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City Times Intro Hello readers, Welcome to The City Times July/August edition. As we go to print it seems summer is here at last... Gardens are blooming and there are many live outdoor events planned in mid-Essex - fingers crossed for a dry summer so that these events can go ahead! If you would like to publicise your business or event in our What’s On section, please contact us using the details below. Please do also remember to let our advertisers know that you saw their advert in The City Times. 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
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Nick’s Music and Ramblings Well, this has not been an easy time for many of us what with covid having risen its ugly head again. I know of so many who have now had it now, including my daughter and son-in-law. Thankfully they have all taken heed and stayed out of circulation while they have been infectious. It is good to see people still taking this seriously as I feel that if we had not been given the jabs it would likely be a lot worse.
Wow, Chelmsford has been busy, what with Concrete Canvas putting a smile on our faces and brightening up the city. We also had the Chelmsford Festival to enjoy, so well done to Edith and Tony and their amazing team for doing a superb job and helping to put Chelmsford on the map. Currently, we now have the Fringe Festival on, and just recently we had Fake Fest. There are plenty more fabulous events coming up as well. Besides all of these, it was the time of year for open gardens. I went to visit my friend’s garden in Writtle where she had over 600 people come through, which was amazing. All Writtle Open Gardens proceeds went towards the local church - most of the open garden events raise money for good causes, which is great. We are now into summer and it has been getting hotter as I know only too well with having to do more watering to keep the flowers alive, as I suspect many of you are too! There is lots going on around the area, and we try to list what we can, but if you have anything you think may be of interest to the masses in and around mid-Essex, then let us know by emailing editorial@ itsyourmedia.co.uk and we can include it in the What’s On guide. Music Unfortunately I have to pass on some sad news. We have lost a great friend, Claire Hamlin who had fought cancer for over two years and sadly lost her battle on Sunday 26th June. She was quite possibly the best female boogie-woogie pianist around and was so loved for her playing, her warmth, her smile and her readiness to help everyone that she could. Claire was so modest too; you would often see her quietly turning up at local open mics and jams, despite often sharing the stage with some of the world’s greatest musicians. With her partner’s blessing, I along with others will be looking to put together an event to celebrate her life and help to raise some funds for the charities that were close to Claire’s heart. We are looking at a Sunday in September or October hopefully - details to follow soon. It is sad to see that Tennessee Fields has cancelled this year. This seems to be a bit of a trend at the moment, as people are not purchasing tickets in advance, which is crucial to sustain events, as we promoters cannot rely on people walking up on the day due to all the overheads that need to be covered. So please, if you want to keep us putting on live events for your enjoyment book in advance - we all hate having to cancel shows.
for a fun show. I had my Folk Festival (as part of the Chelmsford Festival) on the 11th June - all of the acts were fantastic with some having travelled from as far away as Glasgow and Sussex to play. We also had some of our local acts playing, like Joe of the Hardy Perennials doing a solo set and spinning some vinyl for us between the acts, and Shane Ibbs for his storytelling. Take a look at our social media pages where we live-streamed all of the acts on Facebook and YouTube. You can find the links via www.linktr.ee/blackfrogpresents. Sadly we did have to sadly pull the show for the following weekend due to lack of advance sales as I mentioned earlier. Next up it was the turn of two shows at The Orange Tree in Chelmsford; we started on Saturday 25th June with Connor Selby and Joe Anderton playing. I was a little worried beforehand, knowing that there was quite a lot going on locally that night, but those fears were washed away as the room was packed with people, some having travelled from Oxfordshire to see them play. Boy, did they deliver! It was fantastic to host these good friends and they will be back soon. On the Sunday I went to Witham to visit my mate Barry Hopwood’s Blues Barn, where he had his first show in a long time in his back garden with Matt Long and Alice Armstrong. Seeing Alice was a first for me and wow, what a voice - and what fun it was her with Matt’s playing and Matt’s vocals as well. It was fabulous seeing lots of friends I haven’t seen for a long-time. Well done Barry. It was back to The Orange Tree on the Monday for the One Tree Hillbillies, and once again the room was rammed - and they all stayed for the full show, even my harmonica blowing did not seem to put people off! We must mention Rant and Rave who played a few tunes during the show as well. We are currently arranging the next date, to keep your eyes peeled. If you see this in time, on Saturday 16th July from 8.30pm, again at the Orange Tree, we have That Blue Patch performing. They play covers, but certainly not the normally ones by any means and all in their own style as well. We had the Supernatural playing recently too. They paid homage to the late great Peter Green. Bex Marshall opened on the night and then joined them on stage - they were fantastic and the audience loved them. Me and my team are having a little summer break before we return on Friday 2nd September with Chesney Hawkes. In the meantime, don’t forget that there are three days of fun in Central Park in Chelmsford: On Friday 22nd July it’s the House & Garage Orchestra, then on Saturday 23rd it’s the Dualers and Aswad plus others, then on Sunday 24th it’s Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra with my mate Gilson Lavis on drums. They will have Eddie Reader and others joining them on stage too. This is one I will be at before setting off on a three-festival ‘tour’ of the south and Oxfordshire, which I will tell you more about soon.
The big gigs seem to be ok though. I went to Hyde Park to see The Rolling Stones the other Sunday. I was also there when they did their first in Hyde Park show in 1969. I know both recent shows sold out and I have to say they were great. What an amazing day it was; I met people who came from as far away as Australia for it and many were young as well! To see the energy of these guys have on stage, considering they are in their 70s. Mick is in fact nearing 80, and to still have so much energy... you do wonder if he will still be doing this at 90! I am sure they will if they can.
If you have anything to say or an event that everyone should know about, whether it’s an open garden, a sale or whatever it is, then please send it to the editorial email address below. It would also be fantastic if you could share our magazines The City Times and Moulsham Times with others for us. We continue to publish both magazines in print and online at www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia. If you are interested in advertising your business or event, then please contact us at ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk. 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.
Now to my shows. There have been two at the Orange Tree and two at the Social Club. I have not been out and about quite so much this month, though I did go and see The SharpeeZ at Barleylands Blues and they were superb as usual. They had Billy Boy Miskimmin on harmonica and vocals and Pete Goodey on lead guitar, which made
For all Black Frog Presents updates and information on shows at the Social Club or The Orange Tree, go to www.linktr.ee/ BlackFrogPresents or scan the QR code on the poster in this magazine. In the meantime, I hope you have a great month and that I see you soon.
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Springfield Successful Slimmers Donate Clothes for Cancer Research UK
Members of Slimming World with Emma in Chelmsford have recently pulled out all the stops - and cleared their wardrobes - to help raise money for Cancer Research UK! Returning after a 2 year break over the pandemic, The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw 2022 gave members a chance to celebrate the difference that they’ve made to their health and the reduced risk of a range of health conditions, including cancer, whether they’ve dropped one dress or waist size or six, by donating clothes they no longer need!
