Moulsham Times - October 2018

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Issue Number 68 - October 2018

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MT Welcome

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Hi readers, Welcome to the the October edition of Moulsham Times.

Just before we went to print on 27th September, Nick hit a milestone birthday, so a big happy 65th birthday to him!

Remember that you can also view our magazines online at www. issuu.com/itsyourmedia.

Remember also that the clocks go back an hour on 28th October.

Enjoy your month!

Regards Paul & Nick

it’s your media Ltd Advertising Nick Garner 07970 206682 ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk

Editorial Paul Mclean 07595 949701 editorial@itsyourmedia.co.uk

Disclaimer: It’s Your Media Ltd publish the Moulsham 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. Reg Co No. 09154871. Printed by Printwize.

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MT Therapy - by Chelmsford Therapy Rooms Hi everyone, Jenny here again.

This issue I wanted to ask another question, one that I saw posed on daytime TV. Regular readers might recognise I do love a bit of daytime TV - I have it on in the background whilst I do my admin from home before I’m treating clients (usually afternoons and evenings, except Fridays when I work mornings). The question posed by the presenter was: ‘Should we all be in therapy?’

As a private practitioner you might expect me to say “yes of course, roll up roll up, come on down to Chelmsford Therapy Rooms and get some therapy!” but actually I don’t think that everyone should be in therapy - I think everyone should have access to therapy so they can utilise it when they need to.

Back to this phone in. The first caller didn’t seem to believe much in private therapy, stating that: “It’s £60 per hour and most people can’t afford it” - they also mentioned CBT as a main type of therapy that was offered privately, and it didn’t come across that this caller was aware that other therapeutic approaches were on offer in the private sector. Now, this caller was based in Liverpool, and being a northerner myself it was always drummed into me that there’s a north/south divide. ‘The further north you go, the cheaper it is’ - that’s what I’ve been led to believe. So I took a peek at The Counselling Directory and to my absolute shock therapists up in Liverpool are charging the same on average as down here in Chelmsford! So then I thought, I wonder if this is a thing - that rates are about the same all over the country. So I did a random search for various places in Wales and Scotland, the north of England, the Midlands etc - same. All averaging between £40 and £60 per counselling session, but most of these therapists were integrative not just CBT. There were always some therapists in these searches that offered therapy at a reduced rate for those on benefits or low income, some therapists were cheaper in general, and these tended to charge between £25 and £35 per session. The cheapest rate I’ve come across to see a qualified private therapist in Chelmsford was £30 per session, although I know that some training organisations - such as Life Force in Colchester - offer sessions with trainee therapists for as little as £7 per session. The most expensive in Chelmsford I’ve seen was about £120 per counselling session (this was a CBT specialist therapist), although NLP practitioners and life coaches might charge significantly different rates. London is of course the exception, if you want to see a therapist in Liverpool Street you’re looking at about £90 per session. You may want to consume a large alcoholic drink before looking at the rates offered on Harley Street...

So it looks as though many therapists charge lots of different rates across the country. It also looks as though there is a wide range of therapeutic approaches to choose from in the private sector, and I suppose this is a benefit of going private - you can research the therapist, their approach, their training and their fees before you even call them for an appointment. But that doesn’t mean you should be in therapy.

this question lies in how you feel. Another one of the callers on this subject had been in therapy for years, they had felt they needed the assistance, but also acknowledged that not everyone wants or needs therapy.

If you decide to seek therapy, that’s up to you. It’s also not just about whether or not you feel you need therapy, but whether you want therapy! A therapist should be there to support the client in reaching whatever goals they want to. Don’t ever think you’re not ‘mentally unwell enough’ to see someone. Life coaches, hypnotherapists and some counsellors, help people reach their goals all the time! So when answering the question ‘should we all be in therapy?’ we need to bear in mind there are many kinds of therapy. What do you want to gain from therapy? Do you want to have a rant at someone, get everything off your chest? Do you have a trauma you want to talk about? Do you have a fear or phobia? Do you not know what you want and want to tell someone impartial that you don’t know what you want? A counsellor can help with all of these things and more.

In conclusion, perhaps it’s not about whether or not we should all be in therapy. Perhaps it’s about whether or not the individual person wants therapy. Because if you don’t, that’s fine too.

If anyone is interested in seeing a therapist, Chelmsford Therapy Rooms has a range of therapists that can help with a multitude of issues. We offer many therapies from hypnotherapy to counselling to nutrition. Please see the website, www.chelmsfordtherapyrooms. co.uk, or you can email info@chelmsfordtherapyrooms.co.uk, or call 0330 100 5162.

One Cool Day Moments before we went to print on Sunday 30th September, One Cool Day happened at Chelmsford City Football Club organised by Cool To Be Kind - www.c2bk.co.uk.

Sarah Beth (pictured below), Joe Anderton, Jack Browning, Hellfeeder, Fret Bear, Buring Codes, The Lemoncurd Kids, The White Gospel and Stark perfomed to raise money and awareness for the Cool To Be Kind project who help the homeless. More details in the November MT.

Whilst I’m still reeling from the shock that therapists 280 miles north of me are charging the same fee and paying less than half the rent that I am, I’ll go back to my original question: should we all be in therapy? As discussed above, of course if you want to, then go private by all means - you pay for it and the additional benefits offered. The same as you do with private physiotherapists, private osteopaths, private chiropodists etc. Of course, the NHS does offer various types of mental health assistance (same as it does with physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropody etc) and you can self refer or you can go to your GP, but there might be a waiting list. I think the true answer to 4 www.moulshamtimes.com

From County Hall - by Cllr Dick Madden

Last week I went to Dunkirk in France with my mate Browny for our annual battlefield tour to pay our respects to those soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in World Wars 1 and 2.

Over the past four years, at this time of the year we have toured Europe visiting assorted battlefields and this year, though we did visit some World War 1 sites, our main objective was to learn more of the retreat from Dunkirk in World War 2. A very interesting four days was had in what was particularly warm weather.

On returning home, clearly the warm weather of the summer is now changing in preparation for darker evenings and the first signs of the impending winter.

At County Hall we are in the process of preparing our respective portfolios for the funding of services for the next financial year of 2019/20. Not only do I have to consider my own portfolio of Children and Families for Essex, but in my captivity as a member of Local Government Association Children’s committee. On their behalf nationally, I have met Government ministers and civil servants, speaking on behalf of all children’s services in our country surrounding an underestimated shortfall of 2 billion pounds by 2020, to meet the needs of some of our most vulnerable children. A very challenging time.

With regard to local matters, today I met the officer in charge of Chelmsford policing, Chief Inspector Gerry Parker, on the ongoing matter raised by many residents of aggressive begging outside shops in the city centre and Moulsham Street. We also discussed the visible activities of drug dealing in our residential streets and park areas and your concerns of lack of visible police presence in our city. I can assure you a lot of positive action is being taken, and shared with me at the meeting were many police operational successes. However, as I have stated before in this magazine, the police must find a better way of informing us of their successes, as residents perceptions of a lack of police action outweigh lack of reality. I am confident that Chief Inspector Parker will improve this communication for us and new initiatives in this area are being progressed.

other dignitaries, we took part in a publicity photoshoot in the laying of bricks on the developing Waltham Glen housing development. It seems such a short time ago that I attended family functions at the then Moulsham Lodge community centre which was located on this site - doesn’t time fly.

Oh by the way, at a recent meeting with some local residents on assorted matters, an area of major concern was that of dog mess on our residential streets. An appeal from residents to all dog walkers: please have facilities with you to remove your dog’s mess. Yes I know many of you do, but those that don’t please consider us all on this matter.

