COVID, St Mary’s Booster Sessions, Transport & Carol Cancellation

St Mary’s Booster Sessions

Booster sessions at St Mary's

St Mary’s are running Booster sessions every Tuesday & Friday between 9:30 am – 2:30 pm. Nik, from the pharmacy, is leading these sessions with help from a steady band of volunteers to keep traffic flowing. Check on the NHS website to see availability although note that St Mary’s will only show up if there are slots available. If you want to take a chance, you could also pop along late in the session in case they have spare doses left over (often advertised on the Hub).

Transport for Vaccination

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Buses, Hospitals, Working Life and an AGM

Buses, Hospitals, Working Life and an AGM

This has been, and is, the schedule of the Local History Group.  Buses in January, Military Hospital in February and now AGM and Working Life on March 13th.  First, a brief heads up on the first two, very good, talks:

Colchester bus circa 1960Transport of Delight

This was the first meeting of the New Year with Alan Skinner talking about Colchester Buses – a century of service. Alan stated that he was no expert on the subject of local transport, but he certainly was very knowledgeable about the history of the buses in Colchester and the surrounding villages; he gave a well-illustrated presentation and welcomed additional information from audience members. This was Alan’s second visit to the history group his first subject was the history of “Greyfriars”.

Military Hospital

In February Paul Byrne spoke about the history and origins of the Military Hospital in Colchester.  He explained how it developed to play a major role in helping soldiers from the Boer War and later WW1 men with mental illness now recognised as PTSD. The hospital was also used for civilian patients’ in later years when the Essex County Hospital was no longer large enough to cater for the growing population. An interesting insight into the part that Colchester played over the years helping all military personnel.

Working life in various forms, agricultural, industrial and clerical.AGM

The Local History Group’s AGM starts at 7:30 pm on Wednesday 13th March in the Orpen Hall.

Peter Jones will introduce some archive films about Working Life after the AGM.

Members are asked to get in contact if they are willing to stand for the committee or help with refreshments.  Subscriptions for 2019/20 are now due – great value at just £10.

For further information please contact Gill Poole on 01206 240512 or email [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].

A12 Urgent Resurfacing Overnight 15th January

Diversion route for closure of A12

Diversion route for closure of A12A12 Urgent Resurfacing Overnight 15th January

We have been informed that urgent resurfacing will be taking place between 8 pm to 6 am overnight on 15th January (weather permitting).  Kier Highways will be closing the road SOUTHBOUND between junctions 28 and 26.  They will put a diversion in place via A1232 and A133 before re-joining the A12 southbound at junction 26.

Anomaly

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Transport of Delight

Transport to Delight?

Early BusTransport to Delight?Transport of Delight

Transport of Delight is the Local History Group’s first topic of 2019; Alan Skinner will give an illustrated talk about Colchester Buses Century of Service.  (Possible spoiler alert below).

The talk takes place at 7:30 pm on 9th January in the Orpen Hall.  Entry from 7 pm and only £2 for members, £4 for visitors.

In West Bergholt, the “bus” service operated from 1904 by Mr Darvill using Continue reading “Transport of Delight”

More Roadworks – 17th – 19th December

Roadworks 17th - 19th December

Roadworks 17th - 19th DecemberMore Roadworks – 17th – 19th December

To compound the current closure of Chapel Lane to through traffic, 17th – 19th December sees more disruption.  Anglian Water will be undertaking Valve Checks which will entail multi-way traffic controls at the junction of New Church Road and Chapel Road.  Anglian Water will also be working in Pirie Road over those days although traffic disruption is not expected.

And in the New Year…

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Do you use the Number 11 Bus Service?

Number 11 Bus Service Consultation

The number 11 bus service (Colchester-Highwooods Circular) operates Monday to Friday with financial support from ECC.  ECC are considering amending the Monday – Friday timetable and is carrying out a public consultation regarding this proposal between 28 November 2018 and 02 January 2019.

Background

Due to congestion around Continue reading “Do you use the Number 11 Bus Service?”

Surface Dressing After Easter

Surface Dressing After Easter

With Surface Dressing scheduled after Easter, we can expect disruption on the B1508 (Colchester Road) between Wormingford and Braiswick.   Due to the recent cold weather, though, this has now been postponed as work crews have been diverted elsewhere.  It is now probable that the work will be undertaken around 25th-28th April and will take place overnight.

Check the roadworks map on the village website nearer the time to track this project and check out any others that might be coming up.

What is Surface Dressing?

Essex Highways say:

Firstly we patch any potholes or other defects and make the surface level. Then crews spray the existing road surface with a coating of hot bitumen and cover it with stone chippings. We then roll the chippings into the bitumen to form a water-resistant protective layer; this makes the road less slippery and extends its life.

As soon as the bitumen has set, we sweep the road to remove loose chippings.  The nature of the treatment means there will be some loose chippings on the road surface until it beds down. 20mph speed limit temporary warning signs will be visible to alert drivers, as vehicles using the new surface help to embed the loose chippings. After about a week we return to the road and sweep up any chippings that have not been pressed into the bitumen; they will then add appropriate road markings.

 

Hospital Merger Update

NHS Logo - Hospital Merger UpdateHospital Merger Update

The following announcement has been sent from Colchester & Ipswich hospitals’ Chief Executive, Nick Hulme.

Announcement

The two NHS trusts that run Colchester and Ipswich hospitals are planning to come together as a single organisation this summer. As the chief executive of both hospitals, I want to share the reasons for this with you as I know how important our services are to local residents. Continue reading “Hospital Merger Update”

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