover the sides and top of the cake with the chocolate frosting mix. Decorate further as a you chose! Enjoy! • In another large bowl with an electric whisk, mix together the erythritrol and the butter for 2 minutes, then slowly beat in the whole eggs, adding a little at a time. Then add in the egg yolk and the vanilla extract. • Beat in the almond flour mixture and follow with the almond milk. • Divide the mixture between the two tins, spreading to the edges and smoothing the tops. • Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. • Cool in the tins.
I found the chocolate butter cream to be absolutely divine and really enjoyed scraping out the bowl myself! Besides this cake, I have also made the carrot cake, the granola bars and the crème brûlée from this recipe book - all totally delicious. Carolyn Ketchum is at pains in the recipe book to suggest you consider this keto baking a science and recommends following the recipe instructions exactly - no ad libbing! Substitute at your peril and take note of temperatures of ingredients and stick to them. For example, when it says ‘room temperature’, you probably can’t get away with straight from the fridge. A ‘medium egg’ is a different size to a ‘large egg’ etc.
Cover with the divine chocolate cream frosting. Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting Ingredients 2oz (50g) of unsweetened chocolate 1 tablespoon of coconut oil ½ cup of unsalted butter
Let me know how you get on by emailing me at lisactfood@ gmail.com.
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Nick’s Music and Ramblings Well, what a way to start 2021! Before we go there, I do hope that you are safe and well and looking forward to things improving during this year as I do. I suppose with the current situation, it was inevitable that we would have another lockdown. We just need everyone to adhere to it now, then we can hopefully get back to a normal life once more. Though I’m not sure things will ever be quite the same as before; well not in my lifetime anyway. I am pleased with all the vaccines rolling out now - I cannot wait for mine which I am hoping will be around early March (I am over 65). I do feel for everyone with the restrictions that are in place at present for work, socialising, schooling and everything else. It does make it very hard. I know only too well, as I live alone and am of an age where I need to take extra care. Memories Way back when I should have been at school (which I must say I hated back then), I would sometims skive off, as my school did not recognise dyslexia back then which we are all sure I suffered with. Being at a private school that focused heavily on sport, I have to play in the school rugby team - and I was also a hurdler (that surprised us all). Still, I was not getting the school work done in class or out of school, so I skived off and used to sneak into our local ice skating rink in Streatham (how I don’t remember). I became quite good at it too; I remember my mum saying I may not have been good academically, but I was pretty good at ice skating as I learnt to figure skate and ice dance. Sadly with a dodgy ankle these days I can no longer do it. I left school at fifteen when I managed to secure an apprenticeship in hairdressing - yes I know hard to believe but I did well at it! I have to say I don’t think that I have done to badly in life - I’ve had a varied and pretty good life all in all and have a wonderful family. I do think I have been lucky to have come from such a loving family and to have had such good friends who still, over 50 years on, I remain friends with. I have mixed during my life with all - from royals to some of the famous, and those people who it has just been a great privilege to know or have known or to have just been in the company of. There is nothing I am prouder of than my own family though. I love them all more than I can ever express and I am so pleased that my ex-wife and I are still great friends as well.
and she sings for us as well. I do think if lockdown had not happened, we would not have got to know so much about so many artists, and there are many more out there doing this as well, like Ronnie Wood. There is so much music going on online that it is hard to take it all in, and I do miss so much I know. One I try to see every week on Saturday night is Tim Edey who is an amazing awardwinning musician. His style is more folk with a touch of gypsyjazz plus a bit of pop. He has to be seen to be believed as he is also so funny and endearing. Another I watch on Sunday nights is Andy Grant, and every other Thursday Robin Bibi and not forgetting When Rivers Meet, who do a live stream every Saturday. Live streaming has really come into its own during this pandemic and I think and hope it is here to stay. During the first lockdown I put on twelve festivals with 195 acts. Now, I have just started to do a Sunday teatime stream from 5pm via my Isolation Festival - Black Frog Bands Facebook page, as well as on YouTube with Black Frog Presents. I have a different act each week and who knows who we will have coming up keep your eyes peeled! Please see the links below to be kept up to speed of where we are at for the entertainment. I have now started booking live acts to play at Chelmsford City Football Club from mid-April onwards. Acts like Connor Selby, Albert Lee, The Hot Rods, Slim Chance, The Animals, The Strawbs, Kokomo, Eric Bell, Wille & the Bandits and the Urban Voodoo Machine are all lined up with plenty more to come. We are hoping to put on live shows every week when we restart and to stream them live online as pay-to-view shows for those from around the globe who cannot get to the live gig. Please do keep and eye out online for what I am doing. Not just myself and not just music - there is so much more out there. In fact just about anything you can think of is now being streamed online, from yoga to cookery, and from exercise to crafts, and from self help to art. Just go and search for whatever or whoever you are interested in and I am sure you will find it online. It would be fantastic if you could share both our magazines the City Times and Moulsham Times for us. We continue to publish both magazines online at www.issuu.com/ itsyourmedia. If you are interested in advertising with us please contact us at ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk, or if you have a comment or an article, please send to editorial@itsyourmedia. co.uk and we will reply to you as soon as we can.
Moving back to the present, there is still much music happening, although it now has to be online. One benefit is that we have seen and got closer in many ways to so many artists. We have got to know more about them, as they - like us all - are locked down too, and have been letting us into their lives. One such person I have seen a few times is Joss Stone. While she is pregnant, she has let us into her life and home. She is great, funny and very natural with her partner and her mum - sometimes singing and cooking.
For all my updates and information go to Black Frog Bands www.blackfrogbands.co.uk or www.facebook.com/ blackfrogbands. The Isolation Festival/blackfrogbands page can be found at www.bit.ly/3cDoCYW. We are now on YouTube as well - go to www.youtube.com/ blackfrogpresents. My band page for Yes It Is can be found at www.facebook. com/yesitis.
Another who I love and I am pleased to say is also my friend, is Hazel O’Connor. She is presently in France and she too is so natural and loveable as she shows us around. She also shows us the work she is doing and we get to enjoy her dogs with her
Stay safe and well please, and let’s start to get ready for the big celebration when we can see on the other side - we know that this is going to be the biggest party ever.
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City Times Gardening Happy New Year! Well, that was a different festive break to usual let’s hope all goes well this year for a return to some kind of normality. That aside, I’ve got loads done in the garden and feel more than set for the new growing season.