Over 2 weeks the members of the Emma’s Springfield Monday evening and Wednesday morning groups donated a fabulous 94 bags, raising a minumum of £2,500 for this great cause. Emma Lodge, consultant, said: “I love this fund-raiser! Over the years Slimming World have raised millions for Cancer Research and my members always go the extra mile. Its great to be able to celebrate their weight loss success and raise money at the same time.” Slimming World’s food optimising programme, which is based on sustainable behaviour change, helps slimmers to achieve their weight loss goals from week one. Through weekly support they learn how to make changes to their eating habits and quickly start to include plenty of vegetables, fruit and high fibre foods into their regular diet. The support that members get at their weekly group helps them to commit to their goals and develop the control and confidence to overcome challenges. For more information, call Emma on 07887 692 906. Please let our advertisers know you saw their advert in The City Times
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Rising Star of Essex Fine Dining - By Lisa Whittle The Flitch of Bacon, the small quality fine dining restaurant with a big reputation on the edge of Dunmow, previously held a Michelin Star - and it was the only Michelin Star in the whole of Essex. Then its chef left in the late summer of 2020. As Michelin Stars are linked to the chef, when the chef went, the star went too… The new team lead by chef patron Paul Croasdale, has much Michelin Star experience and are now aiming to get it back - and I can say, from my recent sumptuous Flitch dining recounted here, they stand every chance… Without sounding over dramatic, having their 17-19 course evening tasting menu (yes, you read that right, 17-19 courses) was a positively life changing eating extravaganza. In the Essex countryside the Flitch serves a sophisticated London experience in the form of an exquisite 17-19 course tasting menu in a relaxed, modern ambience. We were served around 19 different plates in 3 hours. Although described in brief on the personalised menu (presented to you in a buff envelope on arrival - you provide your dietary requirements when booking) this belies the incredible multi-sensory food journey of pleasure that you will be embarking on. A tasting menu for the uninitiated is just that - a menu emphasising delicious tastes as well as smells and sights. Lots of what you might call little courses, brought in succession - a few mouthfuls, say 3 or 4 decent sized mouthfuls maybe a bit more - of small intensely flavoured bursts of food with great flavour complexity. There’s no choice in a tasting menu. In fact, quite the opposite - an element of surprise, hence the brief and coy menu. At first there are three, four, five gorgeous items following one after the other that are like starters. We had gazpacho and pickled water melon; a tomato crisp with dew drops of fermented wild garlic vinegar gel. Already we were ‘mmming’ and savouring the the pork and lobster - Miso-glazed Flitch of pleasure… Then came a tiny ‘beer meringue with Bacon and Native Lobster cave-aged parmesan’. I believe you might call that an ‘amuse-bouche’-sized delight. Then tapioca nachos with a very tasty mushroom bolognese and glaze. Then an oyster - lightly cooked, warm but still so tender with a decadent ishiso sorbet, pickled cucumber and mouli. My favourite came next: barbecued mussels in a light Malaysian curry foam. Oh gosh, this was good! Then came a bread experience - delicious, light home-made bread, made with the yeast from a farmhouse brewery in Somerset, homecultured salty butter and a parfait (dictionary definition - rich pâté with a very smooth consistency) of onion miso or chicken liver (for non-vegetarians). Both tasty beyond measure and decorated with local clover leaves. Interestingly, the team make noodles with ‘yesterday’s bread’ and that was the next delectable item steeped in celeriac and wild garlic broth with intense umami flavours. Then came a ‘citrus scallop’ - a tender cured scallop (served cool in the summer and warm in the winter months) with the exquisite taste combination of creamy buttermilk with green strawberry, broad Page 6
beans and a foam made from elderflowers foraged from across the road. We were in food heaven by this point, a unique kind of ecstasy, and had run out of adjectives. Could we take more pleasure? Really we had only just got going. Next came what you may call ‘mains’ - ‘miso-glazed Flitch of Bacon [pork belly - aged in a Himalayan salt chamber] with Native Lobster Tail’ was next to our table with a ranch dressing, sand carrot slaw and lightly spiced broth. I am told the lobster tail was ‘shock-freezed’ for tenderness, which it indeed was. Then came slow cooked Goosnargh Duck served with a crispy duck skin and chawamuchi - a Japanese custard. Plus a consume with white borlotti beans, fresh green beans, duck wing, tofu mayonnaise and Australian grown truffle. Everything was delicious and perfect. Plus the vegetables were cooked to perfection - of course! A dramatic dish was next. On a bed of local pine needles, a roast pigeon leg was placed and the pine needles were set on fire, giving us a visual display and delectable pine-smoke smell. Also served with pigeon breast, bois boudran sauce, black pudding, crushed peas, lemon verbena, fennel relish, tartar emulsion and dark chocolate.To die for I am told - I had exquisite, slow-cooked Cornish pollock; equally divine. To save precious space in our tummies we decided to share a portion of what was described on the menu as ‘cheese and biscuits’ but proved to be far more - ‘goats cheese bavavrois with apple reduction, tête de moin (cheese that was shaped like a flower), endive and grape chutney and parmesan sables (served warm)’. A special treat from Paul was a small green ‘palate cleanser’ drink for which he suggested we guess the flavours. We managed ‘citrus’ from the lemon sorbet, but missed the rocket and homemade ginger beer. Now onto the ‘desserts’. Another stunner for me was the divine thinly sliced peaches with vanilla crème fraîche mousse, beer caramel, sorrel and brown sugar ice cream - I am not usually a dessert person, but what a perfect combination of sharp, sweet and creaminess. I am still swooning over the memory days later! Next up, ’crispy chocolate’ - a crispy chocolate case with abarquina (think fruity and sweet) olive oil ice cream plus lemon oil and marigold leaves and osietia caviar. Yes caviar, for saltiness. Another total winner. Cherry pie - a petit four of black cherry fruit pâté, luscious diplomat crème and pastry flakes… Gosh what yum!
The luscious cherry pie flavoursome and the most perfect ending...
And almost finally, a ‘long pepper’ which was a freshly baked scrumptious Madeleine cake with aromatic ‘long pepper’ (as with many other things at The Flitch, this was a new experience for me). Then coffee -
To take home in a little box ‘in case you are hungry when you get home’ - a generous square of juicy, creamy, delightful vanilla fudge, which for the non-veggies actually contains bacon pieces within and therefore on the menu qualifies for the title ‘this little piggy went home’ lol! Some things you have to experience to get it, and it seems fine dining tasting menus are one of those things. I have now ‘got it’ and I now
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feel a whole new hobby coming on. I look forward to taking family and friends to The Flitch and getting vicarious pleasure from watching their reaction to the awesome intense flavour immersion, witnessing them go through what we went through our first time A most delicious lightly cooked tender oyster. - and it’s something I sooo want to repeat… You can see the open kitchen behind... The only thing is, normal everyday eating now is so dull by comparison. Think grey after experiencing a sparkly rainbow. This is the post-tasting menu blues of ‘normal eating’ - and it’s not as if you can just recreate it yourself at home. We’ll definitely be back. Meanwhile, Essex awaits the next Michelin Awards in January with bated breath. No pressure Paul!
summer flowers - both delicious. Wine Cellar The Flitch has an eclectic wine collection to suit your food, mood and palate. The Flitch of Bacon - Practical Bits Wednesday – Saturday: Lunch midday to 2.30pm (last order; 2pm for tasting menu) and dinner 5.30pm - 9.30pm (last order; tasting menu only in the evenings). Sunday Lunch: 11.30am - 6pm (last order). Closed Monday and Tuesday, but gourmet Tuesday evenings once a month. Private dining room for 24 people. No dress code. Three delightful rooms available for dinner B&B. Gourmet pizza experience in the courtyard in the summer months with a quaint vintage van bar conversion.
Wine… We had suggested wine pairings of a Chardonnay from Burgundy (to compliment the pork) warm and deep; and a Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre, Loire (for the pollock) - a synethesia of taste and smell of the light fragrance of
Reservations: 01371 821 660 or via website. The Street, Little Dunmow, Dunmow CM6 3HT - 30 minutes from Chelmsford town centre and well worth the trip. www.flitchofbacon.co.uk
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City Times Gardening It’s my last day of teaching for a while… what a year! It’s been so good to get back to face-to-face teaching again at Capel Manor College with all our Royal Horticultural Society theory and practical students. Now for a little bit of me time… gardening! Recently I’ve been able to get to RHS Garden Hyde Hall and a good look around their very impressive gardens. It’s looking extremely lush and floriferous. I particularly like their huge pots dotted around the new restaurant area and farmhouse. The RHS do give you some great ideas for colour, form and especially plant examples to suit hot, dry and windy areas. Lots of salvias, gauras and verbenas being used to create some super displays.
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and can cause disease problems. Do not underwater - it causes checks in growth and poor quality plants. Do not use watering cans that have contained chemicals. Never water near electrical equipment. Avoid leaving hoses and other irrigation equipment laying across walkways. Outside taps should have an anti flowback device to avoid contamination of water supply.
With water becoming in some areas a limited resource, consider using mulches to maintain moisture levels for longer periods, recycle ‘grey’ water and use water retaining crystals. For those looking ahead, check out this sneak preview for July gardening tasks: www.rhs.org.uk/advice/in-month/july. Happy gardening For any gardening tips please contact Tom Cole, Horticultural Lecturer, Capel Manor College, Bullsmoor Lane, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 4RR, or by email at tom.cole@capel.ac.uk.
If you wander towards the edibles section with that impressive greenhouse, you’ll travel through a range of geometrically shaped yew and box hedges (with very little box tree blight issues) framing a number of stunning semi-formal rose beds. At the front of each bed, in each corner, stand tall obelisks with roses and clematis seamlessly intertwined. These vertical garden features work extremely well to lift the eye as you walk through. On the far side are the equally impressively set out herbaceous/mixed planting schemes, also framed by yew hedges and offering a great foil to really let the plant pop-out. They also offer a degree of protection from the prevailing winds. I’m just loving the use of achillea, salvia (again; its great for loads of areas) and Tithonia. The latter on the short side at the moment, however they will grow up and become more branched with more vivid orange, daisy-like flowers, often up to 8cm across. Check out this link to see which Essex gardens are open during July: essexngs. co.uk. Finally, we’re also all watering. Here are a few safety tips to consider avoiding damage to plants and soil, and accidents to members of the public. •
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Never use sprinklers in hot sun to avoid scorching foliage. Do not over water plants - it wastes time and money
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the meadow croo
Food & Drink
Festival 2022 August 13th & 14th
Tickets will be available on the gate £3 entry / Group of 4 £10 / under 16's free
Fun for the whole family Sat: 10am - 8pm Sun: 10am - 4pm
Local Artisan Food & Drink Live Music . Bar . Craft Stalls Traditional Fete Games and much more!
Live Music from the brilliant George Bone, Ze Trio, Blazin Aces, D’Ukes, and many more! Meadow Croo Garden Centre, Woodham Road, Battlesbridge, Wickford, Essex, SS11 7QU
ADVANCED METAL FINISHERS LTD
Manufacturer of Gates/Railings/Fencing/ Staircases/Handrails ect. We manufacture/sandblast & offer a full powder coating service. We can respray any garden furniture/ alloy wheels/car parts/bike parts.