BE SAFE Dick

Deadlines for the November edition: Articles - 17th October Print ready art work - 25th October

Last week at Moulsham Lodge with Councillor Mark Springett and

Chelmsford - by Vicky Ford MP I was very surprised and honoured at the start of Westminster’s autumn term to be asked to take on a new responsibility helping ministers in the Foreign Office team. The role is called a Parliamentary Private Secretary or in political jargon, PPS. Each ministerial department has at least two PPSs, one for the lead minister such as the Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary etc and one to support the other ministers. The PPS’s job is to be the interface between the ministers and other parliamentarians, making sure that ministers are aware of questions that are being raised by MPs and helping ministers to get them answers. Traditionally the PPS sits behind the ministers during debates or departmental question time, and if any unexpected matters arise they can pass the ministers messages from officials. PPSs are not paid, we don’t set policy, and we don’t take part in debates ourselves on matters related to our department.

the Foreign Office team are all very experienced.

In my first few weeks as PPS I’ve attended a number of debates and question sessions, including on Yemen, Syria and Russia and a long debate on Global Britain, when many MPs commented on different elements of the UK’s foreign policy. It is a huge learning curve for me as a relatively new MP and I am very fortunate that the ministers in

Thank you to everyone who helped with Chelmsford Heritage Open Days. I particularly enjoyed my visits to the Quaker Friends Meeting House and to Chelmsford Mosque which were both open to the public. It was fascinating to hear about both of their histories and they work they do today.

Taking on new roles in Westminster does not mean that I will spend less time or energy supporting Chelmsford. One area that I have been focusing on is the need to find a long term solution to the Army and Navy flyover. I have been asking ministers for advice and even raised the issue on the floor of the House of Commons. Essex County Council have commissioned an independent engineer to perform a full survey of the existing flyover. This is to assess the current situation and evaluate whether repairs can be made to ensure its safety for the present time. For the longer term, work is needed to look at all possible options for replacing the flyover, including options to completely redesign the roundabout. Once there is an agreed preferred scheme then a bid will need to go to the Department for Transport for funding before commissioning work. This will be a large project and it is important to take the time to get it right. I have asked the engineers to prepare a draft timetable for the project and a task force is being established to bring together all those organisations who will be needed to help deliver this.

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MT Health Using Habits to Avoid Pain - by Chris at Forté Physical Health “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Will Durant

In the clinic we see all sorts of injuries, and people often think it is doing things that caused the problem, but injuries are made more likely by not doing things, like moving regularly and exercising.

In the last ten years in my job as an osteopath I have had the pleasure of treating people from all walks of life. I have treated professional athletes and some of the fittest people in the country, and then those who are far less healthy.

Keep up your good health by focusing on making movement a habit and your body will thank you for it!

I have come to realise that there is no difference between the very healthy and the very unhealthy. The only thing that separates them is their habits.

As always, if pain or injury is preventing you from living the mobile life you want, we are here to help. Get in touch at info@ fortephysicalhealth.co.uk, or on 01245 522 360. We also give regular exercise videos on our Facebook and YouTube channels, so type ‘Forte Physical Health’ into your preferred platform.

Have a healthy month!

When we want to change something about ourselves, it’s very easy to look at people that do what you want to do and think: ‘If only I had the discipline they do’, but that’s a myth.

It has been shown that discipline and willpower are finite resources.

It doesn’t matter who you are, they run out eventually, so relying on them to be healthy won’t get you very far.

It is far better to create the habits of health. Habits are not finite, they are a subconscious part of our day (when was the last time you moaned about having to brush your teeth at night, for example?).

Another little myth around habits is that they take 21 days to make.

I even used this number in the first few years of my career. Science has shown it to be wrong though; on average it takes 66 days to create a habit. So if you aim for a good three months you should make the habit stick.

The reason I am writing about this now is that I have observed a shift in peoples’ behaviour in the last few months, a good shift. With all the good weather we have had I have noticed people have been cycling more, walking more, getting out in the garden more and just generally moving more.

As I sit here writing, looking out into my garden, the Virginia creeper has turned a deep, luscious red and it is being bombarded with a heavy autumnal rain. A few days ago, I finalised the plans for Christmas with my family. Autumn and winter are coming!

We are at a crossroad where it’s possible to let the good habits of summer slip. When the days get shorter and the weather worsens, it’s so easy to take the car instead of the bike, or sit watching sport on the telly instead of dig up the garden.

Obviously, through the seasons our habits change, but be conscious that you swap a movement based habit for another movement based one. If you’ve loved cycling this summer, why not get a turbo trainer at home or join a spinning class? If you’ve felt proud of your efforts in the garden this summer, then rather than hibernate during the winter, why not get your teeth into a DIY project?

You see, movement is strongly correlated to how much pain we feel.

Those that move more have lower incidence of pain and they recover more quickly when they have it.

The summer has gifted us with a few months of beautiful weather, so you should have your 66 days to build a habit covered. Your body will be wanting to continue to move regularly. It thrives in movement.

Be conscious and figure out a way to continue moving all through the winter months. Get creative and have fun with it! This is an opportunity to carry good health forwards to next year.

Life T M Hack Selling an item online? Get a professional looking photo of the item by using your bathtub as a white back drop!

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CENTURY 21 are the world’s largest residential estate agency with over 8,400 offices in 81 countries. The latest UK franchise is C21 Chelmsford City.

C21 Chelmsford City is run by local business entrepreneur Ryan Duddell and based in Tindal Square.

Ryan explained that with the strength of the existing business (which is currently undergoing a worldwide rebranding), along with the individual office offerings and high levels of client service, he feels confident that he can stand out in a competitive market.

“By joining the Century 21 brand we can take full advantage of its industry knowledge, presence and marketing expertise, enabling us to focus on achieving the best outcome for our clients. With more routes to market than any other high street agent, we strive to defy mediocracy.

“We ensure that we vigorously market your property to maximise its audience and to generate interest. We can bring a fresh, enthusiastic, but most importantly a professional approach to help find the buyer you’re looking for. We have some fantastic marketing and sales tools which are unique to us, which we think could help turn your for sale status to sold.”

Century 21 Chelmsford City have some fantastic launch offerings and are also amongst the first agents to launch a £0 tenant fee option.

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MT Gardening As autumn approaches, it will soon be a perfect time of year for carrying out lawn maintenance tasks such as scarification and aeration. The ground is moist (allowing the implements to penetrate) and there is time for the turf to recover before the following spring when active growth recommences.

• • •

Clippings being left on the lawn.

The soil being too acid. Below pH 5.5 microbial activity decreases and organic matter is not broken down.

Compacted soils have low levels of oxygen, and consequently bacteria and fungi which decompose thatch are less numerous if oxygen is in short supply.

Thatch causes problems in the lawn as it: • • •

Scarification This is the vigorous raking of the lawn surface just above ground level. Scarifying removes any debris (thatch) such as moss and weeds that have accumulated over the season. If moss is present apply a moss killer three weeks prior to scarification to prevent spores being spread.

Scarification also encourages the production of tillers, which are side shoots that arise at the base of the grass. Scarification can be done either by hand with a spring tine rake or with a tractor mounted or pedestrian operated mechanised scarifier.

The debris or thatch builds up for several reasons: •

The build up of moss and other weeds.

01245 422804/07711 606561

• • •

Prevents fertilisers reaching the grass roots.

Acts like a sponge preventing water percolating down to the grass roots.

