IT’S as traditional as a school harvest festival and just as jolly. That is Martin Newell’s Golden Afternoon, which is due to take place at the Colchester Arts Centre this weekend. The country’s most published poet is never one to rest
IF there is one thing this community group of artists is not, it’s slackers. Slack Space was set up earlier this year to use empty shop space to promote locals arts and that’s what they have done with one shop in Long Wyre Street, Colchester. Following
IT’S retro all the way in Braintree this weekend. If you want soul, then there will be no better place to pitch up than Towerlands Park. The Rock’n’Soul Weekender, run by Sible Hedingham independent record label Pink’n’ Black Records, will feature
THE county wide Essex Undiscovered competition is hotting up with the latest heat at Witham’s Spring Lodge Community Centre showcasing five top local bands. By its very nature, a competition will throw the spotlight on to every weakness and imperfection
FOLK legends Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick will be the next high-profile guests of the Colchester Folk Club. It proves the club, based at the Colchester Arts Centre, has no problem in attracting big names, as Martin and Dave are two giants of the
Northamptonshire fell just short of 300 after being put in to bat by Essex in the County Championship Division Two promotion clash at Chelmsford. The visitors, dismissed for 299, were sustained by all-rounder Andrew Hall who struck a splendid 85 to leave
COLCHESTER scientists have made a breakthrough which could pave the way for a new breast cancer treatment. Essex University academic Dr Elena Klenova worked with Adhip Mandal, a researcher at Colchester General Hospital, to study a protein
COUNCILLORS who approved Colchester’s proposed new courthouse should be named and shamed on a plaque, the town’s MP has said. Bob Russell said views from the town centre would be des-troyed by the complex, set to be built at St Botolph’s. It has been
POLICE swooped on a petrol station to smash what is believed to be an alleged credit card cloning ring. About 20 officers, backed up by the force’s mobile support unit, were involved in the operation at the Shell garage on the A133 at Little
PUBLICANS have forced Colchester’s MP to defend his support for the smoking ban. A group of landlords met the MP yesterday to tell they fear the ban is killing the pub trade. Licensees told Mr Russell they wanted a change in the law to allow individual
A TEAM of Colchester Army chefs is planning to commemorate a Second World War battle by running 108 miles from Colchester to Holland. A dozen cooks from 16 Air Assault Brigade are to run for four days, ending up at Arnhem, the site of the famous Allied
COUNCIL flats in Rowhedge could be the first in the borough to get a hi-tech, energy-saving lighting system. Solar panels driving energy-saving LED lights, with battery backup could be put into stairwells and communal areas at the Rowhedge flats, if
Colchester United have signed Barnsley striker Kayode Odejayi on loan. The 27-year-old Nigerian has signed for the U's on a temporary basis, after agreeing a move from Oakwell. Odejayi joined Barnsley for £200,000 in May 2007 from Cheltenham
A CAT was shot in the chest and used as a football in a sickening attack. TC, short for TopCat, was found barely alive in the corner of a communal lawn outside homes in Parkside Quarter, Colchester. His broken body was beside railings and was so badly
WHEN Sue Bishop’s policeman husband was shot dead in the line of duty, it was the first such fatality in Britain since the Twenties. Such terrible events, while still not commonplace, happen more often these days and professional help is more readily
A STUDENT has overcome a mental health condition to win the Scout movement’s highest honour. Tiffany Golding, of St Mark Drive, St John’s, Colchester, is the only person with Asperger syndrome, in Essex, to have received the Queen’s Scout Award. To
THE group aiming to build an £8million vocational centre in Maldon says it will reapply for planning permission. The first bid by Blackwater Vocational Project, which includes Colchester Institute and Tiptree’s Thurstable School, was refused by Maldon
A TOTAL of £1.67million of taxpayers’ cash was spent on plans for a dual carriageway on the A120, which were later scrapped. Community leaders branded the figure, released to the Gazette under the Freedom of Information Act, as a waste of public money
TWENTY-five years after her policeman husband was gunned down by a robber, Sue Bishop says a day never passes when he is not in her thoughts. Acting Sgt Brian “Bill” Bishop was shot by an armed raider in 1984 and died five days later. Yet Sue – herself
POLICE have promised to clamp down on drug taking and fights in in a Witham street, in response to complaints from residents. Householders in Guithavon Street, Witham, say they have beenplagued by yobs urinating in the street and snorting cocaine
SHE’S been spat at, verbally abused – and was once nearly run over. But it’s all in a day’s work for a civil enforcement officer, says Jacqueline. Jacqueline – she’s reluctant to see her full name in the papers – has been what most of us would probably
A MYSTERY “ghost bike” has appeared at the spot where a teenager was killed. Daniel Andrew died when his bicycle was hit by a car in Greenstead Road, Colchester, near the Tesco store in June 2008. An all-white bicycle has appeared at the scene, chained
A SCHOOL celebrated its 50th anniversary with a festival of events. The Alec Hunter Humanities College marked its milestone with music from live bands and a balloon launch. It also coincided with the start of an exhibition on the history of the school
I read in the Gazette about a Jane Williams, from Frinton, organising demonstrations outside the Great British Circus, that has come to Colchester. I would just like to say I took my grand-daughter to see one of its shows last year, and what
