Village nostalgia

Firefighters were called to a large field fire, Roding View, Ongar, just after 4pm on1st August. They received a number of calls to this incident as the wind was blowing the smoke across the A414. Due to the smoke affecting drivers, they worked with Essex Police to close parts of the A414. Crews reported that approximately 30 acres of stubble was on fire. Firefighters worked to prevent the fire from spreading to a neighbouring field and extinguished the fire by 6pm. Crews stayed on scene until 7pm damping the area down. Station Manager Ean Summerfield said: “Crews worked quickly in very hot conditions to prevent this fire spreading beyond the field it was contained in. “We’d like to thank the drivers on the A414 for their patience while we dealt with this incident. The smoke was making it dangerous for driving and while we appreciate this disrupted lots of people, their safety was our priority.” Essex Police and The Change Project have launched a new campaign, #Reflect, encouraging people to break the cycle of domestic abuse by changing their behaviour. The Change Project, a domestic abuse and counselling charity, aims to address the behavioural change of the abuser to increase the well-being of people who are, or have been, living with conflict or domestic violence & abuse. The new campaign focuses on different types of abuse – from physical abuse, to controlling behaviour, stalking and harassment, and uncontrolled emotions like humiliation or anger aimed at your loved ones. Domestic abuse is the largest cause of harm in our county and accounts for 19% of all recorded crime and 33% of all violent crime. Through support, The Change Project aim to break the cycle of domestic abuse by making perpetrators realise their abusive behaviour and to prevent it in the future. The Change Project is part of Epping Community Hub, based at Epping Forest District Council’s Civic offices. It offers 1-2-1 interventions and advice to any resident over the age of 16 who wants to make positive changes in how they behave in their relationships with others, whether this is with a partner, expartner or family member. This service is accessible at the Epping Community Hub: Monday 2pm to 5.15pm Or you can contact The Change Project direct by emailing tcp@thechangeportfolio.org or telephoning 07519 103069. There is more information available at their website— www.thechange-project.org. f you’re a survivor of abuse looking for community support in your area please visit:essexcompass.org.uk or Thrive Survivors Group is a safe space, offering peer support and professional facilitators in comfortable surroundings with refreshments too. For more information:email thrivegroupepping@gmail.com.

Class 20 20001 (D8001) at Ongar Station on a test run 23 July 2022 Photo: Katie Pickersgill What a summer it’s been! The hot dry weather has meant that we had to curtail our steam services for a while as a precaution against the potential fire risk. Hopefully by the time you read this everything is back to normal! One of the highlights for September will be our Autumn Diesel Gala on the 17th and 18th of the month. This will feature Class 20 locomotive 20001 (D8001) following an engine overhaul and a repaint. Now 65 years old, and owned by the Class 20 Locomotive Society, she should be in first class condition for the gala. We will also be joined by a Class 14 diesel hydraulic locomotive, D9520, from the Mid-Norfolk Railway. An experience not to be missed! As usual we will be running a 3-train intensive service throughout the weekend with late running Real Ale trains on the Saturday. All trains will be running in conjunction with our fleet of heritage buses, which will be operating between Ongar, North Weald, Epping Underground and Shenfield National Rail stations. For those who would like to see the line from the unique vantage point of a loco cab, we will be offering our popular cab rides for £5; we also plan to offer brake van rides (an additional fare of £5 per return trip applies). Cab rides and Brake Van trips will be available on a first come first served basis. These can't be pre-booked. Simply speak to the crew on the day to reserve your place. Up to date details of all our services can be found by visiting www.eorailway.co.uk

North Weald CC successfully raised £430 for charity during a Memorial Day for former player Cecil Plummer, who 50 years ago died of a heart attack while putting his pads on. Vice Chairman Bob Wood and current player Robin Plummer featured on the BBC Radio Essex show Around the Wicket to discuss the event. The club invited several junior teams to a morning kids festival in North Weald, but after Ivanhoe pulled out of the adult afternoon match a short notice replacement game was found at Woodford Green. Ross Haworth backed up his maiden hundred a week earlier at Stansted with 98 not out as North Weald posted 183-3 from 35 overs, but Woodford Green eased to victory, knocking off the runs in less than 20 overs, Daniel Golding scoring 101. The Saturday league side closed out a much-needed victory to ensure they will be playing in the Herts and Essex Border League Division One next season. North Weald put High Beach in to bat on a sunny August afternoon at the Memorial Playing Field, and tight opening bowling spells by Phil Ashwell (3-25) and Mike De Conti (0-23) helped to restrict the opposition to 177-7. Opening batsmen Carl Ginn (59) and Atul Mehta (46) put on 111 for the first wicket as North Weald threatened to make light work of the chase, but a middle order collapse followed, before a measured 28 not out from Phil Ashwell guided the home side to a win with just two balls to spare. North Weald’s junior players travelled to Dunmow for the West Essex Under 12 Cup final. Ewan Crawford top scored for North Weald with 20 in a total of 77-5 from 20 overs, but the score wasn’t enough despite two early wickets from Udai Atwal. Even though the team were defeated, Coach Chris Rawlings was upbeat. “In our first full season of hard ball junior cricket to reach a final was a great effort, especially with so many of our team playing above their age group.” Source: C. Ginn

The existing Cottis Lane Car Park will be closed from the evening of 2nd September 2022 to enable construction to commence with work expected to be completed by Summer 2023. Qualis Commercial has appointed RG Group to build the new car park as the first phase of the development. Simon Rutter, Managing Director of Qualis Commercial explains, “Starting work on the delivery of the new car park is a vital part of our development plans for the town centre. Once the car park is completed, we will be able to release the site at Bakers Lane for the new leisure centre which is seen as a priority for local residents.” We appreciate that closing a car park may impact the community and we have been working with local councillors to find ways to reduce this. Bakers Lane car park will remain open and we expect our temporary car parking off St John’s Road will open on 3rd September to provide additional spaces while the work is being carried out. A separate space off the High Street within the old depot will also be created for the market traders to park their vehicles on a Monday for market day. Talks continue with owners of other car parks in the town to explore all alternatives. During the construction of the new car park, Qualis Commercial is ensuring there is access to four accessible parking bays on the edge of the site for those who need them, and the public toilets will also remain open.