Encourages shallow rooting causing the grass to become prone to the effects of drought.

Encourages pests and diseases.

Encourages moss and other weeds.

Encourages growth of annual meadow grass.

Aeration Aeration is the making of holes in a lawn to improve drainage and movement of air into the soil. It encourages deeper rooting and allows top dressing to be incorporated. Lawns become compacted from both machinery and pedestrian traffic. Compaction is the loss of the large pore spaces from a soil that normally contain air. Small pore spaces contain water, and soil that has more small pores than large will hold onto water - it will be poorly drained. This is problematic for turf as it encourages weeds and impedes root penetration.

Aeration can be either manual with an aeration or garden fork, or for large areas a mechanised aerator is more practical. Different types of tines can be fitted on the aerator fork and the mechanised aerator.

Top Dressing After aeration, turf will benefit from an application of top dressing.

It encourages tillering, allows you to improve the soil and the root environment and it can even out minor undulations in the turf surface.

Top dressing consists of sand and loam in varying quantities. It should be distributed over the turf by shovel and then worked in using a trulute or a besom. Commonly used formulae are 70:30 sand and loam for a light soil, and 80:20 for a heavy soil. The sand must be lime free, washed and about 0.2 - 0.5mm in size. Top dressing should be applied at rates between 2 - 4kg/m².

Lastly, if you want to further your knowledge and understanding of these or other gardening jobs, please do consider one of the following courses at Writtle University College: For RHS Level 2 Certificate in the Principles of Garden Planning, Establishment and Maintenance and for RHS Level 2 and 3 Certificates in Practical Horticulture, email tom.cole@writtle.ac.uk for information on availability of days and times.

20% Discount when you mention Moulsham Times

If you’d like a shorter programme, for say 1 or 2 days, then give our Short Courses a call. We’ve got courses on construction (erecting fences, paving and brickwork), general garden tasks such as pruning, propagation, container gardening, successful care of lawns and growing fruit and veg. For the professional, a whole load of competence certificates covering arboriculture, pesticide application and use of various machinery and equipment.

Happy Gardening For any gardening tips contact Tom Cole, Horticultural Lecturer, Writtle College, Chelmsford, CM1 3RR by post (including a SAE) or by email at tom.cole@writtle.ac.uk.

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Quiz Time - by John Theedom 1.

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What is a nostrum?

What is an oxeye?

In Italy, what kind of fruit is a pomodoro?

Which is Freddie Mercury’s country of origin?

An adit is used to enter what?

What is Dr Who’s spaceship called?

Which snake is associated with Cleopatra?

What is boxer ******* Holyfield’s first name?

Crane Fly is the technical name for which common insect?

How old was Burt Reynolds when he died in 2018?

In Imperial measures, how long is a chain?

Who was the very first leader of the Labour Party?

Where on your body do you suffer otic pain?

Which Dorset village is known for its martyrs?

Where are the Dolomite Mountains?

Which is the quickest healing part of the human body?

What was Boris Johnson’s birth name?

On a ship, what is the binnacle?

How heavy is the famous Big Ben bell?

In The Goon Show, who did the voice of Neddie Seagoon?

On which piece of equipment will you find a pommel?

Guyana is on which continent?

How many holes are there on a bowling ball?

What is an acai?

Who won the most Grammy Awards in the 80s?

Who played James Bond in For Your Eyes Only?

What is the first name of the MP Mr Cleverly?

How tall is the Statue of Liberty?

A trochee is a poetic what?

Which animal is depicted on the Peugeot badge?

On which part of the body would a horse rider wear a stock?

For what purpose would you use a besom?

Sir Robert Knox-Johnson is famous for what?

What is grappa?

What is Ormolu?

How wide is a table tennis table in feet?

Which animal lives in a warren?

How is ‘100’ written in Roman numerals?

What does SSAFA stand for?

Rotten Row is in which London park?

Answers on page 31

Hopsters Comes to Moulsham Street Hopsters is an independent shop that specialises in craft beer and fine spirits. It came about when Ed and Tasha Barnes decided that they needed a local bottle shop as they couldn’t find any of the beers they loved in the shops - and so Hopsters was born!

The Hopsters branch in Chelmsford is their second unit and it was an easy decision to make as Tasha is a Chelmsford girl and they have lots of friends and family in the area, so it’s a bit of a homecoming.

It’s a business built out of a passion for real ale and discovering new beers. Constantly on the look out for a new brewery, Hopsters aims to be an ever-changing Aladdin’s cave of ale. Stocking over 200 beers at any one time, you are guaranteed to find something you love. Hopsters aims to support all the up-and-coming breweries that don’t appear on the shelves of the local supermarket and will make sure you’re taking home something really special.

Whether it’s an incredible beer you’re after or just perhaps that very special gift, Hopsters will have it covered.

Craft ales, local beers, fabulous ciders or wonderful gins, Hopsters will have something for everyone. A family business built out of a love for really good beer! www.facebook.com/hopsterschelmsford Hopsters, 47A Moulsham Street, Chelmsford, CM2 0HY

Music and Blues and Roots in the City - by Nick Garner Chelmsford Festival 2019 The dates are set for the second Chelmsford Art’s and Cultural festival - they are from 21st June to 30th June 2019 and we plan to make it bigger and better than before - with your help please. We have arranged our first public meetings for 30th October in Transition which is behind the Railway Tavern pub opposite Chelmsford railway station. There will be two meetings that day to hopefully accommodate all who wish to attend. The first will start at 10am and the second is at 9pm and they are for anyone who is interested in getting involved, or who just wants to know more, or if you are maybe interested in volunteering or in sponsorship. We have already got the ball rolling and want to tell you about our plans so far. Last time we held these meetings they were really helpful to us, and in fact we gained another trustee from it as well. Please tell all your friends about the meetings as we do not want anyone to miss out who may be interested.

Music and Ramblings Jamie Williams & the Roots Collective are playing at the legendry 100 Club in Oxford Street on Tuesday 30th October along with the Delta Ladies and JFK Blues. If you would like to come and support us you can get advance tickets at just £11 by emailing us at info@jwroots. co.uk or call 07970 206 682. We also plan to arrange a mini coach from Chelmsford to make travel easier.

Jamie Williams & the Roots Collective have had a couple of great shows recently. The first was at the football club with Jim Cregan and his band Cregan & Co. When we heard that Rod Stewart said these guys are ‘as good as me’ he was not joking. Some said that Ben Mills sounded more like Rod Stewart than Rod does now! They played all the great hits and also some Cockney Rebel songs that Jim played on. They are a band that we will definitely be having them back in the future.

of bopping around. Add to this the powerful rhythm section of Rob Shearer on drums and Fergie Fulton on bass. The evening amazed us all at just how good this band is now. They are ready to take on the world and they have the talent without a doubt. They are a band to watch out for as we strongly feel they will snapped up soon and start to play the big stages as they well deserve to.

The UB is also putting on some amazing events with storytelling and music of all types, including the DJ nights by Keepin’ it Soulful. They are lucky to have some big (and not so big) names appearing who are all awesome, so do keep an eye out for what’s on every Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon as well as some Fridays. The One Tree Hillbillies will be playing on Monday 22nd October from 8.30pm.

I have two events I have coming up this month. At the football club on Friday 12th October we have the fantastic Fleetwood Bac - the original tribute to Fleetwood Mac and the only ones endorsed by both Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green; they are that good. Opening on the night is Melanie Denard from the USA and her special guest on guitar will be Muddy Manninen from the legendry Wishbone Ash (see the advert in here for full details).

