Your Village, Your Neighbourhood Plan AGM

Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project
Attend the AGM for your Plan

Your Village, Your Neighbourhood Plan AGM

NP Exhibition Leaflet
Exhibition Leaflet

The Neighbourhood Plan AGM with the NP Steering Group is on Wednesday 4th November 2015 at 7.30pm in the John Lampon Hall.  Do come along to find out about the progress of the Plan. We would also welcome anyone who would like to become a member of the NP Steering Group.

The production of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan is progressing well. After the successful and well-attended exhibitions earlier in the year at the Orpen Hall more completed questionnaires were sent in by hand or on the web.

Over the summer period the NP Steering Group has completed analysing all the questionnaire responses and the results will shortly be available on this web site.

Sub-groups of the Steering Group have now been formed to write a narrative of the questionnaire results in all the categories for the Plan.  You can follow news related to the Neighbourhood Plan by using the Facebook Group or checking our news page periodically which will include PC meetings where the Neighbourhood Plan has been discussed.

For further information please check the links below or contact:- Chris Stevenson (NP chairperson) 241708.

Neighbourly Smiles

Neighbours are asked to smile as part of social experiment in UK communities

Jay Crawford - took part in the smile experiment
Jay Crawford, one of the residents of Lingard Road, Manchester, who took part in a social experiment designed to strengthen residents’ links with their neighbours.

The Essex Police Neighbourhood Watch Liaison regularly issues reports and advice which are reported once a month on this site in the monthly crime update – this item we have received seems too novel and interesting to leave to the month-end compilation – enjoy and,don’t forget, SMILE:-

Do you smile at the people next door, pat their cats and dogs, take out their bins or know their names? If so, you are very much in a minority, as British people have been revealed as a reserved lot who don’t know their neighbours.

According to new research, one in 10 UK residents can’t name a single one of their neighbours, while less than a fifth of people know the names of even their immediate neighbours. But they would like to: almost two-thirds (65%) of people say their neighbourhood would be a “stronger” and safer place if people were encouraged to get to know each other better.

In a survey and a follow-up social experiment carried out to mark the 50th anniversary of the Neighbourhood Watch network, people were questioned about their connection with their local community. Less than a quarter of those surveyed said they felt a sense of belonging, but there was a clear sense of craving for neighbourly contact.

Neighbourhood Watch carried out the study with price comparison website comparethemarket.com.  Then, taking one ordinary street, a social anthropologist was drafted in to work with a selected number of residents to get them to let go of their British inhibitions and reach out to the people they lived alongside.

In the month-long experiment, the participants – who all lived on suburban Lingard Road in Manchester – were asked to keep a diary of how they got on. Five households had strict instructions to smile at people in the street and offer help where they could, and to try to strike up conversations. Although several reported “strange looks” and some initial reserve, by the end of the four weeks all the Lingard Road participants reported success.

I’ve really seen a difference. People I’ve never met before have been a bit more sociable and said hello on several occasions. The study has been useful and really proven that we are a nice little street with a small community,

… said Jay Crawford, who had lived in the area for 24 years without plucking up the courage to talk to anyone, but now is delighted to be running a bin rota with his new friendly neighbours.

Social anthropologist Kate Fox, director at the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford, said the experiment tapped in to a very real desire to be part of a community.

“The activity confirms my own findings that the English or British reserve stereotype is misleading,”

she said.

We are not reserved in the sense of introverted or misanthropic or unsociable: we are social animals just like all other humans, and have the same need for a sense of community and belonging. We are just a bit more socially awkward than other nations – and have stricter unwritten rules about privacy, not talking to strangers, and that kind of thing.

So we need more props and facilitators – pubs, clubs, pets, sports, games, weather-talk, alcohol, internet – to break the ice and get us interacting with each other.

Fox believes only the smallest “nudge” is needed to get people building a better neighbourhood.

The experiment shows even very small gestures, saying hello, can have a significant positive effect on a neighbourhood.

Unfinished Business – a ‘whodunnit comedy farce’

Unfinished Business – a ‘whodunnit comedy farce’

whodunnitThe Orpen Players present The World Premier of a ‘whodunnit comedy farce’ Unfinished Business by local playwright David Wenden.

Directed by Andrew Bott.

Who killed the policeman? Who killed the treasure seeker? A stormy night, a lonely cottage and a sweet little old lady are the ingredients for this wickedly funny spoof ‘whodunnit’!