Planting Beds Although we’ve had a fair bit of rain over the last few weeks, I’ve been able to get into the beds and borders, clean them through and plant new specimens. Well-rotted organic matter has been added to the soil surface and then lightly turned over. Plants have been positioned and then planted. Check out my step by step guide to successful planting:
Of my jobs to do list over Christmas I was able to revamp the patio, plant beds and prune plants on a pergola. The Patio Basically this has become a dumping zone for many a planted container. As a result I’ve decided to declutter big time. The patio has been cleared and I’m about to introduce three large planters containing multi-stemmed birch. I’ll be using Betula utilis var. jacquemontii Snow Queen for its bright white stems and more upright form. They’ll all be underplanted with a great grass called Hakonechloa macra All Gold (Hakone grass) and various bulbs. I’ve also found during lockdown that the patio is a sun trap late morning through to mid afternoon, and so seating has been moved here. When it’s all done and dusted, I’ll pop a few images up for all to see.
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• Excavate a hole larger than the root ball. • No need to add any feed as a base dressing - the thought is that by doing so you encourage the root system to search outwards for its initial nutrition. • Check planting depth. For container grown plants, position plant into the planting hole and check that the top of the root ball is flush with the soil surface. There are some exceptions, whereby, deeper planting is fine. For example, fruit such as blackcurrants and the likes of Salix and Cornus would be ok buried around 2.5cm (1”) deeper than it was in the pot to encourage suckering. • Lightly firm as you plant. • Water plant and apply a top dressing of a compound feed in March, eg, fish, blood and bone at a rate of 50g/m2. • Monitor plant over the summer and water during drier times. Pruning I’ve started to undertake some much needed rejuvenation pruning on wisteria, clematis and a rambling rose. This will require some brutal pruning to try and bring all three plants under control and back into flowering across the wooden pergola. Of the three, the clematis is easy to deal with first. I’ve got clematis Jackmanii, a group 3 type, that requires hard pruning down to two sets of buds, almost to the ground. For the wisteria, it’s a case of repositioning limbs across the pergola, tying in shoots and tipping them at the edge of the support. Finally, the rambling rose is a cultivar called Veilchenblau and needs last year’s flowering growth cut out totally, or to where there’s a well spaced vegetative growth. This will be tied across the rafters of the support and again
tipped like the wisteria. I’ll also be thinning out the rose by a third to reinvigorate it. All plants to be fed in March, just like the shrubs. Lastly, check out this link for other jobs for the garden as we move through to January 2021: www. rhs.org.uk/advice/in-month/january. Happy gardening and keep safe! For any gardening tips please contact Tom Cole, Horticultural Lecturer, Capel Manor College, Bullsmoor Lane, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 4RQ by post (including a SAE) or by email at Tom.Cole@capel.ac.uk.
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Chelmsford Slimmer Celebrates 7-Stone Weight Loss! A Chelmsford super slimmer is celebrating reaching her target weight having lost an amazing 7 stone! Natasha Fretton, from Chelmsford has joined the ranks of target members up and down the country who have made long-term healthy lifestyle changes to reach their personal target weights with Slimming World’s Food Optimising Plan. Natasha who has dropped from a dress size 20/22 to a 12, says: “Joining Slimming World has changed my life around, I feel fitter and healthier than before and I have to take a second look in the mirror now as I can’t believe I have become this slim person!” Natasha joined Slimming World after feeling unhappy about her size: “I was worried about my health as I got older and it was getting so that I couldn’t buy clothes from the regular high street retailers. I hated what I saw in the mirror and didn’t enjoy going out as I felt people would look at me and comment on my size. I tried a number of different ways to lose weight, but they usually left me feeling hungry or miserable - or both, in fact. “With Slimming World it’s completely different. I still eat all my favourite meals, like hunters chicken, spaghetti bolognese and cottage pie - I love the beef and aubergine bake which is so easy; just 5 ingredients. You can eat everyday foods, they are just prepared and cooked differently now - and they taste so much better. I can even enjoy chocolate as long as its in moderation and I don’t have to get hung up on weighing and measuring everything I eat.” Natasha lost 5lb in her first week and was blown away that the changes she’d made had such a big impact so quickly. Over time the changes became regular habits and as the weight started to come off, she started to think about her overall health. “I had not had any health issues before but certainly wasn’t fit and couldn’t run a few metres without being out of breath. I have now become a regular runner and have worked up to running 10k. I feel a lot healthier both in body and mind and do not need to turn to comfort food like I once did. My biggest challenge has been my mindset towards food, especially with snacking and controlling the urge to eat comfort food when feeling down. I am proud of how I have stuck to the Food Optimising Plan, even in weeks when it has felt hard, and I’m especially proud of continuing to lose weight last year through lockdown.” She adds: “Joining Slimming World has been one of the best things I have done over the last few years. Although I am proud of my hard work, I couldn’t have done it without the encouragement and the support of my consultants over this time. Attending group has also been key, as it is great to get support and ideas from other members and hear they are feeling the same as you.”
Consultant Emma Lodge who runs 3 groups in Springfield, says: “I couldn’t be more proud of Natasha. She’s a fantastic ambassador for Slimming World and what she’s achieved - especially during the last few months which have been incredibly tough for many of us - is nothing short of incredible. I’ve been constantly inspired by Natasha’s determination each week and has come so far from the first time I met her. She’s now beaming with confidence and she’s definitely made changes for life. “Given the links between COVID-19 and obesity and the impact of lockdown, I know lots of people are worrying about their weight more than ever before, so I really hope Natasha’s weight loss can inspire people to get started on their own journey and show them that there’s a whole group of people waiting to support them every step of the way with absolutely no judgement. Regardless of the restrictions, we are proud of how we can continue to support our members, no matter what the tier! With over 50 years of experience in the psychology of slimming alongside a fabulous, generous eating plan, we can help anyone achieve their dreams.” The Slimming World group that Natasha attends is held every Friday at Springfield Park Baptist Church. Although at the time of going to press, the groups are offering all the support you would expect from Slimming World but weighing at home. To join or find out more, call Emma on 07887 692 906. Slimming World in Chelmsford offers groups across the week and across the city. To find your local group, check the website at www.slimmingworld.co.uk.
