Guided History Tour with Sir Bob

On Wednesday, August 7th members of the Local History Group gathered outside the Colchester Arts Centre for a guided walk around Colchester led by former Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell.  The group will learn all about the ‘wreck of the Cromer Express‘ at their next meeting.

Stimulating Walk

This was a stimulating walk of over 2½ hours during which Sir Bob provided lots of information and opportunities to ask questions. It is surprising how little members knew about the town even though they had lived here for many years!

They saw the house in the Dutch Quarter where Jane and Anne Taylor, the writers of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, lived; they made donations to Sir Bob’s fund for a statue of Jane and Anne. Further details of where it is to be located may be announced shortly.

Sir Bob pointed out the seat in Culver Street which has recently been installed to commemorate the 26 Colchester Scouts who met in the building on the opposite side of Culver Street but never returned from the First World War.

Click for slideshow.

Future Events

Wreck of the Cromer Express

The monthly programme of evening talks will restart at 7.30 pm on Wednesday, September 11th in the Orpen Hall.   The group will welcome Jim Connor to tell the story of the Wreck of the Cromer Express at Colchester’s North Station in 1913.  Jim has written a number of books particularly about the history of trains in North and East London and has recently published a book on this unfortunate accident at North Station (see cover below).

Why and how did happen?  A blue plaque was produced to commemorate the deaths that resulted from this incident but where is it now?  Join us on Wednesday to find out the answers to these and other questions!

All welcome!  Members £2 and Visitors £4, including free refreshments.

FutureTalks

• October 9th – Liz White will explain the significance of Colchester’s Avenue of Remembrance.
• November 13th – Charlie Haylock returns for the Bernard Colbron memorial lecture talking about the history of surnames.

Reminders and further details to follow.