Chelmsford The City Times March/April 2015

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Issue Number 18 - 13th March - 16th April 2015

MONDAYS

Millennium Community Centre, Recreation Ground, Baddow Road, Great Baddow CM2 9RL 9:30am, 11:30am and 1.15pm Lucy 01245 262457

Springfield Community Centre, Perryfields School, Lawn Lane CM1 7PP 5:00pm and 7:00pm Angie 07814 992628

Sandon Village Hall, Woodhill Road, Sandon CM2 7SQ 7:00pm Lucy 01245 262457

TUESDAYS

Broomfield Village Hall, 158 Main Road (behind Angel Pub), Broomfield CM1 7AH 3.30pm, 5:00pm and 7:00pm Victoria 07823 441198

Millennium Community Centre, Recreation Ground, Baddow 9R Road, Great Baddow CM2 9RL 3.30pm, 5:30pm, 7:30pm Samantha 01245 266442

WEDNESDAYS

Church Of St Augustine Of Canterbury, St Augustines Way, Springfield CM1 6GQ 9:30am and 11:30am Emma 07887 692906

Life Church, Hall Street, off Moulsham Street, Chelmsford CM2 0HG 5:30pm Angie 07814 992628

Boreham Village Hall, Main Road, Boreham CM3 3JD 5:30pm and 7:30pm Glynn 07984 049777

Writtle Community Association, Longmeads House, 12-14 Redwood Drive, Writtle CM1 3LY 7:00pm Lesley 07973 239899

Springfield Park Baptist Church, Springfield Park Road, Springfield CM2 6EB 7.30pm Emma 07887 692906

WEDNESDAYS

THURSDAYS

THURSDAYS

FRIDAYS FRID

St Michael's Church of England, Junior School, Barnard Road, Galleywood CM2 8RR 7:30pm Emma 07887 692906

Newlands Spring Community Hall, Dickens Place, Chelmsford CM1 4UU 7:30pm Emma 07887 692906

North Springfield Baptist Church, Havengore, off Pump Lane, Springfield CM1 6JP 7:30pm Victoria 07823 441198

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Chelmer Village Hall, Chelmer Village Way, (Next to Asda), Chelmer Village CM2 6RE 7:30pm Emma 07887 692906 The Church Of Ascension, Maltese Road, Chelmsford CM1 2PB 9:30am Samantha 01245 266442

SATURDAYS

Springfield Park Baptist Church, Springfield Park Road, Springfield CM2 6EB 8.30am and 10.30am Emma 07887 692906

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CT Welcome Dear readers,

Here we are and it will officially be springtime from the 20th March; where does the time go? During the span of this publication, we also have St Patrick’s Day and Easter, so please smile and enjoy yourselves!

www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk, www.moulshamtimes.com Editorial Advertising Paul Mclean Nick Garner 07595 949701 07970 206682 ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk editorial@itsyourmedia.co.uk

We are still looking for people who would like to write for us, or if you have - or know about - any kind of event then lets us know and we can let everyone else in on it as well.

What else is happening? Well, V Festival has been announced and we also have the first Essex Delta Blues Day on Sat 21st March at the Bassment. The Fling is coming, as is 3foot People Festival, Brownstock and Walthamstock and the 5th Blues in the City Festival. So that means lots for the music lovers to do in and around our city.

Disclaimer: It’s Your Media Ltd publish Chelmsford 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, Chesmford. Reg No 9154871. Printed by Imagery UK.

Remember to read our gardening page so you know what to do to get ready for this year’s gardening season as Tom is always full of good information and ideas.

As a last note for this month, do not forget the Woolpack has a beer festival on this Easter which is always great fun.

We look forward to hearing from you and we also hope you enjoy this edition of our magazine and do not throw it away! Share it - pass it on!

Until next month, keep smiling and stay safe.

Nick & Paul

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CT Fashion -

Spring CLean Your Wardrobe

It’s really lovely when the evenings begin to get lighter, you can start to think about spending more time outdoors and less time holed up in front of the television. You can also start to think about wearing less woolly jumpers and shedding a few layers. In fact, when you are reading this, the spring equinox (officially the beginning of spring) will have already of happened on March 20th.

So now is a perfect time to overhaul your wardrobe and maybe even think about some spring fashion purchases. Firstly you need to knock your wardrobe into shape; if you are anything like me, it will be bulging at the seams.

Sort That Wardrobe: • Take out your thick knits, and reassess for next year, will you wear all of those thick jumpers? I found myself only wearing four or five, so I will be giving the ones I didn’t wear to charity.

• Pack the thickest clothing into a storage box that can fit under a bed or on top of a wardrobe and don’t forget to put in your mothballs.

These boxes can be found at Homebase, TK Maxx and The Futon Company.

• If you have a wardrobe that is not fully being utilized in another room, then move you thickest winter coats in to there and put them in suit bags or plastic. If they are made from wool don’t forget the mothballs. I usually put a couple in a small drawstring bag or a pair of tights and hang round the hanger.

• Boots take up space up, so limit yourself to one pair of boots that you will still be wearing well into spring. The others can be wrapped up in plastic bags and put into storage boxes Primark and kept on top of a wardrobe, under a bed or if you have a garden shed put them in there.

• Don’t forget to label, it will save lots of time when you are hunting for your clothes next winter. Also, labelling is invaluable if you are moving house, and you have already saved yourself a job.

Building Your Spring Wardrobe (Work with What You Have)

them with heels or pumps, a simple chambray or white boyfriend shirt, with an overcoat coat in a pastel colour.

Shirts Shirts are big news, patterned boyfriend shirts in checks or pinstripes and ‘70s style shirts with florals. The classic white shirt will never go out of fashion and can be worn with jeans, cropped skinnies or cigarette pants. You could also tuck it in to a pleated skirt. Also, wear it under a fine knit cotton or cashmere jumper for extra warmth.

Denim Jackets You probably have one of these already; they look great with a midi skirt or pencil skirt and don’t be afraid to go for a double denim look and pare with an indigo denim skirt. Wear also with floral dresses.

They also look really stylish layered under another jacket like a duster coat or mac Camel Trench Coat The Camel Trench coat is a super chic classic that will never date.

It will instantly make anything you wear look incredibly stylish. If you don’t have one, definitely invest in one.

The Skirt The skirt has returned to the high street; not so long ago they took a back seat to the dress, now they are back in all styles. Anything in denim, suede, leather or even cord will work this spring. The mid length, the pencil skirt, the A-line, the fit and flare, pleated and minis are all very much ontrend this season.

Spring Buys Overcoat in a pastel colour Midi Skirt Striped Top Flares (if flares are too wide, try a kick flare) Jacquard Jacket or Bomber Jacket Patterned Shirt Ankle Boots White Plimsolls Primark Lemon Textured Crombie Coat £23.00 H&M Conscious Boatneck top £7.99 white New Look stripe Toshop PU Pleated Midi Skirt Price: £55.00 Monsoon Millie Skirt 7411150220 £59.00 River Island Blue Stripe Poplin Shirt £28.00 Marks and Spencer Limited Edition High Waisted Flare Jeans T691857J £35.00 Marks and Spencer New Sweet Pea Print Blouse T504753 £35.00 Monsoon Amberley Lasercut Ankle Boots 744080773 £79.00 Next Corture Flared 962-189 Jeans £28.00 Gap Quilted knit bomber #000417700 £34.95 New Look White Classic Lace Up Plimsolls £17.99

Jeans On trend this season are girlfriend, boyfriend jeans and flared jeans. Most women will have a boyfriend jean or skinnies in their wardrobe. Girlfriend or Boyfriend jeans look great with sweatshirts and heeled ankle boots or stilettos. They Emma Smith is a Style Advisor and lives in Chelmsford. She offers also look good with Personal Shopping and Wardrobe Planning. E-mail her at emma@ a jacquard jacket or emmasmith.co.uk. Website www.emmasmith.co.uk bomber jacket. If you Marks and Spencer have skinnies, style Page 4 www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk

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Virtually Real By Simon Culleton

I’m just about to update my Facebook profile relationship status. I’ve finally got a girlfriend... well virtually and it only costs me £19.99 per month.

She’s not actually real but a computer generated, digitally enhanced, cyber sweet honey who’s name I get to choose and who’s profile picture outshines any real woman that would openly and soberly admit to being my girlfriend. She will appear on my Facebook timeline and ‘like’ my photos and to the envy of my friends leave saucy comments for all to see: “you look hot Simon, shall I come around to cool you down?” For a little extra cost she will text me at work or when I’m down the pub causing me to look irritated in front of my friends. “Not, her again..”

Yet, my relationship status is news and in a world dominated by social media, I have to spread it around...

So I can start with Facebook. This Mark Zuckerberg invention, founded in 2004, now enjoys 1.3 billion users and is worth a staggering 41 billion. Originally intended for Harvard College graduates, this social networking site has swept the world increasing its membership by 55% in 2013. It’s a simple concept of friends sharing online comments/views and photos. Life changing announcements of weddings and births are posted alongside the mundane: “I’ve got a headache”, or “can’t sleep...” Other postings can be sad, even tragic, but the most are just a window into each of our lives that we share with our chosen friends. Although sometimes our life portrayed on Facebook may not be what it appears... A Dutch girl called Zilla van Born (that’s a good name for my virtual girlfriend), proved to the world in 2007 that Facebook can be manipulated by faking 42 day long world tour. She even had her parents give her a lift to the airport posting photos of tearful hugs and waves before secretly doubling back on the train to her home town near Amsterdam where she hide in an apartment, spending her time super imposing photos of herself upon scenes from around the world: sunbathing, snorkeling, rock climbing, she even posted a photo of herself praying with a Buddhist monk. Then, there was the 29 year old woman from Somerset who faked her own death on Facebook to avoid a second date, only to accidently meet him again on a dating website three months later. (it’s a miracle!). So you can never quite believe what you see on Facebook. Indeed, even recently I have read a post about an event I attended which was stated on Facebook as being a wild and crazy night complete with happy group photos of people caught in mid laughter - yet I remember the evening being dull and lifeless and left early due to boredom; perhaps the evening got better after I’d gone (or because of it!).

Then of course there is twitter to brandish my relationship news to the masses. This social networking is similar to Facebook yet just as addictive and compelling. Twitter first came to us in March 2006 and now enjoys 500 million users. The concept is again simple: the user having a maximum of 140 characters to say whatever they want and other members can sign up and follow them. The rich and famous seem to have grasped this form of social networking as a means to reach their fan base posting information on approaching concerts, albums and film previews. Although, some celebs clearly do not understand the concept or the power of Twitter. When Hilary Clinton first tweeted from the ladies toilet in the White House, she was amazed to find that half a million people followed it. Other celebrities have posted comments that has perhaps unintentionally revealed a vacant side of their

personally with frivolous and pointless tweets: Katy Perry once tweeted “I have a zit on the my back” and the famous rapper Lil Jon tweeted: “driving home to take a dump”. Yet Twitter can also be used for serious news and is quite often the first place you may learn about the death of a loved celebrity.

