2023 FUN WALK - TOMORROW WE LAUNCH OUR SEPTEMBER EVENT IN BILLERICAY - FRIDAY 1 SEPTEMBER

The countdown has begun! Tomorrow - September 1, is the start of the 2023 Fun Walk event. Seventy local charities and community groups have registered and over 2,000 supporters are expected to complete their sponsored walks during September.

There is still time to register a group or organisation via the Fun Walk Trust website: www.thefunwalktrust.co.uk. Supporters can raise money for any local charity or community group by completing a 5km walk during September and asking their friends and family to sponsor them.

The Fun Walk Trust helps charities, local schools and churches, grass roots sports teams and other community groups raise funds for their projects and initiatives.

The Fun Walk team recently visited Anisha Grange Care Home in Billericay to launch the event and to thank the staff there for being long-term supporters of the Fun Walk. Over £25,000 has now been donated to the 2023 Bonus pot, which will not only help participating organisations directly but also acts as a real incentive for their supporters to take part.

John Baron MP and Chair of the Fun Walk Trustees said:

“We remain truly grateful to the local businesses who have chosen to support the local community through a donation to this year’s Fun Walk Bonus Pot. They include Swan Housing, IFE Global Logistics, Greater Anglia, Anisha Grange Care Home, Butyl Products Group, Tunnelcraft, Mr Barrie Stone and others.

We look forward to seeing and sharing all the photos of people taking part.”

SKYWATCHERS - DID YOU SEE THE BLUE MOON?

I am wondering how many people turned out in the south-east of England to witness the expected blue moon this morning? Around 4.00am. The experts have told us that this super Blue Moon was the final one of its kind until 2037, according to Old Farmer's Almanac and will be the last Blue Moon for many years according to 'Earth Sky'. 

Fascinating information which I am sure Jules Cashford, the superb author of The Moon - Myth and Image could assist. Loved meeting Jules in London twenty years ago at the Folklore Society's special celebration and delighted when she presented me with a copy of this amazing book.  

MEMORIES OF FORMER FOOTBALLERS - THE GIRLS BRIGADE OF COURSE - COURTESY OF STERLING

Currently, we are still awash with the wonderful success of our Lionesses and hopefully I will be interviewing one or two over the next few months.  

For many years, I've been interested in the history of women's football and now there are numerous books and articles on this topic. I've discovered that in the UK at the time of the Great War, there were more than 150 women's football teams linked to large firms and organisations.   

In England, the first recorded game of football between women took place in 1895. A documented European team was founded by activist Nettie Honeyball in England in 1894. It was named the British Ladies' Football Club. In one of my books I've mentioned a little about the football clubs belonging to large companies in Essex. One, in particular was started in the Sterling Works at Dagenham. Here we have the famous team in 1917 and more information can be found in East-side Community Heritage website. 

1894 was also the year that our very own Society of Women Journalists (later including 'writers') was founded (by a wonderful gentleman Joseph Snell Wood, then MD of The Gentlewoman Magazine. The whole story can be read at www.swwj.co.uk.   More information can be found in East-side Community Heritage website which is a brilliant place to learn about Barking & Dagenham history (and my book BARKING & DAGENHAM FROM OLD PHOTOGRAPHS published by Amberley Press/

BROADCASTER AND DOYEN OF CHAT SHOWS - SIR MICHAEL PARKINSON DIES TODAY

Today, Sir Michael Parkinson died at the age of 88. Known as one of the UK's popular interviewers, his chat show hosted some of the biggest stars of the twentieth century, including John Lennon, David Bowie, Muhammad Ali and dozens of the world's best known celebrities.  Yes, I remember many of the shows including the edition when he was wrestled to the ground by the comic Rod Hull and his ghastly puppet Emu. Found this hilarious! Some years back - November 2008 - I was asked by one of my newspaper column editors to meet Sir Michael in our Chelmsford bookstore Waterstones when he was signing his memoir.  Although renowned as a non-stop conversationalist, he was rather quiet on that occasion. Maybe he had glimpsed the long queue behind me!  Anyway, as usual, I was able to snap him during the signing-session.  He will be sadly missed!

MY FASCINATION WITH CHELMSFORD'S FAMOUS STATUE OVER THE CENTURIES

 

MOVING STATUES

With thanks to Chelmsford Weekly News

If buildings could talk, what fascinating tales would emanate from Chelmsford’s Shire Hall. More imaginatively, what could the lovely Naiad – or water nymph - whose presence graced the foyer (until rebuilding began), tell us about her 232 years’ existence in the town.

