Nick Garner’s Music & Ramblings

Well what a month, the weather has been crazy! As I am writing this it is quite warm thankfully. We have also now lost an hour with the clocks going forward.

We have Easter upon us early this year and we have the King’s Cornation coming up and a whole heap of bank holidays - but sadly still no new bank holidays towards the end of the year.

I see we have our local elections shortly, so please do make sure that you use your vote if you are eligible.

There seems to be lots of local festivals on the way including our very own Chelmsford Festival with its carnival parade. This festival is going from strength to strength thanks to Edith and Tony. I am sorry I started it and left it to you both, but you do a grand job! Concrete Canvas is also returning which just makes our city more beautiful.

There is of course lots more going on in and around Chelmsford, you only have to look in our sister magazine The City Times at the What’s

On guide - you can also go online and look at relevant social media pages.

If you have anything you think that maybe of interest please do email Paul; his contact details for this publication are on page three.

Music

We have some great shows coming up, starting with a celebration and tribute to the late Jeff Beck at the Chelmsford Social Club on Good Friday 7th April. Then it is my first show for 2023 at Hot Box on Tuesday 11th April where I will be bringing two of Finland’s finest folk acts to Chelmsford. Tickets are limited and just £10 each, so prebook by calling or texting 07508 496 411 - you can also do this for any of my shows at Hot Box or Chelmsford Social Club.

We have Robbie McIntosh playing with his band at the Social Club on Friday 21st April, and then on the Saturday afternoon from 2.30pm he and his buddy Steve will play an acoustic show. If you have seen his acoustic perfomances before you will already know how different it is from the band show and just how good it is. With the passing of Jeff Beck, Robbie is now regarded as about the best there is. I would recommend both shows, but if you can’t do both, then do try to make at least one of them.

We then have Take It Easy with their American Classic Rock Show, playing everything from Fleetwood Mac to Tom Petty, and from Bruce Springsteen to The Eagles, and The Doors to Lynyrd Skynyrd and so much more.

We have just had the 3foot People and Fling Cabaret Extravagasm events in Central Park. I went to the Fling part and loved it, as did everyone else who was there - so thank you to Liam Rich, who started it all many years back, for returning to do it again. It was the most wonderful fun-filled event and put a great big smile on the faces of those who saw it. I heard that the 3foot People event was also great, but sadly marred by the rain - but the park will recover. These events were always best in Central Park I think, if not for just ease of access, but also good to have such events in the centre of the city.

We have already had some great shows so far and I have plenty more lined up to put on and to go and see. Also, if you like your rock and roll, do check out Nine Lives Rock and Roll who also put on shows at Chelmsford Social Club.

You may have noticed that both the Star and Garter and Bay Horse are open again and both are putting on live music as well as being good watering holes. The Star and Garter also sees the return of the Sunday Jam Session from 4pm, which I love and I hope you do also.

Take a look at any Black Frog Presents adverts in here to see some of the amazing acts that are coming to play at the Chelmsford Social Club and at Hot Box.

If you have anything you think that could be of interest to our readers for either publication, then please let us know by emailing editorial@itsyourmedia.co.uk - it maybe an event or a topic of interest. Or have you done anything unusual or are you planning something? If so, we want to know about it. If you know of someone who may wish to advertise with us, then please ask them to contact ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk and we can send over full details.

Also the Summer Beer Festival is returning to Admirals Park in July from Tuesday 11th to Saturday 15th July. Although it will be smaller, I am sure it will be well-received and welcomed back.

Sunday 28th May sees the return of Ride London and Essex for their 10th anniversary. This will create temporary road closures, so do check the website as the dates get nearer. Of course you may wish to take part in it, as they have various rides ranging from 30 miles, 60 miles to 100 miles. The 60 and 100 mile rides take in the Essex countryside and there are many charities who you could help raise much needed funds for if you take part.

