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This month started with Town Council, and we were very
pleased to welcome our local poet, Martin Newell, who came to speak to us
about an idea for holding an informal musical evening in Anchor Hill.
Local residents seemed to be in favour of it, and members were generally
supportive of the idea. Wivenhoe seems to have become quite continental
during this summer, with a great number of outdoor events taking advantage
of the fine weather, something that I have found really enjoyable as
Mayor. The following Friday I attended the production of The
Surprise Package by the Wivenhoe Youth Theatre – what a tremendous
evening’s entertainment! Each year I am amazed by the skill of our young
people in putting together a production in two weeks – the mind boggles
at the amount of work that has to be done in such a short time. The actors
were believable, the farce very funny, and the lighting and scenery ideal.
I was disappointed to see such a small audience, but those of us who
attended had an evening of laughter that left us all feeling much lighter
in spirit and envious of the energy of the young people. Thanks must also
go to the small dedicated team of adult ‘advisors’ who give of their
expertise so willingly. [Click here
for pictures of the production] At the William Loveless Hall Working Party meetings we
have been looking at ways of brightening some of the smaller areas (having
worked on the main hall already). We have cleared out the Colne Room
(behind the stage) and it is now usable for small meetings (as well as for
storage, serving food and as a changing room for productions). The Wyvern
Room carpet is going to have a major clean, and the Ladies Loo is being
decorated (I hope that the dramatic change in colour scheme will please
users, as I am trying to get away from pastel shades everywhere). The
Gents Loo is posing much more of a problem, and will need major work done
before we start even thinking of colour schemes. We have looked into
having a Toilet for the Disabled, but are unable to find either
appropriate area or finance at this time – but it is still on the
agenda, as we are aware that it is important for the Hall to be usable for
the whole cross section of residents. We are also looking at other ways of
making the Hall more user-friendly, and any ideas can be passed to the
Town Clerk (who will let the working party know). On Sunday 31st I headed to the Quay for the Crabbing
Contest, to be met by an enormous crowd of eager crabbers and their
families that stretched right along the river frontage from the new
development right back to the shipyard. I think by the end of the day
there must have been some very bemused crabs, as each entrant tried to
catch the heaviest one.
This event brought to an end my summer break from
school, and I was now back in the situation of trying to fit in work with
council commitments. Sunday 6th was a good example, with the Wivenhoe
Society Fun Day in the Churchyard, the hairdressers (an attempt to try to
look glamorous) and the Harvest Ball.
Friday 12th Keith and I attended a Civic Reception at
Colchester Town Hall, arranged by the Mayor, Cllr Chris Hall, and his wife
Elizabeth, to thank local people who have supported them during their
mayorial year. It was a lovely occasion, in the Mayor’s Parlour, and we
had the opportunity of a guided tour of the building. If anyone offers you
this chance, take it – the various rooms, halls, treasure and just the
sheer history of it all, are worth seeing. We also had the opportunity of
standing outside on the balcony looking down the High Street – an
unusual view of the town, and very enjoyable (nobody in the street looks
up at you, yet you can see everything going on below). On the Saturday, it was the Annual WAGA show, full of
wonderful exhibits, making me feel quite envious of the prowess of our
local gardeners. I came home laden with local produce, which, I must say,
tasted glorious. During this day there were also a number of events in
the town backed by the Engine Shed Project, and aimed mainly at
youngsters, which seemed to involve making a lot of noise and a lot of
mess. It was being enjoyed by a number of young people. There was
drumming, making things from cardboard and painting along with some poetry
being created there and then – in fact I managed to add a line or two to
a long poem being created during the whole day by visitors. During this month I have also attended a number of other
meetings, but I will end this diary with the Book Fair at St Mary’s
Church today. Again, trying to fit in grocery shopping, washing, hair cut
and other mundane chores, I rushed into the church about mid day, pulled
on my gold mayor’s chain, and tried to appear in control, only to be
faced with my dream come true – a vast space full of books, tapes and
videos that I could afford to buy. After about 10 minutes, with an arm
full of books, and still looking, I found myself happily singing to myself
and feeling truly relaxed. What a joy today was – I have enough reading
matter to keep me going for sometime, I met a number of good friends, had
a cup of lovely tea and was even available to read stories to children. I
also managed to book a lady to do face painting for the Toddle Waddle in
aid of the Meningitis Trust on 12th October (anyone wishing to take part,
please contact the Council Offices for details and sponsorship forms –
also available at Londis and the Post Office, High Street). On Sunday 28th September, for those who look at this
diary by then, there will be an Art Exhibition in the William Loveless
Hall by local artists, in aid of the Mayor’s Charity Fund, from 2-4pm.
This is an interesting exhibition, as it shows a wide range of works from
local people on many different themes (and at a wide variety of prices).
It is a good opportunity to see the works, many of them not shown
elsewhere, as well as to get in some early Christmas shopping! What a month! When I look back on it I see a lot of fun,
sun, wonderful people who freely give their time, and local people who
turn up to make these events such a success – what an amazing community
Wivenhoe is! Gilli Primrose |
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This
event is the last one solely organised by Carol and Brian Green (who
started the whole thing many moons ago), although they have promised to
help the team of us who are to carry on the tradition. It was a day to
remember, full of eager faces all hoping to win the honour of the heaviest
crab. Families, with two of three generations present, spent an enjoyable
afternoon, in the sunshine, with a bucket, a piece of string and some
bait, and a very large portion of fun. As I walked around, talking to them
all, I was taken with the level of enjoyment such a simple event created.
To most of the people I spoke to, it didn’t matter what they caught, it
was the taking part that mattered. I just hope that we can continue to run
such a pleasurable day (and raise money for charity) in the future. [Click
This
event was an idea of the late Bob Richardson, to raise funds for the
replacement Communty Bus, and, thanks to a lot of hard work from a lot of
people, we all had a tremendous evening and managed to raise over £1,600
for the Bus. Bob would have been very pleased and proud of this result.