Community, Parish Council & Village
The Premises & Recreation Sub-Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 6th February when, among other items, they discussed Health & Safety, general facility amenities, equipment and repairs, Hire Charges, Football Clubs and Orpen & John Lampon Halls Toilets. Continue reading “Premises & Recreation – 6th February 2017”
The first meeting of the New Year took place in the Orpen Hall on January 10th. The guest speaker was Alan Skinner, former Principal of Grey Friars Adult Education College.
Alan’s talk was about the history of Grey Friars, or more precisely the area where it is located in the northeast corner of the old Roman town. It is difficult to ascertain exactly what was there during the Roman and Norman periods but between the 13th and the 16th century the site was occupied by Franciscan Monks, the Grey Friars, until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538.
The buildings remained in a poor state of repair. They were much damaged one hundred years later in the Civil War and Royalist prisoners of war were detained there after the siege. In Georgian times the area became very desirable and several large houses were built close by – Hollytrees, East Hill House, The Minories. The building which is now the centre part of Grey Friars was built around 1750.
The building changed hands several times and in 1829 the area where Roman and Castle Roads are now was leased to the Colchester Botanical Society to make into a Botanical Garden. This initially proved popular with the rich and fashionable although by the 1850s the garden had fallen from favour and was sold off for housing and would eventually become Castle Road and Roman Road.
The Grey Friars house, much extended, continued as a private residence until 1903 when it was purchased by a group of French Nuns. They converted it into a boarding school for gentlemen’s daughters. The Nuns sold Grey Friars to Essex County Council in 1920 when it was used to house part of the County High School for Girls. They stayed there until the 1950s when they moved to their current premises in Norman Way. Grey Friars was then used at different times as temporary accommodation for Monkwick and Phillip Morant Schools, and the Technical College, now Colchester Institute. In 1965 the building became an Adult Education College until being sold in 2008 for conversion into a luxury hotel, which opened in 2014.
Alan Skinner’s talk was very well received and many of the members of the audience had their own fond memories of Grey Friars.
From time to time the Secretary receives enquiries from people studying their family history. A recent enquiry from Kiern Pettican, who lives in Kent, is seeking to trace the graves of her great-great-grandparents William Pettican 1848-1912 and Sarah Rebecca Pettican 1853-1921. They married in the old church in 1869 and were living in Old Church Lane in 1881. Searches of the churchyards have been unsuccessful. She would also be interested in copies of any photographs of Old Church Lane from the period.
If any reader can help please get in touch with Gill Poole 01206 240512.
Meetings start at 7.30. Members £1 – Visitors welcome £3. Find out more here.
L-R Rachel Hopkins (teacher – Heathlands), Jeremy Hallam (headteacher – Heathlands), Aaron Monks (winner – age 9), Cllr Anne Brown (Essex County Councillor), John Gili-Ross (Parish Council – Chair of Environment), Mrs Monks (Aaron’s Mum), Murray Harlow (Parish Council – Communications), Harry Stone (Parish Council – Vice Chair & Transport Rep), Chris Stevenson (Chairman Parish Council)
Improving traffic safety in our villages and schools can take some time but West Bergholt Parish Council has shown it is worth the effort. Over a three-year period the village produced and introduced a Traffic Safety Plan. It did this working in partnership with Essex County Council, Heathlands primary school and village residents.
A series of road safety measures were agreed and Continue reading “20’s Plenty Near Heathlands”
New primary school places?You have until 31st January to share your views online about proposals to create 1,085 new primary school places across five existing Colchester schools from September 2018. All five projects would involve new teaching blocks, enhanced external areas for outdoor PE and play spaces, and increased car parking.
West Bergholt falls into the Colchester north and rural northeast zone where the following is forecast: Continue reading “New primary school places?”
Industrial Archaeology
The next WEA course is entitled “Industrial Archaeology” and it starts on Tuesday 10th January 2017 at 8pm.
Whilst the Industrial Revolution shaped Tyneside, the Black Country and the south Pennines, it also changed East Anglia’s landscape. Learn how the traditional crafts became mechanised, factory-based, industries, and discover their legacy. Our tutor is Steven Worsley.