Performance dates

  • Thur  24th October 2013     8pm     £6
  • Fri     25th October 2013.    8pm     £7
  • Sat    26th October 2013     8pm     £7
Doors open 30 minutes before performance.

Venue: The Orpen Memorial Hall, West Bergholt.

Tickets available NOW online at www.orpenplayers.co.uk  or by calling Roger Milne 01206 241048 also available at Ash’s Store West Bergholt from 12th October.

New!!  Special offer for Supper & a Show

Supper & Show in conjunction with The Treble Tile of West Bergholt – £20 buys you a show ticket and supper from special menu – for details contact The Treble Tile 01206 241712 www.thetrebletile.co.uk.

Talking Heads – Orpen Players new production

Alan Bennett's Talking HeadsAlan Bennett sealed his reputation as the master of observation with a series of ground breaking monologues originally filmed for BBC Television. Darkly Comic, tragically poignant and wonderfully uplifting. Talking Heads is widely regarded as a modern classic.

The Orpen Players have transformed Talking Heads from just a monologue to an acting form taking three of Bennett’s plays A Lady of Letters, A Chip in the Sugar and Bed Among the Lentils onto the stage at the Orpen Hall, West Bergholt.

Talking Heads places Alan Bennett in the highest tier of English dramatic writers

New York Times

Bennett’s genius is his ability to satirize humanely, his prose is like stained glass: if you star at it, you see things you missed

New York Times Book Review

It’s hardly a revelation to say that Alan Bennett has proved himself a master of modern dramatic monologue… One of the finest dramatic achievements of the past decades

The Scotsman

Talking Heads is being performed at the Orpen Hall on Thursday 9th, Friday 10th & Saturday 11th may with doors opening at 7:30pm for performance start at 8pm.  Tickets are £6 on Thursday, £7 Friday & Saturday (children £5 all performances) and are available now:

The show is being produced by arrangement with Samuel French Ltd.

Seniors Lunch in St Mary’s Church Hall 19 January 2013

Roast TurkeyThirty-two hardy soles braved the winter snows this Saturday to sit down and enjoy Roast Turkey, stuffing, chipolata, roast potatoes, mixed veg and gravy followed by choice of Crumble, Treacle  or Minced tart & Custard, Coffee and After Eight Mints, all served by the “Friends of St Mary’s Church” .

Thanks to our helpers and people who supplied the Desserts and don’t forget to look out for our next quarterly get together.

Murray Harlow & Kate Penrose

Village Bulletin Online


This quarterly publication is now available to read online along with many archive copies. Find out more about what First Responders have been up to, how residents can benefit from faster broadband and much more of local interest. Click on the following link www.westbergholt.net/village_bulletin.htm.

This material has been developed for the West Bergholt Village Website at http://www.westbergholt.net

Orpen Players – Autumn Production

The autumn production is Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward with director, Tony Saitta who is chair of the Headgate Theatre. Performances are Thursday 25/26/27 October. Doors open 7.30pm with curtain up at 8pm. Tickets £4.50 on Thursday £5 Friday and Saturday can be purchased from Ash’s Shop, Colchester Road from Saturday 13 October or contact Roger Milne on 01206 241048.

This material has been developed for the West Bergholt Village Website at http://www.westbergholt.net

Neighbourhood Policing

The local Neighbourhood Watch group have long campaigned for a greater presence of police around the village since only with such a presence are criminals, vandals and others exhibiting anti-social behaviour likely to be deterred. Indeed they consider the dedicated police officer to be the kingpin of Neighbourhood Policing.

The most recent initiative to come from Essex Police would involve the manning of local police stations by local volunteers which would have the effect of allowing uniformed officers to spend more time on the streets.

Is this a good or a bad thing? Do police stations need be manned to establish a presence in any event? Are there not better ways to contact local police when you need them?

If you have strong feelings on this subject why not contact the local neighbourhood watch group. You can find out more about them and their contact details here.

This material has been developed for the West Bergholt Village Website at http://www.westbergholt.net

Christian Aid Fundraiser


A Christian Aid tea held at The Grays in the village recently raised £206.75p. The money will be used to help poor people around the world.

This material has been developed for the West Bergholt Village Website at http://www.westbergholt.net

First Responders

First responders are having a recruitment drive this Saturday in the premises of the Co-op supermarket in Chapel Road from 9am to 2pm. Anyone interested can come along for a chat and receive further information or contact co-ordinator Annie Neish on 01206 240469.

This material has been developed for the West Bergholt Village Website at http://www.westbergholt.net
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