Chelmsford The City Times November/December 2014

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Issue Number 14 - 14th November - 11th December 2014

CT Welcome Hi readers

Welcome to the November/December issue of our magazine.

This month we have something a bit different from the norm in our cooking section. John has been to review two of the newest restaurants in Chelmsford, to read his reviews turn to pages 10 and 11.

Christmas is fast approaching so make sure you look out for details of Christmas at Hylands Estate event on page 7.

We hope you enjoy reading!

Nick & Paul

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

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CT Fashion - Festive Fashion It may seem too early to be talking about Christmas, but you can’t ignore it on the high street, party season is nearly upon us and I must say, it one of my favourite times of the year, in fashion terms too. It’s like everyone can have his or her red carpet moment in the festive season. Velvet, metallics, sequins, leather, leopard print, anything goes! And men can go that extra mile too. So to find out how to wow your fellow party guests this festive season, read my tips on party wear and my high street best buys.

Key Looks Christmas/New Years Eve 2014/2015 The Long and Short of It There will be two extremes this party season, the full length dress is on trend this season, (think seventies Bond girl) but go a decade further back to the sixties and you’ll find the other big trend, which is the mini shift dress. So take your pick, go with the sixties if you want to showcase your legs and make the statement with a pair of metallic or patterned tights, or let the dress do the talking and go for floor sweeping and statuesque, or do both, your Christmas and New Year are covered with these two trends.

Fake It and You’ll Make It Ever wondered what kind of coat would work with your stunning party dress? Well wonder no more. Fake fur is made for the Christmas party season, it’s practical, keeping you toasty warm in December, it’s fun and it’s glam. Look out for furs in pastels, whites and creams and in bright colours, like electric blue and leopard print.

Animal Instinct If sequins are a bit too loud for you, go for an animal print, leopard print is the most popular, but you will find it reworked in a bright colour palette, so M&S limited edition dress £49.50

it has a different feel.

You will also see snakeskin and cow print out there on the high street as well.

The Old Fave If you don’t want to invest in something new this Christmas, then dress up your favourite little black dress. Pick up some amazing statement heels in silver or maybe a leopard print, wear with some contrasting coloured tights and you’ll be rocking that little black dress, like it’s brand new off the peg.

M&S Autograph Jacket £149

To Top It Off Tops will come in many different Christmassy fabrics this winter, giving them that essential Christmas party look. You will find leather, jacquard,

velvet, sequins, lace and brocade. For a stylish, but pared down party look, try silk pyjama top, worn with some cigarette trousers and kitten heels.

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For the Frill of It Remember that scene in There’s Something About Mary when Ben Stiller wore that seventies frilly shirt to the prom? Well the dress shirt will be making a come back for the boys. This season’s dress shirt will be a subtler version and is a pleat rather than a frill, wear with tapered suit trousers and black leather loafers for a super smart party look.

Becks Appeal If you haven’t already watched the Haig Club advert with David Beckham, it is a great watch for all you boys going to a posh event this Christmas or New Year. Invest in a velvet jacket, in green (like Becks) navy or black, team it up with a skinny tie or a bow tie and smart tapered trousers, even dark indigo or black jeans for a less formal event, wear with tousled hair or a quiff for a great contrast to the formal jacket and bow tie.

Flower Power Winter florals are in for boys as well as girls this party season.

A great look for the lads and as seen at Topman, was a tweed jacket with floral shirt and bow tie, if you are not sold on a floral shirt, then opt for a floral tie or bow tie with a plain white shirt.

Best of the High Street Monsoon ABIGAIL LACE SLEEVE DRESS 6451350108 £69.00 Monsoon NORINA NECKLACE DRESS 6451810122 £79.00 Marks and Spencer M&S COLLECTION Metallic Effect Tunic T415404 £25.00 Marks and Spencer AUTOGRAPH New Jacquard Shimmer Tunic Dress T506340 £75.00 Marks and Spencer M&S COLLECTION New Floral Lace Cornelli Shift Dress T421528A £45.00 Marks and Spencer LIMITED EDITION Animal Print Cocoon Coat T691617J £89.00 Marks and Spencer M&S COLLECTION Faux Fur Coat T497926 £89.00 Debenhams Grey Sparkle Wolseley Dress £129 Debenhams Black Iconic Dress £104 Debenhams Men’s Designer black coated leather capped shoes Item No.084010865260 £85.00 Debenhams Men’s Wing collar dress shirt Item utumnNo.46497_ CDS503 Shirt £9.00 Topshop Gallop Metallic Court Shoes £58.00 Topshop Pristine Premium Court Shoe £75.00 Warehouse GLITTER OMBRE MAXI DRESS £70.00 Emma Smith lives in Chelmsford and is a style consultant.

She offers personal shopping and wardrobe planning. You can contact her via her website www.emmasmith.co.uk or email her emma@emmasmith.co.uk.

To advertise with us please email ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk

New Clothing Store Opening in Chelmsford - November 2014 November 2014 sees the launch of new clothing store NUMBER SIX in Chelmsford city centre, specialising in contemporary clothing and accessories for men and women.

NUMBER SIX is at 6-7 Can Bridge Way, located across two floors, with double frontage in a prime location. This area of the city centre recently saw the opening of the new Faces Bar & Kitchen, following its recent million pound refurbishment of the former The Bar site.

It also benefits from its close proximity to the Meadows Shopping Centre, car park and Odeon cinema complex.

The store itself has recently undergone a major transformation, which is being kept under wraps until the opening. The images shown here give an insight to the contemporary, industrial look of the store.

With over 2,200 sq ft dedicated to a diverse range of products, the store offers a new concept to shopping in Chelmsford – eclectic and modern.

luxury leather gifts.

Claire Honeywood, buyer and store manager thinks NUMBER SIX will complement the already established independent clothing stores in the area “with new stock arriving daily, the team at NUMBER SIX look forward to seeing you soon. Our aim is to deliver unrivalled customer service and choice”.

NUMBER SIX opens in November, offering accessories and gifts for Christmas plus a preview of spring/summer 2015 collections. In the new year they will present their full-extended collections.

Claire and her team look forward to welcoming you to NUMBER SIX. In the meantime you can find out more by visiting their Facebook page or website at: www.nosix.co.uk.

The experienced team at NUMBER SIX are committed to sourcing the latest men and women’s ready to wear clothing, footwear, leather goods and accessories and will offer customers a carefully chosen selection of premium brands including, but not limited to; Hackett, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Gant and Tommy Hilfiger for men and Joseph, Diane von Furstenberg, Markus Lupfer and Malene Birger for women.

Alongside established brands such as these, NUMBER SIX has sourced directional brands including the Scandinavian label Samsoe & Samsoe for women and Sandqvist for men. Also; Tissa Fontaneda, Maison Scotch, YMC, Red Wing and Rains to name a few.

NUMBER SIX also boasts the first ever independent store collaboration with Aspinal of London, stocking the quintessential English luxury lifestyle brand offering womens designer handbags and purses, mens wallets and Page 5

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Bottled Beers by Simon Tippler of www.roundtowerbrewery.co.uk With the increase in microbreweries, there is obviously an increase in the amount of beer to try. Microbreweries, by definition, produce small volumes of beer that often doesn’t travel very far in cask or keg and therefore the chance of beer from even as close as London ending up on the bar in your local in Chelmsford is slim. So the easiest way of trying a range of beers is to get hold of some of them in bottles.

Many of the bottled beers produced by the larger breweries have been filtered and pasteurised whereas most of the smaller breweries produce ‘bottle conditioned’ beer. Bottle conditioning means that there is a small amount of yeast transferred into the bottle during the bottling process, causing the beer to finish fermenting in the bottle.

The final product means that you can drink beer at home that is as close to beer you drink in the pub in flavour and condition.

Some beers worth looking out for are some of the hop forward IPAs such as Beavertown Gamma Ray, Weird Beard Mariana Trench and Kernel Pale Ale. Also Imperial stouts from breweries such as Kernel, Partisan, Summer Wine and Dark Star are suitable for enjoying in

Art Exhibition in Chelmsford Library

An exhibition entitled Take Two is being held in Chelmsford Library from November 3rd until 28th. The works exhibited are by John Gill, BA Hons. The title reflects the works being exhibited which are second takes on paintings or artists and drawings in pen and pencil on white paper, these later include local and holiday scenes.

bottled form. If you were looking for some beer from further afield, them you could try a Rochefort 8 or Westmalle Triple from Belgium.

Online shops such as www. alesbymail.co.uk (based in Billericay) are a good way of buying beers as you can choose a selection and have them delivered to your door. www. beerbods.co.uk and Ales By Mail organise online beer tasting events so that you can try different beers and discuss them with other interested parties.

Round Tower Brewery will be opening a bottle shop in the front of the brewery 10–4 on every Saturday in December. There will be a full range of Round Tower beer for sale, including gift packs which make a great Christmas present. There will also be a range of great beer from small breweries around the country. The shop will only be stocking beer that I want to drink!

severe colour blindness - an inability to differentiate the colour red.

In this exhibition, Take Two, are examples of his work which have been influenced by elements of classical or established artworks, a ‘second take’.

John left school at 16 and trained as an engineer on day release and evening classes, achieving Chartered Engineer (C.Eng) status.

A career in engineering and general management, culminated in responsibility for a group of European companies. After retirement John studied and was awarded a degree in Art History. This study furthered his interest in painting and drawing; a hobby which he had put aside on leaving school.

These include:• An oil painting which reprises The Milkmaid by Vemeer, with modern accessories.

• A painting of a local woodland scene which was influenced by the works of David Hockney; seen at his RA exhibition A Bigger Picture (2012), particularly Woldgate Mist.

• A painting of a well-established Wisteria Bush at Antony House in Cornwall, which reminded him of the paintings of twisted olive trees

by Van Gogh.

