Andrew Phillips, a local historian and author, talked about Colchester & the Armistice in delivering the Annual Bernard Colbron Lecture. Organised by the West Bergholt Local History Group1, the talk took place at 7:30 pm on 14th November 2018 in the Orpen Hall.
Report from the Talk
With the centenary of the end of the Great War occurring on November 11th 2018, this talk is very appropriate as it follows the many activities which will take place throughout the country, including here. Andrew has visited the History Group a number of times and knew our former Chairman, Bernard Colbron, very well. He is, therefore, a very appropriate person to deliver this second Bernard Colbron Memorial Lecture.
“History of Spoken English” was the topic of discussion at the Local History Group’s last meeting on 10th October. An audience of over 40 members and visitors were fascinated by Charlie Haylock’s story of English Language.
Tribal influences
This proved to be a fascinatingly informative as well as a very entertaining talk. Charlie took us back to post Roman times of the 6th and 7th centuries when the various “tribes” of Europe existed. He talked about their influx and influence on our alphabet and the structure of English. His use of a traditional flip chart and coloured pens enabled him to show us clearly the development of his story.
Abundance of Vowels
The progression from 18 vowels to 6 and then to 5 when Y later became a consonant was intriguing. It was particularly interesting to hear about the impact of the invasion of Scandinavians and the fact that Danelaw removed the use of male and female versions of words well prior to the 1066 invasion by Willian the Conqueror. William himself came from Normandy area of France (Norseman – Viking) and their language had Germanic as well as Scandinavian influence. In practice, the Normans had little subsequent influence on the development of standard English.
OUGH?
Charlie highlighted the “OUGH” combination of letters provoking some interesting discussion. The publishing of the King James Bible was a significant influence on the structure and style of English as we know it today. Charlie is a master of speaking in different English dialects and entertained with these throughout with his fascinating stories.
In a Manner of Speaking
Everyone was stimulated by Charlie’s presentation, but I am not sure many of us could remember the details! However, Charlie had that covered because he had brought along some copies of a book entitled “In a Manner of Speaking – The Story of the English Language” which he has jointly authored with Barrie Appleby. As well as a few individual purchases, the Group bought a copy for the WBLHG library which will be available for members to borrow.
Next Meeting
The next History Group meeting on the 14th November will be the second Bernard Colbron Lecture. It will feature local historian Andrew Phillips who will discuss “Colchester and the Armistice”. Andrew has written a few books that can be found online. The group will publish further details shortly. All are most welcome.
Colchester Borough Council have developed a new Local Plan for the Borough and now want you to have your say. They will be consulting between 16th June – 11th August with 12 drop-in sessions taking place between those dates. The following information is provided by CBC: Continue reading “CBC Local Plan Consultation”
Colchester Borough Council’s Local Plan Committee is about to review its draft Local Plan and associated reports on 5th July. The village features in this draft plan as a ‘sustainable village’.
Colchester Borough Council is about to commence a consultation on its current waste and recycling service. Borough residents are being asked for their views to help Colchester Borough Council consider how best to reduce waste and increase recycling in the coming years.
All residents are invited to give their views through the online survey at www.colchester.gov.uk/recyclingsurvey between Monday 7 March and 5pm Friday 3 June 2016.
Help to complete the survey is available at free Online Skills events across the borough listed at www.colchester.gov.uk/go-online . Residents with accessibility needs can request assistance from a Customer Advisor at the Community Hub in the town centre.
From 7 March to 29 March and Monday 9 May to Friday 3 June selected homes across the borough with kerbside or communal bin collections will also be visited. Face to face feedback on recycling and waste collections will be gathered from around 1,000 residents.
Home visits will take place borough-wide between 9am and 8pm, Monday to Saturday to households representative of Colchester’s demographic mix.
All survey responses will be used to help the Council understand what residents think including: satisfaction with the type and number of containers used for home storage and collection of waste and recycling; frequency of collections; and ideas for improvement that would help residents send less waste to landfill and recycle more. Household characteristics, including number of residents at the property and availability of outdoor and container storage areas, will also be gathered.
The consultation is part of a full review of the Council’s waste and recycling service including considering different collection methods and best practice nationally.
Returning for it’s tenth year, Colchester Borough Council have 2016 free trees and fruit bushes to give away in its popular Trees for Years giveaway. The free plants are available to Colchester Borough residents, community groups and parish councils. Residents can collect up to three plants per household and up to 15 per community group, school or parish council.
If you are unsure about which plants would be suitable for your garden, members of the Parks Department will be available to give advice on which plants would be suitable for different size gardens. There will also be a useful pamphlet giving care guidelines, the following is for the 2015 event which has some of this years plants as well:
The 2016 bare root trees and fruit bushes will be available on a first come first served basis.
Trees must be planted on private property. Postcodes will be recorded to monitor the distribution.
The event takes place on Saturday 30 January, from 10am to 1pm, in the car park of Colchester Borough Council’s offices at Rowan House, in Sheepen Road, Colchester.
Trees for Years has previously been funded through sponsorship by OfficeIS, but CBC are looking for new sponsors for future years.
Colchester Borough Council is launching a new community initiative funded by the New Homes Bonus scheme called ‘Litter Warriors’. Litter Warriors will be groups of residents who together carry out litter picking of approximately 16 man-hours per month on an area of land which is important to them and makes a difference to the community. This could be a local park, open space or street. Each group/individual will be provided with litter pickers, litter warrior branded hi vis waistcoats and black bags.