Although with Twitter being largely ungoverned, spelling mistakes, typos, or even just a name similarity, can allow news to unintentionally spiral in the wrong direction. When Joan Rivers recently died, people tweeted hundreds of messages of condolence on Joan Collins Twitter page and the same happened to Take That star Robbie Williams after the tragic suicide of Robin Williams.

Even when the great Nelson Mandela died, many people on Twitter mourned the passing of Morgan Freeman. Yet, this kind of mix-up has happened long before the invention of Twitter. When Bob Hope was awoken by his nurse showing the mistaken newspaper headline which reported his death, he asked: “they are wrong aren’t they?”.

So whatever you read on social media, it is perhaps best to take it with a pinch of salt. As I complained the other day to Zilla my online virtual girlfriend. “Is nothing real anymore?”.

Simon@limepad.com

What a way to start March, with great Blues music! Firstly, on the 18th and all the way from France, we have Rag Mama Rag with support from Booga Red. Then a few days later on Saturday 21st March, we have the very first Essex Delta Blues Day with 18 acts all from Essex playing great live music in the Bassment. You may be lucky and still get tickets - see the advert for details of where you can get them.

Next we have Cosmic Puffin on Mersea Island (1st to 3rd May) then there is Walthamstock on 4th June followed by 3foot People Festival from 30th June to 2nd July. The Fling is on 4th July, then Brownstock from 10th to 12th July. V Festival is on 22nd and 23rd August and Blues in the City from 2nd to 4th October. As you can see, there is quite a lot going on and there will be others I am sure, like Bay Days and the Summer Beer Festival.

This is a good reason for picking up the City Times and being kept up to date with what is going on in and around our city. As always there is live music happening all of the time and I am pleased to be able to announce that on Wednesday 15th July, I will have Tom Jones guitarist Robbie McIntosh playing for me at the Bassment for an up close and personal session. Robbie is rated as one of the very best session players out there having played for Paul McCartney, the Pretenders, Norah Jones and Talk Talk among many others. Robbie will be joined by his great friend Steve Wilson on guitar as well, so this is one for diary. Please note we are limited to how many we can get in.

Finally this month, I hope we (Jamie Williams and the Roots Collective) will be playing at the Ale House on Saturday 28th March and we are always fun to see!

So besides all this I would like to say go out there and support all the live music you can, as if we don’t, we could lose it leaving a sad world for us all. So see you at a gig somewhere.

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CT

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CT Gardening by Tom Cole Writtle College releases its initial design for Young Gardeners of the Year 2015!

The team behind the Writtle College entry to the Young Gardeners of the Year 2015 competition has released its initial show garden design.

The contest, organised by TV Gardener David Domoney in association with the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community, was launched in November. It celebrates young ‘green’ talent and sees six of the UK’s leading horticultural colleges go head-to-head to create a showstopping sustainable garden that will be visited by thousands at the Ideal Home Show.

The brief for this year’s garden was again reclaimed urban space, with the emphasis on the sustainable use of water and water harvesting.

FE Lecturers in Horticulture, Ben Wincott and Simon Watkins, are providing guidance to the team of horticulture students who are designing and building this year’s Writtle College entry, which has to fit in a 5.5m x 4m plot.

Ben, who specialises in construction and design and has created several show gardens for the RHS Chelsea Flower Shows, said: “this year’s team has been using Pinterest to bring together their ideas and we are fortunate to have a huge facility here so we can build, in advance, elements of the garden and then put it together like a construction kit.

“Last year our garden was based on the concept of a pub overrun and adapted by nature. It was quite an eccentric, fun take on the brief. This year, we’re making a garden that is more high end, with the aim of showing that you can achieve a slick-looking garden in a small, urban environment at a lower cost, using recycled materials and sustainable methods.

Style Lightbulbs and fittings.”

He adds: “working with new materials and products is great for the students and enables us to produce quality show gardens. We welcome the sponsorship that these companies give us and can’t wait to start putting their products together in the garden.”

This year’s show gardens will be judged by an expert panel, which includes horticultural industry leaders, home and garden magazine editors and acclaimed garden designers. Entrants will compete to win the gold, silver gilt, silver or bronze awards. The overall winner will receive the Best in Show award and visitors will be able to vote for the winner of the People’s Choice Award.

So, wish us luck! The Ideal Home Show London will open its doors for 18 days from 20 March to 6 April 2015 at Olympia London. If you want to follow the team, they’ll be writing a blog about the design and build process. Read it on the Writtle College blogspot here: http://writtlecollege.blogspot.co.uk.

Thanks to Rebecca Hughes (Writtle College Press and Publications Manager) for the above information.

Good luck and happy gardening!

For any gardening tips why not contact Tom Cole, Head of Faculty for Land & Environment, Writtle College, Chelmsford, CM1 3RR by post (including a SAE) or by email at tom.cole@writtle.ac.uk.

“We were thrilled to have won a gold medal in last year’s competition and this year we are hoping for the same success or better - it would be wonderful to win the Best in Show award or the People’s Choice popular vote”.

The team are now concentrating on growing the plants in preparation for the garden. In the spirit of sustainability, many are being recycled from last year’s garden. The planting scheme will feature the droughtresistant asplenium fern, stipa grass as well as geraniums, a pink rose and an evergreen jasmine climber.

Rob Band, who is in his second year of the Level 3 course, has recently been planting trays of Mind Your Own Business covered in netting so that they can be used as ‘bricks’ on the walls of the structure, which will be primarily made of millboard.

The 34-year-old musician and sound engineer from Colchester, who decided to study horticulture after enjoying growing his own vegetables, said: “entering this competition is giving us brilliant, practical experience of building gardens, planting and the design process”.

01245 422712 / 07711 606561 www.highwoodlandscapes.co.uk • Trees • Pruning • Hedge Trimming • Roots Removed • Topping • Rotovating • Turfing • Fencing • Garden Design • Decking • Patios • Block Paving • Drives • Tar & Shingle Property Maintenance • Roofing • Chimney Repairs • Building Work • Flat roofs • Guttering • Fascias & Soffits

The rest of team comprise of: Francesca Le Maistre Banham, from Billericay. Jack Anderson, from Basildon. Jack Elliott, from Colchester. Joshua Kemp, from Latchingdon. Adam Newson, from Brentwood. Rob Band, from Colchester. Sam Moore, from Maldon. Martin Overton, from East Mersea and Scott Downes, from Bishops Stortford. FE Lecturer Simon said: “this year, we are very fortunate to have a number of companies supporting us with materials on the strength of last year’s entry.

Collier and Catchpole are giving us a range of building materials, Free written quotes and advice 10 year Global Stone is helping us with paving, D&B Scaffolding is supplying old scaffold boards to make furniture, Millboard is kindly donating guarantee on all work 25 years experieince nearly £3,000-worth of decking and fittings, Makita is loaning us Unit 1, The Paddocks, Highwood, Chelmsford, CM1 3PU quality tools and Factorylux is supplying some beautiful retro Edison Page 8 www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk

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True Love Is Like Good Steak True love is rare, like a perfectly pink, 28-day-aged sirloin steak straight off the grill, so you’re about to fall for the great big cuts of meat at Chop Bloc. The US-style steakhouse, in the heart of Chelmsford in Essex, freshly butchers prime cuts of beef, dry-aged in-house, before searing steaks to perfection over charcoal.

Housed in an 18th century former brewery, Chop Bloc is spread across three floors and includes a Manhattan-style cocktail bar. At the entrance, magnificently marbled meat is on display to tempt diners with a sneak peek of what’s in store. An open-plan kitchen on the ground floor lets the fire and fury of the grill be seen for walkins, while upstairs offers pre-booked tables for larger groups and celebrations. Booths and long tables offer ample space in the dining room fitted with filament light bulbs, original warehouse meat hooks and exposed beams in the rafters.

On the third floor, the well-stocked Bloc Bar features a range of spirits and tipples all gloriously backlit by Himalayan rock salt slabs. The overall look is sleek, simple and inviting - think exposed brick, tan leather seating, soft lighting and paired back colours all exuding understated glamour.

Burger; triple cheese burger; the signature Chop Bloc Cheese Burger, plus chicken and veggie versions. Juicy burgers are topped with Monterey Jack cheese and served with lettuce, onion and tomato in a rich brioche bun.

Don’t like beef? No problem, take your pick from mains like whole boneless roasted sea bass; rack of lamb; or the fabulous filo goats cheese. Save room for sides as you’ll be spoilt for choice deciding between mac & cheese; sweet potato wedges; truffle parmesan fries and poutine (chips with gravy and cheese - Canadian style).

Sundays are all about the good old roast dinner: dry aged sirlion or stuffed chicken with Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings (duck fat potatoes, parsnips, carrots, green beans, garlic and gravy). Little ones are not forgotten and have their own à la carte kids menu, which includes little steak; little burger and mac & cheese, all served with fries.

Phew, take a deep breath before diving into decadent desserts like homemade chocolate brownie; raspberry cheesecake and ice cream sundae to finish the event.

MARVELLOUS MEAT DUO The Chop Bloc vision has been reared by brothers Steve and Dave Patten together with the help of their father - meat industry pioneer and liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Butchers, Colin Patten.

The brothers boast extensive experience of the meat industry, having worked for market-leading meat companies and trained in all aspects of the farm-to-fork process. Decades of meat experience means impeccable sourcing from the very best grass-fed Herefordshire cattle, all dry-aged and chopped in house.

UPSTAIRS TO THE BLOC BAR Venture to the top floor for cocktails in the stylish and decadent Bloc Bar. Split into two sides, one room is filled with scattered seating, round tables, blood red leather chairs, curved booths and gold dome lighting - ideal for intimate evenings or available to be hired out in entirety. Over in the adjacent space, you can perch at the bar on a throne-like leather stool while one of the barmen mixes you a special from the cocktail list put together by leading consultants Soul Shakers.

THE MENU There’ll be no hungry diners at Chop Bloc, the carefully crafted menu is expansive and enticing in all respects. Starters include the delicious Panko Pork Belly (pulled pork in Japanese-style bread crumbs served with Ketjap Manis), Salmon Ceviche served with finely sliced fresh red chilli, red onion, avocado, and coriander, or start as you mean to go on with Seared Beef Fillet Tartare.

Favourites include the Chop Bloc Negroni (Campari, Sipsmith, Sweet Vermouth); the expertly prepared and chilled to the perfect degree Martini (Langton’s, Cocchi Americano, lemon twist and olives); the hot pink Chop Bloc Cosmo (Finlandia Grapefruit Vodka, Cointreau, lime, pomegranate); and if you’re wondering what’s up with all the blue faced tiki mugs ask for a signature Blue Lady (Sailor Jerry Spiced and Bacardi Gold, Guava, passionfruit, lime and pineapple).