Next Issue Deadlines Articles 29th January Artwork 6th February
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City Times History
Chelmsford in the Second World War (Part Seven) - by Stephen Norris This final part in my series of articles on the town during the Second War deals with the bombing of the town towards the end of the war, but also its experiences during the Cold War. The week following the Marconi raid in May 1941 saw a bomb cause extensive damage to Danbury Church, and a high explosive bringing down a block of flats in Coval Lane killing 6 people and seriously injuring another 5. After a number of quiet months, a lone raider bombed Hoffmanns and some neighbouring houses in July 1942, killing 4 people and injuring 20. Production was limited for a while with a good deal of damage to the lapping shop and a concrete floor which collapsed - tailor-made machines were difficult to replace quickly. The Hoffmann Fire Brigade was summoned, though luckily no regular shift was working at the time so injuries were much fewer than they otherwise would have been. The civil defence and rescue services worked well; there were 2 rescue squads, 3 ambulances, 2 stretcher parties, 1 mortuary van and the National Fire Service. A rest centre for those bombed out was opened at the local Congregational Church. Angry residents complained, however, that no sirens had warned of the attack and AA defences at Hoffmann had failed to fire. In October 1942 the Hoffmann factory was raided again, with houses in Henry Road and Rectory Lane also damaged and 4 people killed. One bomb scored a direct hit on the works, penetrating the roof and exploding in the assembly shop, leaving a crater 14 feet across and 6 feet deep. Of course rain fell through the roof causing further damage. Only 8 machines were affected, but the cage and the assembly shop were put out of action. Like the previous attack, this caused a big dip in production with 6 weeks production lost. A Luftwaffe aerial photograph of Chelmsford as early as 1940 shows the Hoffmann factory clearly - and the Germans obviously targeted this. Bernard Wren’s house was destroyed in the raid and rescuers had to dig him out - it was a year before he could start his education again. Many of those in nearby houses were saved from serious injury by their Morrison shelters. In March 1943, 60 incendiary bombs fell close to the military hospital at New Hall, Boreham. On April the 19th during a raid by 20 German bombers, Springfield Jail was seriously damaged with the Prison Governor losing all his belongings. This was the night of the first major incendiary raid on Chelmsford. At one point there were 8 major fires burning in the town. All of the town’s Bofors guns and other defences went into action against the raiders. One of the bombs hit Archer’s Suet factory causing vast amounts of suet to fill the street. Eileen Hance lived opposite the factory in New Street, next to the Cathedral school: “We were bombed one night, when fire bombs hit Archer’s. That went up in flames and the fire engines dealt with that. We had just managed to put it [the fire bomb] out when the firemen rushed in with a hose and they were covered in suet from the factory. The firemen did more damage than the fire.” The bombers also targeted the Crompton factory but again missed the target. On Friday the 14th of May 1943, Chelmsford’s blitz occurred its heaviest raid of the war. The attack lasted an hour and the barrage balloons had already been raised. One bomber alone dropped 44 high explosives, 6 parachute mines and 312 kilos of incendiaries. Once again there was little damage to the big factories. The only hit was to Marconi’s new factory in
Pottery Lane, which made and tested wireless components for anti-submarine devices. Luckily, there was no shift working at the time and nobody was injured, although a parachute mine caused widespread damage to surrounding houses and there was a great deal of destruction in the centre of town. The bus station was destroyed and there was much destruction in and around Duke Street. Chelmsford’s YMCA building, Cannons restaurant by the station and a coal yard were demolished. In Moulsham the area between Baddow Road and Lady Lane was heavily hit. 9 bombs, intended for the gasworks, actually fell between Mildmay Road and Lynmouth Avenue. Two 500kg bombs fell between Goldlay Road and Lynmouth Avenue destroying a number of houses. A number of incendiaries that fell on Lady Lane did not start fires. The civil defence services were very stretched and additional rescue parties and mobile canteens etc had to be in surrounding areas. In all, there were 46 deaths and 226 injured. 1,000 people were made homeless, but they were mainly put up by friends and relatives and did not need billets. A week later the Essex Chronicle criticised certain national newspapers for ‘revealing that Chelmsford was the victim of the previous week’s blitz’. For a year the skies over Chelmsford were quieter. In early 1944 with an allied invasion of the European mainland expected, the Government designated the east coast of England from the Wash to Lands End a protected area. Visitors were banned from a zone which included Chelmsford. On Friday the 16th June 1944, 200 V-1 rockets were launched and Chelmsford suffered its first attacks. A great deal of damage was done to houses, but there were no deaths. Most of the V-1s and V-2s fell harmlessly in the rural area around Chelmsford. In October a V-2 fell 40 yards from The Bell in Rettendon slightly injuring two people. A day later, one fell in a sugar beet field at Great Waltham. Other V-2s fell in Danbury, Writtle and Roxwell. In December 1944 a V-2 caused the greatest individual loss of life in the town during the war. It came down near Hoffmanns, destroyed a large area of the factory, and demolished a number of houses in Henry Road. 30 Hoffmann employees were killed along with 9 residents in the road. Most of those who died at the Hoffmann factory were young women who had just been to a carol service. ‘There was a festive spirit among the employees at Hoffmann that early morning. There came a blinding flash, a roar then chaos. People were trapped. The screams of the dying and injured was distressing.’ Bertie Upson, a Hoffmann worker and member of the firms ARP, recalled: “I shouted at the girls to get out.” He told them to go to the canteen that hadn’t been hit: “I kept four fellows backwith me and said we had to help. We got bodies and people who had been injured and half carried them out.” A nurse told them not to bring any more bodies to the surgery, only those who were injured. “We had to leave dead bodies at the surgery door.” Hoffmanns gave Upson 30 shillings and seven coupons to buy new shoes because the soles of his existing pair had been burnt through. He was promised a medal but this didn’t materialise. Upson said: “All I wanted was for them to be alive.” The factory’s cage and assembly department was badly damaged, and Chelmsford’s fire brigade sent 4 pumps and a
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number of American servicemen came to help. A food kitchen was operating in Henry Road within half an hour. Hoffmann’s profits fell by three quarters. One man, who was slightly injured, had come to live in ‘nice quiet Chelmsford’ after being bombed out twice in Deptford! When the war finished, the Chelmsford ARP area had received 1,326 high explosives, 136 oil and phosphorescent devices, 25,065 small incendiaries, 28 flying bombs and 35 rockets.
the Earth highlighted the nuclear waste being carried through Essex on trains on its way to Windscale; ‘Several tons of irradiated fuel passes through Chelmsford on a monthly basis.’ Doubtless the vast majority of Chelmsford citizens continued to sleep soundly in their beds!
Chelmsford Library
In January 1945 the council formed a Welcome Home Committee for returning servicemen which was also to give early consideration to a war memorial in the town. On VE Day crowds of people danced in Tindal Square, and Morrison shelters were moved out into the streets to be used as tables for street parties.
Chelmsford Library wishes all its customers a very happy New Year! Let’s hope most of us can return to living a more normal life again. However, we will continue to adhere to Government guidelines regarding social distancing, face coverings and hygiene to ensure you will be able to have a safe and enjoyable visit.