John has exhibited at many local art exhibitions including in Chelmsford Library in 2011 (Through My Eyes), and an exhibition of various paintings at the Farleigh Hospice in 2012.

The second, element of Take Two is a series of pen and pencil drawings of local and holiday scenes. These are made from sketches and photographs which are finalised in his studio.

John is self-taught and has had to adapt his style to compensate for

John Gill, BA(Hons) - john.n.tina@talktalk.net- Tel: 01245 440853

Writtle Art Group Exhibition Chelmsford Museum The Writtle Art Group meets every Monday morning in Writtle Village The Writtle Art Group will be holding an exhibition of paintings at the Chelmsford Museum. The museum is located in Oaklands Park, Moulsham Street CM2 9AG. There will be nearly one hundred pieces of artwork to view. All pictures are for sale.

Entry is free and the exhibition runs from the 15th November until 11th January 2015.

The exhibition will be opened by the Mayor of Chelmsford, Robert Villa, at a private viewing evening on Friday 14th November.

Hall. Members use a variety of mediums to achieve their artwork.

Regular exhibitions take place at least twice a year. Professional artists also hold demonstrations and workshops each term.

Please contact the secretary Lin Wells on 01245 352082 or email jolin01@hotmail.co.uk for more information.

There is also a very interesting and informative web site www.writtleartgroup.blogspot.com.

Award Winning Ladies-Only Health Club Comes to Duke Street, Chelmsford.

Go30 is not only unique but an award winning concept. Unlike other gyms in the area, Go30 is a ladies only health club offering a variety of services and facilities. When you make the commitment to join it becomes their responsibility to naturally take care of your health and fitness.

The Go30 Progressive Results system means that they work with you to achieve the results that you have been looking for in a fun and easy, non intimidating environment. Unlike conventional gyms, the all female team treat you as an individual from the moment that you walk through the doors. This will include nutritional guidelines and a complete fitness regime always on a one-on-one basis. You are an individual and will be treated as so with your own tailored program designed for you the individual.

There is a dedicated dance studio with a great range of group exercise classes that are fun, motivating as well as challenging such as zumba, yoga, pilates, boxercise and more.

Members can changing and freshen up in the luxury changing room equipped with showers, oak lockers, then relax, unwind and chill after your workout with a complimentary tea or coffee in the members lounge, before heading back to your busy schedule.

The Go30 brand is a-multi award winning business. It’s not all about winning titles and trophies, but it is nice when you are recognised for all of the hard work and effort that they have put into their business.

At Go30, they’re over the moon to have received such overwhelming acclamation from other businesses in the area, and now nationally, being voted Best Ladies Only Gym at the National Fitness Awards.

There’s never been a better time to make the commitment to regular exercise with their special opening membership offers.

For more information on Go30 please call 01245 493633 or email Info@go30.co.uk.

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CT Gardening by Tom Cole This is an autumn that is certainly one of the best that I’ve experienced!

Sooooo warm, enabling us all to enjoy it for a little longer than usual, it won’t continue, but lets enjoy it whilst it lasts.

I’ve just walked out into my little green oasis and I just don’t want to cut down any of my perennials at all. For example, the grasses I would usually leave until around February next year, although last year they were being battered around by wind and rain and so I cut them down; this year they are just looking great. Tall flower spikes still catching the sun and creating a real focal point I just want to enjoy them for a bit longer.

Key at this time of year is to monitor borders and check that any collapsing foliage/ flowers of any perennials is either staked or cut in order that they don’t smoother other choice plants. I tend to use old prunings of hazel if I’ve got any to push in and around plants. Failing this I use cane and twine to loosely keep dying stems upright. Also, if you find like me, that you may have got a little carried away with the planting programme and slightly over planted, this may be a great time to cut down, lift, divide and re-plant in the same area, give away or plant elsewhere. If things are busy in other areas and those jobs take precedent, do this important job before bud burst in the spring.

Now, whilst you are looking at any woody perennials that you may have, take the time to under-plant them to enhance the season of interest with bulbs/corms and or rhizomes. I tend to always top up colour for the first thing in January/ February and again for April/May by using more drifts of snowdrops, winter aconites and crocus for that early splash of colour and then a load of alliums for a later blaze of purple.

This year I’ve used alliums such as A. cristophii for its large architectural flower/seed heads and A. ‘Purple Sensation’; an old favourite of mine… you won’t be disappointed - trust me!

At this time of year I’m also on the look out, through a myriad of seed catalogues, for next year’s choice plants to use. It’s worth exploring these publications to see what is on offer, is it a new tomato variety that will withstand the dreaded blight or is it a super little flowering bedding plant that will give you a great season of colour? The choices are so extensive it takes careful planning. For tomatoes I’ve found an alterative to ‘Ferline’ and ‘Legend’? Well, yes there is - try this one from Thompson & Morgan, ‘Losetto’ - an outstanding new cascading bush tomato with built-in blight resistance. Producing loads of sweet and juicy cherry tomatoes that can be harvested from July to September. A plant perfect for containers or planters in the greenhouse or on the patio. It can also be planted in a sunny spot in the garden. For flowering plants for next year try Gerbera ‘Sweet Honey’. This form can be grown all year round in borders producing plenty of sunshine yellow daisy blooms that are twice the size of other hardy Gerberas, and make fabulous cut flowers. This type flowers from June to October, getting to a height and spread: 45cm (18”). Whatever you do plan carefully!

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.

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Faces Our cooking writer John Jacobs has this month been invited to review two of Chelmsford’s newest restaurants.

The phone call from the City Times was brief. “Restaurant review, Faces, Monday night pre-opening. They’re expecting us. See you 7:30.”

Two things, firstly, turn your back for five minutes and someone ploughs a million quid into a bar in the heart of Chelmsford. Secondly, one of the secret joys of going into a restaurant to write a review is that anonymity brings with it a joyful sense of mischief though the thought of them expecting me left me wondering whether rabid obsequiousness might be fun. Freudians please write to my editor, not me.

I did my research. In place of what was once The Bar opposite the Odeon cinema now stands Faces Kitchen and Bar. If you recognise the name, it’s the bouncing baby brother of Faces in Ilford, the one frequented by the footballers and reality TV persons. So in a knee jerk and utterly unreasonable way I expected a cauldron of unfathomable stylised conceptual menu in a setting from the Peter Stringfellow school of interior design. I know it’s a prejudice. A man from a nawf Lunnen council estate has no right to overt snobbery.

I arrive early and take a little time to loiter outside the building absorbing in the glass and neon monolith illuminating a dark autumn evening. It looks good. Actually it looks great. What was once a grey corner baying for attention is a sleek and welcoming centrepiece. The entrance is flanked by potted palm trees (no trust me, it works) and welcoming invited guests are shiny beautiful people dressed in black.

Waiting for my dinner companions I stand back across the Backnang bridge and watch as even shinier and even more beautiful people arrive, coats are checked, smiles exchanged and then escorted to the large oval shaped bar to be served cocktails by people who are so shiny and beautiful that I momentarily thought I was in a coke ad.

I begin to feel slightly self conscious. Were the good folk of Faces aware they’d invited a podgy middle aged bloke in a mismatched suit to their gala premier?

by restaurant manager Amy who enthusiastically tells me about the concept of a one stop shop for a night out. Predominantly a restaurant serving modern British food, it has a well stocked bar, live music and DJs. Beyond the bar a team of very busy looking chefs in pristine whites are working furiously. Head Chef Paul Wendholt is former second in command to master-chef Paul Boorman from the school of excellence that is Wivenhoe House so barring disaster, the food was undoubtedly going to be special. The kitchen also boasts the first Josper Grill in Essex. A kind of hybrid charcoal burning oven that kicks out so much heat, meat is sealed and cooked extraordinarily quickly to seal in flavour and moisture. So be warned, if you think it’s hysterically original to ask for your steak “cremated”, they can actually do that here.

We’re brought a mixture of artisan breads to begin with along with smoked aubergine hummus. All of which are made fresh on the premises. The menu is unpretentious but clearly indicative of the skill of its designer and achieves that rarest of things, the yearning to try all of it. I chose the scallops with Jerusalem artichokes and hazelnuts to start. Cooked to a mahogany brown, the dish was a good mix of texture and flavour. Inevitably, I chose the steak for my main course which was cooked to absolute perfection. My three companions had nothing but compliments for their dishes.

The average price for 3 courses is between £30-£40 and the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.

If you’re a fan of good food and a lively atmosphere Faces is a refreshing and welcome addition to Chelmsford’s growing number of hangouts. Compliments must be given to the staff who were throughout the evening helpful and attentive without being intrusive and in particular to the team behind the pass who managed to deliver outstanding food. Our thanks go to the management for its unrivalled hospitality.

Welcome to the city. Find out more on www.faceschelmsford.co.uk.

View all of our magazines online at www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia

My companions arrive and we make our way in. We’re greeted Page 10

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Occasionally, seldomly, now and again, I like being wrong. Regular readers will know I have an aversion to chain restaurants. Particularly Italian chain restaurants. Nothing personal but I can get more authentic Italian food cracking open a tin of alphabetti spaghetti or slamming a semi-equine chicken tikka lasagne into the microwave.

When I heard Jamie’s Trattoria was opening in Chelmsford I did some cursory calculations and concluded we now have more Italian restaurants per head than Naples. So getting me to go to one is like encouraging my 2 year old Cockapoo into the vets for a rectal exam.

However, I say without hesitation, deviation or repetition, Jamie’s Trattoria left me running out of superlatives for how much I enjoyed the experience.