This course will explain the importance of the industrialisation of Britain and will assist students in interpreting and recognising the surviving remains and artefacts. Eastern Counties industries discussed:
The course is taking place at the Methodist Hall Chapel Lane, West Bergholt. CO6 3EF and costs £47.25 over 9 weeks. You can pay in one of 3 ways:
If you decide the course is not for you, you can ask for a refund. There may be a fee waiver for those on low income/benefits.
ALL ARE VERY WELCOME
Contact Gill on 01206 240512 if you would like more details.
Responding to concerns about traffic related safety issues in the village, the Parish Council has helped to form a group whose brief is to explore ways of addressing these concerns. This group consists of Parish Councillors, Borough Councillors and residents who want to help bring about improvements; since September it has met three times.
As a starting point, the Village Safety Plan of 2012, which led to changes in New Church Road, has been revisited. As then, no single measure will solve all our problems, and so an approach, which is termed the 5 Es, is being followed.
All need careful thought and cooperation to achieve, with 4E and 5E being most difficult and needing most time; however we have made a start.
On 25th February in the Orpen Hall a safety promotional event is being planned and will be advertised fully in the New Year, so please look out for details and make every effort to attend.
Following increased activity on Facebook about 30 residents have already downloaded an App called Trygve. This gives you the chance to report incidents, with photographs if appropriate, and will:
That being so, if you feel able, please sign up to join those already giving their support using this link.
The team are also establishing good communications with the School, hence parents, and there are plans to engage other key players such as the Coop.
If you have ideas to help, or would like more information, please contact the group through the Parish Clerk, Laura Walkinshaw, on 240772 or [email protected].
Harry Stone
(Vice Chair of Parish Council)
The band have already been very busy around the village this autumn, holding an open rehearsal at Heathlands in September and a primary school workshop (again at Heathlands) in October. Coming up as well we have a concert in the Church of St Mary in November, and of course we’ll be playing for the village Remembrance Service.
Surprisingly the workshop was the first one we’ve held at Heathlands, as historically the school musicians were encouraged to join the band by its founder Sid Cooper who taught music there. These days our approach to maintaining a wide range of ages in the band is to hold regular primary school workshops, which have proven to be an incredibly popular and fun way for us to encourage tomorrow’s musicians. We were delighted to see so many players from Heathlands join us for the workshop and perform a wonderful “mini concert” at the end of it, and to see such enthusiasm for music at the school. The final word goes to somebody at the workshop…
The band made everyone feel very welcome indeed – what a fun afternoon!
At the time of writing this, we’re looking forward to performing our “1966 And All That” concert in the village. This will be our first concert on home turf for a couple of years. This time we’ll be raising money for Children In Need to add to the £35,000 that we’ve raised for local & national charities since we started recording the amounts a dozen years ago. That amount includes:
As always we’ll end the year with a concert featuring the wonderful music of Christmas. This year we are at the beautiful St Peter ad Vincula Church in Coggeshall again on Saturday 10th December at 7:30pm. The concert will include music from Vaughan-Williams, Irving Berlin, Leroy Anderson (Sleigh Ride), The Beach Boys (Little Saint Nick) and many others. We’ll also be performing a selection of carols, some to sing to, and some beautiful arrangements that are perfect for listening to. We hope you’ll join us for a lovely evening of festive music in a lovely setting.
As always, details on all of our events are available on the band website www.wbcb.org. New players of any age are always welcome to come along on Friday evenings at Heathlands School, or our next Open Rehearsal on 20th January. We look forward to seeing you at our Christmas Concert, and we wish you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.
Free Fun Music Day with Concert BandWest Bergholt Concert Band are offering a FREE Fun Music Day for developing Brass & Woodwind players. Taking place at Heathlands School on Saturday 8th October there are two sessions: Continue reading “Free Fun Music Day with Concert Band”
Taking place on Saturday 5th November, The 24th Heathlands Fireworks display will definitely go with a bang. With the gate opening at 5pm, tickets on the night (if left) will cost £7.50 for adults and £5 for children. Advance purchase is posisble from Monday 17th October until 2pm on the day at discounted prices of Continue reading “24th Heathlands Fireworks”
Concert Band to hold Open RehearsalThis Friday, 23rd September, West Bergholt Concert Band is holding an open rehearsal, opening its doors to new members, giving them a chance to enjoy a FREE night of band playing Continue reading “Concert Band to hold Open Rehearsal”