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BEEF Choose a cut, sold by the gram, including bone-in beef. All chefs are trained to butcher whole cuts of meat in-house - a skill that has been dying out in recent years. Select your weight and how you like it: rump, fillet, sirloin or rib eye, all cooked over charcoal to your preference. For keen carnivores, have it large and order a T-bone, wing rib, prime rib or chateaubriand, which are also ideal for sharing, or why not try favoured Brazilian cut Picanha - sliced rump cap.

A vast range of spirits and premium beers fill the bar and an extensive list of wine, prosecco and champagne is also available.

Chop Bloc - no cutting corners, just cuts of prime beef.

8-9 Grays Brewery Yard, Springfield Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 6QR. 01245 860 070 www.chopbloc.com info@chopbloc.com @Chop_Bloc

Chop Bloc’s burgers are made in-house using 28-day matured British chuck steak and cooked using the traditional 1940s American ‘smash’ technique to create a crust on the outside while leaving a juicy burger on the inside. Choose from double cheese Page 9

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CT Cooking

by John Jacobs

Celebrity Hello Happy gourmets. Marco Pierre White has been at it again. In an interview with the Guardian, he labelled all celebrity chefs as ‘talentless people with big personalities,’ the irony escaping my stock cube loving mentor. I get that slightly unnerving feeling whenever he speaks in the same way granny gives me at Christmas dinner waiting for her to blurt out the odd shards of good old fashioned traditional cockney homophobia or her unworldly take on immigration.

Celebrity chefs aren’t what we need to concern ourselves with. At some point they will have cut their teeth working long days and nights in a largely brutal environment for less than minimum wage whilst trying to avoid the ire of the maniacal psychopath at the head of the pass. It is entirely feasible to succeed in the world of culinary fame-dom simply by being a ‘celebrity’ a state of being that can come from singing, cooking, sewing, being incredibly stupid, wealthy, living in Essex, a mixture of the last three, on benefits, eating in a chicken shop or overcoming adversity by having been forced to grow up in Manchester without acceptable sportswear. We’re all familiar with Lloyd Grossman’s sauces and Paul Newman’s salad dressing but did you know Mike Tyson has his own brand of organic chicken nuggets?

Or that Gangster’s Paradise rapster, Coolio, has a book out called, amazingly, ‘Cookin’ with Coolio? I thought not.

What’s in Season The first signs of spring are showing, bringing with it a colour rich palette of vegetables, fruit, and meat. At their peak this month, look out for spring onions, baby leeks, new potatoes, baby spinach and purple sprouting broccoli.

Spring lamb will be arriving in the supermarkets but take a tip from this food writer, pop over to Smith’s Butchers in Chelmsford market as it’s this time of year you’ll find some great bargains and some more unusual tempters for the new season.

Restaurant Watch Many of you will have already eaten at, if not noticed the arrival of Chop Bloc to the city. The impressive vision of brothers Steve and Dave Patten, their aim, to bring the very best locally sourced meat, dry aged and cut in house. If you’re not completely carnivorous, courses include whole roasted sea bass, filo goats cheese, truffle parmesan fries and Poutine (chips with gravy and cheese - Canadian style). You can find the Chop Bloc at Grey Brewery Yard in the heart of the city.

A slightly off piste addition to Chelmsford’s restaurant life is Sahara East housed on Broomfield Road where the now sadly missed Bada once stood. The menu is an unusual mix of Indian, north African and Mediterranean cuisine and cooked on a traditional charcoal grill.

What gives Sahara East its unique selling point is that it is the city’s only Shisha Bar. If you want to recommend a restaurant to be part of our restaurant watch, e-mail me at cctfood@gmail.com.

½ tsp paprika ½ tsp chilli powder 500 grams of mixed fish (firm white but pretty much anything will do) 1 can of plum tomatoes 1 medium heat red chilli Garnish of roughly cut coriander

Method This recipe couldn’t be simpler and is a colour filled flavoursome addition to any repertoire.

Gently heat the oil in a saucepan. Don’t let it get smoking hot as it will burn your garlic. Add in the garlic and chopped onion and cook until they’re translucent in colour. Sprinkle in the paprika and chilli and cook for a couple more minutes. Add in the tomatoes. Fill the empty can with water and pour into the pan. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat. Add the fish and simmer for 5 minutes to just cook the fish through without stewing. I added some fresh mussels for a little extra colour and largely unnecessary theatrics. Whole tiger prawns are also a great addition. Top off with the chopped coriander to complete the dish.

Drop Dead Fred Skittles Video Launch Drop Dead Fred are set to release their first music video on March 19th at The Asylum, Chelmsford on Viaduct Road. This is an event to showcase the new video for their first single, Skittles, from their 2013 EP, Sleeping Jeans, with a themed night full of live bands, activities, games and prizes. Come along and grab your free DVD of the music video - only available to the audience who have attended the night.

There’s also chance to win merchandise from the band, awards from sponsors (CODE Drumheads and Pellwood Drumsticks) and prizes from the games of the night. The evening will kick off with live local support bands, followed by a headlining set from Drop Dead Fred with activities and games in between.

This is a music video you will not want to miss. This is an event you will not want to miss. The night kicks off at 7pm, come on down and have a great night with great local bands and fun activities and do not miss the debut video from Drop Dead Fred - Skittles. You can find out more information on the Drop Dead Fred Facebook page at: www. facebook.com/DropDeadFredBand.

Spicy Bouillabaisse Ingredients Dash of olive oil 3 crushed cloves of garlic 1 medium sized chopped onion Page 10

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Chelmsford BJJ The home of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Essex.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is one of the worldʼs fastest-growing martial arts, a combat sport (one of the core skills in MMA) and a self-defence system.

BJJ is suited to both men and women, different ages, sizes and fitness levels.

Whether your motivation is winning medals or meeting likeminded people and improving your fitness, at Chelmsford BJJ, we offer a friendly environment in which you can train up to 4 times a week with high ranking BJJ instructors.

The club runs regular childrenʼs classes with DBS (CRB) checked instructors and has a regular Judo class for those wishing to cross-train.

The clubʼs head coach, Alain Guerra Pozo, is a Black Belt Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor and practitioner with over 18 yearsʼ experience. He is a regular competitor in the sport and has coached a number of athletes who have been successful in competitions at both national and international levels.

One week free trial at www.chelmsfordbjj.com

www.chelmsfordbjj.com

Join a class or just come for a chat! email: info@chelmsfordbjj.com

CARLSON GRACIE ESSEX CHELMSFORD Chelmsford City Martial Arts Unit 21 & 22 Waterhouse Business Centre 2 Cromar Way, Chelmsford Essex, CM1 2QE Ess

30th April 2015

Page 11 www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk

CT What’s On In Chelmsford Westendtakeaway.com

01245 265050 March 13th Asylum - Lady Grey & The Earls + Them The Ones + Scott Freeman + Penguin Party Bassment - The Lemoncurd Kids + Little Donkey + Si De Burns (Crème De Chèvre) + Christopher Walken’s Alien Dance Party Fleece - The Replik8ers 14th Asylum - Zen Motel + Ethereal Fire + Distorted DJs Bassment - Scooterist Reunion - Northern Soul | Mod | 60s R&B Civic - El Llanto Se Mueve Cramphorn - Comedy Club 4 Kids!

Fleece - 6 String Makeover 17th Asylum - Illusion + Playground + Hollow Demise + Pangea Cramphorn - The Vackees Fleece - St Patrick’s Day Party O’Connors - Live Irish Music for St Patrick’s Day 18th Bassment - Blues In The City - Rag Mama Rag + Booga Red Civic - Pinapple Poll & Carnival of the Animals Cramphorn - The Vackees Fleece - DJ Darryl 19th Asylum - Drop Dead Fred - “Skittles” Video launch Bassment - Soundstock Final - E-Mute + Leanne Louise + Ellis Red + IC7 + The Velvet Tree + Tall Dark Friend Cramphorn - The Vackees Civic - Pinapple Poll & Carnival of the Animals Fleece - Quiz night 20th Asylum - Mouthful of Ashtrays + Doozer McDooze + Tim Smith Bassment - Corporal Fisher & The Brassed Off Monkeys + Cover F****** DJ: Indie Alt Disco Civic - Pinapple Poll & Carnival of the Animals Cramphorn - The Vackees Fleece - Voodoo Child 21st Asylum - The English Curse + The Scarlets + Yeti Love + Satin Beige Bassment - Essex Delta Blues All Day Marathon Civic - Pinapple Poll & Carnival of the Animals Cramphorn - The Vackees Fleece - The Aftermath 22nd Bassment - Hawk + Alex Fox Civic - Land of Hope and Glory Cramphorn - Swan Lake 23rd Civic - dancedigital’s Annual Springblast Showcase Cramphorn - Oysters 24th Asylum - Brutal Horizon + 8 Days Till Summer + Inexitus 25th Bassment - Sound Mirrors + Sophie Nixon Fleece - DJ Darryl 26th Bassment - Club Static presents: Lucy Can’t Dance + guests TBC Fleece - Quiz night

chicken pizza fish & chips kebabs burgers sausages

27th Asylum - Snide 5 + 5 String Drop Out Band + Drop Dead Fred + The Tickturds Bassment - Rubber Soul - Funk | Northern Soul | R&B Cramphorn - Metcalf School of Dancing Fleece - Circa Fall 28th Bassment - Stealing Signs + guests DJ: Indie Alt Disco TST are holding a 3 hour Boxathon 11.30am - 2.30pm to raise money for Ovarian Cancer Action. £15.00 pp including refreshments. Email cj@ totalsportstherapy.co.uk or follow us on Facebook.

Chinnery’s - Undiscovered Final Civic - One Man Breaking Bad Cramphorn - Metcalf School of Dancing Fleece - Electronic 80s 29th Civic - Philharmonia Orchestra Strings - M&G Concert Fleece - Wrestlemania 31st Asylum - Kill The Freak + Barbora + Alphadeus Bassment - Ethno Jam Latin | Funk | Jazz | Folk | Fusion April 1st Bassment - Jazz Funk with Roberto Manzin (saxophone) Civic - An Evening with Gervase Phinn Cramphorn - Lunchtime Concert Cramphorn - Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogonny Fleece - DJ Darryl 2nd Asylum - Calico + Lee Bennett & Joe McArdle + Chloe Hawes + Wolfe Sunday Bassment - MR THING (Scratch Perverts) Easter Special!

Fleece - Brownstock silent disco take over, open till 4am!!

3rd Asylum - Shakster Sessions - The March Fleet + Barton Young Bassment - Bassment Blues Jam with Special Guests!

Fleece - Expose plus Silent disco in garden till 4am!

4th Asylum - The Last Great Dreamers + The Two Jonnies Bassment - Meet At Mine Rarities, Beats & Oddities Fleece - The Nook plus silent disco till 4am 5th Bassment - Easter Sunday Disco Surprise!