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Address: Unit 11c Dunsteads Farm, Trueloves lane, Ingatestone, CM40NJ Email : advancedmetalfinishersltd@gmail.com
We refurbish garden furniture & railings to look like NEW!
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Regal Kitchens - Case Study
Mr and Mrs C first stumbled across Regal Kitchens when they were looking to improve their Chelmsford property in 2011. Regal helped them with the design and installation of a beautiful kitchen, in painted timber, with a range cooker and traditional mantel.
Road, CM2 6HX and open 7 days per week between 10am and 4pm. www.regalkitchens.co.uk #whereclientisking
Fast forward to the present: When Mr and Mrs C purchased a new house in one of the villages, they quickly realised that although the kitchen was a generous size, the design was unsuitable and the cabinets were of poor quality. They didn’t hesitate in making contact with their old friends at Regal. Looking for something different to their previous kitchen, they selected modern German handleless furniture. Contrasting white gloss with concrete fascias prevents the room from appearing too clinical, and adding LVT flooring in a rustic oak, herringbone pattern adds a warm, natural feel to the room. Placing a top spec venting-hob on the island allows plenty of food preparation space without the requirement for a bulky extractor. The Neff slide and hide oven in conjunction with the matching combi-oven and warming drawer, means that no matter how many guests are invited, Mr and Mrs. C can always cater for them. Internal drawers, integrated bins and a corner pull-out means that there is ample intelligent storage and everything has its place. The icing on the cake is the Quooker kettle appliance dispensing boiling water instantly, ensuring that they always have a cuppa on tap with the bonus of keeping the quartz worksurface clutter-free. The clients have thanked the whole team at Regal for once again transforming their house into a home fit for royalty. Regal Kitchens’ showroom in Chelmsford is situated at 2 Navigation Page 10
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Introducing Paul Morrish Chelmsford Community Radio This month we introduce you to Paul Morrish… Paul’s background is in construction and the motor trade. He first discovered his love of radio when asked to undertake some electrical work for Hospital Radio Chelmsford at St John’s Hospital in the late 1980s.The bug to get behind the microphone was born after initially being invited to join a request show, and he ended up presenting other shows along the way. Since then, Paul’s radio journey began, and he’s now been running Hospital Radio Chelmsford as Station Manager for six years. During the pandemic, the station lost access to Broomfield Hospital and Paul was at the helm of the studio’s move off-site, thus keeping the station alive and broadcasting. He also built our current CCR studios in Moulsham Mill. At Hospital Radio Chelmsford, he met the Director of Chelmsford Community Radio, Hal MacLean, and from there he joined the team of volunteers, just as CCR was awarded its FM licence. Nowadays, Paul is responsible for the station’s engineering and transmission function. A key part of this is his role in leading on-air training, encouragement of the team, broadcasting schedule organisation and
making radio assessable for all. Aside from radio, Paul runs a successful motor trade business locally and our sister company, Rolling Stage Hire, and is a trustee of several charities. He’s a familiar face across Chelmsford and you may have even seen him out and about hosting local events including fireworks displays, sporting events, the Chelmsford Carnival and the Fringe Festival. You can hear Paul Morrish on Chelmsford Community Radio 104.4FM every Tuesday morning from 7.30am for Good Morning Chelmsford, where he brings you up to date travel, weather, fun trivia and of course the much loved and original nine-at-nine. Paul also presents Drive at Five every Tuesday and Wednesday evening.
To view both the City Times and the Moulsham Times magazines online, visit: www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia
City Times Finance
Retirement Income
With the inflation and associated cost of living rising, you may be worrying and wondering what income options are available to you when transitioning to retirement. Let’s take a brief look at the possibilities if you are 55 or over. 1. Leave Your Pension Where It Is There are many reasons you may choose not to access your pension right away. Perhaps you would like to keep on working or prefer to use other assets to sustain your needs, or you may decide to let your pension pot grow some more by staying invested for longer. Consult with your independent financial adviser about your current plans to ensure you are on the right track and any pension plans are still suitable for your needs and objectives. 2. Buy an Annuity This used to be the standard practice before the introduction of Pension Freedoms in 2015. Money accumulated in your pension is used to buy a guaranteed income. This can be either for life or for a set period. This sounds simple enough, however there are several different types of annuity each with their pros and cons, depending on your unique circumstances, and the amount of annual income will vary between providers so it’s important to consult with your adviser to make sure that you have the most suitable product. 3. Take Lump Sums From the age of 55 you can access lump sums from your pension pot. You can usually withdraw the first 25% tax-free, but anything in excess of that will attract Income Tax, meaning that if you plan to take large lump sums this may not be the most tax efficient way to www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia
access your pension. You need a solid plan as it’s imperative that you have enough reserves to support your income needs for the rest of your life. 4. Income Drawdown This option allows you to choose and adjust the level of income to suit you. Income needs may change over time so this offers you a degree of flexibility. Typically your pension will stay invested so has the potential to generate returns however it will also be exposed to investment risk and any underlying volatility so taking professional advice is recommended. Whether you are serious, furious or just curious about your income options in retirement, please contact us. Silvia Johnson Bsc(Hons), DipPFS, EFA, CertCII (MP) is a Director and Independent Financial Adviser at Royale Thames Wealth and provides independent financial advice to individuals and businesses. www.royalthameswealth.co.uk silvia@royalthameswealth.co.uk 07908 109 741 / 020 8720 7249 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.
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What’s On
All events are correct at time of going to press. Please check with the venue for updates.
July
Thursday 14th The Clay Pigeon - Poker night & quiz Hot Box - Safenath & Tyegreen Friday 15th The Bootmaker - Escape Party The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (DJ in the garden 5pm, DJ Goodie - 9pm) Hot Box - Kieff Hyde Hall - Pantaloons: Much Ado About Nothing RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Chair yoga Saturday 16th The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (live music 4.30pm - 8.30pm, DJs - 9pm) Hot Box - Alison Cotton + Wolf Type Dog The Orange Tree - That Blue Patch (8.30pm) RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Coffee morning (10am to 1pm) Sunday 17th Hylands Estate - Open day & farmers market Hylands Stables - Black Pines Monday 18th The Clay Pigeon - Bingo night Hot Box - Chelmsford Chess Club night Tuesday 19th Old Court Theatre - Chelmsford Theatre Workshop: Everyman Widford Village Hall (turn left at Chandlers) - Country Dancing (barn dance - 7.50pm - £2 - 01245 475 660) Woolpack - Quiz Wednesday 20th Old Court Theatre - Chelmsford Theatre Workshop: Everyman Woolpack - 80s bingo Thursday 21st The Clay Pigeon - Poker night & quiz The Lion Inn - Chelmsford Comedy Club Old Court Theatre - Chelmsford Theatre Workshop: Everyman Friday 22nd Beeleigh Abbey Gardens - Open Day The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (DJ in the garden 5pm, DJ Goodie - 9pm) Central Park - The House & Garage Orchestra The Garrison - 8Ball Comedy Night Hot Box - Infra Violet + A.U.W Ingatestone Hall - ‘Nostalgia’ Festival of Flowers Old Court Theatre - Chelmsford Theatre Workshop: Everyman RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Chair yoga Saturday 23rd Central Park - The Dualers + Bad Manners + Aswad (and more) The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (live music 4.30pm - 8.30pm, DJs 9pm) Essex Record Office - Rewriting the Archive: Rising Tides and Floods Hot Box - Leatherette Hyde Hall - Classic Car Show Ingatestone Hall - ‘Nostalgia’ Festival of Flowers Old Court Theatre - Chelmsford Theatre Workshop: Everyman RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Coffee morning (10am to 1pm) Writtle - Travelling Festival - see page 24 Sunday 24th Central Park - Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra with special guest Eddie Reader Geek Retreat - Cosplay Workshop Ingatestone Hall - ‘Nostalgia’ Festival of Flowers