Once again the Wivenhoe Crabbing Competition was a wonderful community event and full marks go the the organisers for providing so much fun for so many people. But may we make a heartfelt plea for next year to all competitors and parents of
Jaywick vision so shortsighted WE are extremely disappointed by Lord Hanningfield’s plans for Jaywick, as the new chairman of the Jaywick Strategic Leadership Group. At one stroke, he has unravelled 18 months of painstaking work by his predecessor
The Colchester branch of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign would like to thank the people of Mersea, and their Bank Holiday visitors, for their generosity during our collection at Fiveways, Barfield Road, West Mersea on August 29. The total raised
COLCHESTER United coach Joe Dunne has said working with new manager Aidy Boothroyd has been a ‘phenomenal’ experience so far. Dunne, who led his U's reserves side to a convincing 4-0 win over Luton Town yesterday, has linked-up closely with new boss
I feel I must write about the traffic congestion in Colchester. Having just moved here from Hampshire, I am amazed at the lovely old buildings which do not appear to be tenderly treated. Once gone they cannot be replaced. Especially where I
Why, oh why, has permission been granted for the building of the monstrous new courthouse at St Botolph’s? How is the building in any way fitting or sympathetic to the surrounding Victorian architecture? The proposed building looks as though
New rail strike beggars belief I CANNOT believe there are to be more rail strikes. My husband travels to London every day to work. The strikers should think themselves lucky they have jobs at a time like this. I’m sure there are plenty of people
I refer to the letter (Postbag, September 7) by Peter Halliday, deputy leader of Conservative councillors on Tendring District Council. I am very concerned about the statement made that town twinning was all paid for by taxpayers. The function
We find it quite extraordinary that Essex County Council’s education portfolio holder, Stephen Castle, should suggest some Liberal Democrat councillors in Colchester “have worked with this (Essex County Council Tory) administration to deliver
With his comments in Wednesday’s Gazette, Conservative county councillor Stephen Castle insults all those people in Colchester who took part in what they were told was a genuine public consultation over proposals for secondary school reorganisation
HALSTEAD TOWN suffered penalty heartache when they were knocked out of the FA Cup on spot-kicks by Enfield 1893. Town drew 1-1 after extra-time with their Essex Senior League opponents in their first qualifying round replay, in front of a crowd of nearly
COLCHESTER Credit Union may be in line for a boost from the taxpayer. Essex County Council has announced funding for not-for-profit saving schemes, as part of a recession-busting package. So far, its only investment has been £170,000 in the Chelmsford-based
MONEY which could be spent on education will have to go towards repairing damage caused by vandals. About £4,000 damage was caused at Maldon’s Plume School, in Fambridge Road, after vandals climbed on to the roof and knocked down air conditioning units
VANDALS trashed equipment and stole children’s pumpkins during a wrecking spree at a pre-school. The culprits broke through fencing at Maldon Community Pre-School, in Wantz Chase, to access the playground. They ripped out and bent poles from the trampoline
TWO sisters were reunited with a former schoolfriend for the first time in four decades, in a chance meeting at an illness support group. Jenny Field, her sister Christine Scott and Sheila Blackburn, who attended Coggeshall Secondary School, met at the
A RETIRED insurance executive has become a world champion bridge player, after winning a tournament in Brazil. David Price has played the game professionally for many years and has won most of the UK’s top tournaments. He has represented England
VISITORS from far and wide came to the oldest Methodist church in Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire during its heritage open days. Manningtree Methodist Church, in South Street, was open from Thursday until Sunday, offering displays about the church’s
Thousands of spectators are expected by the river in Maldon on Saturday for a day of family entertainment and races at the town’s annual regatta. Live music, refreshments, children’s competitions, gifts, produce and charity stalls and racing on the
POLICE want to make an example of youths using a stretch of residential road as a racetrack. Householders say they are often kept awake at night by youths speeding on Gershwin Boulevard, Witham. Witham town councillors are urging police to clamp down
A PIECE of land is attracting vermin and illegal flytipping after it was allowed to become overgrown, a resident claims. Tendring Council has been criticised for failing to act and mow the grass on the patch of land in Garden Road, Jaywick. Carol Armitage
A BROADWAY actress, who hails from Colchester, will open a new outreach centre, run by the women’s refuge. Former Philip Morant School pupil Amanda Root has accepted an invitation to cut the ribbon, on Thursday, September 24, at the official launch of
FUNDRAISERS are making a last-ditch appeal for support, in a bid to bust a bizarre bra record. Clacton Lions hope to circle the biggest village green in the country with a two-mile chain of second-hand bras. They’ve already amassed 2,500 brassieres,
AN intrepid couple are planning a hike to raise money for sufferers of a rare neurological disorder. Brad and Charlie Adams, of Laburnham Way, Hatfield Peverel, will fly to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro today. The couple, both 34, are raising
