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Vocal Zone Singers

Changes at Vocal Zone

Vocal Zone Singers

At the start of this year Vocal Zones Choir decided to start a review of the choir and have implemented some changes; both the committee and the membership have been engaged in this process. They are pleased to announce a new name as one of the changes; they will now be known as Vocal Zone Singers.  Members & the Committee feel that this name better represents the ethos of the group. They are not a formal choir; but simply a group of people who enjoy singing and like to meet together in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The singers are all excited by the new direction the committee and membership wants to take their singing group.

Vocal Zones Singers in ealry 2025

They hope that this new photo better reflects the upbeat, friendly and sunny disposition of the group.

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St Mary’s News – The May Day or Mayday Edition

St Mary’s News – May Day or Mayday?

This month’s news starts with Revd Heather’s May Day message.  Following this, you can find out about events including:

May Blossom for May Day

… the usual listings of services contacts.

May Day versus Mayday

Revd Heather’s message this month:

An AI generated image of Maypole Dancers.

May begins and ends with a bank holiday, which is always rather nice, and with the spring well established now, and as we look towards the summer, we might hope that the bank holidays won’t disappoint us and will produce some good weather, perhaps even giving us the opportunity for a BBQ or family picnic.

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VE-Day 80

VE-Day 80th Anniversary

VE Day Celebrations

80 years ago on 8th May earlier generations celebrated the end of war in Europe, or VE-Day as it was dubbed.  As BBC Radio, and the Newspapers, announced the news, workers left their buildings to join in ad hoc celebrations in the street.  Later they would organise street parties as well.

In that spirit of celebration, whilst at the same time commemorating the losses, West Bergholt PC are joining many others in organising (free) events on this date.

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Elizabethan Witch, Romans & Concerts

Elizabethan Witches, Roman Colchester & Concerts

Elizabethan Woman in front of a crowd (AI generated)

The following free events are being hosted by the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church in 2025.

  • Sunday 11 May – Talk by local historian John Worland on ‘The First Elizabethan Witch Trial’. 2.30pm – free refreshments
  • Sunday 8 June – Talk by Adam Wightman, Director of Colchester Archaeological Trust on ‘The Former Essex County Hospital Site’’. 2.30pm – free refreshments
  • Sunday 6 July – Resonate Choir Concert – 4pm-5pm – free refreshments
  • Sunday 20 July – Summer Songs of Praise Service – 2.30pm – free refreshments
  • Sunday 30 November – Mulled Wine & Mince Pies with the Octavia Singers – 11am-1pm.
    This event is also an opportunity to register or reregister as a Friend of St. Mary’s Old Church
  • Sunday 21 December – Candlelit Carol Service

As usual everyone is welcome, there’s free parking and free refreshments including a glass of prosecco.  Entry to all events is free but the Friends welcome any donations made on the day (cash or card). This will support the ongoing upkeep of the beautiful 1000-year-old church. We look forward to welcoming you there. For more information, or if you wish to tell us you’re coming, please email [email protected].

At both of the following events there will also be an opportunity for a Q&A session.

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Winter Bird, Spring Flowers & Dawn Chorus

Upcoming Guided Walks & Winter Bird Report

Nightingale not one for the Winter Bird walk but possibly for the Dawn Chorus
Nightingale

Following the Winter Bird walk, Steve Hallam will be leading two guided walks in the coming weeks:

  • Spring Flower Walk – starting from St Mary’s Old Church at 2 pm on 26th April, &
  • Dawn Chorus, also from St Mary’s Old Church at the somewhat earlier time of 3:45 am on 10th May. This walk affords the opportunity to see Nightingales and many other brilliant dawn choristers.  For this walk you should bring warm clothing, stout footwear, a flask of hot drink and a torch. 

The links above are to reports from previous walks. We recommend you wear strong boots or wellies since you may well need to walk through long wet grass!

The Friends of Hillhouse Wood is a group of local residents who work with The Woodland Trust to look after this beautiful remnant of ancient woodland. You will also be able to see them at the Village Fete on Saturday 14th June.

Winter Bird Walk 2025

One aspect of observing nature that makes it so compelling is that you never know what you will see and hear. Will it surpass expectations, or disappoint? As mentioned in previous years, this winter bird walk is the one that has the potential to provide ‘thin gruel’. Over the years there seems to be reduced numbers of over wintering birds in this area, especially earlier on in the season. This is why the date of the walk has moved back by a few weeks.