Fleece - Easter Sunday Special!! All will be revealed on our Facebook page soon!!!

8th Asylum - 1000 Scars - Other Eyeswise + Amnesia Bassment - Samphire + Cornfield Encounter + Claire Wyatt Band Civic - Singalonga Frozen Fleece - DJ Darryl 9th Asylum - Drop Dead Fred + The MacGregors + The Tickturds Bassment - Acoustic Underground Civic - The Chuckles of Oz Fleece - Quiz night

10th Asyllum - Warme + Staring Out the Sun + Repair to Ruin Bassment - Rowntree Records Night + Panic Awards After Party!

Civic - Panic Arwards 2015 Fleece - Superunknown 11th Asylum - Steve Hooker + Acidultra + James Scollen Bassment - Meet At Mine + Indie Alt Disco Fleece - Under Ether Ingatestone Hall - An evening with Jackie Pitman 12th Civic - Whitney – Queen of the Night Cramphorn - Chelmsford Jazz Club 14th Asylum - Pop Punk Not Pills + Failing to Fly + With High Regards + Minorities 15th Bassment - Blues In The City w/ Cherry Lee Mewis + Roy Mette Civic - Ballet Central Cramphorn - Lunchtime Concert Cramphorn - National Trust Talk Fleece - DJ Darryl 16th Bassment - Indie Rock with guests TBC Civic - Jive Aces Fleece - Quiz night

View all of our magazines online at www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia Please note, all events are subject to change.

Please visit the relevant websites or Facebook pages for more details.

Please send us your events for the next edition, for events between 17th April and 16th May.

Email us at editorial@itsyourmedia.co.uk.

• Theatre • Book clubs • Exhibitions • Charity events • Jumble sales • Bazaars• Garden events

The Woolpack Festival by Simon Tippler of www.roundtowerbrewery.co.uk The Woolpack in Mildmay Road has, for a long time, been a pub with great beer and a community feel. When Will & Donna took over as landlords in May last year, they said they would try to keep the community feel of the pub and take it from strength to strength and I’m sure that anyone who frequents The Woolpack will agree they have done a great job in their first year.

The Woolpack is a large pub which always has a large selection of real ales and lagers on tap, there is also an increasing range of interesting spirits and wines. They also have a bottled beer menu with a selection of over 50 beers and ciders. Simple, but well prepared, food is served at lunchtimes including an extensive range of sausages. They also run a quiz night every Tuesday and a crib tournament every Wednesday.

Will has worked in the pub trade for some years with his first job being in the Vine Inn, Freshwater on the Isle of Wight. When asked

what is top three beer are he said (1) 3 Weiss Monkeys - London Fields Brewery (2) Brooklyn Lager (3) Harvest Pale - Castle Rock Brewery.

Will said that he feels it is important for the Woolpack to concentrate on being a proper ‘pub’ and that what makes it is the customers. He focuses on the pub being at the heart of the community, having a friendly atmosphere and great beer.

Will carried on the Woolpack tradition of late summer, Christmas and Easter beer festivals, but added an extra festival at Halloween. This year’s Easter Festival is from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th April and promises to have a good range of beer from around the country.

The Woolpack always has some Round Tower beer in the line-up at the beer festivals and often has some on the bar.

Page 13 www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk

CT Business

sponsored by:

Marriages Interview by www.modernmint.co.uk This month we have left our work at Modern Mint to speak with Hannah Marriage of the Marriage family, who have been flour millers here in Essex since 1824. The company is still run by the fifth and sixth generations of the family, supplying flours to bakers across the country and milling a wide range of flours certified by the Organic Food Federation too.

Why are Marriage’s based in Chelmsford?

Hannah, why did Marriage’s start producing organic flours?

“In those days, horse drawn ploughs and carts were used on the land and wheat was milled into flour using wind or water to power the mill stones. The Marriage family was quite forward looking and used steam engines in the mill from 1836.

“We have produced organic certified flour varieties since 1986. My grandfather Sampson was interested in organic production long before it became so high profile.

“In the early days of his working life (in the 1950s) Sampson used to sell a lot of stoneground wholemeal flour to health food shops. He had a good friend who had a chain of health food shops in London - they were doing a bit of milling of organic flour themselves, which sparked my grandfather to get into this and to fulfil this consumer demand, before organic was common. He was also a very keen home gardener (particularly his vegetables) which also tied in with this interest.

“Much of the British wheat that we use is purchased from local Essex farmers or comes from our family run farms only a few miles away from Chelmer Mills. Many of the farmers that supply us have been farming families for generations - the same is true of many of the smaller independent family bakery firms that purchase our flour.

“Stoneground wholemeal flour is a speciality. The wheat is ground on traditional horizontal French Burr stones.

“In this process the whole of the grain is ground to flour in one process, nothing is removed. This wholesome flour is popular with customers looking to make healthy, nutritious bread and rolls.

“We have seen an increase in both home baking flour sales and also in the number of artisan bakeries launching in recent years. We think it is in part due to programmes like the Great British Bake Off - which get people excited about baking, encourages them to bake more often and inspires them to be more adventurous (such as we see lots of interest from bakers in how to make long fermentation and speciality breads at home).

“Home bakers are nowadays increasingly interested in the quality of the ingredients they’re using - baking bread and cakes at home is an investment of time and effort; so people want to use quality ingredients to ensure good results. If you’re making bread for example, higher protein strong bread making flours can give a greater tolerance when baking so you are less likely to have bread making failures.

“High quality cake flour will often have a superior white colour than lower quality flours. As well as being enjoyable, people do bake at home to be healthier - if you make your own bread, cakes and pastry you know exactly what ingredients are going in - and you can tweak recipes to make them healthier (like incorporating spelt flour into cakes.)”

“W & H Marriage & Sons Ltd was founded in 1824 by my great, great, great grandfather William Marriage and his twin brother Henry. Their family had farmed in the local area since 1650. They started by purchasing two water mills and a wind mill.

“Our current site at Chelmer Mills, in the centre of Chelmsford, was built in 1899 and remains our base today. Originally it was built by the railway for easy access to the coal deliveries transported by train, in order to power the mill. When built, the mill site would have been in the countryside; however the town has expanded around us.

“Some wheat would also be transported here by rail - for example the imported wheat shipped into the London docks. Up until the 1970s there were railway sidings right to the door along the back of the existing mill. Nowadays it just wouldn’t be economically viable to transport wheat by rail and the distances wouldn’t work.

“These days our automated flour mill is a unique mix of ultra high tech milling machinery (e.g. equipment that sorts wheat by colour and the computer system controlling the mill) and the traditional, such as the hundred year old French Burr stones, used to produce our stoneground wholemeal flour.”

What plans do Marriages have for the future?

“We’ve been millers in Essex for 190 years, so I hope that future generations of the family will be continuing the milling tradition for decades to come.”

thebestofchelmsford

Here at the thebestof we’re different, in fact we’re unique in what we do. We aren’t a Business Directory Listing selling cheap online adverts, we are in the marketing - not advertising - business. Our object is to be a comprehensive marketing partner for the best local businesses. We will only work with a limited number of businesses in a given category. This is backed up by consistent, real, validated reviews from local people. We offer businesses a bespoke locally focused marketing package that is cost effective.

You could say that we are also in the relationship marketing business because everything we do is about building relationships.

This doesn’t just mean businesses it also includes the members of our local community. It’s about being a trusted source of local information to local people.

We deploy a number of key strategies on behalf of our members.

Among these are brand building, local exposure, marketing support and using our connections.We work with our members we need them to engage with us by providing us with all important reviews. Letting us know what’s new in their field, what’s happening within their business, new staff members, awards and so on.

This month we’re delighted to feature twice in the magazines - this one and The Moulsham Times. Take a look at the coverage of our Pancake Day event, it was flipping successful!

If you’d like to know more about working with us get in contact it may well be the best move you make. Call us on 01245 701020 or email Tom at chelmsford@thebestof.co.uk.

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Blossom Executive Support and a Reinvention!

I had the pleasure of chatting to Charlotte Wibberley this month about her business Blossom Executive Support. I was SO impressed with her creativity and drive in setting up her own business from scratch - she has created an original and thriving business in less than 18 months.

Charlotte worked for 12 years in the city as an executive assistant and for much of that time was a PA on a one-to-one basis with a company director. “In the city, I loved the buzz and diversity of the role I had - as an executive assistant to a strong female director. I had great opportunity to get involved in lots of amazing projects and events and was party to confidential information and personal as well as business issues. The role gave me confidence and the ability to network as well as hone those strong organisational skills and the ability to manage a team. But what I really loved was the relationship I had with my director - we were partners, a team. She confided in me and truly valued my opinion and ability to challenge her. I think this was the start of me realising that helping people with their businesses, whether through virtual support or whether through coaching was for me!”

After having her first child Alex, Charlotte decided not to return to her previous role.

Working in the city meant long days and a lack of flexibility with childcare: “I was already looking ahead to my children going to school. I wanted to build a business that allowed me to follow my dreams whilst also being able to do the school run and be closeby.”

Her husband planted the idea of starting her own business; utilising her wealth of experience in the field of executive support.

In today’s technological world that is becoming increasingly virtual and online, support for your business doesn’t necessarily need to be physically in the same building as you. Charlotte’s husband was aware of the concept of Virtual PAs and this seemed a perfect fit given Charlotte’s experience and plans. She did considerable research, met with other people who were doing a similar thing, undertook training through the summer and then launched her own business, Blossom Executive Support, in September 2013.

So what exactly IS a virtual assistant and what does Charlotte do?! Essentially a virtual assistant allows businesses to outsource their tasks to virtual specialists in that field on an hourly or a contract basis. Charlotte’s company specialises in supporting entrepreneurs and business owners in the coaching, health and wellness arena, although she does work with other professions too. “I wanted to create a business that would allow busy entrepreneurs and business owners to get their time back, beat the overwhelm and regain the passion for their business!”

Charlotte’s company undertakes traditional PA duties - diary management, client liaison, expenses and travel booking but they also offers a whole lot MORE. They can manage your social media, handle your event planning, bring your documents up to date making them more professional or on brand - and assist with blogs, website creation and maintenance and marketing. Essentially, Charlotte and her team are extremely multitalented and can assist with anything that takes a business owner away from the front end of their business!

The traditional way of working has shifted and lots of people are online and working from home and the beauty of using Charlotte and her team is that they do not need another employee, they can hire her for the number of hours they need and don’t have to pay for workspace, sick pay, NI and the rest. Charlotte also acts very much as a business manager working in partnership with businesses to determine smarter ways of working and identify any areas that could be improved.

Charlotte’s business has ‘blossomed’ (see what I did there?!) rapidly - and I can see why, with the number of fantastic services she can offer. When she first established Blossom Executive Support, it was just her doing 100% of the client work. Charlotte then fell pregnant with her second child (which is how our paths crossed as I taught her and her lovely husband hypnobirthing!).