Amongst Himmler’s hoard of treasure found after the war was a silver cup with the words ‘Chelmsford Races’ under the rim of the base. To this day nobody knows how it came into his possession! The RAF, when overrunning a field at Quedlingburg, Germany, found a scale model of Hoffmann and Marconi. It was based on a photo taken by a German reconnaissance aircraft in 1941 and the model was remarkably accurate in most details.
To encourage children to continue enjoying books, our Winter Reading Challenge began in December and will continue until spring, so its not too late to start! Just come in to any Essex library and ask to join (no form to fill in). You will be given a giant bookmark and then need to read or share 6 books. You will receive an animal stamp on the bookmark for each book read, and when the challenge is completed, you will be given a gold star to affix to your bookmark.
William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw) was executed for treason on the 3rd of January 1946. Before the war he lived at Chelmerton Avenue, Great Baddow and knew Chelmsford very well, which was the reason pieces of local knowledge often cropped up in his propaganda broadcasts. An apocryphal story was that a local newsagent who disliked Joyce’s fascist views, refused to serve him. He maintained that the hideous scar on his face would frighten the children who came into buy sweets! Initially there was a proposal to build a community centre as a war memorial in the town. This ran into opposition, particularly from the British Legion. Fundraising proved difficult in such austere times and the memorial fund was closed with only £2,000 raised. The memorial in front of the civic centre that had been erected after the First War was adapted to pay homage to those who had lost their lives in the second conflict. Chelmsford’s British Restaurants were kept open while rationing continued but were closed after 1949. The start of the Cold War saw a small group of people enthusiastically joining the Civil Defence Organisation, but the response overall in the Chelmsford area was disappointing. Despite the apparently very real threat of a nuclear war in the early post-war years, the Chelmsford public remained generally apathetic to recruitment drives. Each of the big 3 companies had no civil defence organiser, despite being requested to appoint one. By 1953 there were just 400 volunteers in the area. In 1959 the organisation had a new headquarters next to the Eastern National bus garage. The town, with its longstanding Quaker and peace movement, unsurprisingly had a strong CND presence from the 1960s to the movement’s heyday in the early 1980s. In 1961 a massive CND march passed through Chelmsford, stopping on its way to Trafalgar Square. Chelmsford was regularly one of the starting points for marches to the US base at Wetherfield. By the 1980s there were a number of branches in the rural area, including Great Waltham and Danbury. In 1981 the Friends of www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia
Our opening hours are changing! From 4th January 2021 Chelmsford Central Library’s new temporary opening hours will be will be 9am - 5pm Monday to Saturday and 10.30am - 1.30pm on Sunday. For the opening hours of other libraries, please visit our website. Customers can continue to access our digital services from home via our website, including Borrowbox for eBooks and eAudio books, and free courses on a wide variety of topics including learning a language. Follow this link to find out what is available, to browse the Essex Libraries’ catalogue and to keep up to date with future changes: libraries.essex.gov.uk. Do come and see us soon. We look forward to welcoming you.
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City Times Finance COVID-19 and Your Money: COVID-19 and Your Pension
Stay Calm and Take Advice It may feel as though your plans have been put on hold due to COVID-19 and while the disruption is real, do not let it stop you considering your retirement plans. Despite the uncertainty ask yourself what lies ahead and are my plans adequate? 1. What’s Your Plan? You have worked tirelessly, made a lot of important and even irreversible decisions - don’t be afraid to look back, but don’t lose sight of what lies ahead. Acknowledge where you stand with your savings. Confront your timescales. Revisit your attitude to risk. Check your capacity for loss.
2. Keep at It Pensions are a long term investment, don’t lose your nerve - keep contributing if you can, or even increase or decrease payments. Consider the option of your investments being bought at a lower cost so as to benefit from any market comeback. Remember, your investments can go up as well as down. 3. Cash Savings If you are in a position to use some of your cash savings, one option is to use this in the interim, so that your investments have some time to recover from any market fluctuations. That way you don’t have to sell your investments at a lower cost and won’t lose the opportunity for the values to go up again. 4. Details There are many different schemes, terms and conditions, different features and often minute, but very important, details that your independent financial adviser will be able to explain and help you make sense of, so that you can make the best decision for your retirement. 5. Keep an Eye on Your Money Remember, your retirement savings will have to last you for
potentially decades - don’t let the money run out. Plan for your income and expenditure. Think long-term and don’t be tempted to withdraw all of your savings at once. Cash-wise, inflation is your enemy number one. 6. Don’t Stay Still Have a plan but be prepared to be adaptable. Times are changing and not a lot is certain - if you stay flexible in your attitude to your plans so will your finances. Work part time or longer? Start saving more now? Ask your independent financial adviser to help you get where you want to be in retirement. 7. Get Help It’s imperative to get independent and impartial financial advice, tailored to your unique needs and circumstances to ensure that your retirement is on course and all your options are laid bare in front of you. Don’t try to DIY your future contact us and get the right advice today. Silvia Johnson BSc(Hons) DipPFS EFA CertCII (MP) is a Director and Independent Financial Adviser at Royale Thames Wealth Ltd. www.royalthameswealth.co.uk silvia@royalthameswealth.co.uk 020 8720 7249 / 07908 109 741 Royale Thames Wealth Ltd is an Appointed Representative of New Leaf Distribution Ltd which is authorised and regulated by Financial Conduct Authority number 460421. The value of your investment may go up as well as down and the value is not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Wills and Estate Planning are not regulated by the FCA.
CT Wildlife - by Nick Green
Winter weather proved to be rather variable and rainfall continued sporadically, causing some flooding at times. The coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic continued to strike on an international and national basis. The UK death toll surpassed 84,700 deaths with over 3.21 million cases. The goldcrest is the smallest British bird at 8.6-9.5 cm (3.25 inches) along with its congener, the firecrest. The species is a common resident passage migrant and winter visitor and may often be found in gardens, especially where Goldcrest (copyright Glyn Evans) there are conifers. It may skulk, but is usually found high in trees. Identification characteristics include olive-green upperparts, whiter underneath, pale face and a weak dark
moustachial stripe. The crown has a streak of yellow but the male’s is more orange. With the continuing self isolation and stay at home directive, perhaps the RSPB’s Garden Watch will be welcomed from 29th-31st January. For just one hour, record all bird species that visit your garden. Visit rspb.org.uk/birdwatch to find all the details and how you can enter your records. All records will be analysed and summarised and the results will be available in March. A national influx of white-fronted geese was apparent with Essex coastal records from Colne Point, Old Hall Marshes RSPB, Abberton Reservoir, Lea Valley, Wallasea Island RSPB. I even managed to find 12 inland at Titchmarsh Lake at Writtle University College on 1st December 2020. Keep safe. Keep alert.