The Bassment on Thursday 18th October will be a special night as we welcome back the great Elles Bailey and her band as part of her autumn tour. Elles is going from strength to strength in the UK and around the world, she has a special guest who is touring with her called Tamara Stewart all the way from Australia, who sounds really good (see the flyer for full details of the show and tickets).

The opening act for the night were The Jackson Line, a country trio who wowed the audience with their great songwriting amazing vocals and harmonies and some stunning playing - they were a joy. in fact, Jan and I liked them so much that we went to see their EP launch show the following week - and they were just as good!

I also went to an Ignite event at Transition. They had these two guys from a band called Don Kipper playing traditional Jewish and Baltic music - not something I would have thought of going to see, but these two playing clarinet and accordion amazed us - I have never seen such great playing of these instruments before. They were originally supposed to play for 20 minutes but played for 45 and everyone loved it and joined in. I am now looking to book the band at some point.

The Connor Selby Band launched their album at the Bassment recently. It’s hard to find enough words to compliment this incredible band, I have known Connor for many years and have watched him grow into the fine musician that he is today and he now has a fantastic band around him as well. They all complement each other so well. They played two sets across the whole evening playing the new album in its entirety and adding in some well chosen and well played covers along with Joe Anderton, his guitar sideman and good buddy, singing one of his own songs and taking a few turns playing lead along with adding some strong backing vocals and a lot 12

There is of course lots more going on in and around Chelmsford and most events will be listed in the City Times’ What’s On guide which you will find all over the city.

If you are putting on or know of any events that we should know about that we can help publicise, please email us at editorial@ itsyourmedia.co.uk.

Please do try to come out and support the great live scene that we have in Essex, because if you do not - we may lose it. For more information on all of the above and more, see the links below and pick up a copy of the City Times and go to the What’s On pages to see what else in happening in your area. If you go to our Facebook pages look at our ‘events’ tabs to see who is playing and preview the up-and-coming acts. www.bluesinthecity.co.uk www.facebook.com/bluesinthecitychelmsford Twitter: @BluesintheCity1 www.itsyourmusic.co.uk www.facebook.com/itsyourmusic Twitter: @itsyourmusic The Arts and Cultural email: hello@chelmsfordfestival.org www.chelmsfordfestival.org www.facebook.com/chelmsfordfestival Twitter: @chelmsfordaacf

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31st December 2018*

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MT Cooking - by Beverley Matthews Slow Roasted Beef Short Rib with Pea, Mint and Roasted Bone Marrow With autumn very much here and winter just around the corner, I’ve chosen a real winter warmer for this month’s recipe. Beef short rib is a beautiful cut of meat that when cooked for a long time just melts in the mouth - and with the accompaniments of bone marrow, pea and mint, this is comfort food at its best! If you haven’t tried any of my recipes yet, please give this one a go!

Ingredients (serves 4) 4 beef short ribs 1 bottle red wine 1 beef stock pot 1 onion 1 carrot 1 bulb of garlic Fresh thyme Bone marrow (ask your butcher for the bones to be cut into lengths around 15cm long and then cut in half lengthways) A handful of breadcrumbs 3 shallots Frozen peas Fresh mint Method 1. Rub the beef in oil and season with lots of salt and pepper before searing on all sides in a hot pan.

2. Slice the onion and carrot into small pieces (this can be done roughly as you’ll be straining the sauce at the end). Add to a

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

roasting dish along with the beef, the garlic bulb cut in half, the fresh thyme and the bottle of red wine. Cover and place in the oven at 150oC for 4-5 hours.

For the bone marrow, finely chop the shallots and fry in a little oil on a low heat until they are nice and soft. Add the peas to the pan for a couple of minutes then mash the mixture with a fork or a potato masher.

Extract the marrow from the bones with a spoon and chop up into small chunks.

Finely slice the fresh mint and combine together with the breadcrumbs, shallot and pea mixture and the bone marrow.

Season the mixture with salt and pepper before filling the bones with the mixture.

Once the ribs are cooked, take them out of the roasting dish and leave to one side to rest. Strain the liquid from the roasting pan into a saucepan and simmer over a medium heat until it’s reduced and thickened.

Put the filled bones onto a baking tray and into the oven for 15 mins at 200oC. Serve the ribs with the bone marrow, along with some creamy mashed potato and some vegetables of your choice.

Thanks for reading my recipe. I am the owner of Perfect Day Caterers, an event catering business. We cater for all kinds of special occasions, from small intimate dinner parties to canapé receptions, BBQs and weddings. To find out more about me or Perfect Day Caterers visit www.perfectdaycaterers.co.uk or email me at beverley@ perfectdaycaterers.co.uk - I’d love to hear from you!

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Chelmsford Model Railway Club

The Chelmsford Model Railway Club is well established in the town and is holding its annual exhibition on Saturday, 20th October at St John Payne School. This promises to be a very good day out with layouts of British mainline scenes, quaint little narrow gauge lines and scenic American mining days. Some of these layouts are made by club members and others are invited to exhibit.

The club has a very good membership of over a hundred members and meets twice a week in some excellent premises and has been around for over 30 years. The club has about ten layouts on the club premises, some are completed and have regular usage, while some are in being constructed and others are stored. The most popular scale represented at the club is the well known ‘OO’, but we also have layouts in ‘N’ scale, ‘OO9’ narrow gauge scale and ON30 American narrow gauge scale.

New members are always welcome.

One of the advantages of joining a club is that you can enjoy a much larger layout that you would be allowed to have at home and also you can find experts in the various aspects of the hobby to guide you along to even higher standards of modelling. In addition, it is always enjoyable to just sit around and chat about railways and railway

modelling. However, please don’t talk about ‘train sets’, we are ‘railway modellers’ and proud of it!

The club website gives you more information on the club, including how to contact us to experience a taster evening at the club. chelmsford-and-district-mrc.webs.com

Christ Church - A Trip to Albania You may have seen an item on Channel 4 News about a ‘cult’ of Iranian freedom fighters living in Albania. A week after that piece aired, I was in Albania to visit these Iranians in the settlement they call Ashraf.

So who are they and what did I see?

Their story goes back to the 1970s and a movement to overthrow the Shah, but they soon realised the Mullahs who replaced him were no more democratic. Many were accepted as refugees by Iraq and over a period of 30 years built a city, Ashraf, in the desert with a hospital, university, shops and gardens. Later Ashraf was attacked with missiles and medical supplies were often cut off. Iranians in Europe worked to get the sickest people out and campaigned for the safety for those remaining in Ashraf as well as for a democratic Iran. In 2012 the Iraq government decided that all the exiles must move to a site on the edge of Baghdad airfield called Camp Liberty with only what they could carry. The Ashrafis built a new settlement - flowers literally started to bloom within three months. Again, it was attacked.

After much campaigning, all the remaining Ashrafis were relocated to Albania in 2016. Since September 2017 they have started to build a new Ashraf. It’s amazing what they have achieved already - a bakery,

two kitchens, halls, medical clinic, shops, media centre and gardens.

There are about 1800 survivors of the journey from Iran through Iraq to Albania, each having suffered physically and with harrowing stories of relatives murdered either by the Iranian government or when attacked in Iraq. There are also around 700 young Iranians who have chosen to join the Ashrafis. Many of these were sent as children to relatives in Europe and now want to play an active part in campaigning for a democratic Iran.