She wanted to take maternity leave so she looked for a way to manage her clients and continue her business. She took on a team of associates - all VAs in their own right - and has subcontracted her clients out to them.

She has monthly catch ups with them and this system has worked really well.

Working with associates has enabled Charlotte to expand her business Charlotte’s first client was an old colleague further as she no from her job in the city - he had left prior to longer has to cover the her and had set up his own company which full workload and has he was running as a one-man band. “We met increased the number for a catch up in the city one day and the of services that her next week we were working together! I owe company can offer. a lot to him and we are still working together Always looking for the now. Following on, most of my clients have next challenge, she is come through recommendation from other currently undertaking clients or contacts and from networking.” a business coaching Page 15

qualification as she has mentored many of her clients and found that she really thrived on the coaching element of her business.

Therefore, when she returns from maternity leave in the spring, she is going to add this additional offering to clients. “I want to assist people like me who have left the corporate world and want to start their own business. I can help people with practical elements such as setting up websites etc, but fundamentally I want to give them the confidence and tools to leave the corporate world and seek a better work-life balance.”

I asked Charlotte what she was most proud of in terms of her career reinvention: “I think it’s that I made the leap. I look back and reflect on every element of building my business, from the website to the clients I have had along the way and am amazed, but the biggest achievement for me was having the courage to leave full time employment (and a company where I had been for almost a decade!) and creating a business and lifestyle for myself that I never thought possible. With my coaching and VA support offering I hope I can help other people to realise their dreams too.”

It was fascinating interviewing Charlotte, as she opened up my eyes to a world I never even realised existed. She is motivated, passionate and clearly extremely good at what she does (as well as being a thoroughly nice person!). Chatting to women like Charlotte is the reason I so enjoy writing this column - so many women these days are making a leap of faith and bravely re-creating their careers. Charlotte is a fantastic example of this new generation of women who are channelling their skills into successful businesses while still allowing for work-life balance. Hooray!

If you would like to get in touch with Charlotte you can email her at: lottie@blossomsupport. co.uk, call directly on 07712 305064 or find her at: www.blossomsupport.co.uk, Twitter: @BES_Lottie, Facebook: www.facebook.com/ blossomexecutivesupport.

If you are a woman who has reinvented her career and would like to be featured, please contact me on linda@bunintheovenbirthing. co.uk.

www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk

Sing-a-long-a-Bridget by Chris Penhall The Sound of Music, one of the most successful films of all time, celebrated its 50th birthday on March 2nd, and with it comes the inevitable sing-along-a-sound-of-music anniversary tour.

Thousands of people with varying degrees of musical talent will dress up as nuns, lonely goatherds, brown paper packages tied up with string and of course, Maria Von Trapp, and gather together in cinemas and theatres to joyfully belt out the musical’s iconic songs.

And people really do love to sing. You only have to look at the success of the sing-a-long phenomenon to see that - Rocky Horror, Grease, Moulin Rouge and Frozen showings are major events in which the public now expect to participate, rather than just watch.

Choirs for lovers of rock, choral music and pop are hugely popular, Karaoke bars are everywhere, and although a part of many of us may have dreams in which all four judges on The Voice swivel their chairs in amazement at our raw talent, for most people it’s mainly about how singing makes you feel as well as how good you sound.

BBC radio presenter, singer/songwriter and teacher, Bridget Metcalfe, thinks that not only is singing good for the soul, it can benefit your health and well-being.

“There are many benefits to singing” she says, “for example, the breathing techniques make people relax because you’re breathing in air which fills your lungs and exhaling as you sing the phrase. Then you breathe in again for the next phrase, and exhale again as you sing, and so on. As well as relaxing, the breathing makes you feel good.”

For Bridget, singing for pleasure began at a very early age. “I began singing before I went to school! It was just something completely natural for me to do. Apparently, I was found walking down the stairs singing to myself and carrying my shoes because I’d heard people say that Sandie Shaw had sung without her shoes on!”

New Opening Times Sunday 12pm-4pm Tuesday - Saturday 12pm-9pm

As well as a great choice of draft and craft beers we are now have a choice of draft cider plus a range of craft soft drinks Polypins available to order 4 pint carry kegs Belgian beers Wine and soft drinks 173 Moulsham Street, Chelmsford, CM2 0LD www.thehopbeershop.co.uk 01245 353570

“A teacher then encouraged me at school probably without realising it,” she continues. “I must’ve only been 4 or 5 and I volunteered to sing at the end of the day before the last bell rang. The class listened politely while I sang and as I ended the teacher commented to everyone that “Bridget has a very pretty voice”. I remember that moment so clearly. I loved the fact that it made me the centre of attention too. I was a quiet little child at the time, but my confidence grew hugely and very quickly.”

That is one of the key things her students find after a few lessons: “they’re often surprised to find out that probably 80% of singing boils down simply to confidence. Singing is a BIG confidence booster.

“Pupils get different things from their singing lessons. Some love the opportunity to express themselves in music, the lyrics which tell the story, or they simply enjoy the sound they learn to create with their voice - and everyone enjoys hitting the high notes well!”

For some pupils, a singing lesson is an opportunity to do something that helps them relax and have some me-time. “Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to learn to sing,” explains Bridget, “but many adults come for lessons simply as a way of winding down at the end of a busy day. Many school children come because they show signs of loving music and singing and their parents want to encourage them.”

Everyone has a voice whether they choose to train it or not - many of us are at our best warbling in our cars, bathrooms and kitchens! But lessons are always there for anyone who wants to take it even one step further.

Says Bridget, “whether you want to boost your confidence, perform on stage, front a band or simply shine at karaoke, singing is a wonderful way to relax and to express yourself.” www.bridgetmetcalfe.com

Page 16 www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk

Cheers for Chelmsford Beer and Cider Festival

The Chelmsford and Mid-Essex branch of Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) held the 16th Winter Festival over 5 days in February at King Edward Grammar School in Broomfield Road.

It was h-aled as a great success with lots of people looking on the bright cider life and all 1790 pints had been supped by 9pm on the Saturday. Extra beer was put on for Friday and Saturday to keep the customers satisfied, until last orders on Saturday when approximately 13,000 pints of various styles of beer had been sunk.

Organised and staffed by unpaid volunteers, the festival had a fun atmosphere celebrating the 40th anniversary of the branch, with new items being added to the Cheers for 40 Years memory wall throughout the week from Tuesday 17th February. 40 Not Out, The 40 year celebration beer made with 40 ingredients by Felstar Brewery, sold out in cask and take-home bottles. Look Out for special 40 Year beers from The Bishop Nick and Round Tower breweries at their brewery bars at the biggest beer garden in Essex: the branch’s Summer Beer and Cider Festival in Admirals Park from 7th - 11th July. The branch has made CME40 cider for the festival to tantalise the tastebuds. So come and sup some!

4000 people attended the 16th Winter Festival, helping to raise £1,100 for the Mental Health Foundation charity. Thank you to all the supporters and sponsors many of whom donated raffle prizes.

Wibblers donated the top prize of being a Brewer for Day with shirts, beer, cider, bears and jewellery among the other prizes from the Bishop Nick, Felstar and Round Tower brewery as well as cider from Delvin End and the Essex Cider Shop. Of course, lots of publicity was needed to attract punters so thanks also to the Home Partnership for advertising boards, It’s Your Media, the Essex Chronicle, BBC Essex Radio, the local councils and the volunteers who spread the word via banners, flyers, posters and social media.

If you would like to volunteer at the Admirals Park summer festival, or for more information on the branch activities, including the 40 Pubs for 40 Years Real Ale and Cider Trail, visit www.chelmsfordcamra.org. uk.

By Claire Irons, publicity officer and cider rep for Chelmsford and midEssex Camra.

Boningtons Sells Chelmsford Sourced Painting for £26K

Boningtons fine art valuers and auctioneers have gone from strength to strength since opening up the valuations office in Chelmsford last October.

One important consignment in particular came from a local resident who had seen the opening advert in The Moulsham Times. Many of the items reflected the family’s Hungarian heritage and one item in particular stood out as being of some importance. It was a large urban snow scene with figures, but unfortunately the signature was very difficult to read. After many days of researching it was finally decided that the picture was by Tibor Boromisza (1880 - 1960), an Hungarian artist who was a member of the Baia Mare art colony. No works by this artist had ever sold in the UK so therefore a conservative estimate of £3,000 - £4,000 was given and it was entered into the February Fine Art sale to be held at the Loughton saleroom. It quickly became evident that there was massive European interest in the picture helped by our international marketing.

Sourced in Chelmsord and sold to an international buyer for £26,000 Tibor Boromisza (1880 - 1960).

Figures travelling through a snowy wooded street VALUA T ROADS ION H OW Essex Groun County Crick d Ne et Chelm w Writtle Str sford, C ee M2 OP t, G

Friday Saturd 24th and ay 25th April 10 am - 5 pm

The event provides and opportunity to meet Boningtons team of valuers and obtain an expert opinion of their history and value.

For more information or to arrange a home visit contact Brett...

Contact Brett Tryner: brett@boningtons.com 101 Lower Anchor Street, Chelmsford, CM2 OAU - 01245 352213 Open for valuations Monday - Friday 9am - 5.30pm Mond www.boningtons.com

On the day many bidders battled for the picture, which eventually sold to a Swiss buyer for £26,000. Another lot from the same consignment was a set of finely carved Dieppe ivories allegorical of the four seasons and after much internet bidding, these were finally sold for £4,300.

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CT History Every year preceding the First World War had seen an incremental expansion in the physical size of the site works, but the war itself transformed the demands placed on the firm. The government took over the whole business for war purposes and Geoffrey Barrett was given a position of responsibility for the country’s output of ball bearings. In 1916 the company submitted plans for a substantial expansion of the works to the council. Later in the year, the company drafted further plans for a new power station, as well as extensions to the grinding and hardening shops and new sewers. German prisoners of war were used towards the end of the war to build the extensions.

The company had its own fire engine, which it lent to the borough on occasion during the war. Hoffmann bearings were used in every facet of armed forces equipment, from gun turrets on ships, to biplanes and tanks. The most important bearings were magneto bearings which supported moving parts without any physical contact.

In his war diaries, Andrew Clark noted that one thousand men were taken from the firm during the first war. This, combined with the big increase in demand, meant that there was a further influx of women into the factory. A training school for these female workers as well as males was started at Rosling’s Garage in Springfield Road. The firm promised to re-engage all the men after the war that had either volunteered or were later conscripted into the forces. As with the Crompton Company, this meant that most of the wartime women workers were replaced by the returning men at the end of the war, but women retained an important role at the factory. They had proved good at vetting the products by eye.