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Charity of the Month: Heads2minds
over the last year.
Heads2minds has been created in order to raise mental health awareness, educate, mentor and offer continued support to all people. Its aim is to reduce the stigma that is still very much attached to mental health disorders and especially due to the increase during lockdown
Heads2minds offers all types of mental health and wellbeing training, including mental health first aid. The charity is now branching out into schools and offers mentoring for children, animal therapy and art therapy to help children with their emotions and talking out about how they feel and their behaviours. The goal of the organisation is to make a difference in this world and create a world full of hope and positive minds. The charity is run by Liz Rotherham, who is a local Essex girl empowering all people to be their authentic self. Liz was diagnosed with bipolar in 2003 and mainly experiences psychotic manic episodes, Liz has been sectioned numerous times but is extremely grateful for all the support from her family, partner, friends, and the NHS Services. This lived experience helps Liz reach out to other people whose mental health is affected and is able to offer compassion and empathy with a greater understanding of people’s emotions and feelings. This creates trust, rapport and a builds a sense of confidence immediately. One of the most basic human needs is the need to be heard and this is paramount in the work of Heads2minds. Liz tells the story of how her condition has affected family, relationships, work and other aspects of their life through talks with schools, colleges, universities, employment forums, the Essex Police and other various groups. There has been some amazing feedback and truly positive comments, which only fuels the goal of reaching out to and inspiring others. Being a NHS Governor within Essex Partnership Trust, Liz gets involved with helping the local NHS community to make a difference and support all people through the trust. Liz’s greatest dream is that by using her voice and her story, she is able to help give others the impetus and the courage to speak out about their own experiences without fear of persecution, judgement or abuse. Heads2minds carries out the following activities: • • • • • • •
Delivery of mental health first aid training. Delivery of other training with regards to well-being. Delivery of training to help parents. Mental health awareness work. Well-being coaching. Mental health-focused mentoring for children. Talks in schools, universities and companies to promote positive mental health. • Provision of holistic therapy. • Support for those who care for someone with a mental www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia
health condition. • Emotional support to the elderly and younger generation with regards to animal therapy and art therapy. • Mentoring of the younger generation. • Mindfulness and meditation for all people especially children at a young age. • Positive mindset workshops. Improved health and well-being for those with mental health conditions is one of the main drivers for the organisation. Heads2minds aims to provide services that better support the physical, psychological and emotional needs of those with mental health conditions and for those supporting someone with a diagnosis. This is achieved by engaging service users in more physical and social activities, giving them greater knowledge about their rights, options and opportunities and by providing more opportunities for education and training to raise awareness. Liz collaborates with other charities within the local area - Mind Charity, Kids Inspire, Brainwave (plus more) - to help unite all as one to make a difference to our future generation, and to all people’s mental health and well-being. Heads2minds next challenge is to climb Snowdon with 5 other women to raise awareness and help support Time to Change - the social movement to reduce stigma, discrimination and judgement. They have already raised £1,500 and this will be shared with domestic abuse charity Safe Steps in Southend. The ethics of Heads2minds means that it always strives to work in partnership with organisations whose values and purpose match its own. This is one of the many reasons Heads2minds is delighted to be the official charity partner of Wellity Ltd, a workplace well-being company that provides a range of services designed to make a difference to the mental health of the working population, using accredited service providers. Like Heads2minds, Wellity prides itself on authenticity, courage and a desire to make a genuine difference normalising the conversation around mental health. Heads2minds passion is to be the rock that people can hold onto, knowing that they understand them, support them, honour them and are always in their corner. As the charity grows along with reach, Heads2minds is always looking for new, innovative ways to connect with people, to fundraise, to raise awareness and to shine a light. To that end, if you are reading this and have an amazing idea that you’d like to share with Heads2minds, or perhaps the Heads2minds mission resonates with you and you’d like to get involved, please send an email to info@heads2minds.co.uk. The charity would love to hear from those who support them.
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Rotary in the Virtual Word In the last issue of The City Times I mentioned the Donate A Dinner initiative organised by some of the Rotary clubs in Chelmsford working together. It proved to be a great success. Not just that it was so warmly received by families being able to enjoy a traditional festive Christmas meal, but also because it was the first time it had been attempted locally. The clubs were able to provide 89 families with Christmas dinner hampers after being provided with a list of 47 families from Home-Start Essex and 40 families from Little Edi Foundation (see further down as to why the arithmetic is slightly out). Fortunately, the clubs were able to get access to the Scout Hall a few days in advance to set up, and on Tuesday December 22nd, hamper packing was carried out followed by collection and delivery. There was a team of Rotarians helping with the preparation of the hampers, and others who arrived to distribute. In addition, there were also volunteers from both organisations to help deliver the hampers. It was thought that finding turkeys would be a problem but actually this wasn’t the case in the end and indeed, there were 5 spare! These weren’t wasted and it enabled the packing Rotarians to make up another 2 make-shift hampers for Home-Start which contained everything except the vegetables. I am sure this wasn’t too much of a problem for the younger family members, although a few people may have wondered if it is truly Christmas without Brussels sprouts! The rest of the leftovers, including 3 turkeys, went to Sanctus to provide hot meals for the rough sleepers. Thanks to the generosity of Rotarians and the public, there were also some surplus funds, so Rotary will be repeating the project again in 2021 - only 11 months to go... Everyone had a great time seeing this project through, and the faces of the recipient families made all the effort worthwhile. Special thanks to Tesco, Princes Road in Chelmsford; KellyBronze Turkeys in Howe Green; Restore in Harrow Green and Chelmsford Scout Association for all their assistance. A comment from Little Edi: “This is the true spirit of Christmas! Heartwarming. Thank you so very much lovely people and amazing how they brought me so much joy the day after my dad’s funeral.” Similarly, another comment from Home Start: “A small army of Santa’s little helpers gathered safely to pack boxes full of Christmas cheer. All the team worked tirelessly and the atmosphere was joyful and jolly, a truly magical sight.” Chelmsford Rotarians were also able to donate over £600 to Chess Homeless which was raised through the Virtual
Christmas Concert. This is still available to view on YouTube via the Rotary Satellite Chelmsford City Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RotaryChelmsfordCity - and donations can be made at any time. Virtual events have been entertaining and necessary this year as we are all confined to quarters, apart from essential journeys and shopping. Normal fundraising events have been cancelled and technology has been a godsend to at least partially fill the void left by traditional projects. During these troublesome times, many Rotary clubs have prioritised foodbanks. Dunmow has delivered 823 kilos of food through a reverse advent calendar. There will be more to follow as several members are following President Willie Fraser’s January challenge to raise money through sponsorship. He is having a dry, alcohol-free month which will also be meat-free. Believe me, this is no easy option for Willie. Others are doing sponsored walks or cycle rides of 72 miles, one mile for each year the club has existed, and one club member is painting pictures that will eventually be auctioned for charity.