Situated in what was once the Barclay’s building at the Shire Hall end of the High Street, the Trattoria’s large multi-paned windows give off an affectionately pleasing glow. Once inside I gawked yokel-like at the magnitude of its interior, the design of which is cautiously crafted to be modern and shabbily old world with its mismatched furniture, open brickwork and strategically torn wallpaper. A great skill to make such a vast canvass feel like the living room of Sicilian grandparents.

The only visual nod to modern iconography being the word ‘reem’ painted in large italics on a side wall. (You’re better than that...)

Tonight is opening night and there’s the proverbial buzz. You get a genuine sense that this is something special and despite its competition, filling a void in the city’s foodie psyche. The kitchen is open and virtually part of the dining area. The pass is a frenzy of precision and team work with front of house which to the casual observer must appear chaotic but coordinated, theatrical and mesmerising.

We’re welcomed warmly by front of house manager Dan and shown to our table to be greeted by the force of nature that is Hayley, part waitress, part whirlwind, part food encyclopedia. Regurgitating the company mantra and mission statement is easy. None of that here.

Hayley talked us through the menu with enthusiasm and knowledge of ingredients, cooking method and informed recommendations and then was off Tasmanian Devil style to effortlessly take care of her other guests.

As a taster we had crispy squid, homemade rosemary focaccia, porcini mushroom arancini and grilled prawns along with what are a little cheekily described as the world’s best olives, served on ice. As each antipasti arrived, more colours, textures and flavours dressed the table. Chef Darren Jones brings a plate of the sizzling meatballs to the table for us to try, a herb infused mixture of pork, beef and salami served in a spiced tomato and Prosecco sauce. Are we being review schmoozed? Who cares? Each dish utterly delicious and beautifully presented.

For mains I order the rib-eye which is cooked al mattone a Tuscan style of cooking meat under a hot brick to seal in flavour and lawdy bless ya, still on the bone for that little bit of extra taste. For years I’ve been adding lemon to seared mushrooms and been told I’m probably unhinged, so I now exude smugidity (it might be a word) as my steak arrives with fries and lemony portobellos. My wife had the chicken with mushroom sauce and crostini and our friends the porcini fettuccini and truffle tagliatelli filling our dining area with the smell of freshly shaved black truffle. At the recommendation of Hayley we’re brought the day’s special; a slow cooked ragout-style seafood bake of garlic and herb tomato and octopus and garnished last minute with clams still in their shells. For desserts we reveled in the rich chocolate and hazelnut arctic roll and the quietly citrusy Amalfi lemon meringue cheesecake.

The prices are no more expensive than the average High Street Italian but the Trattoria is far from average. There’s no doubt that there are more mathematical formulae in making this one restaurant reach and exceed the expectations of its demographic than in Stephen Hawkin’s O-level exercise book. However, it takes talented chefs, enthusiastic well trained waiting staff and seasoned managers to make that formula work. Well done all. I was wrong, and now I have the Jamie’s Italian Gold Club Card to prove it.

Trattoria Here at the City Times we got a quote from Jamie about coming to Chelmsford: “I spent some time at the Trattoria just before opening and it was brilliant to meet and work with our new team – they’re a fantastic bunch and are doing a really great job. I’m very proud of everything they’ve achieved so far.

The people of Chelmsford have given us a big Essex-style welcome and have made us feel right at home. We’re already getting regulars popping in for a coffee one morning and a bite to eat the next evening which is brilliant to see.

Our wood-fired pizzas are going down a treat – if you haven’t tried one yet then get down there – they’re made to order using top-quality ingredients and they taste incredible.”

Jamie Oliver

CT What’s On In Chelmsford Nov/Dec November 14th Asylum - Hoof + Ellis Red + DJ Rev Bassment - Dinosaur Act + Fancy Dress Party + Attaque Civic Theatre - Sikes and Nancy Faces - Over 21s party night Jardins - Roadhouse + LaVendore Rouge Med Fusion - special duo of Percussions and Sax Smiths - Tall Dark Friend + Junk Foxx + Helen Connelly + David Harvey 15th Asylum - Butterfly McQueen + Drop Dead Fred + Stereolight Ale House - Back Porch Bassment - Alternative Disco till 4am Civic - Something to Sing and Dance About Cramphorn - Comedy Club 4 Kids!

Faces - Over 21s party night Star and Garter - The Coyotes White Horse B&L - Enjoy soul, with DJ Aubs 16th Ale House - Irish Music Session Cramphorn - Chelmsford Jazz Club Faces - Jazz Sunday - Sunday Roast 17th Civic - The Holly And The Ivy 18th Civic - The Holly And The Ivy Cramphorn - Ilo Ilo (15) 19th Asylum - Kaine + Near Ruin + Fallen Apollo Bassment - Jazz Funk Civic - The Holly And The Ivy Cramphorn - Lunchtime concert Faces - 80s night 20th Asylum - Kings of Nowhere + Penguin Party + Philip Marino + AD Project + Asliyah Wood Bassment - Girls with Guitars Chelmsford City FC - Club Night @ Clarets Civic - A Night of Queen Cramphorn - Chelmsford Film Club - Blue Ruin Faces - Live Lounge acoustic Fleece - Quiz Night - £1 per person entry, plus Jackpot round too 21st Asylum - Machine Gun Men + The March Fleet +Velettes + X-Ray J Bassment - LTNT + Mantango + Midnight Barbers Civic - Al Murray The Pub Landlord: One Man, One Guvnor–SOLD OUT Cramphorn - Unforgettable: The Nat King Cole Story Faces - Over 21s party night Med Fusion - DJ Jay Nicholls 22nd Asylum - Short Tempus + Finding Miranda + Glass Eyes Alehouse - Indescreet Bassment - Alternative disco till 4am Chelmsford City vs. Bath City Faces - Over 21s party night Med Fusion - special duo of Percussions and Sax Star and Garter - The Big Boys The Town Crier South Woodham - Ekko Ekko + The Conor Selby Trio 23rd Faces - Jazz Sunday - Sunday Roast 24th Bassment - Club Bolo 25th Bassment - Ethno Jam Night

26th Asylum - Pool competition Bassment - Al’s Accordion Band Faces - 80s night 27th Asylum - Drop Dead Fred + Slug + Pogo Assault Ale House - Titanic Brewery Tap Take-Over Bassment - Lemoncurd Kid + Si de Burns + Christopher Walkens Alien Dance Party Faces - Live Lounge acoustic 28th Asylum - Loose Joints + The Homing Ale House - Winter beer festival Bassment - Calgary The Comedy Club - Chelmsford City FC Faces - Over 21s party night Indigo - IC7 + Glycerin Grin + Leanne Louise Med Fusion - Oink 29th Asylum - Sacrilege + Osmium Guilotine + Kings of Nowhere + Barbora Ale House - Dave Jackson Blues band and Chris & Amy Bassment - Alternative Disco till 4am Chelmsford Cathedral - Choral concert Waltham Singers - Durufle Requiem + Bliss Pastoral - tickets 07808 584826 Faces - Over 21s party night Star and Garter - The Lucettas White Horse B&L - Rainsford School Reunion from 6pm 30th Ale House - Mr G’s Acoustic Duo December 3rd Asylum - Xmas comedy night Bassment - Back to Mine - Xmas special Civic - Peter Pan Cramphorn - Lunchtime concert Cramphorn - L’elisir d’amore Faces - 80s night 4th Asylum - Hobo Band + more tbc Bassment - Bassment Blues Jam Chelmsford City FC - club night at Clarets Civic - Peter Pan Faces - Live Lounge acoustic 5th Asylum - Skraelings + Skewwhiff + Ratbag + Doozer McDooze Bassment - Paolo Morena Christmas Special Civic - Peter Pan Faces - Over 21s party night 6th Asylum - Korda Marshall + Failing to Fly Ale House - Half Ton Man Bassment - Alternative disco till 4am Civic - Peter Pan Faces - Over 21s party night Ingatestone Hall - Jackie Pittmans Christmas concert Star and Garter - Elixir White Horse B&L - Too Much Pressure Ska, Motown & Northern Soul Nite 7th Civic - Peter Pan Cramphorn - Chelmsford Jazz Club Cramphorn - La Bayadére Chelmsford City FC - Toy Fair Faces - Jazz Sunday - Sunday Roast 8th Civic - Peter Pan

9th Civic - Peter Pan 10th Bassment - Guy Tortora + Martin McNeill Civic - Peter Pan Cramphorn - Lunchtime concert Cramphorn - National Trust Talk Faces - 80s night 11th Asylum - Radio is Dead + Flying Flux Bassment - Acoustic underground - Owen Bennett + Annie May Adams Chelmsford City FC - Comedy Club Civic - Peter Pan Cramphorn - Chelmsford Film Club - Wadja Faces - Live Lounge acoustic

Charity Ball in Aid of the Anthony Nolan Trust

The New City Girls WI host a charity ball to raise money for their chosen charity for 2014; the Anthony Nolan Trust.

Free delivery on orders over £10 (within 3 mile radius)

---------------------------------10% discount 15% discount

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To purchase individual or group tickets, please request & complete the booking form from Mel on melaniersmith@live.com.

14 Duke St Chelmsford, CM1 1HL 01245 767628

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The Anthony Nolan Trust match individuals willing to donate their blood stem cells or bone marrow to people with blood cancer and blood disorders who desperately need life saving transplants.

They also conduct world-class research into stem cell matching and transplants, with the aim to ensure that every person in need receives the best possible treatment.

This is an ideal event for a Christmas party or family get together. Tickets are £55 per person or £550 for a table of 10 and will include a welcome drink on arrival in the beautiful Hylands House. This will be followed by a sumptuous 3 course meal with half a bottle of wine per person. The catering is

by Limeberry who are the sister company of The New London restaurant on New London Road.

After dinner a band, The Shoes, will be playing a selection of the biggest party/feel good hits from the 50s to the present day.

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On Saturday 29th November the New City Girls WI will be holding a charity ball at Hylands House in aid of the Anthony Nolan Trust.