Immediately after the war, the company was hit by the railway strike which caused a serious shortage of steel. Although the economic problems of the 1920s did affect the firm, the growth in demand for cars, particularly in the 1930s meant that the company wasn’t hit by the depression to the same extent as firms in Britain’s older industries elsewhere in the country. The company gained a great deal of positive publicity through its bearings being used in numerous record attempts e.g. Donald Campbell’s Thunderbolt. In 1930 the first five cars in the Le Mans 24 hour race were fitted with Hoffmann ball bearings. By 1938 4,500 men worked at the factory. At that time, two workers had been at the firm since the beginning - over 40 years.

Five men had over 35 years service and 41 over 30 years service.

After the First World War, the general level of wages at Hoffmann fluctuated with varying levels of economic prosperity. In the early post war boom, a general labourer who was over 21, was paid three pounds three shillings and two pence, increasing by seven pence after six months. During the recession that followed however, wages were cut by a third.

During the inter-war period, the firm developed its own sick club.

Membership of the company’s Hospital and Benevolent Fund had increased by 700 in the first five years after 1918. The company was against the contributory scheme which the Chelmsford and Essex Hospital started in the 1930s. By this time, the pension scheme had been extended to the hourly rate men and most workers had joined it. Hoffmann’s works had its own surgery with a trained nurse and an ambulance, because some accidents were inevitable - although the company did pride itself on its low accident record. The women had a welfare superintendent available to them. Its canteen could accommodate 776 people at a time. The social and sporting clubs were run by employees but the facilities provided by the firm were second to none.

GF Barrett retired in 1921. He died in 1923 leaving a fortune of £413,932. Low continued as managing director until he retired in 1925, after which C Pryke and TW Cooper were appointed joint managing directors.

In 1928 it was announced that the Chelmsford works was to be extended again because the existing site had become too cramped.

E.G. Brown, the assistant works manager, said in a speech in 1933

The early days of the Hoffmann Company (Part 2: the interwar years) by Stephen Norris that both the electric and the gas plant at the works were bigger than those that supplied the town. The firm had three power stations.

Brown had been at the firm since 1908 - it was a worldwide business.

“In the month of April alone, consignments were dispatched to 38 countries. The biggest shop was the grinding shop with 500 people working there; the cage had 280 workers and the turret shop 280.”

There were 580 viewers who viewed the production process. This inspection department measured balls, bearings and components with specialist gauges to maintain standards of precision. Brown emphasised that the firm used only British steel from Sheffield. He went on to say: “the social club is a great thing to stop communism and dissatisfaction. When you are playing cricket it doesn’t matter whether you are the manager or a labourer, you are all playing the same game.” By 1935 the site covered 26 and a half acres, having grown from an original 3.7 acres.

Fuelled by the growth of the motor and aeroplane industries, the company made record sales and an improved dividend of seven and a half percent on preference shares and nine percent on ordinary shares in 1937. Most cars incorporated between 20 and 30 rolling bearings. By this time bearings were used to a greater or lesser extent on almost every industrial machine. Such differing mechanisms as telescopes, elevating gear, artificial limbs, tuning condensers, artificial silk spinning machinery and naval gun mountings all needed ball bearings. Ball bearings were also used in locomotives and railway trucks both at home and abroad. In 1934 London Transport ordered Hoffman axle boxes for its new Piccadilly Line coaches. Similar orders came from the Indian government.

Not everybody had the rose tinted view of the company, as the management. FW Warner, who joined the firm as a shop boy straight from school at the age of 13 just before the first war, remembered discipline being very strict. He worked from 7.30am until 12 noon, then re-started at 1pm and worked until 6pm. Initially there were no unions, but he later joined one when they became established.

Warner was unemployed for two years in the recession that followed the post-war boom. He restarted his job on £3 a week in 1922. A Mrs Claydon worked at the Chelmsford works before she married at the age of 24 and was not allowed to continue. Her husband also worked there and went on to complete 33 years. Her work was to check for any flaws in the bearings. Clarence Clamp, also a local left school at 15 in 1923 when his uncle got him a job in the machine shop at Hoffmann. He loathed it, and left as soon as he could when a friend of his father found him a junior office position at the Chelmsford Star Co-operative.

Like many workers in the town between the wars, Percy Rainbird switched between firms. He started working for Crompton after the first war and played for their football team. His father had been a hod carrier when building work was carried out there. A friend of his father got him a job at Hoffmann after he had been at Crompton for two or three years. It was “low grade work”, working on the lathes.

He worked a basic 48 hour week, with eight and three quarter hour shifts, working weekends and some nights. In the early years he could not afford to go on the works outings - which cost ten shillings - and he never saw the seaside. By the 1930s, seven of the extended family were working at the works. Several of the women in the family were employed grading and sorting different sizes of balls. By the time he married at the age of 30 in the 1930s, Percy’s wages were 48 shillings a week. Rainbird managed to obtain a new council house, the rent on which was 13 shillings a week. Nearly all Percy’s life was tied to Hoffmann in some way. He and his wife danced at the ballroom in the Hoffmann clubhouse and went to the whist drives.

Rainbird played football for the Hoffmann Strollers, while his wife was moved around from job to job but was eventually made a supervisor.

This was a big step up, because she was in charge of 60 people.

Philip Bartlett, having been made unemployed by Crompton, was sent by the Labour Exchange to Hoffmann in 1938. Like the Rainbirds, he was given a council house, in his case on the Melbourne estate.

To buy my book From A Borough To A City: A History of Chelmsford 1888 – 2012 at £14, please leave your contact details at fromaboroughtoacity@outlook.com.

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Hypnotherapy by Jenny Hartill

Following on from the last article on regression, in this article I will be discussing a phenomenon called False Memory Syndrome. This isn’t some horrible disease that one can develop as a result of regression, it’s a phenomenon that occurs because we all have our own interpretation of events and therefore if the client wanted to use their regression therapy for example as evidence in a court case, this would not be admissible as evidence. This is especially the case where the client is trying to report childhood sexual abuse. To quote the Royal College of Psychiatrists in their Reported Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse 1997:

intuition it is possible to reach a personal conclusion, it would be unethical to tell the client this. Remember, our behaviours can be learned, so as a therapist I tread very carefully.

“Psychiatrists are advised to avoid engaging in any memory recovery techniques which are based on the expectation of past sexual abuse of which the patient has no memory. Such memory recovery techniques may include drug-mediated interviews, hypnosis, regression therapies, guided imagery, body memories, literal dream interpretation and journaling. There is no evidence that the use of consciousness-altering techniques, such as drug mediated interviews or hypnosis, can reveal or accurately elaborate factual information about any past experiences including childhood sexual abuse. Techniques on regression therapy include age regression and hypnotic regression are of unproved effectiveness.”

In summary, with all clients I always apply this very simple rule:

The above statement is one of many that can be found globally regarding the possibility of uncovered memories being false. The reason that any memories uncovered would not be admissible in court is because they would have to be substantiated by other people - which the client may not want if they feel particularly private about the situation - or by facts. Regression therapy is undoubtedly helpful for many people and it is likely that the client will have some form of conscious memory of what happened even if the memory is mostly repressed, but the fact that most clients want regression in the first place indicates that they are likely having trouble identifying the facts as reasons for their behaviours. This means there is a risk that any “memories” the client uncovers are likely to be tainted by the emotional distress they feel in connection to them - so for example, if a client has had other emotional trauma in other areas of their life but they blame everything on a particular incident - the client could exacerbate certain aspects of the memory in order to fit what they believe is the cause of their troubles.

Generally our beliefs are based on what authority figures tell us, this is learned from a young age as we watch and learn from our parents and other authority figures. Religion is a classic and powerful example of this, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many worshippers all over the world for so many different religions. In this way we must be careful when considering there is a trend of society adopting particular beliefs. Research over the years suggests that our memory is dynamic and unstable, it’s not just about what we remember but how we remember things. There are many varied memory techniques, some of which involve changing the thing you’re trying to remember in order to remember it!

All information gleaned from the client in regression is a metaphor, imagination and not factual unless there is reliable and independent evidence to the contrary.

If anyone would like any further info or has any enquiries about hypnotherapy or counselling, please see my website www. counsellinginchelmsford.co.uk.

If you are interested in advertising in any of our publications please call 07970 206682 or email ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk

So, how do we make sure we’re not engaging the client in creating false memories then? Firstly as a therapist, I have to ensure I do NOT say any of the following (or variations of): • “All memories are held in your physical body” - some people do believe this but it must not be suggested to the client. This is because it can cause the imagine to run away with itself, especially if you have a client in chronic pain who needs a scapegoat. Until there is enough evident to prove this theory it’s best to steer clear.

• “You’ll get worse before you get better” - suggesting this may cause the client to search for some uncovered dark secret they feel as a therapist I want them explore. It is by no way mandatory the client will feel this way.

• “Regression was developed to help clients remember things from their past” - this is just untrue. Also it again suggests to the client they need to remember something, there are different types of regression therapy. Regression helps the client from an emotional point of view, not to accurately remember anything.

• “If you think you were abused you probably were” - again this is a suggestion that could produce false memories. Exploring why the client feels this way is important, but this must be done without suggesting anything to them that could cause their expectations to impact their imagination.

•“You have all the symptoms of someone who was abused” - as a therapist I do not diagnose like this. Although with experience and Page 20

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How to Tackle Your First London Marathon by Keith Porter

Each year, I see a curious phenomenon around Chelmsford. Christmas has come and gone, and when I’m out and about I see.. runners. Everywhere.

Maybe it’s because as a personal trainer, I’m really interested in a runner’s gait, as well as their overall posture, so I tend to stare at people who are out pounding the pavements. No matter, it takes me quite a while to realise why they’re out running - the London Marathon is coming around again.

In my running career, I managed two marathons. The first was in Jersey, where, attached to blind paralympic long-distance legend Henry Wanyoike, I completed the race in gale-force winds and driving rain. The second was London, around six months after Jersey, where after completing all of my training in freezing weather, I was suddenly hit with a blisteringly hot April day and suffered for it.

So, with not many weeks to go, here’s some things to consider if you’re about to tackle 26.2miles for the first time.

Be ready for any weather conditions I was worryingly unprepared for a baking hot summer’s day in London in 2008. Wear a lot of layers when you’re waiting around at the start,

and only discard them as you’re going around (don’t wear anything precious!). Check the weather beforehand and be prepared with sun cream and thermal.

Don’t change a thing on race day Race day is not the day to wear those brand new undies. If they have a tag that rubs, you’ll be in pain the whole way. Same goes for shoes, shirt - even your race number. Spend at least a few weeks training in the same gear that you’re going to wear on race day.

Have a flexible pre-race routine You have to be at the start early. Really early. And there’s queues for the toilets, and it takes ages to get through the start itself. And then you have to weave your way around thousands of people before there’s enough space to find your rhythm. The lesson? Race day is different to leaving your front door and heading for Admirals Park. Be prepared.

Running the London Marathon is an incredible experience. Soak it up as you go around, and give the camera a big smile as you cross the line. Good luck!