Monday 25th The Clay Pigeon - Bingo night Hot Box - Chelmsford Chess Club night Tuesday 26th Hyde Hall - ZooLab mini beast sessions Widford Village Hall (turn left at Chandlers) - Country Dancing (barn dance, £2 - 7.50pm - 01245 475 660) Woolpack - Quiz Wednesday 27th Chichester Hotel (Rawreth) - Belvedere Jazz & Music Supper Club: Syd Lawrence Orchestra’s Savoy Collection (7.45pm - to book phone Phil on 07850 607 075) Hot Box - Independence Woolpack - 80s Bingo Thursday 28th F Cooke - A Night with Frank Bruno MBE Friday 29th The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (DJ in the garden 5pm, DJ Goodie - 9pm) Hot Box - Rubber Soul RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Chair Yoga The Woolpack - Rum & Reggae Saturday 30th The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (live music 4.30pm - 8.30pm, DJs - 9pm) RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Coffee morning (10am to 1pm)
August
Monday 1st The Clay Pigeon - Bingo night Hot Box - Chelmsford Chess Club night Tuesday 2nd Woolpack - Quiz Wednesday 3rd Hyde Hall - Flower Show Woolpack - 80s Bingo Thursday 4th The Clay Pigeon - Poker night & quiz Hotbox - The Lucettas + San Quentin Hyde Hall - Flower Show Friday 5th Beeleigh Abbey Gardens - Open Day Central Park - Sausage & Cider Fest The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (DJ in the garden 5pm, DJ Goodie - 9pm) Hyde Hall - Flower Show RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Chair yoga Saturday 6th Central Park - Ibiza Orchestra Live Chelmsford City Racecourse - Steps The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (live music 4.30pm - 8.30pm, DJs - 9pm) Hot Box - ATVM Hyde Hall - Flower Show RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Coffee morning (10am to 1pm) Sunday 7th Writtle Green - Writtle Jazz Festival Monday 8th The Clay Pigeon - Bingo night Hot Box - Chelmsford Chess Club night Tuesday 9th Widford Village Hall (turn left at Chandlers) - country dancing (barn dance, £2 - 7.50pm - 01245 475 660)
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Tuesday 9th (continued...) Woolpack - Quiz Wednesday 10th Chichester Hotel (Rawreth) - Belvedere Jazz & Music Supper Club: The Mark Crooks Quartet (7.45pm - to book phone Phil on 07850 607 075) Hotbox - The Big Music Quiz Woolpack - 80s Bingo Friday 12th Beeleigh Abbey Gardens - Open Day The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (DJ in the garden 5pm, DJ Goodie - 9pm) Hot Box - Rolled Up Sleeves + HearMeOut RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Chair yoga Saturday 13th Meadow Croft Food & Drink Festival - Meadowcroft Nursery The Orange Tree - That Blue Patch (8.30pm) The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (live music 4.30pm - 8.30pm, DJs - 9pm) Hot Box RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Coffee morning (10am to 1pm) Sunday 14th Chelmsford City Racecoarse - Family Funday Hot Box - Jazz Sundays with Zak Barrett and friends Meadowcroft Nursery - Meadow Croft Food & Drink Festival Monday 15th The Clay Pigeon - Bingo night Hot Box - Chelmsford Chess Club night
Monday 15th (continued...) Hylands Estate - Outdoor Theatre - Rapunzel Tuesday 16th Hyde Hall - Cinema Evening: Bohemium Rhapsody Woolpack - Quiz Wednesday 17th Hot Box - Erasers Hyde Hall - Cinema Evening: Dirty Dancing Woolpack - 80s Bingo Thursday 18th The Clay Pigeon - Poker night & quiz Hotbox - Bee Arnold Hylands Estate - Dinosaurs in the Park Friday 19th Beeleigh Abbey Gardens - Open Day The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (DJ in the garden 5pm, DJ Goodie - 9pm) Hyde Hall - Pantaloons Outdoor Family Theatre: Wind in the Willows RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Chair yoga Saturday 20th The Courtyard (Baddow Road) - Happy Days (live music 4.30pm - 8.30pm, DJs - 9pm) RAFA Club (Hall Street) - Coffee morning (10am to 1pm) Sunday 21st Hot Box - Sunchaser Hylands Estate - Open Day & farmers market
Email your events between 18th August and 18th September to us: editorial@itsyourmedia.co.uk A Fun-Filled Event for the Whole Family! The Meadow Croft Food and Drink Festival is back with lots of old favourites as well as new and exciting stalls to tempt you.
With over 30 stalls, Meadow Croft Garden Centre hosts a selection of some of the finest artisan food and drink suppliers they can find, many of which are based locally. The stallholders will be cooking up a storm, so treat those tastebuds to different cuisines and new flavours throughout the day - or why not fill up your shopping bags to the brim with fresh, local produce to take home? You’ll be able to shop mouthwatering chutneys, delicious cheese, flavoursome nuts and olives, freshly baked breads and cakes, locally brewed and distilled alcohol, freshly pressed juices and much, much more! Facepainting, traditional fête-style games, mini golf and a play area will keep the kids entertained! Bop away beside the live music stage, enjoy the food and drink on offer and kick back and relax amongst the straw bales to enjoy the wonderful atmosphere of this much-loved festival. Treat yourself to a perfect foodie day out! Saturday 13th August and Sunday 14th August Saturday: 10am - 8pm Sunday: 10am - 4pm Tickets available on the gate - adults £3 each, under 16’s - free. Group of 4 - £10. Meadow Croft Garden Centre, Woodham Road, Battlesbridge, Wickford, Essex, SS11 7QU.
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Rambling Through the X-Rated Films By Britain’s Oldest Angry Young Man Readers of a certain age pull up a chair and listen up. Cinemas are set to adopt a digital proof-of-age app that will prevent children from sneaking in to films that feature sex and violence. Where is the fun in that? The UK Cinema Association, which represents 90% of screens, is starting to accept the ID app Yoti, which confirms a child’s age using a previously uploaded official document such as a passport. (don’t ask). I will not bore you further with Yoti. Instead travel back in time with me to when cinema going was fun and teenagers like me met the challenge of getting underage entry in to a cinema playing an ‘X’ film. This film classification replaced the ‘H’ (for horror) in 1951. I am, of course referring to cinemagoing in the ‘50s and ‘60s when continuous performances in cinemas (from about 2.30pm to 10.30pm) allowed patrons to visit the cinema anytime during those performances. Loud snoring in the auditorium during the film was not encouraged. My mother had a fierce temper and when aroused, generally after chasing silverfish from the pantry, would disappear around the corner to cool off in the Odeon cinema. My teenage years were spent in Clacton where there were three cinemas, the Odeon (1,500 seats), Essoldo (1,750 seats) and the Kinema Grand (675 seats). However, this cinema was not grand at all. It was Clacton’s so-called fleapit cinema. Most towns had a fleapit cinema that showed films that the big circuit cinemas didn’t want to show such as ‘X’ rated films. So, it came to pass that it was my turn to take the challenge of underage entry into a cinema showing an ‘X’
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film - in this case, the Kinema Grand showing of The Creature from the Black Lagoon. (When the creature carries off the heroine to his lair, he accidentally bangs her head on part of the set - honestly!). As I gingerly approached the box office in which a middle-aged woman sat enveloped in cigarette smoke, I asked for a ticket. ‘How old are you sonny?’ ‘Eighteen’ I replied through chattering teeth. I was fourteen, but eighteen was, at the time, the age that would allow you entry to an ‘X’ film. She looked me up and down and being aware that the cinema desperately needed patrons, let me in. So, Yoti, that’s how it works, no need for fancy technology. A lesser challenge when an ‘A’ (adult) film was paired with a ‘U’ (universal) film, under sixteen year olds had to be accompanied by an adult in order to see the film. The challenge was to find an adult to take you in with them. However, there were unwritten rules. We never asked a lone male or a couple together. It was always a lone female, many of whom were only too happy to take one of us in to the cinema with them. On one interesting occasion, it was my turn to ask. Eventually I found a lady to ask and asked her if she would be kind enough to take me in with her. ‘Of course’, she said adding, ‘Are they your friends over there sitting on those steps? ‘ ‘Well, yes they are’. ‘Would they like to come in as well?’ She took eight of us in. Both the Odeon and the Kinema Grand in Clacton have been demolished.