With just five tables remaining, ticket sales have been opened to the general public with the aim of raising as much money possible for the charity.

The money raised from the ball will help the Anthony Nolan Trust to continue their amazing work.

when you spend £10 when you spend £20

---------------------------------One voucher per customer. Valid Until 31st Aug 2014

One voucher per customer. Valid Until 31st Aug 2014

Please note, all events are subject to change.

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

Please send us your events.

Emai us at editorial@itsyourmedia.co.uk.

• Theatre • Book clubs • Exhibitions • Charity events • Jumble sales • Christmas bazzars• Garden events

Electrical Installation & Maintenance M-Spec Services based in Chelmsford cater for all your electrical requirements, no job is too big or too small. You are always guaranteed a professional service at competitive rates.

• Rewires • Fault Finding • Fuseboard Upgrades • Smoke Alarm Installation • CCTV & Fire Alarms • Access Control & Intercom Systems • Test & Inspect Certification

Call Michael on

07976 693457

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sponsored by:

Home Partnership by Darren Lerigo of www.modernmint.co.uk This month we have taken time out from our work at Modern Mint to interview Scott Mason, co-director with Joanne Williams and Merrick Allen at The Home Partnership, a dynamic estate agents based in Chelmsford and Brentwood.

“Our lettings department at Chelmsford office has had its best year – people want independence. They may take longer to save for a deposit when they are renting but they want the freedom, so lettings have gone up.”

Tell us how The Home Partnership started Scott?

How do you sell a property?

“Myself, Jo and Merrick all worked together in Duke Street and had become friends. In December 2005 we left the corporate side of the business and entered the independent camp. In February 2006 we opened The Home Partnership. We opened seven days a week (which we still maintain) - we had a small amount of stock and the boards brought people in.

“We can approach it in various ways. One size doesn’t fit all. One option that can work well for some of our clients is that we announce a property is available to view two weeks before we allow people to view it.”

“In April this year we opened a second office in Brentwood – it has a similar feel to the one here in Chelmsford...”

I look around at the office, which is furnished with a light touch. It feels open and light, a good place to be sitting for a chat.

“We are not estate agents behind desks, we describe ourselves as a café style agency. Let’s listen, not dictate… it works for us.”

What stage is the business at, more than eight years after you started?

“We are finding so many of our clients are repeat customers – some are sons and daughters who have been recommended by mums and dads… some people have also moved three times in these eight years – from a studio to a two bed to a family home…

“We have the three directors, and nine staff at Chelmsford. Three more staff at the Brentwood office. The connection between the two locations works really well as we find a lot of movement for clients from one to the other.”

“Our first two years went well for our sales proposition then when the market went downhill we had to react to adjust and adapt. At this time surveyors were down valuing houses, our stock was shrinking and the hardest part of it all was that we still had lots of viewers for properties at the time but they weren’t selling so easily or swiftly.”

“So we started the lettings side of our business in the summer of 2008.”

How did you stay in business?

“Why did we grow in a recession? Honestly… we reacted quicker and managed to trade our way out of it, when things weren’t in our control…”

“Things now are not as tough as then, and people now appreciate what it is we are doing for them when trying to sell their house.”

Will the market change again soon?

“If interest rates go up, people hold back while the experienced carry on – the third category of people have no choice but to go.”

How does the lettings side work at The Home Partnership?

“During the downturn we reacted to the market and started letting.

We work with another local Independent company who handle the management side of things so we can carry on with what we are good at – finding quality tenants. We know what standards they set, so because we aren’t making mistakes the client has a good experience and we secure possibility of selling the property at some stage in the future.”

“Viewers then go around in prearranged slots on the day, in one controlled hit, and every buyer gets a fair chance and our client doesn’t have to worry about keeping the house clean – the client can potentially have a more sleek selling process.”

Why do it this way Scott?

“We can prove then you get the best price and the best buyer – with several offers all at the same time you can filter out the chain or those without a large deposit – if someone is in a chain of ten houses, well, you are never going to sell that house…”

But how do you choose your agent?

“When we’re given the opportunity to explain our proposition to clients we can sit down and say to a seller ‘use us, we do it this way’ – this is far better than saying ‘we sold a house in 20 minutes of going on the market’ – because in that instance how do you know you got the best price?”

One last question Scott – do you have any regrets about The Home Partnership?

“That we didn’t do it earlier.”

So there you have it. If you are looking to sell your house, or to rent a property – why not speak to Scott at The Home Partnership on Dukes Street.

thebestofchelmsford Here at thebestofchelmsford we’re not just about business, it’s about our local community and how we can serve them. We can offer local charities, clubs, societies, churches and associations the opportunity to get themselves and their events noticed by more people and businesses. So this is our message to them: register with us and put your event details on thebestofchelmsford. We need to know what it’s about together with dates and times then we can get it out to a wider audience and get it noticed. For Chelmsford events we’re on the first page of google. What’s more, there’s absolutely no charge.

We get lots of local people telling us which are their favourite businesses and why. If you’ve had a good experience in dealing with a business let us know, positive feedback is great for any business to hear. In Chelmsford we are fortunate to have so many dynamic businesses who provide their services and products in combination with first class client or customer care. These businesses need to be noticed by as many people and other businesses as possible.

Pay us a visit at www.thebestof.co.uk/chelmsford or drop us an email to chelmsford@thebestof.co.uk or just give us a call on 01245 701020. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Page 14

www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk

A Monster of a Reinvention

by Linda McNeill

Karen Tootill takes centrestage this month as a newly reinvented career woman. Every month I have the pleasure of interviewing a local woman who has changed career direction and I found Karen’s story very inspiring.

Karen has recently launched a new online company Merino Monsters – a really fun brand with a serious message. Merino Monsters is essentially a clothing company aimed at children aged 5 – 12 years who make all their products from merino wool.

So what is so exciting about this?? Well lots actually! If like me you have not heard of merino sheep and their wool, here is a potted explanation: merino wool traditionally comes from New Zealand and is a staple fabric over there. Kids and adults wear it all the time because it is a fantastic layer.

In Karen’s own words: ‘it is incredibly soft and lightweight, super comfy so kids won’t itch. Merino is not bulky like jumpers, so movement is not restricted - perfect for cold days out on the bikes or kicking a ball.

Different to other wool a single merino fibre is very fine, about 1/10 the thickness of hair, which is why it is so soft and silky to wear. Merino breathes and regulates body temperature much better than cotton and synthetics, put merino next to your kid’s skin and they won’t get cold but wont get too hot either, this keeps them happy and comfortable. Merino wool works with your child’s own body, the natural wool fibres constantly absorb and release moisture allowing your child’s body to regulate itself.

Merino wool “breathes” allowing the body to breathe.’ All sounds pretty convincing to me!

of producing the clothing herself slowly began to form.

From talking to Karen it became clear that she is brave. She is not frightened of taking risks and has the attitude of ‘what is the worst that can happen?!’ This is also not her first career reinvention. Like so many of us, she never had a clear career warm, an ‘adventure’ range for kids to wear path. She did a degree in business and out and about and also accessories such as dabbled in the corporate world for a little hats, socks and snoods. She had designed while before realising this was not for her them in a range of funky colours so they and trained to be a business studies teacher. are really fun and exciting. Karen has also “I loved it and loved working with children”. striven to make her business an ethical However, after having a family she decided one. She has sourced the best merino wool not to return to it as she wanted to spend available and works with suppliers and more time with her children, but she still manufacturers who hold the same values as felt she needed to work in some capacity. her.

Karen had used hypnobirthing (an antenatal

programme which helps parents prepare for a calm and natural birth – which regular readers know I also teach) to have her son and she decided to train to teach this herself – she could use her teaching skills and teach something she was passionate about but also fit it around family life. “I was very busy and it was hard to juggle family life and my own business but I was using my skills and keeping sane. I met a lot of women like that while doing hypnobirthing – I noticed that it is often busy career focussed women who find the adjustment to motherhood difficult as we need to feel valued and society does not always value mothers in the way it should. Life has got a lot to offer and I like to take advantage of every opportunity, motherhood is challenging but it has also provided me with new and exciting opportunities”. A sentiment I am sure other mothers out there will be able to identify with. Karen continued to teach hypnobirthing for seven years and found it really fulfilling.

However, she was also ready for a new It was really interesting chatting to Karen – challenge and adventure. she is full of passion and energy for what she

does and I found her really inspiring: “you The creation of Merino Monsters has been don’t have to be ‘one person’ you can have a huge learning curve. She started with the different identities and reinvent yourself name, then found her suppliers (having throughout your life - perhaps we are the first to interview them over Skype as they are generation to really have that. The key is to So why the career change and how the heck all in New Zealand – this involved lots of not be frightened to make mistakes.” Great did she come up with this pretty unusual conversations at midnight!) and began advice I think! If you would like to check out concept? Karen has three children and her designing products. She had to ask lots of Karen’s clothing range take a look at her husband is from New Zealand. Her children experts for help as this was a totally new field website www.merinomonsters.co.uk. have always worn clothes made from for her but she was learning fast! Her next

merino wool as they were given to them as challenge was putting a website together, If you are a woman who has reinvented her presents from New Zealand. They are a really doing a photo shoot of the products and career and would like to be featured in my outdoorsy and sporty family and merino finally ordering stock. This has all taken column please get in touch at: products are perfect for this, however, as about a year and now she has launched – her boys have grown up (now 8, 5 and 3) “there is nothing more exciting than an order linda@bunintheovenbirthing.co.uk. she found it increasingly hard to find merino coming through!” Her clothing range includes products that were right for them. The idea base layers for playing sport to keep children Page 15 www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk

Angel Broomfield City detective Episode 10: The Case of a Titanic Struggle Angel Broomfield, Chelmsford’s very own private detective was raised by nuns in a secret monastery in Boreham with only the complete volumes of Sherlock Holmes for company.