It is clear that the Albanian Ashraf is less about refugees and more about people fighting for freedom in Iran - their weapons are a satellite TV channel and social media and they have supporters in Iran who send video messages out via Instagram. I was happy to fund humanitarian aid and I am glad to have met so many evidently thankful people living in the community. I will support in prayer all those working for a peaceful Iran achieved by peaceful means. But the politics of that area is so complex I have no idea whether this is the group which will achieve that.

Jane Humphreys To find out more about what happens at Christ Church please visit the website at www.christ-church-chelmsford.com, or follow on Facebook or Twitter.

Chelmsford Young Gen Presents Les Misérables School Edition This November, Chelmsford Young Gen are celebrating 50 years of shows with an unforgettable performance of Les Misérables School Edition. Performed by the amazingly talented and award winning youngsters of Young Generation, you are guaranteed an incredible show!

With over 100 international awards, Les Misérables is a musical phenomenon. Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, the story explores love, justice, sacrifice and redemption in an epic story about the survival of human spirit.

Friday 9th November and Saturday 10th November (evenings): £17 A £1.50 booking fee is applicable per transaction.

Book Tickets Visit the Civic Theatre Box Office, Fairfield Road, Chelmsford, CM1 1JG, or Call 01245 606 505, or go online at: www.chelmsford.gov.uk/ theatre.

With one of the most fantastic scores of all time, Les Misérables School Edition includes One Day More, Do You Hear the People Sing?, I Dreamed a Dream, Stars, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables and many more. Plus a story with some of the most memorable characters to ever grace a stage.

Following NODA Awards for Into the Woods and 13, Jimmy Hooper returns to direct Les Misérables School Edition, with musical direction from Bryan Cass.

Performance Dates and Times Tuesday 6th November, Wednesday 7th November, Thursday 8th November (evenings) and Saturday 10th November (matinee): £16

Life T M Hack When travelling, pack a dustbin bag to put your dirty laundry in. You will never mix up the clean and dirty clothes in your suitcase again.

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Join in the Big Sleep for Charity CHESS Homeless Local charity, CHESS Homeless, is asking the community of Essex to swap their duvet and grab a sleeping bag to experience a night out under the stars by taking part in their Annual Sleep Out. This year’s event takes place on Friday 30th November from 7.30pm in the grounds of Chelmsford Cathedral. The charity is encouraging you, your friends, family and company to take on the challenge and help raise vital funds so they can continue supporting single homeless adults from Chelmsford and Essex. If you can’t make the CHESS one, then why not ‘Host Your Own Sleep Out’? It’s so simple, you can even hold it in your own back garden.

Homeless is on the increase and can happen to anyone. CHESS believes that everyone should have a warm safe environment to stay, with meals, drinks and hygiene facilities along with the support they need to help them turn their lives around. Lindsay Hurrell, CHESS fundraiser, says: “Our Annual Sleep Out event by no means replicates what it’s like for someone who is homeless and sleeping rough. But it does give you an insight into what it’s like: the damp, the cold and the struggle to carry on with minimal sleep. With homelessness on the increase and many of those being young adults, we really need the support of the community to help raise funds, so we can continue to support single homeless adults from Essex.”

For further information and to register to take part visit www. chelmsfordchess.org/sleepout

Life T M Hack

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We have started a book review feature and our reviewers are busy reading the first set of books. If you are an author and would like to give a copy of your book to one of our reviewers, let us know!

If you are interested, please email: paul@itsyourmedia.co.uk

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World Polio Day - 24th October

our part and continue to do so. We were the first to organise a speaker from the World’s Greatest Meal which has gone on to raise $3million from Rotarians organising a frugal meal and giving the proceeds to the fight against polio. This is ongoing and the Chelmsford Mildmay Rotary club is arranging an austerity meal on the 23rd October. Anyone can do something similar. Rather like Macmillan coffee mornings, a group of people can come together and pay a bit extra over the cost of the meal and pass this on to Rotary. As one supermarket tells us ‘every little helps’. A meal can be a snack or an elaborate dinner, it doesn’t matter.

World Polio Day, like Christmas, comes around every year, but unlike Christmas it is not a day of celebration. It is a reminder that we have yet to complete the task of ridding the planet of this terrible disease once and for all to save children from paralysis or even death.

Rotary has always been at the forefront of the campaign. Back in 1985 when Rotary embarked on the project, there were 1,000 new cases of polio every single day. This was spread over 125 countries - including Great Britain. Recent figures have reduced new cases to just 37 in 2017 in three endemic countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

This is a tremendous achievement and it has been accomplished through a determined immunisation plan involving thousands of volunteers raising funds and actually conducting the vaccinations.

Apart from the millions of dollars raised by Rotarians worldwide, Rotary has canvassed governments to raise awareness of the massive problem and also got other organisations on board such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Together, polio has been consigned to the bin in most countries. However, there is no place for complacency as the virus is still very virulent and can easily be transferred in these days of global travel.

As evidence of this, there has been an outbreak in Papua New Guinea with six cases in 2018. This type of polio is different from the original one. New cases tend to be vaccine derived poliovirus.

The oral vaccine is made from strains of the poliovirus that are live but weakened. This weakened virus multiplies in a child’s gut stimulating an immune response which comes out in the faeces. Normally this is a good thing as other children are exposed to the weakened vaccine virus through the environment and create protective antibodies, but where there are low immunisation rates the weakened virus can circulate, and in rare cases mutate into the more serious strain causing paralysis.

You may see on the news examples of major buildings being lit up in purple. In past years these have included the Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower and Tower Bridge. Well, we are hoping that we can get permission to light up Chelmsford Cathedral this year, so if you see the purple lights on the 24th October you will know the reason.

The photos show what used to happen when cases of polio were caught. It meant a life in an iron lung for the lucky ones... Nowadays treatment has improved but disformity and paralysis remains a painful and ugly result, so the Rotary End Polio Now campaign will continue until we see the last ever case.

If you would like to help, or if you want to find out about what else Rotary does in the community, visit www.rotary1240.org or give me a call on 01245 260349. New members are always very welcome.

Stan Keller

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There are additional problems that need to be tackled at the same time as mass immunisation. Polio occurs where the sanitation is poor or where there are other known sources of wastewater, such as open canals or streams. It is therefore essential to improve living conditions in these areas at the same time.

Work is still ongoing in 92 countries in laboratories accredited by the World Health Organisation and it is estimated that 17.4 million people who are currently healthy would have been paralysed by polio without the efforts of Rotary. Money raised by Rotary over the years has gone to fund the vaccines, to pay for research and the salaries of health professionals.

As I mentioned, it is a global campaign, but here in Chelmsford we have played 20

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Wine Corner Hello everyone, Well, middle of September and I’m still in shorts and tee shirts. Can’t be bad.

New Hall Vineyards near Purleigh, has recently had its September Wine Festival and I went along to have a look. First bit of good news was that it was just £7.50 to get in and that included four wines to taste. You could get more for a little extra cost.

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon, nice and warm, ideal for a visit to a vineyard, with an abundance of craft stalls selling lots of different wares. No-one selling shiny stones though... They also had bands playing all afternoon.

Anyway, on to the main purpose of my visit - wine tasting. First the Bacchus fume, then a white pinot. What next? I tried the Barons red and ended up with a white sparkling. All very tasty. My favourite was the Bacchus fume. Bacchus was created in 1933 by Peter Morio when he crossed Riesling with Muller-Thurgau. They are used to produce wine all over the world, including New Zealand, which I must say surprised me, not sure why.