Unduly Pessimistic

This year, I had done some preparatory surveys in the days before the walk, and had seen relatively little.  Nevertheless, 14 people came along, which was very pleasing.  I thought that I should ‘manage expectations’ but, as it turned out, I was being unduly pessimistic.

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St Mary’s News – The Touch Wood Edition

St Mary’s News –Touch Wood for Good Luck

Happy Easter

This month’s news starts with Revd Anne’s (farewell) themed on the call for good luck – “Touch Wood”.  Following this, you can find out about events including:

… the usual listings of services & contacts.

Message from Rev Anne Mason

‘Touch wood’

“April showers bring May flowers” 🥀 is a saying we may have heard, and it is usually true. The wet, dreary weather we tend to experience in early spring gives way to a beautiful array of flowers in vibrant colours as time passes. The flowers bloom, or vegetables and trees bear fruit later in the season, because of the rain that falls on them – or in very dry periods the water that we give them.

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Volunteer of the Year Award 2025

The West Bergholt Volunteer of the Year 2024/25 Award!

Volunteer image for decoration

Do you know a volunteer who deserves to be celebrated for their outstanding contribution to West Bergholt?

Whether they’ve

  • spearheaded a local community project,
  • organised impactful events,
  • raised charitable funds, or
  • been a supportive mentor through their volunteer work,

… we want to hear about them.

Nominees must reside in West Bergholt or have carried out their volunteer work within the community.  Age is no barrier – we welcome nominations for volunteers of all ages! Form & details are below.

Last Years’ Winner

Announcing the result at the Annual Parish Meeting, Cllr Butcher noted that having had a number of nominations to be the recipients for this year’s award one person stood out:

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Environment & Highways – 13th March 2025

The Environment & Highways Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 13th March 2025 with topics including:

Queen's Head pond
Pond
  • Handymen’s Report including:
    • Barley straw to be placed in ponds,
    • New hedging at the corner of Armoury Road,
  • Replacing the dead Oak Tree on Poors Land,
  • Planning for the VE Day 80 commemoration,
  • With future discussions to be had on:
    • Playground Inspections, and
    • A Dog by-law.

Read the official minutes below.   

Environment & Highways Committee Minutes

Meeting held on Thurs 13th March 2025 at 4.30pm in SC Mtg Rm

Members present:David Short (DS) Katie Pulford (KP), Bill Pigeon (BP) Harry Stone (HS), Manya Barrow (MB) present and John Gili-Ross (JGR) remotely. 
Also present:0 members of the public
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St Mary’s News – The Spring Cleaning Edition

St Mary’s News – Spiritual Spring Cleaning

Daffodils

This month’s news starts with Revd Heathers Message on Spring Cleaning.  Following this you can find out about events including:

… the usual listings of services and contacts.

 Message from Rev Heather Wilcox

Time for a spring clean?

As the days are drawing out, and there is a sense that spring in the air, it seems to awaken the need to do a bit of a spring clean, even in the Rectory. Don’t get me wrong, I am not particularly house proud, and any cleaning would be a bonus most of the time, but in the spring, I seem to suddenly find myself wanting to organise even the most disorganised cupboards. 

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Community Energy Event

Community Energy Event – Join in & save!

Community Energy Event Flyer

The Climate Working Party is organising organising a Community Energy Event in the Orpen Hall on the 12th March. This is to help others in the village start out on the road the Parish Council has been treading with the Orpen Memorial Hall Complex. You can read more about this on our Climate Emergency best practice webpage.

The event will start at 7pm when you can mingle and pick up refreshments before the presentations begin at 7.30pm. Cllr. Andrew Savage, chair of the Climate Working Party, will open the meeting and we then expect each speaker to talk for about 20 minutes. With a Q&A opportunity afterwards, we expect the event to finish round 9pm.

Speakers

Free Home Energy Assessment poster
  • Alex Templeton (Community Infrastructure Group) to discuss the Essex Pay As You Go energy scheme which involves solar & battery projects.
  • Darran Ford, Carbon Reduction Director at Simcott Renewables, on installing solar PV on your roof with a Pay As You Go scheme.
  • Ben Plummer, CCC Climate Emergency Officer, on local government grants & initiatives available.
  • Christopher Blomeley from Community Energy Colchester on home energy assessments (see image to the right). He has also produced a number of self-help YouTube videos.

Also, attending and manning an advice table will be Kerry Hackett – Session Supervisor and Energy Adviser from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau. Money-saving leaflets from Anglian Water will also be available.