Angel is now a resident of 221½ Moulsham Street, home of the City Detective Agency, with his trusty side kick John and the radiant Helen, Angel is now ready to serve the City.

All doors conform fully to EU safety directives

01245 396910 01245 396910.

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In episode 9 we left Angel, Helen and John straddled on a single push bike, speeding down a hill towards the river, then hurtling off the bank through the air and crashing onto top deck of a passing tour boat. The boat of which was full of Swedish naturist tourists, all in a state of undress, shook as the bike crashed into it. John was the first to emerge from the twisted wreckages of the bike. Opening his eyes he thought he was in a dream as an au naturel crowd gathered around.

“Clothes are not permitted on this boat except this,” explained a man with a ginger bushy beard pointing towards his captains hat. Angel soon rose to his feet and was going to answer when suddenly the boat violently rocked from side to side in the wake of another boat which motored past playing the German national anthem.

“It’s Herr Hoffman” pointed Helen at the disappearing steam boat.

“Follow that boat” ordered Angel to the captain, then added “and for decency sake put some clothes on, it’s just not British.”

“But we are not British” said two blonde Swedish girls helping John off with this shirt. Helen ran down to the boiler room saying “I’ll get the pressure up”. Angel addressed the crowd and tried not to notice that they were all without clothes. “ I have to give you the naked truth, I mean the truth. Things are a bit hairy at the moment but we must be bald and get abreast of the situation. I think a German spy is stealing money from the nuns of which I must get to his bottom, I mean the bottom of it, I’m already behind.” Angel tried to continue but was drowned out by the laughter. John, was oblivious to Angel’s speech and was hanging over the helm of the boat like with his arms apart like Kate Winslet.

“I can fly” he screamed. Then to his horror noticed a shopping trolley half sticking out of the water some distance in front which was full of rotten lettuces.

In a spin shilling shrill John screamed.

“Iceberg, dead ahead”, but his voice could barely be heard over the Abba songs everyone was singing. Angel noticing the immediate danger shouted down to the engine room.

“Stop all engines,” but no sooner had he shouted when the boat shuddered under the impact of the shopping trolley which scraped down the side of the boat leaving a hideous gash of which the murky waters of the river Chelmer poured in. Thinking of Helen (and who wouldn’t) Angel ran below deck shouting her name. Running along the corridor pushing open cabins doors Angel could find no sign of her until blindfolded and handcuffed to a cabin bed there was Helen.

“What have those awful men done to you”. Said Angel pulling at the handcuffs.

“Is that you Leonardo?” Replied Helen. then added as her blind fold slipped off: “Angel, what are you doing here?”. The cabin was already in a foot of water and the boat began to list. Angel pulled and Helen yanked but the handcuffs would not loosen. In a moment of inspiration Angel grabbed a fire axe that was loosely fastened upon the wall. Standing in an increasing depth of water Angel took a swing but missed terribly smashing into the cabin wall causing a framed photo fall off. The photo floated over to Angel and Helen and they both gasped at the content. It was of Herr Hoffman the suspected German spy standing with his pointy German helmet receiving an over size cheque for the princely sum of £120,000 on behalf of the nuns benevolent fund.

“This is the evidence we need” said Angel smashing the glass frame and folding the photograph into his pocket.

“The water is getting higher” said Helen as the mattress from the bed on which she was chained to began to take on water reminding Helen of her first childhood school trip sleep over when she had to share a bed with the class lemonade drinking champion namely Weak Bladder Wendy. Yet, with one almighty swing of the axe Angel soon freed Helen from her watery bed and they were soon wading down the corridor waist deep in freezing water. By the time they made it to the upper deck the stern of the boat was already under water and the Abba tribute band that had bravely struggled to perform Waterloo on the uneven deck was soon submerged by the freezing water. Helen managed to grab hold of a single inflatable life jacket as the two of them ran up hill to the point of the boat where John was still clinging on to the railings.

“You must be freezing” said John upon first seeing Helen, “I can see your goose bumps.” ”And the cold has affected you too”, replied Helen looking at the shivering au naturel state of John. By now the green river Chelmer was creeping up the deck leaving only the tip of the boat of which the three of them clung remaining untouched by the murky depths.

“It’s too cold to make a swim for it” cried Helen. As the water reached her ankles she desperately began to blow into the life buoy.

“You are good at that” said John as the water reached his

knees.

“We’ll never make it to the bank” agonised Angel in a high pitched voice as the water reached his midriff. Then suddenly in the distance a stroke of luck; twelve strokes in fact. As the water reached their necks and all seemed lost and as they prepared to take their last deep breath when suddenly…..

Tune in next month to see if help will arrive in time or will Angel sink with the clues? Or will Helen use her inflatables to save the day? All this and more in the next addition of Angel Broomfield City Detective.

31st Dec

CT CHARITY

Local Charity Holds a Drop-in Session in Support of Those with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties

During Dyslexia Awareness Week, which started on Monday 3rd November 2014, Dyslexia Action’s Chelmsford Learning Centre held a drop-in session at Chelmsford Library and welcomed a number of people from the local community throughout the week who benefitted from free specialist advice and information about supporting people with dyslexia, numeracy and literacy difficulties.

Much of what we do at school and throughout life requires us to have the skills to be able to read and write fluently and accurately, which is why Dyslexia Action’s Wilmslow Learning Centre aims to help children and adults who may need extra support with reading, writing or spelling.

Speaking about the drop-in session, Ruth Gravelle, Principal of the Learning Centre said, “we were delighted to see so many people at the open day and offer specialist advice to those affected by dyslexia, numeracy and literacy difficulties. The Learning Centre offers a range of assessments to identify if a person is affected by dyslexia as well as offering specialist support and tuition, which can be a real life-line for some people.”

they often have individual strengths in reasoning, visual and creative fields. It is important to remember dyslexia is not related to general intelligence and is not the same for everyone. It can be mild or severe; and it varies depending on other strengths, or difficulties, that the person may have. More importantly, it varies depending on the kind of support and encouragement from friends, family, teachers and colleagues.

About Dyslexia Action: Dyslexia Action is a national charity with over 40 years’ experience in providing services and support to children, young people and adults with literacy and numeracy difficulties, dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties. We provide assessments and tuition through our national learning centres and in schools across the country, alongside supporting teachers and educators through the provision of teaching resources and training.

We also undertake research and campaigning to improve the lives of those affected by dyslexia.

Visit: www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk Follow us on: Facebook and Twitter

Mrs Gravelle went on to explain that as part of Dyslexia Awareness Week, the charity has been running various activities up and down the country to raise awareness of dyslexia, a specific learning difficulty, which primarily affects the ability to learn to read and spell and affects an estimated 1 in 10 people in the UK. It comes from a difficulty in dealing with the sounds of words and people with dyslexia often find it hard to remember lists of things they have heard, or to remember a name or a fact quickly, although it’s not related to general intelligence.

For more information or advice relating to dyslexia or literacy difficulties, contact Dyslexia Action’s Chelmsford Learning Centre by calling 01245 259656 or emailing chelmsford@dyslexiaaction.org.uk.

About dyslexia: dyslexia primarily affects the ability to learn to read and spell, and sometimes maths is affected too. It comes from a difficulty in dealing with the sounds of words, which makes it especially hard to learn to read words using phonics (sounding out the letters in a word).

People with dyslexia often find it hard to remember lists of things they have heard, or to remember a name or a fact quickly, although

Image ©Dyslexia Action

CT Jobs/Recruitment .Net Developer

Our market leading client based in south Essex are recruitng a .Net developer to join their team. Salary Neg + benefits. Send your cv to paul@essexitrecruitment.co.uk Essex IT Recruitment is a recruitment agency based in Chelmsford.

Freelance PHP/MySQL Developers We are looking for freelance web developers to join our team.

You will ideally have experience of WordPress and OpenCart.

Email info@chelmerwebdesign.com

Freelance Sales Person We are looking for a freelance sales person to sell our advertising space, mainly in the Braintree area.

Please email your CV and details of your sales experience to ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk

it’s your media ltd

To advertise in our new recruitment section please email ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk. Advertise in this section in one issue for £50 + VAT

Fultons Offers Fabulous Food in Comfortable Surroundings Fulton’s on the Green is a new relaxed eatery where diners can enjoy outstanding locally sourced food in a comfortable and informal setting.

Overlooking the village green and duck pond in the village of Writtle near Chelmsford, this picturesque rural venue was recently acquired

by Fulton’s Restaurants, the high street restaurant business of Graysons Hospitality Associates, and has undergone a subtle makeover and rebrand.

Fulton’s Roux-trained chef director, Simon Silvester, has developed a menu that uses seasonal ingredients from trusted local suppliers to create an innovative dining experience in a place you’ll want to come back to time and again.

“The concept is simple – we want to create an ambience of everyday dining with a sense of occasion for our guests and the kind of warm welcome that makes them feel like they’re visiting good friends,” said Simon.

relationships with our network of suppliers we can guarantee the highest standards in our restaurant at all times.”

With a big brand like Graysons behind the business and a fantastic team both front and back of house, Fulton’s is ready to take the local restaurant scene by storm.

“I’m a real foodie and love using fresh seasonal ingredients to design exceptional dishes with a balance of flavours and textures.

“What we have here at Fulton’s is really special and I’m looking forward to welcoming diners and introducing them to a uniquely appealing dining experience.”

Restaurant details: Fulton’s on the Green, 12-14 The Green, Writtle, CM1 3DU. Website: www.fultonsrestaurants.com Phone: 01245 233130

The Fulton’s team has worked hard to find the best local ingredients.