To find out about personal training, drop me a line at keith@ liveasimplelife.co.uk, or find me online at facebook.com/livesimple.

Yoga & Pilates Goes Pet Friendly by Kellie Jones I loved, loved, loved doing the research for this month’s article, it was so funny! Trending in the UK are pet friendly hotels, cafes, bars, bespoke boutiques, and now we are seeing the rise of pilates and yoga for cats and dogs!!

As the proud slave of two beautiful ginger girl kittens I can totally understand the attraction of a luxury cat hotel, complete with piped music, exercise and play areas, china plates and spa pampering sessions. Having been models at 9 weeks old, it’s the standard they now expect from me, (sucker). I cannot ever get my yoga mat out at home without one of them joining in.

You almost certainly will have seen the cat & dog yoga calendars around and the videos of pets photobombing their owner’s videos and so it seems the demand for attending class with their owners has been answered.

Just recently Hugh Jackman caught his French bulldog, Dali, doing a yoga position on camera, Matthew McConaughey’s dog accompanies him to beach for his yoga practise and ITV’s This Morning had a live class going on in the studio, (you must watch the

faux pas by Benjy the boy dog lol!)

According to Doga teacher, Mahny Djahanguiri, “using ‘yogic’ breathing and physical contact (massage) the dog’s heart rate would slow down automatically, improving the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide to the flow of the blood. The dog’s parasympathetic nervous system would usually kick in after the first 20 minutes of a yoga session. Similar to a human yoga class, some dogs may fall asleep on the yoga mat, some may enjoy a quiet space far out of reach from the group while other dogs may happily join in the fun.”

It’s all true - honest, check out www.dogamahny.co.uk.

So the question now is do we or don’t we add this to our schedule?

After all, we have baby and kids yoga classes, we’ve run laughter and nightclub yoga sessions and gong baths and 80s pilates...

If you want to know what we decide then sign-up for our newsletter at www.hummingbirdpilates.co.uk and like our Facebook page at: www. facebook.com/HummingbirdPilatesYoga, or follow us on Twitter at: @HummingbirdPY.

Photo by Linda Blacker

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Pilates, Yoga, Meditation Book your space online or call: Small Classes & 1-2-1’s www.hummingbirdpilates.co.uk Inspirational Teachers 01245 422556 Friendly, Community Vibe Reeds Farm Estate, Writtle, CM1 2ST

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Crafting for Easter by Sarah from Blooming Felt I can’t believe that it’s almost Easter. It doesn’t seem 5 minutes ago that we talking about Christmas and now here we are, with the evenings getting lighter, daffodils popping their heads up and spring just around the corner (hopefully).

Spring and Easter is a great time for crafters.

All of the bright colours in craft supplies make fantastic projects and with such a massive choice of buttons and ribbons etc that are available, the items you can create are endless.

You only have to look at social networking sites such as Instagram and Pinterest to see the huge range of projects that can be created.

Of course, Easter wouldn’t be Easter without eggs. We all love a chocolate Easter egg but they don’t tend to last very long in our house, in fact, you’re lucky if they last to the end of the day.

A couple of years ago, we held an Easter Egg hunt in our garden for our children and a number of their friends and families. We hid lots of lovely little miniature chocolate eggs - you know the ones that are wrapped in shiny paper/foil? I spent ages hiding them all and when everyone arrived, we gave all of the children a little felt bucket and sent them off to find all of the eggs. Unfortunately for us, the magpies had been watching me hide the eggs with their beady little eyes and by the time the children arrived and started looking, the magpies had already been down and pinched all of the eggs!!!

Talk about feeling like a fool - the kids were convinced I hadn’t hidden anything at all, but tell-tale bits of silver foil scattered about the garden fortunately let me off the hook - although a couple of kids looked at me rather suspiciously as though I had actually eaten the eggs myself and just discarded the wrappers.

So, if you fancy doing an Easter egg hunt here’s a tip. Don’t use eggs covered in silver foil - use FELT EGGS!! We’ve got loads in stock at the moment - you can use them as they are, just plain, or decorate them. They make perfect eggs for Easter egg hunts and look fab when threaded and hung from your Easter trees. Blooming Felt are holding an OPEN DAY on Saturday 28th March from 10.30am until 2pm at our Shedquarters in Danbury when you can come along and stock up. We’re also running a dropin session on the same day for you to come and learn how to needle-felt onto your felt eggs. The drop-in session is just £5 per person (no booking necessary).

Everything you need to needle-felt an egg is provided and you get to take your egg away at the end of the session. As we use very sharp needles, we don’t recommend this for children under the age of 10.

Of course, felt eggs aren’t nearly as tasty as chocolate eggs, in fact, they’re rather chewy. But hey, at least the magpies will stay away.

HAPPY EASTER !!

Sarah x

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New City WI - First Birthday What an exciting start to the year it’s been for the New City Girls WI! Our first meeting of the year was also a first birthday party, including a huge number of cupcakes spelling out our name, a present swap and a performance from our ukulele subgroup.

We also voted on our charity for the year and by clear margin, Safer Places, Chelmsford’s women’s refuge, was voted to be the charity for which we would be fundraising this year. We already have lots of exciting plans for raising money for this very worthwhile cause.

Our first community event of the year was a huge success with our members cooking for and serving a group of group of young carers at the YMCA. Our members really enjoyed themselves and the food was very well received - so much so that we have been invited back again later in the year. The money saved by the YMCA went towards buying new games for the young carers and we are really pleased that our efforts have made such a positive impact.

As we move into our second established year as a WI, we are always looking for ways in which we can contribute to the local community. If you think we might be able to contribute to your local charitable group or event please get in touch with use at enquiries@ newcitygirlswi.com.

Come and visit us on Saturday 28th March 10.30am until 2pm and learn how to needlefelt an Easter Egg! Drop-in sessions just £5 per person including all materials. No booking necessary

Do You Want to Bring Creative Pleasure to Thousands?

much-loved events.

Do you want to take part in a leading festival? The award-winning 3foot People Festival for pre-schoolers and The Fling Festival for adults only are looking for talented groups and individuals to entertain, educate or inspire the thousands of people who will flock through the gates to these

The 3foot People Festival will return to Hylands Park, Chelmsford, Essex from 30th June to 2nd July 2015 and will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary. This event, curated especially for preschool children, welcomes over 13,000 big (and little) people across three days. Parents, carers and children will be overwhelmed with wonder as they experience this unique festival. The village of tents, tepees and domes will host an array of activities and performances to inspire and entertain all day long.

Then, on Saturday 4th July 2015, The Fling Festival will once again welcome adults of all ages to the glorious Hylands Park. Between 12noon and 11pm, festival goers will experience an intimate world of enticing entertainment with live music, cabaret, surreal theatre, fantastical storytelling and curious sideshows amongst a whole host of unique performances by great acts from far and wide.

Organising the events, Liam Rich, cultural events manager at Chelmsford City Council says: “we’re looking for inspirational, creative people to deliver something very different for our festival goers. We’re not sure what we’re looking for until we see it, but we’d really like to find things that defy simple definition and that we couldn’t ordinarily find through a Google search! In the past, we’ve had creative people run brilliant workshops, play quirky intruments and devise excellent walkabout theatre for the masses - so anything unexpected is welcome, as long as it creates an intriguing or thought-provoking experience for our visitors.”

Those wishing to bring a unique performance or activity to one or both of these festivals are urged to submit their proposals as soon as possible. For more information visit: www.chelmsford.gov.uk/events or find either festival on Facebook.

Tickets for The Fling Festival are now on sale via www.flingfestival. com. Tickets for The 3foot People Festival will go on sale from Wednesday 22 April.

The Fling and The 3foot People Festival are produced by Chelmsford City Council Cultural Events Team with support from Essex & Suffolk Water, High Chelmer Shopping Centre, The Printing Place, The Essex Chronicle, BBC Essex, 1159 Productions, The City Times, Sshhh Events and Dancing Giraffe. The 3foot People Festival is generously supported by Seymour House Day Nurseries.

The Fling is kindly supported by The Bassment, Bella Rose Events, First Group, The Comedy Club Ltd and Heybridge Creative.

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CT Wildlife Corner by nick Green Spring is definitely in the air with snowdrops, daffodils, primroses and crocuses pushing through..

It is wonderful to appreciate increasing day length, a higher sun in the sky and especially more bird song, notably thrushes - the breeding season will be soon upon us. The first summer bird migrants are on their way from their African wintering grounds too, the earliest returning species include warblers like chiffchaffs, blackcaps plus sand martins and even ospreys heading further north to their breeding grounds in Scotland and Scandinavia. As I write in some fine sunny weather - apparently the sunniest winter on record - great spotted woodpeckers are drumming, treecreepers are singing and birds are prospecting potential nest sites (particularly nest boxes).

Blackbirds and robins are becoming territorial and collared doves are display flighting…

At the lake in Central Park, the black-headed gulls are acquiring their brown hoods and they will be soon moving to their inland breeding waters.

Waxwings have been very scarce this winter, but the species is typically a rare Essex visitor from Scandinavia.

When continental food trees fail to Waxwing copyright of Jeff Delve fruit, these exquisite birds appear on our shores and can be found feeding on cherry trees, cotoneaster and Rowan trees. Supermarkets are renowned for their cotoneaster hedges, so keep an eye out. Please try and make your garden more wildlife friendly with plants like Buddleiea and ice plant for insects like bees and butterflies, and cotoneaster for birds.

Forthcoming Chelmsford wildlife club events include: • RSPB - Chelmsford and Central Essex Group www.rspb.org.uk/ groups/chelmsford • Essex Birdwatching Society www.ebws.org.uk - web site has all details • Essex Wildlife Trust - Chelmsford Group www.essexwt.org.uk/getinvolved/local-groups/chelmsford • Essex Field Club www.essexfieldclub.org.uk Feed the Birds In this harsher winter weather, the local birds will appreciate any food put out for them. Bird food can be bought in most supermarkets and major stores including niger seed, sunflower hearts, sunflower seeds, fat balls, etc. Please ensure your bird feeding station can not be ambushed by cats and note that it may attract squirrels!

Recent Essex Bird News Abberton Reservoir, south of Colchester, has recorded up to 6 smew, 6 Eurasian white-fronted geese, goosanders plus wintering fieldfares, golden plovers and ruffs. The Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) Visitor Centre can supply the latest news - and a hot cuppa! Please visit: www. essexwt.org.uk/reserves/abberton-reservoir.

Surf Scoter Essex’s third ever recording continues to frequent the River Stour in the vicinity of Stuttoness Point, Suffolk. The bird favours the area from Bradfield to Wrabness EWT in the deep water channel as demarcated by big buoys and has been present since November 2014.