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From Cub Reporter of the Essex Chronicle to Sub Editor of The Melody Maker - a Book by Brian Southall All the tales and more here are featured in the new book by Brian Southall A Saucerful of Tea - The Memoir of a Cub Reporter From the Essex Chronicle to the Melody Maker Sub Editor. Brian Southall’s parents moved from the Midlands to Chelmsford in the early 1960s. His main interests, like many other schoolboys, were football and the emerging music and pop culture of that decade. He managed to gain entrance to the then new Technical High School, which was later subsumed into the Chelmer Valley High. Although not much interested in formal education, he managed to scrape together enough GCEs (now GCSE) to get a job briefly at Marconi Marine. His father was a local journalist as sports editor for the Essex Weekly News, so when it came to moving on he was encouraged to use his writing skills in a similar fashion, applying for a job in 1964 as a trainee (cub) reporter at the Essex Chronicle and its then sister paper the Chelmsford Newsman Herald which was published midweek to support the Chronicle’s Friday slot. When offered the job, he was indentured to the newspaper for three years, with weekly visits to college in Colchester to study journalism. While working he was sent as a ‘scriber’ with ‘snappers’ (aka photographers) to report on fêtes, bazaars, carnivals, amateur dramatic plays or other local cultural events. Free cinema reviewing came as a perk with the job. Typing came in the shape of old free-standing typewriters on paper with two levels of carbon paper between copies. Issues like gardening or cooking were dealt with by dedicated in-office specialists. Central to the local youth scene were all the soon to be well-known musicians that played each Saturday, from 1964 at the Corn Exchange in Tindal Square, where wrestler Bob Archer promoted the Saturday Scene which was attended by the upcoming mod generation that frequented the Orpheus/later R&B coffee bar, while the town’s rockers gathered in Baddow Road at the Long Bar. The Who played for the modern equivalent of 30p in old money, and Jimi Hendrix for 50p. Local bands like Lee Scott and the Roulettes, Mark Shelly and the Deans, the Nite Beats and the Statesmen played as support acts. The Roulettes and Nite Beats entered a Melody Maker talent contest at Wimbledon around that time, with the Nite Beats coming third. So there was plenty of local music for Brian to soak up, even if he didn’t get to write about all of it. He did manage to get a scoop by talking to Pete Townsend, who told him The Who were thinking of breaking up in ‘65, but it still hasn’t happened after 50 years! Another amusing/risky aspect of Brian’s jobs was reporting on the magistrates’ quarter session and assize court trials. Amusing, when dealing with a local duo found removing lead from a cinema roof for instance, or seeing a vendetta between local heavies coming back to court three times, after attack, counter attack, and repeat attack, or risky if he wrote about a verdict and the guilty party wanted to argue about it in the street afterwards. Conversely, guilty parties could be pleased as they could take pride in the published status to enhance tough guy reputations, or less obviously when the police decided to play pranks on a junior reporter such as handcuffing him to a staircase. Later, Brian was to indulge his pleasure in his other great interest of football by getting to play in matches against both local police and prisoners from HM Prison, Chelmsford. In 1967 Brian’s indenture to the Chronicle expired and he started to apply for other jobs, even in foreign countries, and he did wind up working in Kingston... but not in Jamaica, rather the one in Surrey instead, as assistant sports editor on the Surrey Comet. That only lasted three months before he moved back to Essex to work as a sports editor this time, for the Braintree and Witham Times for a
princely sum of £20 per week and his name in capital type in the paper. Football was a great love and he managed to avoid many other sports which had their own enthusiasts. He learned to drive to attend outlying amateur grounds. There were friendly celebrity matches at times too, with the likes of members of West Ham guesting. The printers at Colchester handled other papers, including the New Musical Express, so he got to mix with writers dealing with his other major interest - music. In 1969 Brian made another move which took him closer to his musical interests. IPC, owners of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, Sunday Pictorial, ran a host of weekly and monthly publications from offices at 161 Fleet Street. Originally he had applied to be a sub editor for Melody Maker, and after several months’ delay was offered the job of sub editor on Music Business Weekly - a trade paper rather than a fanzine. In the Fleet Street building, above a Golden Egg eatery, Brian was opposite the Melody Maker offices with all the renowned writers he had grown up reading. Next door to MBW was Football Monthly and in the same corridor were Disc and Music Echo (pop music but in colour, and with women writers), Cycling Weekly and Bird Cage & Aviary Weekly. MBW was printed in Colchester in Sheepen Road where Brian had done his NUJ training, and he now had to go back regulary to the printers to ‘put the paper to bed’ with layout approval, which could on print days lead to some flexible working hours that might require a stop-over, but there were perks to be had to compensate: tickets for events and promo albums. An internal move to the magazine Goal in 1970 brought a wage increase which still meant he was working with one of his sporting interests, and he got to cover the World Cup in 1970 - but from the office. A move back to MBW put him in the chief sub editor’s chair. Then, indirectly, came the move Brian had been waiting for, as the editor of Melody Maker caused a major shake up by leaving to start a rival music paper in the shape of Sounds, taking several Disc and Melody Maker staff with him. This led to MBW closing down, but Brian was kept on by IPC and became a sub editor for Melody Maker - the job he’d applied for which had led him to MBW. The MM structure didn’t become specialised, but writers chose favourite acts and followed their careers until a change was needed - eg, Chris Welch was features editor but followed Yes, Cream, and Genesis, as well as being the regular singles reviewer, and Max Jones retained his long term jazz profile. There were a variety of adverts for trendy clothes and accessories, but the paper was a central source for musicians to enlist new band members, such as Noel Redding’s ad that saw him become Jimi Hendrix’s bassist. In those days phone numbers of artists and staff were exchanged freely, with writers asking about certain techniques that readers had enquired about, and conversely musos would use the contacts for self-promotion and offer promo albums for reviews. Fleet Street pubs often featured as the venues for these get togethers. It wasn’t unusual for artists and writers to strike up friendships along these lines even if only for as long as it benefited promotional ends. Brian sustained a long one with Phillip Lynott of Thin Lizzy and (maybe) even doubled for a band member at an album launch... International phone calls were often used, but operators needed guarantees of authenticity: you needed to be sure it was the real Stevie Wonder on the other end. Some visitors to England like Diana Ross required up-market hotels and timed lists for interviews. On the other hand, both Pete Townsend and Elton John invited Brian into their family homes for a chat. There were challenges to the job, such as being asked to write a life
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story of Suzi Quatro - when she was only 23 - in 1973. That involved all Brian’s inventive skills. As a midlander he also acted as an interpreter for Slade’s Wolverhampton accents! On ‘no-news’ days speculative headlines of impossible realities could fill copy pages: Will Elvis Visit the UK? or Are the Beatles Going to Reform? In late 1973 Brian followed in the path of a bunch of music scribes who joined record companies to be press officers - poachers turned gamekeepers - by moving to A&M Records before joining EMI in 1974 and then Warner Music, where he worked with the solo Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen, the Sex Pistols, Kate Bush, The Corrs and Phil Collins. While working, and more since retiring, he has written over 20 books
on music. And while the local papers he worked for are still going, the music papers have not fared so well... maybe because of on-line magazines and ad mags. All these tales and more are featured in A Saucerful of Tea - The Memoir of a Cub Reporter From the Essex Chronicle to Melody Maker (P.O.P Publishing, 2022). Available from Amazon for £10.99. www.amazon.co.uk By John Power
The Development of Chelmsford (Part Seven) - By Stephen Norris Chelmsford became an early target for London’s overspill population because there was plenty of employment. It was therefore felt that people would be able to settle and work locally without time consuming travel. The 1952 plan was taken on a tour of Essex, including Chelmsford by Essex County Council. It provided for 9,000 new homes to be built by 1971 in the area to cater for the arrival of the allotted overspill population. An inner relief road was to be built within the first 5 years of the plan. It was felt its route would be comparatively inexpensive with few houses having to be demolished. The proposed shopping centre followed Minoprio’s plan as did the inclusion of clearance around the cathedral, to make the latter a more prominent feature in the town. As was to be the case with succeeding plans, the proposals caused a good deal of opposition and resulted in a lengthy inquiry which was initially held in the county town. Protests were particularly strong in the rural parishes such as Galleywood, which didn’t want large-scale house building. In a prophetic article in the Joseph Billio column in the Weekly News in 1957, the lack of a Civic Society, similar to that formed in Maldon before the Second War, was highlighted. It was already felt that the planners were taking over and much of the value in the town would be lost. A year later the same column was complaining that Colchester was leading the county town in cottage preservation. There, 42 crumbling cottages had been brought up to date in one year. This had involved all but rebuilding the cottages. A number of Spalding’s photographs reveal that a similar amount of work would certainly have been needed in the case of Chelmsford’s cottages. In contrast, a planner commented on the revised plan for the county town in 1958 ‘Chelmsford’s shortcomings are of course the planners opportunities. Having virtually no problem of preservation on historical, architectural or aesthetic grounds and with a great deal of open, derelict or underdeveloped space at their disposal they have almost as free a hand as the creator of new towns’. The plan drawn up by the borough engineer involved two large quadrangles of shops and a paved market place and differed in a number of respects from that drawn up by the County Planning Officer, Leslie Leaver. There would have been two squares for pedestrian use. The borough engineer emphasised that the county town was being left behind as a shopping centre by the new towns of Harlow and Basildon and an early start was needed. This however, was delayed by the need to first move the cattle market and the planning restrictions which affected one third of Chelmsford. Compulsory purchase orders would be needed for much of the ‘Yards’. In addition to the scheme for the centre of Chelmsford, the borough authorities wanted to build its quota of new houses, but were
restricted by the lack of unused space, despite the assertion of the planner mentioned earlier. For this reason they decided to fight proposals to restrict the green belt. The Rural District Council however, concerned at proposals for further housing in Great Baddow and Writtle, pushed for a further extension of the green belt. Although the expected influx of overspill population hadn’t materialised in the early 1950s, it was greater than predicted during the later part of the decade. This put pressure on the remaining underdeveloped land in the town in the south and south east of the town. In the review of the Chelmsford district plan in 1962 a new planner JE Grant, who had come from the new town at Basildon, envisaged a town centre serving 100,000 people plus another 100,000 in the mid-Essex area. In his plan, cars and shoppers would be separated in the new Chelmsford. He put forward a pedestrian deck bounded by Market Road, Tindal Street, Moulsham Street, Friars Road, London Road and the River Can as well as a new inner relief road. Warehouses, garages and service roads would be under the deck level. All the shops would be reached by stairs, ramps and possibly escalators. Councillor Bellamy baulked at the cost, but Councillor Roberts felt it would be eventually the cheapest way of easing the chronic congestion in the town. The town’s Civic Trust was finally brought in for consultation. It criticised the new scheme along with the two previous schemes. The borough engineer himself felt the new scheme was inflexible and too costly. Another problem was that many of the property owners were objecting. 1963 saw a new plan for the town centre with one central square, and a development was to be built mainly on land already owned by the council. The new one level scheme would yield 170,000 square feet of shopping space with 133 shops. A start was made in July 1964 with the council carrying out compulsory purchase orders on 20 shops, 3 pubs and 3 cafés. The plan for the central area didn’t however get the green light from the Government until 1968. This was despite determined opposition from local architects and the Civic Trust (later the Chelmsford Society and then the Civic Society). They put forward alternative proposals that would have ‘saved’ both Tindal Street and Tindal Square. A pub and a restaurant proposed in the new official scheme would jut out into Tindal Square and ruin it. The adopted plan sacrificed residential accommodation and it was predicted that the new area would become dead and deserted after the shops had closed. A previous scheme had at least enlarged Tindal Square to form a new heart for Chelmsford and had included residential accommodation. Instead, every possible foot of lettable space had been crammed into the central area. The result was no provision for wide pedestrian walkways and initially no central space.