Essex County Fire & Rescie Service had one of its busiest weekends during August compared to recent years, with their control room dealing with hundreds of calls and firefighters and crews responding to many incidents across the county. Number of calls into our control room: • Friday - 316 • Saturday - 419 • Sunday - 341 On the same weekend last year: • Friday - 91 • Saturday - 65 • Sunday - 63 Group Manager Dan Partridge said: “It was busy but we responded to every emergency call. We are exceptionally proud of the work of our team - firefighters, control room staff and our support staff who worked this weekend, changing their plans to ensure the county was safe. “Please help us to help you by following our safety messages as the hot and dry conditions continue. Please no bonfires, barbecues and ensure cigarettes are put out properly.” Source: Essex County Fire & Rescue Services

A great deal of thought and planning went into making our birthday the success it was. Our small but dedicated committee worked so hard and we send our thanks for such an enjoyable afternoon. Sue Dussold, our joint president opened the meeting and welcomed all the members and their guests along with past members Roma Ellis, Mary Collins and Yvonne Woollard, it was especially good to have them join us on this special occasion. A special welcome was given to Jan Curtis, Chair of the Essex Federation Trustees and Lesley Crisp also a FEWI Trustee, Chair of the Parish Council Rosemary Padfield, members of Epping WI, Harlow WI and members of the newly formed Matching Ladies Group (previously Matching WI). A Loyal Toast was made by Mrs Padfield followed by Mrs Curtis who proposed a 100th Birthday toast to our WI. Sue Dussold then cut the wonderful birthday cake, made by member Mary Nicholls. Sue then introduced the speaker, Amanda Campbell, an author who lives fairly local to us. Her first novel, which she published herself at the start of Lockdown was titled ‘Leave Well Alone’ was made an Amazon Best Seller. It is a psychological tale with many twists and turns. This was followed by ‘Don’t Come Looking’ and ‘Search No Further’. Amanda is a mother to two sons, one who is disabled she home schools, a husband who has serious life changing health issues and a dog who she manages to walk every day! One amazing lady!

Following the interesting talk everyone settled down to enjoy our Centenary Tea, which included strawberries and cream, followed by birthday cake. The raffle was drawn and Christine announced that the sale of tickets had raised the wonderful sum of £100! Everyone enjoyed a wonderfully social afternoon. If any of our guests would like to join us again you would be most welcome and thank you for helping us celebrate our Centenary. The next meeting will be on 8th September at 2pm, the speaker will be Amanda Sutherland who will tell us about her remarkable journey in fashion. October 13th sees the return of Jenny Gibbs - the Turkish Shirley Valentine All meetings are held in Magdalen Laver Village Hall at 2pm.

Following the success of the first RideLondon-Essex in May 2022, Essex County Council(ECC) on Thursday 18th August announced it will host the cycling festival in the county in 2023. ECC plans to agree a one-year contract with organisers London Marathon Events to host the event on Sunday 28th May 2023, following the success of the first RideLondon-Essex in May 2022. Cabinet Member for Highways Maintenance and Sustainable Transport, Cllr Lee Scott said: “RideLondon-Essex 2022 was a successful inaugural event but we want to make the RideLondon -Essex 2023 even better. “The RideLondon route is undergoing a process of review and we will be asking residents and businesses for their input to build upon the spirit and success of this year’s event.” The inaugural event saw more than 22,000 cyclists participate in mass participation rides of 100, 60 and 30 miles, all routes which go through the Essex countryside from the start in central London. The event was televised on the BBC and internationally and has already raised millions of pounds for charity, with the final total of money raised to be confirmed later in the year. London Marathon Events, which organises the event, is currently conducting a full review of the 2022 event alongside Essex County Council and other event stakeholders. Feedback from residents, businesses and parish, district, town and city councils Hugh Brasher, Event Director of RideLondon, said: "We are looking forward to building on the success of this year's RideLondon-Essex which saw tens of thousands of people, of all ages and abilities, take part in one of our mass participation rides and millions of pounds raised for charity. Already £1 million has been allocated to Essex in 2022 by The Trust for projects that will inspire activity, support people of all ages and abilities to participate in sport and physical activity and increase participation. Details of the application process for grants from this funding will be announced in September. Hosting RideLondon is part of the County Council’s Everyone’s Essex: a plan for levelling up the county which aims to help people keep fit and active and promotes active travel as part of the move towards net zero. This event is scheduled to take place on the Sunday of a May bank holiday weekend, which mean that restrictions will be in place as it was this year, although for one day only hopefully. This has had mixed reactions from residents and I hope RideLondon will ask and listen to resident’s feedback and concerns. I have seen reports that Ongar Town Council have been asked to be excluded from this event. I am sure residents are completely behind the raising of essential funds for charities however many hard working people and families enjoy bank holiday weekends often planning to undertake activities or visits from friends and relations etc and to restrict this does seem bad planning and perhaps this could have been rearranged to take place on a different weekend.