John Johnson, County Surveyor of Essex was the man who designed and laid the foundation stone for the Shire Hall in 1789. Construction took two years and Johnson found time to create the Naiad from Coade Stone to stand in front of the Hall. When she was unveiled in 1791, she resembled a veritable Amazon - six feet tall – leaning on a shield on a cylinder decorated with four dolphins. The pillar on which she stood was five-foot high. Water poured from the mouths of the quartet of lions at the statue base. Burgess’s well (now under Fairfield carpark) which fed the lions had been sunk by the Friars during the Middle Ages and released water in an open channel down the High Street. The weekly market which was had been held in Tindal Square for centuries, benefited from the constant waterflow.

In 1814, Naiad was moved from Tindal Square to Springfield. The Conduit, a domed stone rotunda, took her place. In 1852, the Conduit was moved to the corner of High Street and Springfield Road. It stayed there for almost 90 years, then being a traffic hazard, was moved unceremoniously in 1940 to Tower Gardens where it remains.

But where was the Chelmsford Naiad? It’s a long story, but suffice to say that in the 1960s she was located and donated to the Borough Council who placed her on display in the Chelmsford and Essex museum at Oaklands Park. Finally, in 1980, she returned to the Shire Hall. Here she stands today – minus her shield, part of her arms and a portion of her nose, but nevertheless - still beautiful.

The Shire Hall has flourished for over two centuries. It was built on the site of the old Sessions House which had been the seat of the Assizes and Justices (Le Tolhouse) since the 13th century. During its construction, the ancient courthouses were retained to allow the sessions to continue. Shire Hall, with its three storeys, five bays with three arched entrances were faced in Portland stone. Coade stone was used to create the panels showing Justice, Wisdom and Mercy, and are still there above the three windows. The Courtrooms, huge ballroom and furnishings were paid for by public subscription with a £20 contribution from the Lady of the Manor, Ann Mildmay.

The Shire Hall has been pivotal in all aspects of our county town (now city), and it is fitting that our Naiad statue has returned safely home, but what now will be its future? 

8 AUGUST - INTERNATIONAL CAT DAY! HAPPY TO ENDORSE JENNI ELLIOTT'S FABULOUS HAND-MADE FELINE-THEMED GIFTS

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KittyKentHandmade 

RESEARCHING BRENTWOOD ESSEX FOR OUR FRIENDS IN BRENTWOOD USA

 

Have just been researching more about Brentwood's most favourite places in the Borough. This image is one of my favourites, the Shenfield mill pond  snapped in 1905. 

A more modern view of the Shenfield mill pond circa 2023. Lots more about this busy town within my latest book BRENTWOOD IN 50 BUILDINGS published by Amberley Books, available from Amazon and all good bookshops.

ENTERING AUGUST AND WELCOMING THE HARVEST

 FOLKLORE MEMORIES

HAPPY LAMMAS!   Today - the first of August - was and perhaps still is, one of the most important to farmers in Europe. 

Seeds sown in spring are the link between hope and fulfilment for the farmer, and because of the importance of good harvests for the very existence of human life, superstition invariably governed every aspect of the agricultural year.  As the year proceeds and the sun enters its old age – the golden months of autumn - the warmth of summer lingers a little longer. The ripening grains are followed by the eagerly anticipated fruits and vegetables.  This is the perfect time to give thanks to the earth for its bounty and beauty, 

 Old beliefs and superstition about country lore, taboos and rituals are deeply embodied in subconscious farming folk memory; origins often forgotten, but they still linger as part of the collective wisdom of agricultural communities. 

Traditionally, Lammas Day signalled the start of the harvest season, the time when the first crops were gathered.  In many countries, a similar tradition took place at this time. On the Jewish spring holiday of Hag Habikurim (first fruits), also known as Shauvuot, farmers brought the first sheaves to the priest as a thanksgiving offering to God.  With grain stores running low, the start of a successful harvest season was eagerly anticipated.

Throughout much of Europe, Lammas-tide was also a traditional time of year for craft festivals and still is today in many British communities.  The medieval guilds would create elaborate displays of their wares, decorating their shops and themselves in bright colours and ribbons, marching in parades and performing ceremonial plays and dances for the entranced onlookers. In America, the small town or country fair echoes the Lammas tradition. Their agricultural competitions and midway games resemble the ancient European festivals at which people gathered to pay homage to the land and the fruits of their labour. 

With the advent of Christianity in Britain, pagan rituals were officially replaced by church services or masses in which the first harvested grains were milled and baked into loaves of bread, taken to church, blessed and then offered as thanksgiving to God. Lammas Day itself was a Christian holy day in Britain from Saxon until medieval times.  Bread from the first harvest was blessed in a church ceremony known as the “loaf mass”.  It was then shared among the congregation, as a symbol of communal thanks for a successful harvest.  “Lammas” derives from the Old English ‘half loaf’, and ‘maesse’ meaning a feast. So everyone - HAPPY LAMMAS DAY! More information within my book FOLKLORE OF ESSEX via The History Press and on Amazon.