Autumn dishes include 28 day aged fillet of beef with garlic and herb gnocchi, sautéed wild mushrooms and tarragon jus and country kitchen style pan roast pork cutlet, pork belly croquets and black pudding.

“The atmosphere we have created is simple and relaxed and the service and food are second to none – the perfect combination for a great meal out,” said Simon “and with many of the front of house staff remaining with us, to our regular customers, it will feel like home from home.”

“The quality of our ingredients is paramount and we have spent a lot of time getting to know producers in the area so that we can be confident about the provenance of the food we’re selling. By building

24

O pe N ni ov n em g be r The first Micro Pub was the Butchers Arms in th

The Hop Beer Shop is opening Monday 24th November 2014 in Moulsham Street Chelmsford. It is not only a craft beer bottle store but a Micro Pub offering a variety of ales straight from the cask.

rs Bee e in labl avai ns and pi es. poly or parti es f s ass cask acks, gl beer p e Gift ny mor ucts a + m ed prod . t rela ailable av

Herne Kent. Since then over 70 have opened across the UK, and The Hop Beer Shop will be the first of it's kind in Essex.

The shop will showcase a wide variety of bottled beers from Essex and beyond, including Europe and the USA, all of which can be consumed on the premises or taken away.

Please follow us @hopbeershop for latest news

Open Monday to Saturday 12pm to 9pm.

173 Moulsham Street, Chelmsford, CM2 0LD www.thehopbeershop.co.uk 01245 353570

Hypnotherapy by Jenny Hartill

Last month was an introduction to hypnoanalysis and in what circumstances it can be used. In this article I will look at two of the most common situations in which hypnoanalysis can help, repression and cumulative trauma, and how these conditions affect the client.

One of the most common questions I’m asked in my therapy room is “do you think I’m repressing something?”

It’s as though most people assume that repression is what causes all mental health issues. It’s not, but it does contribute somewhat!

Repression is one of the ego defence mechanisms first identified by Sigmund Freud. Ego defence mechanisms provide coping strategies that reduce the anxiety the person feels around a situation rather than altering the situation itself. As powerful as our subconscious minds are, they can only alter what goes on inside a person but not outside of them.

Freud (and apparently most people I meet) considered repression to be the most important ego defence mechanism and also the most basic. Here is the definition of repression: repression is a kind of forgetting, it pushes something away so that it does not create intense anxiety in the immediate present.

Most often repressed are emotions, impulses and memories that are too disturbing, scary or painful to be carried in our conscious awareness. Memories carrying an element of guilt or shame are also often repressed. These emotions are always felt around an incident, they have no validity in the outside world. It’s all about interpretation, for example the person that is made to feel guilty for underachievement when, in reality, there is no need for them to feel that way will experience the same disturbing memories as the person who knows they never really did their best - only the emotions associated with the first person’s memories may be more intense.

There’s a problem with this wonderful ego defence mechanism though. According to Freud, when we repress memories we are very seldom totally successful. Even though we may not be aware of it, these memories threaten to break into our conscious mind and wreak havoc with our emotions and our behaviours. Perhaps all humans are subconsciously aware of this? That would explain the number of people that ask me if they’re repressing something! If we have repressed something, we may not be aware of the influence these repressed memories can have on us, even when they remain locked away in the subconscious mind most of the time. For example, those that have recurring nightmares or perhaps are dreaming of an ex or a dead relative, or even someone they work with, could be repressing memories from the past causing them anxiety in their daily lives without them being conscious of it. Every person is capable of repression. In some cases repression can be useful for a person’s wellbeing, for example knowing to keep away from a certain type of person because of bad memories associated with a personality trait - we don’t need to remember the disturbing incident in which we learned this particular lesson but our subconscious will let us know when to avoid them, perhaps by giving us a “gut feeling”. Many people learn the art of repression in childhood and carry on practising it into adulthood and although this is a main coping mechanism for most people, refusing to talk about difficult incidents and our feelings around them have been proven to cause serious emotional and physical problems as the mental and physical stress builds up inside of us. In fact people who are able to talk about painful incidents are more likely to be physically healthier than those who have no support network or have a more engrained tendency to repress memories. When I engage clients in hypnoanalysis, I’m searching for those repressed memories and emotions. Sometimes clients can recall the situation but not so much the emotions attached to it, sometimes the client can recall feeling certain emotions but not so much the situation around it. Either way in order to erase their anxiety, both situations must be addressed.

Moving on to Cumulative Trauma, previously I explained the Initial Sensitising Event - the fact that the experience of a particular event, or single trauma, had sparked anxiety or fear in a person.

It is also possible that a series of lesser events can accumulate to cause anxiety in the subconscious mind of the person. This is called Cumulative Trauma. In these cases where accumulation of lesser traumas has led to anxiety, this anxiety is not always repressed.

Instead it can be identified in the client by the therapist via the coping strategies they have employed throughout their life that have become part of their personality or nature. This will often manifest in avoidance or a tendency to react to similar situations in the same way, but often the client is not fully aware of this. In effect the real emotions that are attached to the situation are the subjects of repression. The outcome of this is that the person will use the behaviours and thought processes to avoid or cope with similar situations in the future. Cumulative Trauma can be divided into two types: Simple Cumulative Trauma: this is where there’s a repetition of a negative idea or situation. Often originally occurring in childhood, the child will not be able to argue with a repetitive statement about themselves and therefore they take this into their subconscious and into their belief system. This is very common in clients that suffer from low self esteem and feelings of inadequacy, where the message is repeated by figure of authority in the child’s life, which adds to the situation.

Compound Cumulative Trauma: This type of Cumulative Trauma is what I refer to sarcastically as “The Mercy of Fate”. This type of trauma occurs when the client has been subjected to a series of events out of their control that leads to feelings of insecurity, for example a series of deaths, disasters, illness etc. The person often feels a lack of faith in life. Usually these traumas are obvious to the therapist when taking a case history, but not necessarily obvious as a cause of anxiety to the client.

Next time I’ll discuss how hypnoanalysis can be used to help clients suffering from Repression and Cumulative Trauma. If anyone would like to contact me please see my website counsellinginchelmsford. co.uk for details or email me on info@cloud9-counselling.co.uk.

How much coffee should you be drinking? by Keith Porter Up until a few years ago, I’d actually never drunk coffee. I didn’t like the taste and was happy with tea. But after converting to a Paleo diet, every Paleo blog I came across emphasised the benefits of coffee. So I gave it a go… and liked it!

The more I read into it, the more I found about its effect on athletic performance. A black coffee before a workout has been shown to increase fat burning, your metabolism, and how much effort your can put into your session. It all sounded a bit too good to be true, and after incorporating black coffee into my life, I started to become a little worried about other effects.

This summer, with a demanding job and long hours, I began to rely on coffee to get me through the day. With two weeks in Florida as the finale of our trip, I decided to give up coffee for a month, beginning when we got there. Except I didn’t. Because our house ended up having a nice big coffee maker, and I bought some great coffee and made a pot every day. It’s the American Dream!

Anyway, it meant I had a reason not to stop, so I didn’t. I’m now

wondering whether that was actually a sign of addiction.

After delaying the start of my coffee fast, I began it the moment we got home. What followed was 10 continuous days of headaches.

Absolutely banging headaches. A headache is the number one symptom of caffeine withdrawal, and boy were they right! I stuck to it, and after over a month without coffee, I actually felt energised and healthy.

This experiment wasn’t perfect. There were other factors, like jet-lag, to take into consideration. But, even so, it has clearly reminded me that caffeine is a drug. I found myself unable to give it up at first, and suffered a massive withdrawal after quitting.

From now on, I’m going to think about coffee differently, and give it a lot more respect. I still might have it occasionally before a workout, but if the headaches from the withdrawal were that serious, then what is it doing to me if I drink more than a cup a day? Use your coffee as an occasional kick, not as a daily crutch.

To find out more about personal training in Chelmsford, visit www.liveasimplelife.co.uk.

Every Real Man Remembered in Movember by Kellie Jones

So it seems that November is definitely the month of the man, with the centenary of the beginning of the First World War Poppy Appeal, Movember supporting mens health charities and International Mens Day, (IMD)! With all of this going on we felt it was time to hold another Real Men Do Yoga & Pilates event for The Royal British Legion after the success of our first one in February where we had more than 30 men bent into strange shapes to support our soldiers. We also have the lovely Richard Moss running an Indonesian Silat Yoga workshop which is very Yang, (in Chinese philosophy, the active male principle of the universe). Richard taught this style of yoga to some of the inmates at Chelmsford prison for 2½ years with very positive results.

We are so pleased that men’s health is being highlighted so much more than ever before with prevention being the keyword here as traditionally men have always been expected to soldier on until they break. IMD also highlights positive role models and we believe we have some great role models here at Hummingbird PY and now with kids yoga classes too, we can inspire the boys as well as the men to look after their wellbeing.

There’s a reason why us women can’t get enough of yoga and pilates classes—they work. From a stronger core to better sex, here’s 10 reasons why pilates and yoga is great for guys, too: • Build your core strength to protect you from injury • Correct muscular imbalances that may lead to postural problems • Increase flexibility and range of movement important for all sports • Improved focus and concentration for problem solving • Better sex from greater control over the pelvic floor • Longer leaner looking muscles without restrictive bulk.

• Learn how to challenge yourself without being competitive • Relieves stress and anxiety by lowering the heart rate • More efficient digestion and better sleep • You can do the things you love to do better and for longer We also have an awesome state of the art Pilates Reformer & Cadillac machine for those of you who are too shy to join a class and

prefer 1-1 sessions, (more info on this next month) and not forgetting meditation classes, a physiotherapy and sports massage clinic and beauty salon. You cannot possibly fail to feel better when you leave our beautiful building!