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Chelmsford Foodbank Reaches Ten Year Milestone
S p odecade t tthat h eChelmsford D i fFoodbank f e r ehas nc e open, - it1has0 given t o warehouse f i n dand(doing a noffice s wtasks. ers on page 23) In the been out almost 40,000 emergency food supplies to local people in food poverty.
On July 16th Chelmsford Foodbank, part of the Trussell Trust network of foodbanks, will have been open for ten years. In total, from July 2012 to July 2022, the foodbank has given out over 37,700 emergency food supplies to people in the Chelmsford area. They are keen to thank the people of Chelmsford for their incredible support and generosity over the years, without which this wouldn’t have been possible. Demand has grown so much that in its first 9 months of its existence (July 12th - March 13th) 869 three-day emergency food supplies were given to people in crisis and last year. Between April 2021 and March 2022, 4,421 food supplies were distributed, and a record 6,200 parcels were given out between April 2020 and March 2021. Unreliable or low incomes, debt, ill health and issues with the benefit system have been large contributing factors leading to food poverty amongst Chelmsford residents, however, since 2020 the impact of the pandemic, the increased cost of food, fuel and utilities have exacerbated the issue. Many clients who are referred to foodbanks have already missed meals or gone without basic utilities. Chelmsford Foodbank opened at the Waterfront Place on July 16th 2012 and now comprises five distribution centres across Chelmsford and a warehouse based in Galleywood. The foodbank is dependent on the generosity of the public, and since Chelmsford Foodbank started, the public have given over 400 tonnes of food. They currently have around 65 volunteers working in the distribution centres,
The vision of the foodbank is to see an end to hunger and food poverty leading to no need for foodbanks. Despite the current situation, they are still working towards this vision by thorough signposting of clients to support agencies, the development of a Community Money Advice Centre and hosting advisers from support agencies in the foodbank centres. However, whilst there is still hunger and food poverty, they will continue to provide emergency food parcels. “We would rather not be marking this new milestone at all,” says Ruth Leverett, Project Manager, “It is not OK that foodbanks exist in the UK and are becoming an essential part of a national support structure. We would rather be announcing that we are closing due to a lack of demand! Sadly, however, for the time being, we can only see the demand increasing due to the increased cost of living and this is not something to celebrate. However, what I would like to celebrate is the enormous generosity of the people of Chelmsford. We have been overwhelmed by the support from the public, churches, schools and our amazing volunteers. Without them many people would have gone to bed hungry, but instead have gone to bed touched by people’s kindness and with a bit more hope for their situation.” One recent client to Chelmsford Foodbank said: “Foodbank is amazing. I don’t know what we would have done without them.” For further information about the foodbank, visit their website at www.chelmsford.foodbank.org.uk, Search ‘Chelmsford Foodbank’ to find the Facebook page, or email info@chelmsford.foodbank.org.uk.
Chelmsford RAFA News Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations marking her 70 year reign, has persuaded the Chelmsford branch of RAF Forces Association to bring forward their planned 2023 membership drive for both branch and club. Therefore, the branch would welcome both ex and serving RAF personnel living in and around the Chelmsford area who would be interested in sampling the club’s activities and social gatherings. It also presents an opportunity to meet new friends helping to make a difference for the RAF family. Jim Machin, the Branch Welfare Officer, has stepped down after many years of service in that position. Should there be a budding welfare officer in the Chelmsford area willing to continue Jim’s work, please contact the Branch Secretary (details below). Finally, don’t forget our Friday morning chair yoga sessions and our Saturday coffee mornings. Further information available from Branch Secretary, Derek Threadgall (ex-RAF) - email dthreadgall1165@gmail.com, or call 07712 378 320.
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Chelmsford Library Looking for a free activity for your children this summer? This year’s Summer Reading Challenge is about to start! Gadgeteers, based on science and innovation, opens on 16th July and continues through the summer holiday to encourage children to keep reading and enjoying books. We will reward them with stickers (some smelly!), a certificate and a medal. There will also be related activities to enjoy - keep an eye on our website and social media and information within the library for details! We are looking forward to welcoming you and your children in the library this summer. Also for children we have our Block Builders Construction Club every Saturday, and Pens and Puzzles every Sunday. See the website for details and times. We also have activities and events for all - here are details of just a few: Work Club: Every Thursday 10-12 noon. Do you need advice and support with online searching and applying for jobs, CV writing? Then just drop in and see us. Learn My Way: 6-week basic computer skills course; booking required. Mondays 10-12 noon. Tablet Taster: Every Tuesday 2-3pm. 1:1 sessions with a computer volunteer if you’re struggling to use your tablet or iPad. Booking required. Starting Your Family History: Every four weeks, on Saturday 10-12 noon. Next date: 16th July (booking required). Using Ancestry and Find My Past, we’ll help you get started on your family tree. Community Tea Time: Alternate Saturdays 2pm - 3.30pm. Next one on 23rd July. Join us for a cup of tea or coffee and biscuits. For details on all our events and services and to book your places, visit our website at libraries.essex.gov.uk. You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter or by subscribing to our newsletter; details on our website. www.thecitytimes.co.uk
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Can You Make a Difference in Your Community? This is a very rewarding and important role. We are a fun, friendly team and provide ongoing support and training to our volunteers.
Join our new SWF Community Garden Would you like to get involved in a brand new community garden? Meadowcroft Garden Centre have donated a beautiful piece of land for local people to grow flowers, harvest vegetables, learn new skills, and enjoy being with friendly people in a lovely location. The sessions are supported by an expert from the RHS.
Drivers for Elderly People’s Lunch Club - Great Baddow Can you spare a couple of hours on your Tuesday lunch break? Are you kind, patient, and able to drive? We need cheerful, helpful volunteers with their own car to safely drive elderly people to and from a weekly lunch club in Great Baddow, Chelmsford.
Hearing Aid Support Service - Technical Volunteers We are looking for volunteers to join our small, very friendly team to help those with hearing loss.
Multiple Roles at Read Easy - Teaching Adults to Read Read Easy is a nationwide charity that helps adults learn to read. New groups are starting in Chelmsford and Harlow, and they need a team of people behind the scenes to help get things going! Please enquire for a chat about what you can do.
NHS hearing aids need to be cleaned and re-tubed every 4 - 6 months. If this doesn’t happen or if the aid is not working, then this leaves a person feeling very isolated, lonely and vulnerable. Our brilliant volunteers are trained to do this, free of charge.
Help for Young Homeless People NightStop is seeking drivers, chaperones, and short-term hosts to help desperate young people who need a safe bed, hot meal, and a warm shower for the night.
Home Safety Admin Support - South Woodham Ferrers - Essex County Fire & Rescue Service We need a volunteer to help call members of the public that have requested a home safety check, and booking them in for a visit from one of our team.
Have fun on our Market Stall Charity Shop - Kids Inspire Kids Inspire are looking for dedicated volunteers to help run their stall in Chelmsford indoor market. The stall sells donations of books, bric-a-brac, music, art, clothes - everything you’d expect to find in a charity shop, but on a market stall!
Travelling Festival to Celebrate Chelmsford’s Community Spirit A new festival will honour the city’s sense of community and inspiring places on a series of thought-provoking journeys across the district over the next three months. Throughout July, August and September Chelmsford 100: Hidden Gems will take 100 unique silk flags across 100 miles of routes from Chatham Green to South Woodham Ferrers as part of a festival of talking, walking, creating and connecting.
took the collective golden threads of these and many other stories and transformed them into a hundred beautiful silk batik flags for Chelmsford.
The flags will displayed together at a number of locations, including: Chelmsford 100 is a community development project led by Chelmsford CVS in collaboration with renowned arts charity Kinetika People and a wide range of individuals, community and well-being groups. The festival will showcase some of the talents, resourcefulness and community spirit found right across the city. In February, Chelmsford CVS brought people together with Kinetika to talk about their experiences of the last two years during the COVID-19 pandemic; who they had connected with, what they had missed, the places most important to them and the hidden gems they wanted to share with others. These discussions provided the inspiration for Chelmsford 100, which Page 24
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Writtle College on Saturday 16th July. Hylands Estate on Thursday 25th August. Hyde Hall (you will need entry to the gardens) on Thursday 1st September. Chelmsford Museum at 10.30am on Saturday 10th September (finale).