There were a good number of wines to taste, lots of whites, a couple of reds, and of course sparkling. I held the queue up while I chose my first wine (too much choice) the New Hall Bacchus fume. A fruity, white lovely wine. The sparkling is what you would expect these days, a very light easy to drink fizz. These English sparklers are delicious and wine makers in England should be proud that we can produce such lovely wines.

So, a bit about vineyards in Essex. Wines were first planted by the Romans. Later, the good old monks became involved and produced wine for daily use. Those monks knew how to have a good time, even if they never spoke to one another! The first Purleigh vines were planted in 1207; the Crown commissioned two barrels of wine at a cost of about two pence per bottle (I wonder how much of that was tax?) and this was shipped to Bury St Edmunds for the arrival of King John. It was Purleigh wine that was drunk at the sealing of the Magna Carta. This reminds me that the stamps celebrating this event in 2015 showed King John signing it with a pen, which caused horror in the eyes of historians who became hysterical about this dreadful error. Apparently, the Royal seal would’ve been used.

Anyway, we got it right here... Moving on to 1969. I know that’s a big leap in time and I’m sure things were going on, but according to their website, this is when New Hall started its more recent journey, with the planting of a variety of vines which produced the first fruit in 1971 filling 18 bottles in the farm kitchen. More German vines were planted and in 1972 the first commercial harvest produced 3 tonnes of fruit. More vines were bought the following year, which meant that New Hall had 23 acres of vines. Over the next few years the vineyard expanded, planting a wider range of vines and winning medals for their wine and awards for their wine makers. In 2013, Piers Greenwood received the first of his many UKVA Winemaker of the Year awards. In 2017 they expanded capacity to 350,000 bottles per year.

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You can visit the vineyard throughout the year, they open from 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm on Saturdays and provide tastings and walks through the vines, along with other wine related things to do - and, of course, you can buy some wine. You can take the grand tour, which includes visits to the vines, guided tours around the production process, and (as you would expect) tutored wine tasting. For more information go to their website at newhallwines. com. There are vineyards all over the county, so get on the Internet and see which ones you would like to visit.

We are replacing the decking in our back garden at the moment, it is in a right state so it has to be done. We were at a local builders’ merchants yesterday looking at some decorative stone, when a chap came over to see if we wanted any help. Now, it’s surprising what I sometimes say without thinking, and I replied: “It’s OK, we’re just window shopping” to which he quickly replied “they’re over in the third aisle with double and single glazed...” At the same place we were looking at some of that bark stuff, trying to work out how much we would need. The contents of the bags are in litres, What’s that all about and how much use is a liquid bark?

I noticed recently that France has slipped to third place in world wine production, with Spain second and Italy first. Having said that, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, the production in these countries was the lowest since the early 1960s.

This was caused by heavy spring frosts and heatwaves in some regions. That could mean an increase in prices. Oh dear!

Whine Corner The newspapers are still at it with the royals. One had a news breaking header about a book of new recipes, along with a photo of Meghan next to it. Oh no, I thought that was going a bit too far. Does this mean that as well as being a fashion icon, she is a qualified chef? I knew I was wrong once I read the article. She was endorsing a book of food recipes that had been put together by some of the people from the Grenfell Tower. They are donating the proceeds to charity, so well done to her.

Back to English wines. I read that one of the wineries in the south of England has got funding to increase their wine production by one million bottles per year. Wow! In 2017 English winegrowers released 3.86 million bottles for sale, an increase of a whopping 64% on the previous year! Fantastic.

Bin End Chuckles You can’t lose a homing pigeon. If it doesn’t come home, you have a lost pigeon...

My mate got a personal trainer a year before his wedding. That church must have a really long aisle...

Keep calm and carry on drinking, (in moderation).

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Costumes and Creativity for Young Dancers Across Essex Sunday 21st October will see young children from all over Essex dancing as part of The Chelmsford Ballet Company’s Let’s Make a Ballet, in which the company holds a fun filled day of choreography, creativity and costumes. It is the ideal opportunity to introduce young dancers to the creation of a ballet production as an echo of the company’s annual production staged each year at the Civic Theatre, Chelmsford.

Let’s Make a Ballet provides dancers aged 7-14 with the opportunity to create a short ballet in just one day and perform it too for parents, guardians, family and friends afterwards. This choreographic performance workshop is a firm favourite in the company’s calendar for both dancers and teachers alike and has previously seen almost 80 young people take part.

Young dancers will be able to immerse themselves in the creative process of staging a ballet production, working with The Chelmsford Ballet Company’s Artistic Director Annette Potter to produce a stage-worthy production by the end of the jam-packed day. To take part, dancers must complete the application found on The Chelmsford Ballet Company’s website by 7th October.

Taking place at The Sandon School, Chelmsford, Let’s Make a Ballet is a fantastic chance to get a small taste of The Chelmsford Ballet Company’s work in the lead up to its 2019 annual production. A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be staged at the Civic Theatre from 20th-23rd March 2019 as part of the company’s 70th anniversary celebrations.

For more information about all upcoming events, visit the company website: www.thechelmsfordballetcompany.co.

View both our magazines at www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia

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The Evolution of British Rock ‘n’ Roll. Part 2 - by John Power

Tony - alias Lonnie - Donegan was born in Glasgow in 1931, but his mother relocated to London two years later near East Ham. Aged eight by the time of the Blitz, he was evacuated to Altrincham in Cheshire. He left school aged 14 to work as an office boy for a London stockbroker. A fellow office boy taught him a few chords on a guitar and Lonnie bought the guitar from him when the friend moved on to another model. They used to listen to BBC’s Radio Rhythm Club and practised what they heard. Southend’s Kursaal amusement park had a ‘Record Your Own Voice’ booth where Tony recorded Frankie and Johnny that he had learnt from a 78 record by Frank Crumit. In 1948 another friend he knew from the Boy Scouts took him to Cook’s Ferry Inn in Edmonton where he first got to hear live jazz: Beryl Bryden singing St Louis Blues with Freddy Randall’s jazz band. He considered that to be a turning point in his life.

That Sunday night turned Tony into a regular at the 100 Club in Oxford Street, paying close attention to the guitarist’s work in Humphrey Lyttelton’s band. That lasted until he received his military call up in 1949. Appendicitis was a kind of blessing in disguise as it got him into the hospital barracks in Southampton, where he managed to get access to a nearby jazz club and he got to play with the house band for a couple of gigs before being sent back to Aldershot barracks. But soon he got a posting to the Royal Herbert Hospital in the medical corps. This was near Eltham Common, so close enough to reach London and especially Soho... until he got posted to Vienna. He took his guitar along and practised in the barracks, which was welcomed by fellow soldiers, and he often wandered into the American sector to pick up on imported music.

This made his return to London less palatable in one respect, as the BBC Radio played little or nothing of interest to him.

Back in civvy street, Tony took a job with an electrical firm in Tottenham Court Road, making London jazz clubs easily accessible for him, and he managed to get a chance to do interval slots singing and playing his guitar at Wood Green Jazz Club. To learn new songs he borrowed ethnic recordings from the Library of Congress at the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, finding such delights as Muddy Waters’ early songs - and not always returning them, so depriving others of the pleasure. At length he got a job as banjo player for Bill Brunskill’s Jazz Band, and with his usual level of self confidence and cheek, within a few weeks they became Tony Donegan’s Jazz Band. By 1952 he was calling himself Lonnie Donegan. His self confidence also led him - solo - to the Royal Albert Hall amidst an 18 strong band/artist extravaganza, singing and playing guitar. His high nasal voice apparently wowed the audience, if not the critics. Music newspaper, Melody Maker were already fearing a new wave of music encroaching on their world view and became early slanderers of this young upstart. Tony’s next appearance - but with his band - at the Royal Albert Hall, saw the anti upped as the National Federation of Jazz Organisations said they were ‘vigorously opposed’ to work being given to foreigners in an attitude backed by the Musicians Union, and this caused bands like Humphrey Lyttelton’s to drop out from backing, in this case, Lonnie Johnson, Tony’s old hero, but it was not an opportunity that Tony would turn down, so it left his band to fill the gap, even though the older man’s music had been toned down compared to the more energetic old recordings that Tony knew. It was around this time that Tony became a Lonnie too.