You can get tickets for all our shows in Chelmsford from Intense Records, Hopsters and Chelmsford 4Good - please pay cash in person when you buy. Tickets are also available online from www. wegottickets.com/BlackFrogPresents, or via our ticket hotline at no extra charge - call or text 07508 496 411 and you can then pay the advance price on entry to the show rather than the walk-up price.

For all Black Frog Presents gig updates and information go www. linktr.ee/BlackFrogPresents, or scan the QR code in the poster in this magazine.

It would be fantastic if you could share our magazines The City Times and Moulsham Times for us. We continue to publish both magazines online as well at www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia.

Cocaine Bear

What a way to kick things off. I almost hesitate to comment because many people seemed to enjoy themselves with this film. However, for anyone who trusts my take, I thought it was lazy scriptwriting and very inconsistent.

Had it been a clearly ridiculous comedy throughout, then I might have had a different verdict, but instead it kind of dithered between a few genres. It was listed as a thriller but there were very few scenes of palpable tension, just a bear on cocaine actually creeping up behind people.

Having said that, it was sometimes funny and a nice easy watch that might cap off a busy day.

37/100

Tár

A film about a composer and the distractions that threaten to throw her off her game. One of my favourite things it did was dodge every cliché I was expecting for a film about performance. No overdoing the renditions, no obvious finale, it spent more time explaining music and the role of a composer and it made for compelling dialogue.

One of the most subtle and effective acting performances I’ve seen. Not full of face twisting, floods of tears and angry soliloquies, just flickers of joy, passion and some superb passive-aggressiveness. Realism.

It opens up an itch of curiosity in a niche you’d never thought about, then gives it a bloody good scratch.

87/100

Scream 6

So much fun. The cheesy action is preserved from the 90s, all with better cameras and SFX. The ridiculousness is sometimes a bit limiting in terms of the immersion, but it was consistent.

The best way to compare it is with the 2018 Halloween reboot. They paid excellent homage to their predecessors while introducing the new rather than a rendition of the old.

78/100

Champions

A film about basketball players with intellectual disabilities and a pro coach taking over their practice. We’ve seen the bulk of that formula before haven’t we...

I’m usually resistant to films that try extremely hard to feel wholesome, unless it’s good of course. It did work some good avenues around the topic of intellectual disabilities and there were some nice subplots.

I didn’t think the comedy was consistent, nor the story, but it had its moments. It was also far too long considering what it had to tell.

34/100

Creed 3

I wasn’t a massive fan of the original film, which makes the fact I loved this one a huge compliment.

Every trial and test this film faced, it passed. How can boxing be original after so many films? ‘Woah cool choice’. How do we create conflict without one character being a clear antagonist? ‘Bravo!’. Jonathan Majors was the highlight; he had screen presence and acted marvellously.

78/100

A lot of people will have issues with this kind of film because the plot is silly, full of cracks and it’s an action film. Everyone knows action films are usually stupid.

But so are films like Predator, but that paved the way for optimistic action and escapism without too many constraints like reality and continuity. So I watched this optimism.

I think despite these cracks it was a lot of fun. The action was very well conceptualised and some ideas were truly unique. That and the fact that it was set in the Cretaceous period with dinosaurs excited me.

Similar review to Plane (but considerably better) in that I won’t think about it much but in the theatre - it was a great time.

72/100

Shazam: Fury of the Gods

If your patience for cinematic universe superhero movies hasn’t run out then you’ll love this. Mostly because it’s exactly the same. Very easy to watch and good special effects. I had SOME fun.

Comedy was also better than what Marvel have been excreting, so that’s a plus.

38/100

Allelujah

A love letter to the NHS and tireless workers, and it did a grand job at that gesture. The comedy was old-school British, which will appeal to a great deal of you. There were also some emotionally strong moments with some old veteran actors.

I found most of it a bit snoozy though. Felt like 100 minutes of a soap opera but with confusing choices.