Members packing and making good use of the Rotary snood face covering So, despite the stringent measures in place, there are still many ideas on how to contribute to those less fortunate and online meetings are an excellent way of keeping in contact with family, friends and neighbours. In fact, simply phoning someone living on their own is one of the most important things that you can do during this pandemic and beyond. Loneliness won’t end when coronavirus is finally brought under control. If you would like to know how to support any of Rotary’s projects, take a look at the website at www.rotary1240.org to find clubs near you, or give me a call on 01245 260 349. Stan Keller
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Canon Tom’s E-Pistle
Hello everyone. Another month, another lockdown! I know that this seems to be going on for a long time, but it’s not yet been a year yet since the first time we heard that word: ‘lockdown’. Since last March, it’s become a regular part of our vocabulary along with several other words and phrases relating to the current situation. I love words and language and how we can play with them to make jokes or to make a point in a discussion. Language is such a fun and fluid thing. Words we use today can often have had very different meanings many years ago and new words are invented to suit the times we live in and I think that’s great… for the most part. One or two things do set my teeth on edge though. Americanisms that we pick up from TV are a particular bugbear of mine. For example, ‘burglarized’ when we would normally simply say ‘burgled’ - a perfectly good word, so why mess with it? The same goes for ‘surveiled’ when we would say ‘surveyed’ - I have no idea why that winds me up so much,
but it does! The other day someone was asking me why ‘trespassing’ was so important that it’s in the Lord’s Prayer. After all, there are much worse things than walking uninvited on to someone else’s property! That’s absolutely true if we apply the modern use of the word which only applies to property these days. But when that word was chosen as part of the English translation of the Lord’s Prayer it meant far more. Trespassing included offences against the person, walking all over people’s feelings and needs not just their property. So, you see it has a far deeper significance which has been lost over time. Being asked to stay home during the pandemic has given us a lot more time to think and has given me the chance to play with word games and try to invent new words. I wonder if that’s something you might have a go at to while away some time? But remember folks… keep it clean! Tom
Quiz Time - by John Theedom 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
In which part of London is Abbey Road, made famous by The Beatles? In which country is the town of Nazareth? In Italian cooking, what is a fritatta? In the knighthood GCB, what does the ‘B’ stand for? When was the Boots Company first formed? What is each panel on an umbrella called? What fruit is used to make the sauce that goes with turkey? In Ireland, what is a champ? Which Mexican state has the same name as a hot sauce? Which tree dwelling creature may have 2 or 3 toes? In the rhyme, who could ‘eat no fat’? In the world of food, what is tripe? How many contestants are on each team in University Challenge? What does it mean when you lob a ball? What type of animal is a tercel? Who hosts the TV show Tenable? How many wives did Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism have? What was very unusual about the Tardis? Which country supplies the Christmas tree every year for London? How many wings does a mosquito have?
21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.
Which country’s national flag has just one tree leaf? In which country was Olivia de Havilland born in 1916? Which Venetian painter gave his name to a shade of red? What nationality is Hercule Poirot? Who played the title role in the Dixon of Dock Green series? What sort of flower is a naked lady? In Scotland, what is a neep? In WW2, who was the only officer to officially wear 2 cap badges? What nationality is Peter Andre? What is the name for a female lobster? Which instrument did Kenny Ball play? From which English county does a salopian come? What type of drink is lapsang souchong? What was the surname of Clint Eastwood’s character in Dirty Harry? Who is Helen Mirren’s husband? In WW2 history, who was Mr Barnes Wallis? What sort of animal is an ide? What is an oxer? A jarhead is a US slang term for which service member? What is the origin of the word ‘Jeep’? (Answers on page 31)
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City Times Fun Spot the Difference - 10 to find(answers on page 25)
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Chelmsford Window Gallery Presents... Collaborative Portrait Project During the first lockdown I started an art project which now has around 100 artists involved. Each week we create portraits of a chosen famous face. These all then get mashed together for a group portrait. We have now completed over 40 portraits together. We’re looking forward to continuing the project this year. The project is changing slightly, as we will be creating portraits of noteworthy figures from within the Chelmsford creative scene. We’ll be taking a look at some of the awesome people who bring us arts, events, music, culture and more in Chelmsford! You will be able to find out more about each subject through the links and a mini-bio that we will share with each image. The idea is to encourage more connections in Chelmsford and let people know about all the amazing creative energy we have here.
centre of the city, called The Art Place. The Hub also facilitates and supports new initiatives such as the Chelmsford Festival (which I helped to found and am still closely involved with). “It is also actively involved with the Chelmsford Light Parade, Chelmsford Festival of Ideas, and establishing and running creative youth groups and projects. “I am also a director of both EMAN and Dying Matters in Essex and a trustee of Other Halves, a charity supporting carers whose loved one lives with dementia. My role is often just accessing the grants and paying the bills. Many volunteers and partners deliver the projects and support all this work. It’s a great example of real team work on the ground in our city.” Artists this week are: Top Row: Bethan Coutinho, Candy Joyce, Cherry Ann Hall (x2). 2nd Row: Christopher Sparrow, Daniel Screen, David Sowerby, Fabienne Hanley. 3rd Row: Jayne Hadlow, Liz Chidlow, Melanie Giffin, Sue Mills Bottom Row: Tanya Everest-Ring and Viv Loraine. You can see more of their work on the Chelmsford Creative Collective group on Facebook, or join in the weekly portrait project by searching ‘Collaborative Portrait Project’. The original photo by Ingrid Talosi
First up is Edith Miller. Edith is an absolute powerhouse of creative support in Chelmsford. Edith says: “I came across The Ideas Hub in 2014 as part of a project for my son’s school. I started to attend events and helped it to get its charitable status in 2015. I was asked to take over running it in April 2016 when Leonie decided to retire. It was hard to say no and it’s been non-stop ever since. “The Ideas Hub is a registered charity established to support the well-being of Chelmsford residents - and what better than using the arts to achieve this objective!