Later in ‘52 at one of the Battersea Pleasure Gardens gigs, on the site of the Festival of Britain (held the previous year), Lonnie met his first wife, but playing his last gig with the band as a 3-week recall for the Army Reserve (now known as the Territorial Army, but back then a follow-on to National Service) proved to be long enough for the band to find a new banjo player to replace their overbearing leader, and the band became Geoff Kemp’s Jazz Band. That happened to coincide with Chris Barber’s band losing their residency at the 100 Club when Chris took the opportunity for a break in Copenhagen where he got to

play with some local talent, which included the father of Lars Ulrich of Metallica. Upon his return, Chris told the band he wanted to go professional, but none of the others wanted to risk losing their day job. Lonnie however, was waiting to seize the chance and so was Monty Sunshine. With Lonnie’s old bassist Jim Bray and Ron Bowden from the Crane River Band also willing to take the risk of going pro, and with Chris on trombone, Monty on clarinet and Lonnie on banjo and guitar, the new Chris Barber Band was born.

Later, Pat Halcox joined on trumpet, but his parents blocked his plans to become a full-time musician. The line-up continued to unfold and became England’s first supergroup, when Chris wrote to Ken Colyer, in the States awaiting deportation, and asked if he would like to join.

He was delighted at the prospect once he got home, and when he did, his legendary status was marked by another band name change to Ken Colyer’s Jazzmen.

The new band set off on tour in Copenhagen and honed their skills, rather like the Beatles did in Hamburg in the early ‘60s. It was followed by their first English gig at the London Jazz Club in April ‘53. They made an album for Decca later that year as a new musical change began to be felt when US rock pioneers Bill Haley and the Comets had their first UK single, Crazy, Man Crazy/Watcha Gonna Do? released here. Although Fats Domino’s first US single is retrospectively recognised as the first of the R’n’R waxing genre as early as 1949, Haley was to have a much more noticeable effect on English youth. Another of his singles was released here in ‘53 as well as a dribble of Black R&B records, like Lowell Fulson’s I Love My Baby/The Blues Came Rolling In. Ken Colyer and Lonnie were too much of an ego battle to stay in a band together for long, so along with brother Bill, who was acting as band manager, they left after a year with the Barber band in 1954.

Bill’s almost parting gesture was to resurrect an old term used in ‘48 and ‘49 to describe the music of Blind Lemon Jefferson and Brownie McGhee - skiffle, to describe the music that the intervals in sessions of the Crane River boys jazz sessions had fostered as they indulged in their love of folk and folk blues sources. It was to mean a lot to both Chris and especially Lonnie as the music evolved, while Ken stuck to other traditional jazz modes. Leadbelly numbers crept into the small duo and trio renditions as well as full band versions. Midnight Special had a special resonance as Ken had shared Leadbelly’s fate of US incarceration. After the split with the band, he trifled no more with skiffle as it developed in the UK and stuck firm to his traditional roots.

Come Along to Community Choir’s 10th Annual Concert in Chelmsford!

Chelmsford Community Gospel Choir started out in 2008 and we’re still in fine voice. Come along to our annual concert to celebrate 10 years of soulful sounds and upbeat rhythmns. Glorious Gospel kicks off at 7pm on Saturday 3rd November at Life Church (Elim), Hall Street, Chelmsford, CM2 0HG.

Marconi Information Board Unveiled

An information board has been installed on the Woolpack pub to commemorate the internationally important role that the building opposite played at the start of the electronics age - it is the building in which was established by Marconi the world’s first wireless factory and the genesis of employment and prosperity for thousands of Chelmsford’s citizens ever since.

We’ll be singing the songs our audiences loved most during our decade in Chelmsford. We’ll showcase the amazing voices of past and present choir members and our interval tea and cakes will be on sale to support local charity Farleigh Hospice in memory of our dear friend and tenor lady Margy Martin who sang with us for the last time in June.

We’re thrilled to be contributing to such an incredible local organisation. Farleigh Hospice provides in-patient and home based hospice care to people affected by life limiting illnesses across mid Essex. They also support families and carers, and people who have been bereaved. Their amazing services are provided free of charge with only 40% of their yearly running costs funded by the NHS.

Throughout our 10 years, Chelmsford Community Gospel Choir has remained a warm, friendly bunch of ordinary people. We have members of different ages, races and genders, with and without a faith, united by the fun of singing upbeat, soulful, gospel music. We love entertaining our local community with our sound, which has gone from strength to strength under the guidance of CeCelia Wickham-Anderson, our professional Musical Director. Our concerts are a great, uplifting night out. Last year audience member Joanna Rowntree said: “What brilliant, highly professional and joyous singing.

The choir looked so happy and their enthusiasm was infectious. What a night!”

The board has been created as a direct consequence of the Marconi exhibition that was held in the building, prior to its onversion into apartments in 2016, and was funded by the money raised from that exhibition, talks, books and donations and subsequent Titanic exhibition held in the city centre.

The board was unveiled by Peter Turrall, Chairman of Marconi Veterans’ Association, on Thursday 13th September.

So come and join us on Saturday 3rd November for some Glorious Gospel.

For more information and tickets, go to www.chelmsfordgospelchoir.com or search for ‘Glorious Gospel’ on www. billetto.co.uk.

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All About Moulsham Lodge & Tile Kiln

Moulsham Lodge Community Trust Events Coming Up Quiz Night: Saturday 6th October.

British Sign Language Course: starts Wednesday 10th October and every other Wednesday.

Choir Christmas Concert and Guest: 15th December.

Breakfast with Santa: Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd December, tickets available on our website.

Since last time, we have trialled a pop up café every Friday for four weeks (see pic) at the Station - offering two courses for £6.30, which supports work based training for adults with learning disabilities.

We hope to hold this on a regular basis and once our internal modifications are made, we will have a larger space to hold around 30 people. Look out for posters on our notice board, social media announcements and confirmation in these articles.

Our choir, New City Voices, recently supported the Pink Floyd tribute band Any Colour You Like at a concert in Kent. The photo below shows New City Voices doing a few sound checks. this isn’t the choir’s usual sort of music, but gives the opportunity to perform on stage with a world class act. The next concert will be at Christmas, (see above for the date). The choir’s next new song is Simon & Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence. If you’d like to join New City Voices, rehearsals are on Thursday evenings at St Luke’s Church on Gloucester Avenue from 8pm till 9.30pm. No experience required. Email: choir@mlct.org. uk.

enquiries@mlct.org.uk 07411 808 731 www.mlct.org.uk Twitter: @MLCTStation (plus Facebook)

Cllr Mark Springett - Moulsham Lodge Ward I recently attended the laying of the first bricks at the old community centre site in Waltham Glen and I took the opportunity to get a bit hands-on.

The development will provide much needed housing, including 8 units of affordable social housing. The photos show me attempting a bit of bricklaying (actually, I never got near to laying any bricks!) and how far they’ve got with one of the blocks of apartments. The development is due for completion some time next autumn.