Rough-legged Buzzard This over-wintering bird since November 2014 can be seen from the car park on Wallasea Island RSPB, near Canewdon, though the bird does range over the whole island and tends to roost on the north side of the River Crouch. Peregrines, short-eared owls and merlins are also regularly reported from Wallasea, as well as many more species. To read about the RSPB’s Wild Coast Project, visit: www. rspb.org.uk/whatwedo/campaigningfornature/casework/details. aspx?id=tcm:9-235089.

Serins Two males have been reported regularly from Gunners Park in Shoeburyness since the end of January 2015. They are rather mobile but should be seen with patience…!

Family Friendly Joke Time It’s not easy for guys in IT to chat girls up these days...

It’s such a turn off... and on again... Anver, Chelmsford.

If towels could tell jokes they would have a dry sense of humour... Simon, Chelmsford.

I have a dog called Minton. Last week he ate my shuttlecock. BAD Minton! Richard, Chelmsford.

What sound does a nut make when it sneezes? Cashew!

Jane, Chelmsford.

What’s orange and sounds like parrot? Carrot! Julia, Chelmsford.

What cheese should you use to hide a horse?

Mascarpone. David, Suffolk.

Just lost my job as the manager of the local cheese factory...They said I wasn’t mature enough... Tony, Romford.

What do you call a giant pile of kittens? A meowntain...

Edwin, Chelmsford.

Why was 6 and 10 so scared? Because 7 8 9! Samuel, Chelmsford.

Two fish in a tank. One turns to the other and says “how do you drive this thing?” Kieran, Chelmsford.

Send your jokes (clean, family friendly ones only please) to editorial@itsyourmedia.co.uk.

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CT CHARITY -

Moulsham Junior School and City of Chelmsford MENCAP

Moulsham Junior School have very kindly adopted City of Chelmsford MENCAP as their charity of the year. Their first fundraising event - the School Christmas Carol Service raised a wonderful £575 for our charity! Representatives from the school visited the centre and Gemma handed over the cheque to Alison Widgery, City of Chelmsford MENCAP President. The members in return gave the pupils a thank you card. The children were then invited to join in with the dance session run by Jean Hunter from Footwork.

City of Chelmsford Mencap Mencap Hall 56 Mildmay Road Chelmsford CM2 0DZ Tel: 01245 268303 (General Enquiries) www.cityofchelmsfordmencap.org.uk - Registered charity 245421

The Essex Police Choir - New Choir Award Presented Essex Police Choir ended their 25th anniversary year very successfully, having raised £2,000 each for its chosen charities, SSAFA and Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, and over £10,000 at nine concerts performed for organisations across the county for whom the choir performs for free.

However, during the year Dick Giggens, their stalwart ‘page turner’ who had been a serving police officer for 30 years and who had assisted the Choir for 14 years, sadly died.

In order to create a memorial marking Dick’s commitment to the choir, members Tony & Lindsey Willson commissioned local artist Sarah Brown Contemporary Glass in Chelmsford, to create a trophy. This was presented at the choir’s annual general meeting on Tuesday by Dick’s son and daughter-in-law, Graham & Carol Giggins, who spoke movingly about the friendships that the choir had created for him.

The trophy is to be presented annually to the member - or members - who have the highest attendance rate at both concerts and rehearsals. The inaugural winners were Kath Adams and Kath Weedy, who only missed one of the possible 59 occasions during the year.

The objective of the choir is to enable charities, churches and other organisations to raise money for their own needs and since their formation in 1989, this has totalled over £300,000.

Parish Church, had a chance conversation with a member of the Essex Police Musical Society who said it would be “a nice change to be able to stand still and sing rather than appearing on a stage” - and the rest, as they say, is history!

This year’s programme of concerts have been announced and are:9th May - United Reformed Church, Great Dunmow.

4th July - United Reformed Church, Newland Street, Witham.

5th Sept - St Michael & All Angels, Bunwell, Norfolk.

24th Oct - Chelmsford Cathedral with Essex Police Band and Gwent Police Male Voice Choir.

14th Nov - United Reformed Church, Billericay.

12th Dec - Carol Concert, Trinity Methodist Church, Chelmsford.

15th Dec - Carol Concert, United Reformed Church, Bournemouth Park Road, Southend-on-Sea. Full details are on the website: www.essexpolicechoir.co.uk.

The choir rehearses each Tuesday evening from 7.30pm - 9.30pm at Police HQ in Chelmsford, with short breaks in August and at Christmas. The subscription is only £75 a year and music and uniform is provided.

New members, who do not have to be connected with the police service, are encouraged to come along for a few weeks to see if they like what the choir offers and whilst it is not necessary to be able to read music, they must be able to hold a tune! If anyone feels the urge to join a friendly, supportive band of singers then they should visit the choir’s website for further information: www.essexpolicechoir.co.uk, or email: joinus@essexpolicechoir.co.uk or contact chairman, Mark Lawrence on 07802414793.

The choir was formed when Norman Eastbrook, then a forensic police For further information, contact:photographer based at Police HQ, who was choirmaster at Tiptree Tony Willson, Publicity Officer 01206 366100 (day).

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Special Constables Lead the Way in Community Policing Special constables in north Essex led the way with a county-wide operation during February.

A weekend was dedicated to Operation Society, where volunteer officers worked alongside their full-time colleagues on a range of duties which included carrying out warrants at various addresses.

The warrants were of a wide variety, from misuse of drugs to nonpayment of fines. 126 warrants were carried out throughout the weekend by the Special Constabulary, which led to 10 arrests in the north of the county alone. A total of 146 duties and 1,080 hours were committed by the 124 officers that took part in the operation. High praise was given to the volunteer officers by Chief Inspector Richard Phillibrown, District Commander for Colchester, who headed out on shift with the officers.

Chief Inspector Phillibrown said: “I continue to be impressed by the efforts of our colleagues from the Special Constabulary, especially Colchester, who had the best turnout of officers this weekend.

“Operation Society gives special constables the opportunity to take the lead, whilst showing the public that we are being proactive in issues that affect their communities.

that they are there to help both their regular colleagues and the people of Essex.”

Chief officer for the Special Constabulary, Leon Dias, said: “We have had a fantastic presence from special constables throughout the whole weekend and it has been great to work alongside our full time colleagues. “The operation highlights the effect volunteers have on community policing and how rewarding it is that you are helping in keeping your community safe.”

Are you interested in joining our Special Constabulary? Find out more on www.essex.police.uk/specials.

Dates for the Diary Please come along and say hello to your local PCSOs - whether it’s listening to your concerns or offering crime prevention advice, we are here to help. www.essex.police.uk/my_neighbourhood/chelmsford_ district.

Dear Editor

CT Letter

I just wanted to pass on my thanks to your great advert team and yourself for the the adverts and article that appeared in The City Times recently. We have had a fantastic response and welcomed a record number of new members to our Slimming World groups across Chelmsford because of it.

You have been extremely helpful and professional and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Best Wishes Victoria Darnell on behalf of the Chelmsford Slimming World Consultants.

“Special constables play an integral role and I am extremely grateful

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Stargazing with Mark Willis - March/April 2015 16 March - around 8pm, Jupiter will be quite high in the sky. Look to the left of the constellation of Orion. You’ll see 3 bright objects. The top one is the planet Jupiter.

20 March - don’t forget the solar eclipse! See last month’s issue, if you missed that edition go to: http://issuu.com/itsyourmedia/docs/ctjanfinalissuu 18 April - new moon - this is a fantastic time to seek out those faint objects, like galaxies, star clusters and nebulae.

22, 23 April - looking north, there’s the Lyrids Meteor Shower, usually about 20 meteors per hour at its peak, produced by dust particles left behind by comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, which was discovered in 1861.

These meteors sometimes produce bright dust trails that last for several seconds. The moon sets shortly after midnight, leaving fairly dark skies for what could be a jolly good show!

Forget the telescope and binoculars. Find a deck chair and also some hot, strong coffee. Lay back and look in the area of the constellation

Lyra, but be aware that these meteors can appear anywhere in the sky.

Isn’t it wonderful that Beagle 2, the British Mars lander, has been found? A collaboration of the late Professor Colin Pillinger of the Open University and the University of Leicester. Its purpose was to search for signs of life on Mars, past or present. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted the Beagle 2 hardware sitting on the surface of Isidis Planitia which was its chosen landing site.

Professor Pillinger would have been pleased that it safely touched down on Mars. Had its solar panel unfurled successfully, Beagle 2 would have almost certainly fulfilled the rest of its mission. Was it a success? If you reach the finish line, which it did, then surely it is a success!.

Mark Willis presents Willis Wireless every Monday at 7pm on Chelmsford Community Radio.

Website: www.chelmsfordcommunityradio.com, Twitter: @ WillisWireless, email: mark.willis@chelmsfordcommunityradio.com.

Another Year, Another Chance to Make History We’re closer than ever to eradicating polio. But even as Rotary celebrates 110 years of community impact, we are reminded that there is still much to do. Become part of the final push. There’s a Rotary club near you.

It has been the largest ever Rotary project - to get rid of polio once and for all and so as part of the 110th birthday of Rotary on 23rd February a walk was organised over the O2 Dome in London. Many local Rotarians from Chelmsford took part and raised thousands of pounds which will be used to continue the immunisation campaign in the three countries where polio remains endemic.

When Rotary embarked on the ambitious project to rid the world of polio, there were one thousand cases every day. These were spread across the world including France - just on our doorstep. Now only Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan remain as problem areas and even in these there is very good news of progress. There have been no reported cases of polio in Nigeria for nearly eight months so this means that Africa has been polio free for that length of time. There were a couple of sporadic outbreaks in Somalia and South Sudan last year but these have been contained thanks to a prompt vaccination programme.

individuals to put something back into the local community.

At this time of year we are reaching the final stages of all our youth competitions and next month I will report on how our local young people fared nationally. Whether they come out on top or not is immaterial, because they are all a credit to their parents and our local schools.

If you would like to find out more about Rotary and how you can be part of it, visit www.chelmsfordrotary1240.org or phone me on 01245 260349.

Stan Keller Rotary District Governor

In Afghanistan as a result of an agreement with the tribal leaders, immunisation is going ahead, so that just leaves the Taliban controlled area of Pakistan. Even there, the number of cases has been considerably reduced, so there is optimism that we really can finish the job in the next couple of years.

What has speeded up the process is the fact that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, seeing the work that Rotary was doing, decided to throw its weight behind the campaign so that now for every £1 that Rotary collects their Foundation contributes £2 more. The reason that Bill Gates did this is because he saw that Rotary was the organisation that was trustworthy and carried through on its promises. No creaming off donations for administration or large salaries. The money collected goes to the causes for which it was collected.

01245 863 863

This, of course, applies to every project that Rotary is involved with hire · sales · install · events and in these days, where we read of six figure salaries and bonuses sales@eventsoundandlight.com for charity administrators, it is easy to appreciate why Rotary is held in the esteem that it is. Basically, Rotarians are volunteers working www.eventsoundandlight.com for a fair society and are always on the lookout for like-minded Page 30 www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk

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