To find out more about our events, workshops and general awesomeness go to: www.hummingbirdpilates.co.uk www.facebook.com/HummingbirdPilatesYoga @HummingbirdPY

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

27th - 30th November

www.the-ale-house-chelmsford.co.uk The Ale House are at it again with yet another of their bi-monthly Mini Beer Festivals!

This time it will be dark beer heavy with a real Autumn/Winter feel but with enough light and amber beers to keep everyone interested.

As always 24 real ales will be available at any one time, along with the 12 ciders always on offer with plenty of both ready to go on should you get through all of them.

Following the su ccess of the previous ‘Tap Takeovers’, this month will feature Titanic Brewing Company holding 6 of the 12 hand pumps.

If you haven’t been to one yet you need to get yourself down there, you won’t be disappointed. Also featuring Chris & Amy Acoustic Session on Saturday at 3pm, Dave Jackson Blues Band 9pm Saturday and Mr G’s Acoustic Duo 5pm Sunday.

CT History

Mayflower and the Pilgrim Fathers, by John Power

In Essex the Pilgrim Fathers, who sailed the Atlantic to New England and founded the small State of Massachusetts, are forever linked with Billericay, where a school called Mayflower and other sites have been named for them. Mayflower is of course the famed sailing ship that carried settlers who had gathered in Billericay with the journey in their sites in the 17th century. In fact this was not so that they could begin the voyage from Tilbury or other nearby port, but it served as gathering point as Billericay had grown to include a Puritan Protestant community, who due to persecution had decided with other Puritans to look for another country to settle in. So their journey began by travelling north to near Sheffield to join a similar community and their first sailing took them from Boston, in Lincolnshire to Protestant Holland to Leiden and Amsterdam before the Atlantic journey began, again not directly, but first in a ship called the Speedwell to Plymouth in Devon, where the Mayflower’s ship’s master from Harwich set sail to journey westwards across the ocean.

Billericay has shown signs of occupation since the Bronze Age and including the Iron Age. Romans too fought near Blunts Wall, and there was a Saxon settlement at Great Burstead. The first Latin record was in 1291 when Byllyrica, meaning dyehouse or tarhouse, first gets a mention. In the Middle Ages it provided Inns for pilgrims en route for Canterbury, via Tilbury. Richard II’s army killed 500 rebels in Norsey Wood during the Peasants Revolt, which began in 1381. But the Protestant persecution in the town began in the reign of Henry VIII’s daughter (Bloody Mary)’s reign (1553-58) when four followers of John Wycliffe were burned as heretics while two others were tortured and the Puritan sub-culture began to make plans involving the New World being discovered by explorers. Only four people from Billericay actually made the first transatlantic trip on the Mayflower: Christopher and his wife Marie Martin, Soloman Prowe and John Langemore, who died soon after arriving at Cape Cod, but others soon followed and Billerica was established in Massachusetts in 1655.

In another Massachusetts village, a bizarre story of hysteria and unfounded witchcraft took place that was to make Puritan values more infamous in America than the cross-Atlantic journeys. Originally called Salem by 1692, but as a result renamed Danvers, it concerned two, expanding to eighteen, teenagers in the winter of 1692-93. A prominent New England clergyman, Cotton Mathers, had written about witchcraft and ‘the Devil’ and some of the girls, aged 1120, had been exposed to his ideas by parents, while two also kept company with another minister’s slave called Tibula. She was steeped in African witchcraft, and had survived the Atlantic crossing, first arriving at Barbados. The effect of her tales on the first two girls, Abigail and Ann Putman (aged 11 and 12) began with bouts of hysteria. Today we know that young children cannot distinguish fairytales or religious fables from reality, but usually accept what adults tell them at face value and can adopt such tales into play, but psychology had not reached that level of sophistication in the 17th century. Six other girls, who were also related but not living with Tibula and the minister, later showed similar symptoms: writhing, grovelling, moaning and shaking and often acting as animals. A Native American shaman (or ‘witchdotor’) was consulted to see if he could find the source of any bewitchment, but he could find none.

By February 1693 Abigail and Ann began to accuse unpopular members of the community and Tibula of ‘bewitchment’. A court was set up in the church. Two accused pleaded not guilty but Tibula went on to implicate other villagers, and so was sold on into slavery elsewhere. The girls then went on to accuse another minister, George Burroughs, and other prominent church members. By June the Governor of the locality, Sir William Phips, appointed a Commission of Judges to hear evidence and one of the accused was promptly hanged. The girls fits would start if they were in the proximity of those accused, but if the accused touched the girls the fits would stop. This became a means to test guilt, and those previously accused were re-tried. Four more were hanged in July. Refusal to carry out death sentences was said to be proof of being ‘in league with the Devil’, and so three more people met their end.

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The charade began to unravel when the girls began to accuse people they had not met, because if they were unknowingly in the vicinity of these people the fits failed to begin. Beyond the symptoms of the fits the girls went on to say that the accused used inverted parodies of the Puritan Communion Service. Minister George Burroughs and an associate thus went to the gallows. A victim who refused to plead ‘guilty or not guilty’ was tortured by having increasingly heavy rocks piled on his chest, until he died, un-condemned, rather than have his property confiscated. However his wife and seven others were hanged a few days later, bringing executions to twenty and arrests to 200.

Governor Phips had been away on business since setting up the Commission. But on his return in October, and finding out what had happened he cancelled the work of the Judges. The remaining prisoners were tried by ordinary courts and released, or given pardons by Phips. Magistrates issued an Admission of Error, and death was never again used as a punishment for anyone in the emerging states that was accused of witchcraft.

When the pubs and clubs of Billericay are closing after weekend sessions Essex girls can still be heard becoming hysterical, but fortunately no such grim consequences prevail any longer.

Stargazing with Mark Willis December/January The Orion Constellation, famous for its belt and its two main stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is 427 light years away. Standing on a planet around Betelgeuse looking back at Earth you would see Earth as was, in 1587. The year that Queen Elizabeth I of England signs the death warrant of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. Ouch!

How big is Betelgeuse? If Betelgeuse could be placed where our own Sun is, it would swallow up Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. Betelgeuse is now in terminal phase. It is believed that it has started burning its helium, having used up all of its hydrogen. It is already a super red giant and is heading towards a supernova. A gigantic explosion will dramatically end the life of Betelgeuse. When this will happen is uncertain. It could be soon, the next year, decade or century.

The new year will be an excellent chance to observe Betelgeuse, which is the top left star in the Orion Group. It’s always thrilling when you spot a star, know its name, its distance and its future.

Moving to the left of Orion, two planets are on view. Jupiter and Uranus. You’ve probably seen Jupiter without realising it. It looks like a bright star, easily seen with the naked eye. Uranus is far more distant, on the edge of naked eye visibility. Best to use either 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars and use a tripod. You should see Jupiter as a yellowish disc. Uranus appears as a fainter disc greenish in colour.

To help you find stars and planets more easily, download a free planetarium program called Stellarium: http://download.cnet.com/ Stellarium/3000-2054_4-10072276.html.

E-mail or tweet me with any questions…. Twitter: @WillisWireless e-mail: mark.willis@chelmsfordcommunityradio.com.

Happy, clear skies! Mark Willis presents Willis Wireless every Monday at 7pm on Chelmsford Community Radio.

God’s Jukebox: The Great Lost Albums of… the 90s Richard M Wilson, singer with Chelmsford band, Sound Mirrors and DJ for God’s Jukebox, takes a wistful look back to the decade of Britpop, Noel Rock and Big Beat, and fishes out the LPs that got away.

In the summer of 1994 I was working at Our Price Records on Chelmsford High Street. I remember vividly some of the massive records that came out and flew off the shelves. It was a time of great optimism in British music. The old guard of hairy DJs had been sacked from Radio 1 and a new bunch was making a point of playing music by a fresh wave of artists and groups. Definitely Maybe, Parklife, Dummy, Music for the Jilted Generation, these were the records that flew off the shelves. But what were the ones that slipped off the radar? Here are three of my favourite great lost albums of the 90s.

David Devant & His Spirit Wife: Work, Love Life, Miscellaneous (1997) – Before YouTube the only chance to see a new group’s video was to hope that ITV’s The Chart Show on a Saturday morning would feature the indie chart instead of the dance chart. When David Devant & His Spirit Wife popped up with their video for Ginger, an up-tempo, Hammond driven hymn to strawberry blondes, it leapt out of the TV. At the height of Noel Rock and earnest stuff by Radiohead and The Verve, David Devant and his art-house band of misfits didn’t really fit into any scene, and the single scraped into the chart at number 54. The following LP was just as arch and theatrical and still bags of fun to listen to. I saw them play at the Army & Navy that year and their live show didn’t disappoint either. How many other bands have you seen with one member whose job it to pass objects across an overhead projector and shine it onto the band?

The Trash Can Sinatras: Cake (1990) – A fabulous record with one foot in the 80s and another in the 90s. Scottish pop-rockers, The Trash Can Sinatras, were fronted by Frank Reader, brother of

Rotary World Polio Day It was World Polio Day on October 24. This year it was particularly significant as it was the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Jonas Salk who developed the vaccine that enabled us to finally get to grips with this terrible disease.

Rotary has been at the forefront of the campaign to eradicate polio worldwide. The project was started in 1985 when there were 1000 cases every single day, including Great Britain, and now the number has been reduced to just over 200 in the world during this year to date. Over 2.5 billion children have been immunised against polio since Rotary began its campaign. There are now just three countries left in the world where polio is endemic. These are Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.

You are probably aware and appalled that volunteers carrying out immunisations in Pakistan have been murdered and there is no doubt that this remains a major obstacle in Rotary’s attempt to finally eradicate the disease once and for all. However Rotary is confident that the task will be completed in the next few years and is working closely with governments to facilitate vaccinations in the problem countries.