If you would like to join this new exciting initiative and become a litter warrior please contact [email protected] by Wednesday 30th September. Please also indicate if you would like to be involved in the press launch of the project at a later date.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of all health and social care in England. They have powers to register, monitor and inspect all health & care services and, in September, they are visiting Colchester to find out what you have to say about local services, in particular those provided by the Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust. Taking place on Monday 7th September between 6pm – 7:30pm, at Colchester Town Hall (in the Grand Jury & West Committee rooms), you are invited to meet with the CQC’s inspectors and share your experiences with them. Of course, if you can’t wait until then, you are able to share your experiences anonymously at any time by contacting the CQC on:
The CQC’s inspection method when reviewing a hospital or other service is focussed around 5 key questions:
Are they safe? Are you protected from abuse and avoidable harm?
Are they effective? Do they provide your care, treatment and support achieving good outcomes, helping you to maintain quality of life and based on the best available evidence?
Are they caring? Do staff involve and treat you with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
Are they responsive to people’s needs? Are services organised so that they meet your needs?
Are they well-led? Does the leadership, management and governance of the organisation make sure it’s providing high-quality care that’s based around your individual needs, that it encourages learning and innovation, and that it promotes an open and fair culture?
A new audio webcasting system is now in place streaming live from some of our council meetings and debates, available through our website and twitter feed, or you can choose to catch up later.
Links to the audio are from the ‘Your Council’ tab of essex.gov.uk with recordings available alongside meeting details and agendas. You can jump straight to a specific agenda item if that’s all you want to hear again.The Full Council meeting broadcast is planned for 14 July and committees of the council have also started to come online. Look out for tweets with links to the audio stream at the beginning of each meeting on the @ECC_DemSer twitter feed.
Telephone calls to Essex County Council’s Contact Centre now start with a recorded message about call charges. This follows new legislation introduced by the communications regulator Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority for 084, 087,09 and 118 numbers, as part of the national UK Calling scheme.
Callers to the Contact Centre on all 0845 numbers are informed that calls cost 5p per minute plus the access charge from respective service providers.
The number of unrepaired potholes on county roads has fallen.
In the three months leading to June 30, unrepaired potholes and carriageway defects on the county’s busiest roads have reduced by 70 and 75 per cent respectively, compared with the same period last year.
According to Essex County Council figures, potholes and other carriageway defects were maintained at under 350, with 137 on the county’s busiest roads and 206 on main and key roads.
Outstanding carriageway defects on local roads have also fallen over the same period, from 5,212 to 4,626, with 2,581 potholes repaired, continuing the positive trend seen over the previous three months.
Since the same period last year, carriageway defects on local roads are down by 23 percent, from 6,001 to 4,626.
Have a summer holiday to remember with Essex Outdoors
Essex Outdoors exciting 2015 summer holiday programme for 8-16 year olds has been released. Centres in Bradwell, Danbury, Harlow and Mersea will be running School Holiday Activity Days, which include up to four activities in one day, between 23 July and 28 August.
Activities include aerial trekking, archery, bouldering, BMX, canoeing, caving, climbing, kayaking, low ropes, orienteering, zip wire and much, much more. Harlow is running additional climbing days as well as canoe and kayak days between 23 July and 28 August, with Bradwell also running a canoe day on 18 August.
Activity days are the perfect way for children and young people to try the challenge and excitement of new activities. Activity days cost £30 per day or buy four days and get the fifth free.
Dates, times and activities vary per centre so please check the website for full details or contact your nearest centre.
Aiming High for Disabled Children – summer programme
Essex Outdoors will be running the ‘Aiming High for Disabled Children’ programme this summer. The programme offers a range of day and overnight activities for free to disabled children and young people who are aged 8 to 18, as well as their carer.
The programme includes:
Activity days at Harlow from 24 July to 28 August
Activity days at Danbury on 28 and 30 July
Sailing/crabbing day at Bradwell on 25 July
One night break in either Bradwell or Danbury on 15 August.
Mersea Island Festival overnight (five nights from 23 August)
Mersea Island Festival day visits from 25 to 30 August
Please note participants must live within the administrative boundary of Essex County Council to qualify for free places. For eligibility as well as dates, times and activities per centre please check the website.
Join us at this special dog themed fun day for dogs and their owners on Sunday 9 August in Colchester’s Castle Park.
Bark in the Park will transform the open space in Colchester’s park into a dog and dog owner’s extravaganza. This event, led by Colchester Borough Council’s Animal Control Team, will offer everything man’s best friend needs.
There will be plenty to keep the whole family (and their dogs) amused throughout the day and visitors are assured of a great day out. Owners will also have the chance to enter their pet pooches into the various dog show events that will take place during the day.
Dog Show Categories
Best Young Handler
Smiliest Staffy
Most Gorgeous Rescue
Handsomest Dog
Prettiest Bitch
Calmest Tail
Best Trick
Overall Best in Show
There will be entertainment and demos, competitions and prizes, K9 Aqua Sports, dog agility, doggie trade stands and much more! Make sure you register online (for free) to enter one of the seven pet Dog Shows on the day! Find out more here.
A brand new tourism video promoting Colchester has been created to showcase everything that the Borough has to offer! If you haven’t had a chance to watch it on their YouTube channel yet, then here it is:
Colchester & the Armistice