Whilst I was on holiday, there was a second incursion of travellers on the John Shennan playing field; I did manage to email officers who dealt with the first incursion, but as with a lot of these cases it had to follow a formal procedure that can mean travellers may not leave for 7 to 10 days. I did ask that they look at security so that it didn’t happen again, but it was really people power and local residents contacting City Council officers that got things moving, and as a result, we now have height barriers (see photos) across the entrance to the field.

mark.springett@chelmsford.gov.uk 07411 808 731 @markspringett (on Twitter and Facebook)

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Tile Kiln Corner - by Linda Mascot Recently, Tile Kiln Church hosted the annual Little Edi Foundation shoebox filling day, where supporters came together and helped to fill 300 beautifully wrapped shoeboxes.

Tess Griggs, President of this registered charity, which provides Christmas shoeboxes to the poorest children in rural Romania said: “The idea is that throughout the year a lovely team of volunteers wrap the boxes and supporters send in goodies for the boxes, whether it be a hat to keep a child warm in the winter months, or a pen so that they can go to school.

“Each box has toiletries, toys, stationary items, hair clips, hair bands, jewellery, toy cars, tennis balls and colouring books etc. All items are a joy for children who would otherwise not receive anything at Christmas time.

“We, as a charity, then add another hundred Christmas bags for the older children and this year we will be personally taking 800 boxes and bags over to the Moldovia region visiting a number of orphanages.”

Around 100 volunteers helped to fill the shoeboxes whilst refreshments were served and money raised for transport costs.

mascotlinda@gmail.com Twitter: @lindamascot

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The charity also arranged their first community walk around Galleywood on the following Sunday to help with fundraising, starting and finishing at the Clay Pigeon Pub in Robin Way where food was available afterwards. A total of £350 was raised during the weekend.

The next fundraising event will be a charity curry night at Desi Dining Club in Moulsham Street on November 13th at 7.30pm. Tickets are £20. Contact the Little Edi Foundation for more information through their Facebook page or website www.littleedifoundation.co.uk.. www.moulshamtimes.com

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The City-Centric Nation by Simon Inglis It’s been extremely interesting at my current day job of late, that of measuring demographics in rural areas versus that of Australian capital cities. I’ve been able to visit several regional towns and small cities especially in Victoria. And that has been a real privilege!

Australia is extremely centralised. Her large cities, Sydney and Melbourne, are commanding $900,000 plus entries into so called average Aussie housing. In addition, all cities are simultaneously suffering an accommodation glut in apartments. Since I lived in Melbourne at the turn of the century, huge apartment towers have mushroomed in the city’s west. The population will eventually challenge that of London, and due to the average Aussie’s preference for a backyard, the cities simply keep expanding. Melbourne has a residential surface area more than five times that of London yet a population of five million. Quite simply, Australians preference non apartment living, a driveway and that precious backyard for the children.

Yet it no longer really works. As tax laws for foreign investors recently changed, those towers, previously so attractive to the non resident Chinese for instance, have become suddenly complex to buy into. So today we have an odd mix of highly desired suburban housing and the inner city skyscraper landscape.

Yet there are the regions. Towns and small cities close to Melbourne for example include Ballarat, Bendigo, Ararat, Horsham, Hamilton, Beaufort and many more. Regional cities can land a homebuyer a complete new or established house for under $350,000 - in many cases significantly less. In regional cities such as Geelong, Bendigo or Ballarat with populations in excess of 100,000, the living is clearly easier than in the capitals. From less traffic and pollution, simpler access to shopping and hospitals, the cafe and ‘smashed avocado’ lifestyle - so in vogue in the major capitals - which has been spreading out. Older heritage properties such as the Australian Edwardian, Federation or even 1930s Californian bungalows are being snapped up by buyers - often sight unseen.

Councils race to release land as more people migrate to these regional ‘lifestyle’ cities. The attraction for first homebuyers is very obvious and some of the best Australian schools are outside the capitals. Think Prince Charles and his time at Geelong Grammar!

Going only slightly further afield, one comes accross the smaller regional towns. I am living in an old home not very far from one of the nation’s biggest prisons, a potentially grand - and grim - tourist attraction in an abandoned ‘lunatic asylum’ dating back to the mid 1800s, a very rich agricultural centre, near innumerable wineries and almost underneath the magnificent Victorian Grampians National Park. Our nearest regional shire capital has some 4% unemployment - well below the Australian average, and our shire is far from alone in that statistic.

A very hot political potato looms as the governing conservatives wish for migrants to settle outside of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth as infrastructure in those cities is enormously stretched.

I have spent a few days in the beautiful town of Hamilton, some three and a half hours drive to Melbourne. This regional capital is home to about 10,000 people and has a vibrant city centre with cafés, bars and restaurants of many flavours. In some of the world’s

best farmland and close to the ocean, resorts and mountains it is staggeringly pretty in the mild almost English winter. With many schools, a major hospital, and tertiary educational centres I simply can no longer understand why people bother with outer Melbourne metropolitana. A complete house can be had in Hamilton for $250,000. Sure, life is quieter and there are inconveniences such as, well, the Australian grizzles about the cold (temperatures in much of southern Australia average 2 - 12 Celcius in the winter yet the summers are very hot!) and major events are focused in the city. So too are many government departments as Australia starts to finally grapple with the concept of decentralisation. In addition, as I experience only too well, transport links are just pathetic. All of the towns I mention have connecting roads, motorways and train stations. Yet the road system is over zealously policed to 100 or 110 kilometres per hour.

In addition to such road and driving restrictions as I have previously written about in this column, I’ll toss in a decrepit rail system. I can, I suppose, be judged a ‘maniac’ for transgressing the state speed limits, yet the obvious alternative way to travel to other regions or the capitals is incredibly underfunded given these regional centre’s populations. Rail and bus services are extremely limited and very unreliable outside of the capitals.

A motoring article? As per last month, not really. Yet besides my own endless moaning about Australian policing and driving standards I for one can vouch for the quality of life Australian towns offer.

Most professionals will easily find well paid work and most of these locations offer skilled work in other fields - in hospitals, in care, in agriculture and engineering for example. There is a community spirit lacking in the huge capitals, and so important to me are the Australian seasons. In this temperate part of the world one does have a proper winter scape, a spring, a blistering summer and my favourite - the Aussie autumn in this pocket of the globe in which European flora vies with the eucalyptus bush and trees creating a truly wondrous natural beauty.

Kangaroos on a frosty morning as you drive to work and incredibly green fields that shall inevitably turn brown and yellow in summer, along with graciously ageing houses in a perfectly kept streetscape.

Silence. No pollution. Huge skies. That breathtaking coast whereupon you can munch your fish and chips as you gaze out at the Southern Ocean towards no land mass until Antarctica. Nearly all the mod cons such as Internet, satellite television, cinemas and of course that latte, smashed avocado, or excellent Thai restaurant are always close to your front gate...

Regional Australia as it is referred to, is often a stone’s throw from the great capitals... now it’s just a generational shift in thinking towards decentralisation and proper funding for transport links and Australia can truly be a grown up country which can again, after so many capital only focused decades, offer realistic housing and the lifestyle which once made this country the envy of the world.

Australia has a bit more maturing as a nation to do, as anyone remotely familiar with the ongoing swaps of her prime minister would likely wonder. Yet there is a naturally beautiful, still slower Australia that remains affordable - but to find that Australia you need to leave the capitals. Yet you don’t really need to drive too far and certainly you must not drive too fast!

30 www.moulshamtimes.com

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