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“The Ideas Hub provides a creative community place in the www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia
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A Year in the Life of the Mayor Although December was much quieter than I was expecting in the Mayoral year (it would be usual to attend around 16 carol services), I did manage to attend a variety of events either in person or online. On 1 December I was invited to the online Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge Grand Final to listen to 14 young students give very different speeches on a wide range of subjects, all worthy of being in the final. The winner was Maddeline with a piece called Mind the Gap. The Mayoress and I spent a very interesting morning at the Wheatsheaf Pub in New Street. We were talking to Dave and Lee, representatives of MATES, a mental health awareness group. They are doing some great work in the community. You can find out more here: www.facebook.com/ WEAREYOURMATES. Thankfully the rain stopped earlier in the evening on 3rd December as the Mayoress and I took a stroll around Enlightened in Hylands Park. It was very beautiful and quite magical. I’m sure young and the not so young have really enjoyed it. I particularly liked the rainbow tribute to the NHS and key workers. The Deputy Mayor and I spent a lovely afternoon at Tile Kiln Church for a socially distanced Christingle service with Pastor James Bell. We both did a festive reading as part of a service that was streamed online. I do love a Christingle service, and this was lovely, albeit without the children. You can watch the service here: youtu.be/U9x9wpCmRF4. Before we were thrust into Tier 4 restrictions, I attended the Hylands Christmas Farmers Market and Craft Fair. The stalls outside were very busy despite the poor weather with so much to see both outside and in, and some truly beautiful crafts on sale. I’m very grateful to all those who made and gave Christmas craft items to be sold at the Hylands Craft Fair in aid of my charities. A big thank you to everyone who bought something from the stall and special thanks to all who donated items or gave their time on the stall. In an innovative twist, the Mayoress and I spent a lovely afternoon with pupils from Roxwell Primary School as they recorded their nativity play within a farmyard. There were lots of children, two horses, a sheep and an adorable 4-week-old baby Carter playing the baby Jesus. We also spent some time with members of Life Church and residents in Moulsham Drive singing carols on their doorsteps, all social distancing strictly observed - a great initiative by the church to bring some carols and a sprinkling of Christmas joy to the streets of Chelmsford. There were quite a lot of residents who turned out to listen. It was a real pleasure to visit Age Concern Chelmsford with the Mayoress and Deputy Mayor. I was delighted to present Penny with her leaving gifts after more than 30 years voluntary service to Age Concern. She has decided to retire and move closer to her daughter and grandchildren. st
The volunteers do such a great job, during the pandemic they changed their offer to vulnerable residents from a lunch club to Meals on Wheels. I chatted to some of the volunteers
who are now delivering those meals and checking in on their customers. All offer a vital service, thank you Penny and all the volunteers. On 12th December Moulsham Lodge Community Station had a Santa’s Holiday Hamper event. Instead of their popular Breakfast with Santa, this was tweaked to include a takeaway Christmas treat box, a wave and chat to a distanced Santa and some children’s gift bags. What a lovely morning spent with their special visitor Father Christmas, Helen the Mayoress, Deputy Mayor Linda, her consort Ian and lots of volunteers - an innovative community event. It was a real pleasure to attend the recording of Nine Lessons and Carols at Chelmsford Cathedral. The Mayoress and I particularly enjoyed the organ music and listening to the choir singing carols, although we would have loved to be able to join in. The service can be watched here: youtu.be/Nb908Rkh65U. You have to love a pantomime, and on 15th December I attended the last night (due to COVID-19 restrictions) of the Civic Theatre’s Sleeping Beauty. It was a really great family show. My thanks to cast, crew and front of house staff for making it great. An early morning meeting on 16th December was to join Rivermead Rotary for their Charity Champagne Breakfast online. The guest speaker was The Archbishop of York the Most Revd & Right Hon Stephen Cottrell, formerly Bishop of Chelmsford, he was his usual entertaining self. A great way to start the day. I
was delighted to unveil the improvements to Chelmsford Indoor Market with new benches and tree areas making a big difference and making it much more welcoming. I was happy
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to open the area with the Deputy Mayor. We then went into the market to talk to the market traders and thank them for continuing to serve the community under very difficult circumstances. Throughout December, Chelmsford Community Radio (CCR 104.4FM) have been broadcasting their Advent Calendar. Local businesses have sponsored a door each day in aid of my charities. I’d like to thank all the businesses that took part and helped raise much needed funds for my charities, they are: Olivia and Gray, Red Glazing Systems, F Cooke Pie and Mash, County Hotel, Thurley Meats, Counter Culture, Now Strike Archery, Ill Palazzo, Another Level Medi Spa, Bond Street Businesses, Ellis Brigham, The Only Way is Gin, Deaks Music Law, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford College, Heydi Party Decorations, Meridian Kung Fu, Whistle & Bell, Taj Mahal Night, Skewers, Chelmsford Star Co-op, Save My Old Photos and Essex Spirit. 2020 did not exactly turn out to be the year I expected it to be and I am sure it is the same for you. However, reflecting back over the year, we really must thank all of our NHS staff, key workers across all services, and our volunteers, all of which turned out to help and support the community in our hour of need and continue to do so now.
to meet you sometime during 2021. Please email mayors.office@chelmsford.gov.uk if you’d like a Mayoral visit. You can follow me on: Facebook: Mayor of Chelmsford Twitter: @chelmsmayor Instagram: Chelmsford_mayor
I very much hope that 2021 will be so much better for all of us, so I do wish you a very healthy and happy new year and I hope
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Vanguard - the Saviour That Now Needs Saving - by Nick Skeens On 30th May, 1940, a small flotilla of boats emerged from fog into sunshine off Dunkirk to witness the shocking sight of Stuka bombers screaming down onto beaches full of British soldiers, the smoke of battle rising over the port. They paused, plucked up their courage and ploughed on. By the end of that day they had ferried some 600 men from the shallow water to the larger ships moored nearby. These were Vanguard, an open-decked oyster dredger just 45 foot long, Sea Salter, a larger oyster dredger and Ma Joie, a pleasure yacht. The boats were from Burnham on Crouch in Essex and crewed by local fishermen, including a 15-year-old boy.