Festival participants also will travel 100 miles with the flags on a series of circular walks, connecting communities and revealing the fascinating stories behind the flags’ designs along the way. Anyone can join these walks, which feature locations all over the Chelmsford district. They start on Thursday 7th July and end on Saturday 10th September. Booking details for the installations or to join a walk can be found on the chelmsford100.org.uk website.
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Hey, Hey it’s the Monkeemobile! With the fairly sad deaths of Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith still in the memory and the onset of summer, I thought it might be a nice time to take a look at a part of The Monkees story that might just pluck at your nostalgia strings if you’re of a certain age. If you grew up in the seventies - when toys for boys were limited to packs of plastic Timpo toy soldiers, Action Man, die-cast toy cars and Raving Bonkers - then you probably would get very excited when Corgi released detailed scale versions of the vehicles you might have seen on your (3 channel) TV. From The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, to Captain Scarlet’s SPV and that green boxy tank-tracked thing from Space 1999, such models can command huge second-hand prices these days. But the cool kids had a Corgi TV car that also really existed; and it wasn’t James Bond related - The Monkeemobile.
Pontiac had understood that the GTOs would be slightly modified for the series, but not transformed into bright red hippie motorboats on wheels. It’s even rumoured that the manufacturer was so horrified at this point that they wanted to pull the plug and renege on their agreement, but fortunately for us that never happened. Each car was required to seat up to seven, with bucket seats up front and a wraparound rear bench seat that took up much of the original rear boot space. Wild and groovy looking on the outside, the engines were 6-71 Pontiac GTO base models given muscle car power thanks to superchargers. Unsurprisingly, the extra power would make the customised Monkeemobiles jittery to drive, so the superchargers were eventually removed, leaving fakes in their place to retain the looks. Other modifications included the nose and rear being extended by around a foot to give that unique profile, and side exit exhaust pipes housed just behind the front wheels. For anyone who was a fan of the series, the sight of the Monkeemobile always ramped up the excitement, not least because it offered a release from the basic studio settings that the bulk of the series’ were shot in. The timeline of the Monkeemobile cars after the series ended is a strange mix of fate and bitterness. The cars helped to fuel bad blood between Dean Jeffries and his fellow car creator George Barris. Barris never seemed to think it worthwhile to correct anyone who mistakenly reported that he had been the creator of the Monkeemobile, much to Jeffries’ chagrin. Allegedly, Barris was quite happy to take credit for The Black Beauty and the Ectomobile from Ghostbusters as well.
The Monkeemobile was a car designed by Dean Jeffries for the hugely successful 30 minute TV comedy music series that ran on NBC for just two years from 1966 until 1968 but somehow managed to throw out a whopping 58 episodes. Jeffries based the Monkeemobile on the Pontiac GTO, an automobile that many consider to be placed right at the birth of a car type that we now know as the ‘muscle car’. Jeffries also created the Black Beauty, a sleek automobile that graced the cult series, The Green Hornet which featured Bruce Lee as valet and chauffeur, Kato. But the Monkeemobile was something far more fitting for the sunny Summer of Love generation and the band that would briefly challenge the dominance of The Beatles. The self-titled debut album would stay in the charts for 78 weeks, spending 13 of those at number 1, only to be bettered by the second album, More of The Monkees, which spent 18 weeks at number 1 and sold 78 million records worldwide. In 1967 The Monkees outsold both The Rolling Stones and The Beatles combined. Jeffries must have felt the pressure - he knew millions would view his creation, but he didn’t disappoint. The Monkeemobile is surely one of the most striking fantasy cars that have actually existed. Pontiac initially loved the idea; they knew how much free advertising this project would give them and promptly sent two 389 4-barrel GTO convertibles over - one for promotional use and one for The Monkees TV series, though both would eventually end up being used in the TV programmes. Jeffries got to work on the cars fast; it was reported that he completed the project in just 10 days. The quick turnaround might explain why there are some anomalies between the cars - the door logos are different sizes on each and the fan belt cover designs vary slightly, for example.
One of the cars accompanied The Monkees on their massive world tour and somehow got left behind in Australia, later reappearing in Puerto Rico as a limousine for a local hotel. The car ended up back in the USA following the Puerto Rican government seizing the car due to unpaid taxes and putting it up for auction. You couldn’t make it up. The anonymous buyer paid $5,000 and had the Monkeemobile shipped to New York, where after a full restoration it was reunited with The Monkees for a 1997 TV special on ABC. Barris bought the other car for (self) promotional purposes - he sold the car for $400,000 to Mel Gutherie in 2008 and one can only imagine how all this must have rankled with Jeffries, who had turned down the original first-chance offer of buying both cars for $2,000, somewhat arrogantly saying he could build one, if he wanted to, for less. At least a real fan bought the car from Barris, and now both cars can appear occasionally as crowd pleasers at various motor shows. Like the band’s music, it seems that these Monkeemobiles are set to go on forever. Sean Neylon Powered by www.peterbestinsurance.co.uk
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The Joy of the Great Outdoors - By Mandy Haynes I am loving these longer, lighter, warmer days where the outdoors practically calls you to come out and enjoy it! Any excuse and I’m outside - whether that’s for a quiet 15 minutes with my morning coffee, taking my time to peg out the washing (and take it in later smelling of sunshine), splashing in the paddling pool with the kids, picking up the leaves from the ever shedding eucalyptus tree in the garden, taking my lesson planning notebook outside to create new flows, or as I am right now, sitting with my laptop writing. I think we all learnt the importance and benefits of being outdoors during the lockdowns and I wonder if you have continued to enjoy and savour those moments of being out in nature? Even if you’re out doing chores, on the school run or way to work, are walking the dog or running around after the kids, could there be a few moments of mindfulness? To be present, and breathe… I’ve spent much of the last month working outdoors, from lesson planning to the admin that comes with being a self-employed yoga teacher, to teaching my group classes and private lessons. It has been wonderful to practice outside so much - to not be confined to 4 walls, to feel the uneven ground below the mat and have the sky to reach towards. It adds a whole new layer to the practice; there is so much more to experience. The feeling of the earth beneath your mat, or your feet (lots of people choose to forget their mat and go straight to the grass), or the back of your body in Savasana; it’s incredibly grounding and heightens the sense of ‘rooting down’.
and move your awareness away from the not so calming ones! After a hot day, an evening practice outdoors that ends as the sun is beginning to set has felt so refreshing as the air cools - and the morning practices have been energising and uplifting. All of Hummingbird’s classes are live-streamed, so if you can’t make a studio class you have the joy of choosing the online class option, which means that you can practice wherever your internet connection allows. You could take your mat into the garden, to the park or even on holiday with you and log in to connect with your teacher and class mates wherever you are. It could be a well timed break from your desk, a quiet hour in your day or a class to help you unwind for the evening. You can see the full schedule of classes at www.hummingbirdpilates. co.uk - I teach my Vinyasa Flow class on Wednesday evenings. Perhaps I’ll see you there.
The endless reach to the sky that gives you more to stretch towards; to look upwards to and notice the shifting of the clouds, the dancing and swooping of the birds, the rising of the sun in the morning or changing colours of the sky in the evening. The feeling of the breeze, the warmth of the sun, the sounds of the trees and birds... I’ve had a background of a bell-ringing practice as well as nearby building work, but you can choose to listen in to the calming sounds
Healing and Meditation How often do we ever just sit still and simply do nothing?
That is why I like to think of meditation as a form of healing - and a profound form at that!
In today’s modern age, many of us have smart phones or smart watches which constantly bombard and distract us (even on the loo!).
Teaching meditation is part of my spiritual life coaching sessions that I offer and is one of the many tools I use in helping you to find your true path and true self.
Is it even smart to let these so called gadgets take over every waking moments of our lives? Talking from experience, I often find myself mindlessly scrolling through Facebook or Instagram and before I know it, a large amount of my valuable time has slipped away. Precious time that could be spent doing something beneficial for my health, something that may heal my mind, body and soul in the process. So let’s all put the phones down for 5 minutes and take some lovely deep cleansing breaths in through the nose to the count of 4 and out through the mouth to the count of 6… do a set of 10 and keep repeating up to the count of 10 for 5 minutes… great how do you feel? Mind sharper? Body calmer? these are just a snippet of the many benefits that meditation can bring to your life.
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As always, you can find me every Monday from 6pm at The Bay Horse Pub in Chelmsford where I offer spiritual guidance via the means of Tarot and Oracle. I also offer private sessions from the comfort of your own home or via Zoom. Please do keep in touch via Instagram, @mrssophiasilver777 or Facebook, LeapOfFaith777. Love & blessings
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Crafts - By Magali Ellis and Scrap-Circle Taking time off for crafting is an essential part of my well-being. It is as if my brain needs the space and time to breathe and create. So when I start getting stressed out, I know it is time to stop and get my colourful papers out, together with my stamps, inks, ephemera and photos.