26/100

Rye Lane

A breath of fresh air. I loved the style, the comedy and the cinematography. This is the director’s first feature film and I hope she keeps this style because it was addicting to watch.

However the story was lukewarm and I found one of the characters to be a bit too submerged in the ‘quirkiness’. This did feel like a big drawback to what was otherwise a joy.

76/100 henrygodfreyevans@gmail.com

Widford Lodge Through the Ages

Many of you may never have heard of Widford Lodge. We are a small independent school tucked away on Widford Road, so I thought it would be nice to share a brief history of the Lodge.

The parish of Widford encompassed a small area of farm land between Chelmsford and Writtle along the River Wid; an 1881 map of the area shows 5 significant buildings in the parish - Hylands House, Widford Hall, The Work House (St John’s Hospital) St Mary’s Church and Widford Lodge. There was a pub, The White Horse (now Indian Night), a village shop and a village school, a café and a garage. Reading through old information, the village really did have its own identity and community feel.

At that time the Widford Lodge estate was much larger and had many acres of land for farming and grazing. This extended to Writtle Road and parts of New London Road and ownership of some of the properties.

Looking at the Census for 1848, 1863 and 1874, Widford Lodge was owned by Mr Charles Chevely.

In 1890 there was an incident: a maid that was cleaning the attic had a fall and unfortunately died as the result of her injuries. I wonder if it is her ghost we hear bumping about upstairs when we work late?

In 1910, the grounds of Widford Lodge were used for a bazaar and fête to raise funds for the village hall. This was hosted by Mr Andrew Marriage who was living at Widford Lodge.

In the early 1930s the house was owned by the Boake family, and they used to host a firework party for the village. Looking at old sales catalogues we can see that the estate came up for sale in 1888 and then again in 1933, although this time with a reduced amount of acreage and properties. Then in 1934 Widford Lodge was up for sale again, this time with just the house and about 1 acre of land which was purchased by Mr H Witham, the founder and headmaster of Widford Lodge School.

Initially the school provided preparatory education for boys from 614 years and at that time it was a boarding school for 80 students. As well as formal lessons, there were a wide selection of sports to take part in - these included cricket, rugby, football, swimming, badminton, table tennis and boxing. Mr Witham was the headmaster and his wife looked after the domestic side of the school.

During the Second World War, the majority of students were evacuated to Somerset and the Ambulance Corps used Widford Lodge. Mr Witham was in charge and had the honour of meeting the then Duke of Kent when he came to visit. The remaining students still had lessons, and during air raids used the basement as a shelter.

After the war, things returned to normal and the children returned. In fact the school began to thrive and extra room was needed. Mr Witham purchased a Nissen hut that was no longer required and had this installed as the hall and classroom in 1948 - and it still remains today...

Mr Witham passed away quite suddenly in 1948, and Mrs Witham ran the school from 1948 -1963, appointing a selection of headteachers. Then in 1963 their son Henry took over the reins and became headmaster and his wife Sally took over the domestic side of things. In 1985 the school admitted pre-prep boys aged 4 -7 years and by the end of the 1980s the school became a day school. In the early 1990s, the school became a co-educational day school for 2½11 year olds, and that is how the school has remained.

In 1996, Mr and Mrs Witham retired and Mr Trowell became headmaster. Then when he retired in 2018 Miss Cole took over as headteacher.

The school still remains in the ownership of the Witham family. We have Pre-school that takes children from 2½ years, then we have Reception, through to Form 6 - and we currently have 234 students.

Although additional buildings have been added over the years, the house remains much the same. The school’s ethos and core values are still as they were when the school was founded all those years ago. Miss Cole and the staff ensure that the school provides a rounded education for all the children who attend.

Our Independent School Inspectorate report in 2022 rated the school as ‘Excellent’, which is a reflection of the hard work and passion of Miss Cole and the dedicated team who work at the school - long may it continue!