It was lucky that the weather had remained calm, because Vanguard was not built for the sea, and the crew were taking a big risk just by making the journey, let alone dodging the falling bombs and flying bullets that were to come. She had the shallowest draft and so was able to get in the closest. Vanguard’s freeboard - the distance from her waterline to her deck - was little more than a foot or so, making it relatively easy for soldiers to clamber aboard. When she wasn’t attending to the waiting lines on the beaches, she was pulling soldiers from the water where they had been found clinging to wreckage. By nightfall the Ma Joie had grounded and had had to be abandoned and the Sea Salter and Vanguard, having survived a series of air attacks and with their decks loaded with grateful soldiers, heeded their appeals and headed back to England.
home - people were still cutting wood from her, and each visit revealed more damage. Working with local historian Alan Bellchambers, I began to ask around for financial help, and found it in David Hopkins, a Burnham man who offered to pay for her transport. Within days Squirrel Marine, specialists in moving boats, had sorted out a police escort - and on a cold day in January 2018, they loaded her up and made ready to drive her through Canvey Island’s narrow roads. It is not easy to describe my feelings as I watched her negotiate the ‘Burnham Bends’ - the 10 rightangled corners that mark the approach to Burnham. Seeing her emerge, once more, from fog into sunshine to pass the town sign literally made me cry. Vanguard had come home and was with people who loved her once again. She is now being looked after by the charity at Mangapps Railway Museum in Burnham - the owner kindly giving us a place to keep her until we can raise the money to begin her restoration. Having consulted with experts, it became clear we would need £500k to restore her to original condition. Vanguard remains in a dreadful state. She has been tidied up, cleared out and given a protective paint job, but she will need to be completely taken apart and rebuilt using as much of the original oak and pitch pine as possible and in accordance with the blueprints created by her talented designer, Norman E Dallimore and saved by his grandson, Willy, who is a trustee of the charity. We considered the far cheaper alternative of coating her in a protective resin and placing her in a public place in Burnham for people to see. But this did not seem enough to do her justice, so we have launched an appeal to raise the money for a complete restoration. The aim is to return her to the river, complete with a Kelvin engine, so she can be both a living memorial and a working educational facility, all with the aim of ensuring that future generations do not forget the heroism that saved this country during those grim days back in 1940. The big dream is to restore her well enough so that she can take part in future pageants on the Thames and join flotillas of the few remaining Dunkirk Little Ships making their way back across the channel for memorial events celebrating the ‘miracle of Dunkirk’. The charity is also trying to locate (so far without success) any relatives of the soldiers she and the other Burnham boats saved. But the good news is that contributions have begun to come in and we’ve even secured the support of famous historian, Dan Snow.
Of those three heroic boats. only one now remains - Vanguard. She was rescued two years ago from a boatyard on Canvey Island where vandals had set fire to her twice and people had been cutting away her pitch pine planks to use as firewood. She was faced with an ignominious end, but she was saved by the generosity of the boatyard owner, who gave her to me on the condition that I tried to save her. I duly set about forming a charity, the Vanguard Restoration Foundation, made up of local people with a common interest in the Crouch and the river’s maritime past, and tracking down the original owner so that the transfer to the charity could be made legal. But before that could be achieved, I had to get her
There remains of course, a very long way to go. We have teamed up with Mike Tupper of IBTC (International Boatbuilding Training College) in Lowestoft - if we raise enough money, some £70k for starters, the college will begin the full restoration while teaching their students the traditional boat building skills required. Vanguard helped save hundreds of soldiers, part of an operation that saved this country in its darkest hour. Now it is your chance to help save her. We need as many people as possible to give just a few pounds. Please can you be one of them? There are so few Dunkirk Little Ships left and the story of Vanguard and her part in Operation Dynamo must live on
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for future generations. We must never forget those who risked their lives for us. Please help Vanguard become, once again, a living symbol of the Dunkirk spirit. You can follow Vanguard’s story at www. vanguardrestorationfoundation.org, or www.facebook.com/ vanguarddunkirklittleship. How to Give Just Giving Go here, justgiving.com/campaign/savethelittleship Amazon Smile Shopping site Amazon has a scheme that donates to charity 0.5% of the cost of each product you buy. Just go to smile. amazon.com, sign up and choose ‘Vanguard Restoration Foundation’ as your charity of choice. Then companies you buy from will automatically send money to the charity. Most products on Amazon are eligible. Bank Transfer If you want to transfer money by an online banking app, email info@vanguardrestorationfoundation.org and we’ll send you our bank details. Cheque You can send a cheque made out to the ‘Vanguard Restoration Foundation’ to: The Treasurer, Vanguard Restoration Foundation, Houseboat Innisfree, The Quay, Burnham on Crouch, Essex. CM0 8AS.
How to Give via Just Giving Go here, justgiving.com/campaign/savethelittleship
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Stargazing with Mark Willis - January/February 24th January: Mercury is at Greatest Eastern Elongation, which means that the planet is at its best for observation. Mercury is very, very dim compared to Venus. So do be patient. Mercury can be seen low over the western horizon just after sunset. 24th January: Three for the price of one! Looking south-west you will see the Moon, right next to it is the planet Mars. I always think it’s really nice to know what the point of light is that you’re looking at. Google ‘Curiosity - NASA’s Mars Exploration Program’ and look at the images (and videos) that Curiosity has been taking since its arrival on the red planet in 2012. If you have a nice pair of binoculars handy, look just underneath Mars and you will see the planet Uranus. It will be a slightly green colour. 25th February - 00:16: Look for the Moon and about 2.7 degrees south of the Moon is the Beehive Cluster. The Beehive Cluster is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer. One of the nearest open clusters to Earth, it contains a larger
population of stars than other nearby bright open cluster. Take a look at Doctor Becky’s excellent video here: youtu. be/NbjCsbQGLCw. There are exoplanets which have been discovered in that cluster. New Moon: On 13th January, 11th February and 13th March there will be a new Moon. This means the skies will be extra dark which is a great opportunity to see planets, galaxies and deep space objects. As usual, email me with any questions. I would normally be presenting LiteBites every Tuesday at 12 midday on Chelmsford Community Radio on 104.4FM and online throughout the world. As soon as I have had my vaccine, I hope to return to the airwaves as soon as I can. www.chelmsfordcommunityradio.com m.willis@hrc.org.uk
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New Year, New Shows on Chelmsford Community Radio
The start of a new year is always a good opportunity to explore new ideas and partnerships. We have already seen two new shows launch this month in the guise of The Blueprint (Danny Bounce) and Treasured Chelmsford from the Chelmsford Civic Society.
We are proud to announce that award winning, world record breaking disability arts charity The Music Man Project will host a new monthly show on Chelmsford Community Radio. Hosted by charity founder David Stanley, who was recently named in the Queen’s New Year Honours list, the show features news, interviews and music to showcase the amazing work they do for children and adults with learning disabilities, both in Essex and around the world. You can listen every second Sunday of the month from 10am-12pm.
If you have an interesting article you wish to share please email paul@itsyourmedia.co.uk
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