On top of the monthly craft days held at Highwood Village Hall, I also organise craft weekends four times a year. It is fantastic to go away on Friday and come back on Sunday and do nothing but craft, chat and laugh! It feels like a mini-holiday as food is cooked for us and we can just relax for the weekend. I have recently been back from my newest venture - a craft cruise! It was a first on many levels; first time cruising and first time organising a whole week of projects for 14 lucky ladies. We had such a lovely time and even celebrated the Queen’s Jubilee with proper afternoon tea with cups and saucers! It was an exciting experience going to the Norwegian Fjords and the North Sea behaved itself and it was plain sailing. Norway was spectacularly breathtaking with very long days (only 3 hours of night time). The Craft Cruise was a real treat! If you fancy joining us for a day, a weekend, or the next Craft Cruise which will be going to Spain and Portugal next year, see below for details and hop on to www.scrap-circle.co.uk. Craft Days at Highwood Village Hall are held between 9.30am and 4.30pm on the following days:
• • • • • •
Saturday 23rd July. Saturday 27th August. Saturday 24th September. Tuesday 25th October. Saturday 26th November. Saturday 17th December.
It costs £20, or £25 for the day (depending if you book it with/ without a project). Craft Weekend Retreats are held at Grafham Water Centre in Perry, Cambridgeshire on the following dates: • •
21st - 23rd October (no availability - this retreat is now full). 9th - 11th December.
It costs £195 for the whole weekend all inclusive (craft, accommodation and food). Craft Cruise to Spain and Portugal: •
4th August - 13th August 2023.
From and to Southampton, 10 days sailing with 5 shore days and 3 sea days and plenty of crafting every day on Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas. The price depends on the cabin you select, and you can come with a non-crafting spouse or friend. For more specific information, click on the link on the relevant page on www.scrap-circle.co.uk.
Tales From the Circle - By Sylvia Kent
It’s Never Too Late to Write! It may be almost sixty years since the death of the famous American poet and short story writer Sylvia Plath, who once said: ‘And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt’. (The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath)
This has resonance with so many modern unpublished writers. Pluck and a pinch of self-confidence are often sadly lacking for many people who feel they have something important to say or would like a chance to tip their toe into the seemingly scary pool of publication. Last month we finally managed to celebrate the Circle’s special 80th anniversary after having to cancel the event last year owing to covid. The welcome visit from Brentwood Borough’s Mayor, Cllr Olivia Sanders and Cllr Sheila Murphy, resulted in a front page mention plus photos in the local newspaper, with an article therein.
self-publishing enterprise - publishingbuddy.co.uk. There is little he doesn’t know about self-publishing and he welcomes visitors to his website. Paul’s experience covers his work as an illustrator, art director, typographer, copywriter and designer of book covers for clients, as well as formatting text. He is passionate about the visual expression of the written world and his PowerPoint presentation provide help and advice, particularly for those writers who are keen to see their work published via Amazon. Members of Brentwood Writers’ Circle and guests meet at Bardswell Social Club, Weald Road, Brentwood on the first Saturday at 2.30pm - 4.30pm. We welcome new members. Full details are on our website at www.brentwoodwriterscircle.com, and further information at www. sylviakent.blogspot.com.
During our celebration day, our own Chair, Colin Taylor, a published children’s author, welcomed BWC members and provided entertainment, including readings, play-lets and a buffet lunch. A copy of the Circle’s anniversary anthology A Circle of Words was presented by our President Sylvia Kent to our Brentwood Mayor and the Brentwood Arts Council representative David Worsfold. We were delighted to welcome our guest speaker, the talented Paul Burridge, initially an abstract expressionist artist, but now with a passion for writing. The author of three books, Paul runs his own www.thecitytimes.co.uk
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Quiz Time - By John Theedom
1. What is the meaning of the word sororal? 2. Where in the USA is the Louis Armstrong Stadium? 3. Which animal is often referred to as brock? 4. What is a human’s scapula? 5. What is apiphobia the fear of? 6. In how many test matches did Ian Botham captain England? 7. What are the odds of rolling a double six in dice throwing? 8. The airline NFD is based in which country? 9. In which direction does the River Nile flow? 10. Who opened the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894? 11. Which chemical formula represents ice? 12. Which club has members called barkers? 13. What flower is on the shirts of the English Rugby Union team? 14. ‘Hispy’ & ‘Quickstep’ are type of what? 15. Eileen Sheridan was a record breaker in which sport? 16. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go to find the letter A? 17. What do the words ‘almost’ and ‘biopsy’ have in common? 18. Which of the 1980’s A-Team was a pilot? 19. A papillon is a type of what? 20. Which James Bond actor covered his tattoos while filming?
21. What does ‘son et lumiere’ mean? 22. In which continents is the St Lawrence Seaway? 23. How is John Lydon better known? 24. Which stimulant is found in tea and coffee? 25. How many yards are there in a chain? 26. What is U2 lead singer Bono’s real name? 27. In Mary Shelley’s novel, what is Dr Frankenstein’s first name? 28. Which gas forms 80% of the Earth’s atmosphere? 29. Chuck Berry wrote the first song that The Rolling Stones recorded, what was it? 30. Who is David John Cornwell better known as? 31. How many rounds are there in an Olympic boxing match? 32. What is a perigrine? 33. Which Channel Island is famous for it’s very creamy milk? 34. How many bank holidays are there in May? 35. What is a spinney? 36. Which Irish singer recorded Walk Tall? 37. Where would you find useful junk? 38. What is the colour of jonquil? 39. What sticky paste usually holds the glass in windows? 40. What is Joan Collins’ middle name?
(Answers on page 31)
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Stargazing With Mark Willis - July/August
19th July - 1am: Jupiter, an excellent chance to add Jupiter to your ‘I have seen it!’ list. The Moon is half lit, and just above it, is a bright ‘star’, but it is not a star - it is Jupiter.
28th July: Delta Aquarids meteor shower is peaking tonight. Tonight is the new Moon, so this year will be the best opportunity to view this wonderful spectacle. You should see about 20 meteors per hour. Best viewed from a dark location around midnight. Look in the general direction of the constellation of Aquarius. 12th August - 1:36am - Supermoon: This will be the last supermoon of 2022 so don’t miss it. This supermoon was known to the native Americans who called it the Sturgeon Moon. This was because these fish were more easily caught in the Great Lakes at these times of the supermoon. 12th - 13th August - Perseids Meteor Shower: The nearly full Moon spoils an otherwise excellent light show for us this year. However, the Persieds are very bright, so why not give it a go? Next year, will
be unhindered by the Moon. Doris Elin Urrutia and Daisy Dobrijevic from space.com have written some excellent advice on how to see all of the 2022 meteor showers: www.space.com/39469-best-meteorshowers.html.
14th August - Saturn in Opposition: This will be the best opportunity to view this beautiful planet as it is at its closest to Earth. A mere 1.3 billion kilometres distance! Which means if you send a radio signal (radio signals travel at the speed of light) to Saturn tonight, then it will take roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes to reach the planet! New Moon: On 28th July and 27th August 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. www.chelmsfordcommunityradio.com mark.willis@chelmsfordcommunityradio.com
Trixies 12th Birthday Party After a long lay in, little Trixie started her birthday celebrations with an extra special champaws and ice cream breakfast in bed. She then went into the garden to do a few unmentionable things, put her sparkly collar and tiara on and was ready for her big day... Her personal chef set out the party food and doggy party bags (thanks to benoxer.com), whilst Trixie got ready to greet her friends to kick off Chelmsford’s most important annual event: Trixies birthday party. One by one her friends arrived with tails wagging, noses sniffing and a whole lot of licking going on.
Champaws
Trixie’s birthday party
After some serious doggy party games and the occasional fracas, Trixie gathered her very select guest list to sing Happy Birthday, eat some cake, cheer the birthday girl and join in a group photo on what was a beautiful English summer’s day. After a very long day of excitement, a few more sips of champaws whilst opening her birthday presents, little Trixie went to bed one very happy and contented little Jack Russell; wondering what she will be getting for Christmas no doubt! Happy birthday pretty Trixie xxx
Trixie and teddy
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Quiz & Wordsearch Answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
Sisterly Manhattan Badger Shoulder blade Bees 12 36-1 Germany South to North Queen Victoria H2O The Variety Club Red Rose Cabbage
15. Cycling 16. One thousand 17. The letters are in alphabetical order 18. HM ‘Howling Mad’ Murdoch 19. Dog 20. Sean Connery 21. Sound & Light 22. North America and Canada 23. Johnny Rotten 24. Caffeine 25. 22 26 Paul Hewson 27. Victor 28. Nitrogen
29. Come On in 1963 30. John le Carré 31. Four 32. Bird, falcon 33. Jersey 34. Two 35. A small wood 36. Val Doonican 37. On water, it is a boat 38. Yellow 39. Putty 40. Henrietta
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