There are several ways you could help. A donation of just £1 will vaccinate two children. You could organise a meal. Rotary is organising World’s Greatest Meal and their website is www.wgmeal. com. A meal could be anything from a takeaway, a large banquet, or just having friends round for the evening. All you need to do is register on the website and send whatever you collect to Rotary. It doesn’t

Fairground Attraction’s Eddi Reader. They owed a lot of their sound to The Smiths, but they augmented their tunes with terrific close harmonies and great pure-pop melodies. Their swirling, postmadchester debut also benefitted from the nob-twiddling genius of producer John Leckie, who had just finished work on the first Stone Roses album. This is a true lost classic as it is currently out of print and not even available on services like Spotify. I only have a digital copy myself and I’m missing track 7. The one hard copy of a TCS record I do own is the CD single of Circling the Circumference, one of the finest singles of the decade and one of my all-time favourite head-wavey-dopey-indie-boy dance-along songs, matched only by The Only One I Know by The Charlatans.

The Magical World Of The Strands (1997) – You remember Shack yeah? No? What about The Lilac Time? Really? OK, fair enough, they didn’t sell quite as many records as Oasis, even if they did write better songs and ploughed a similar scouse-pop path as The La’s. However, at the centre of these wonderful, but sadly unsung, groups was singer and writer, Michael Head. The Magical World Of The Strands is one of those incredible albums, like Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot by Sparklehorse or the third Velvet Underground LP, which has drug addiction at the heart of the record. Although there is a lot of pain driving this album, Michael Head manages to express it with surprising beauty and a deft musicality. Largely acoustic, with strings and woodwind in the mix, it has a warm, retro sound, not unlike that achieved by The Last Shadow Puppets over a decade later. This is a record, laced with heartbreak, but held up with optimism and self-deprecation, so when he sings, “say, what happened to all my clothes, what happened to all my furniture, no it can’t just disappear, could’ve sworn I left it there,” in X Hits The Spot we hear both sadness and humour. Something Like You is one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. You should check it out.

have to be a large amount. £5, £10, £100 - each donation will make a significant impact on eliminating polio. And what is even better is that by giving to Rotary your donation will be matched 2 to 1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, thereby turning £5 into £15 – brilliant.

Of course, money is important but Rotary also adopts a hands-on approach. Many of the people who actually perform the vaccinations are Rotarians who go out to the endemic countries at their own expense, and help in any way they can. Immunising 170,000 children in a weekend is a major logistical problem but one that Rotary regularly undertakes. The families need to be notified and many will need assistance getting to the immunisation areas, counselling and advice needs to be on hand as many people are poorly educated.

Locally in Chelmsford and Braintree we have held Purple Pinkie Days where pupils in schools may dress in purple or have their fingers painted purple symbolising the dye that is used to show when the vaccinations have taken place. Children are very enthusiastic about helping others less fortunate. We have also planted thousands of purple crocuses – our ‘focus on the crocus’ effort to raise awareness.

But it is a worldwide campaign and from the opening of a polio exhibit at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, to the illumination of the Mohatta Palace in Karachi, Pakistan, Rotary members celebrated World Polio Day, Although World Polio Day has passed, the End Polio Now campaign will continue until there are no cases left, so you can still participate.

If you would like further details about eradicating polio, or indeed, on any aspect of Rotary and how you could be part of this wonderful organisation, visit www.rotary1240.org or phone me on 01245 260349. I will be happy to hear from you.

Stan Keller

Chelmsford Valuations Office Open for valuations on Antiques and Fine Art Monday - Friday 9am - 5.30pm Every Thursday - Jewellery and Watches Every Friday - Chinese ceramics and works of art Boningtons can also offer professional written valuations for probate and insurance

An 18th century Chinese Pale Green Jade Brush Pot, 18th century Sold for ÂŁ25,000

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

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Weather or Not by Simon Culleton In preparation for this month’s column I have in recent months logged and scrutinised the local weather reports for your convenience and shall share with you now the unsettling results: on no less than seven occasions in one month, two of the leading forecasters predicted different weather for the same day; on three of these occasions both were wrong. I therefore can announce with conviction that most, if not all, of the weather reports are in part, if not completely (wait for it) an educated guess. I say this not as an amateur meteorologist, though to be fair most of us in England need to be, but as someone who has once again this week has arrived home soaking wet on a day that was supposed to be sunny.

It all started with those crazy chaps of the meteorology society when in 1850 they began to measure and log weather patterns with particular use of a thermometer. So come the end of that year they could say that it was the wettest, warmest, driest stormiest year ever on record. Now 160 years of data later and with the aid of numerous satellite images, and a Met Office annual budget of £82.3 million they can still only boast an success rate of 70% to 80%. I can think of no other profession that could get away with such inaccuracies: can you imagine a plumber saying “I’ve fixed the gas leak madam and that comes with a 70% guarantee” or a doctor “I’m going to have you anesthetised now but don’t worry 7 out of 10 of my patients always wake up”?

Sometimes the weather predictions are blatantly wrong: Michael Fish, a BBC weather man, in October 1987 confidently told a lady who had phoned in during his weather report not to worry because the hurricane she had seen on the weather charts was going to miss the

UK altogether, but it didn’t. The next morning parts of southern England were flattened and Kent had a third of its trees up-rooted by the biggest storm since 1703. An American weatherman I read about was accused of not studying the weather at all and was regularly seen walking out of the recording studio into the corridor, looking out of the window, swearing and running back in again.

Sometimes the actual weather reports can be somewhat stretched out; I timed the evening weather reports for a week (does it show I live alone) and often the presenter spends as much time describing the weather that had already occurred than predicting for the future.

Nowadays everyone can have a chance at predicting the weather; the meteorology society has a growing membership already many thousands strong, most of which spend hours with their weather kits, water measuring jugs and trusty thermometer and I believe have as much chance of getting it right as anyone. You can even buy a weather app for your phone with 3 minute updates: it’s raining, it’s stopped, it’s raining again.

Yet without the weather what would we have to talk about? As one academic aptly put it, “don’t knock the weather, nine tenths of people couldn’t start a conversations without the weather changing”. And it’s true, if I started to speak to a stranger at a bus stop, he’d look at me as if I was a weirdo (it happens) yet merely mention the weather and we are off in no time. So if we can’t accurately predict the weather at least in this country we get to talk about it. And perhaps it’s a little unfair on the weather reporters who’s job it is to predict paradoxically the unpredictable; this is best summed up by my favourite weather proverb: the problem with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore and wrong too often for us to rely on it. In short: whatever they tell you, always carry an umbrella. simon@limepad.com

Musical Masterpieces in Chelmsford Here in Chelmsford we have one of the best venues to hear live music in Essex – can you guess where? Your first guess probably wouldn’t be Chelmsford Cathedral, but its vast space can accommodate a large audience and has great acoustics - which permits a regular programme of high quality classical music to be performed by wellregarded local musicians and choirs. If you haven’t already taken the opportunity to experience this yourself, there’s a regular program of free Friday lunchtime concerts and also several interesting evening concerts upcoming.

Waltham Singers have been working hard on an intriguing programme for their concert on November 29th 7.30pm. Accompanied by St Paul’s Sinfonia, a chamber orchestra from Greenwich, talented local organist Laurence Lyndon-Jones and professional soloists, the choir will perform two impressive pieces – Arthur Bliss’s Pastoral for Chorus and Duruflé’s Requiem.

Bliss’s work, more fully titled Lie Strewn the White Flocks, was written in 1929 whilst the composer was still struggling to cope with the stress of having survived WW1. He dedicated it to Edward Elgar. The work conveys a yearning for life in the countryside and the choral part is built on a collection of ancient and modern poems which are sung in English. Three of these poems were written in 1917 by Robert Nichols, himself also deeply scarred by the war. Nichols actually has local connections as his family were from Lawford, near Manningtree, and his war poetry is well recognised. The music and poetry combine beautifully in a sumptuous 35 minute journey, including prominent solo flute parts, and the opportunity to hear this rarely played work is one we hope you will take up.

during WW2 to help cheer a deflated nation, it took the perfectionist Duruflé many more years to finish. But the wait was surely worthwhile - his style which interweaves traditional Gregorian chant themes with exceptional music making is literally music to you ears – subtle in parts, powerful in others, against the backdrop of a major organ part. The cathedral really presents the ideal environment in which to experience this musical masterpiece.

St Paul’s Sinfonia will also perform Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. Ticket prices are £16/£13 with concessions, £11 and Under 16s £5. Available from Kate on 07808 584826, from James Dace & Son Ltd, 22 Broomfield Road, Chelmsford, and on the door on the night.

Next Issue Deadlines Copy - 28th November Art Work - 2nd December

In contrast, Duruflé’s Requiem is one of the most acclaimed choral works and regularly performed by major choirs the world over. Commissioned by the French government under Nazi occupation Page 30

www.chelmsfordthecitytimes.co.uk

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Lady Lane ￡499,995

Orchard Street ￡250,000

4/5 Bedroom detached house 22ft lounge, 22ft living/dining Garage, parking 3/4 cars 30ft x 60ft south facing garden

End of terrace Victorian house Two bedrooms Many original features No onward chain

22 Wood Street ￡199,995

Two double bedrooms Private rear garden Garage and Parking No onward chain

A Sign of the Times

We have recently upgraded our boards to make them even more distinctive, however reflecting our traditional values – look out for them on a street near you.

Bradford Street ￡165,000

Ground floor two bed apartment Ideal investment opportunity or First purchase Extended lease of 159 years

Land to the rear of 43 Duke Street ￡150,000

Moulsham Street ￡850,000

A development opportunity Full detailed planning permission Three storey structure, Ground • floor retail unit. 2 apartments

Brand new detached house Four bedrooms Rear garden approx 80 x 60’ Ten Year Build Zone Warranty