Newsletter
On 10th December, Councillor Kevin Bentley announced the Council’s intention to grant a long term lease on Shire Hall to the newly formed Essex Shire Hall Trust. The role of the Society in campaigning for the opening up of the building was recognised in a response by Councillor Michael Mackrory, leader of the Opposition on Essex County Council. The Society will continue to support moves to bring forward the date when this historic building is open to public use. The Shire Hall Trustees are Honorary Aldermen John Aldridge and Dick Madden, Malcolm Noble (ESHT Chair) and Pam Swaby BEM.
The society’s flagship event is the annual Heritage Open Day’s programme. Michael Hurst, the City Council’s Principal Heritage Officer, noted recently, that the ‘The society had been organising this event for the past nine years and it is great to see how it has grown from a handful of participants to a major event in the city.’ Paul McLean and his team will be seeking to raise the necessary funding for Heritage Open Days 2025. The dates are 12th - 21st September .
The society welcomes the proposed Meadows redevelopment. Issues raised by us with the developer and the city council include the extent of the site that is designated as public realm,
December 2024
community provision, cycle ways and the need to raise the bridges to allow sailing craft access to the city entre.
We are offering a varied programme of events in 2025. Honorary Alderman Dick Madden will talk to us about his career in the Police Force on 22nd January. Brian Key will tell us the story of escapes from Colditz on 18th February.
On 16th March we will welcome our Member of Parliament Marie Goldman to give a fascinating account of her first impressions of the House of Commons to the society’s committee.
Andy Begent, author of ‘Chelmsford at War’, will talk to us about the impact of war on the county town and surrounding districts. This will be a curtain raiser for the commemorations to mark the end of the second world war in Europe on 8th May 1945. The society will be participating in events related to VE Day 80, locally during the week 6th to 11th May.
On 13th May, Tony Tuckwell will return and deliver a talk to us about his recent walks. The talk is entitled ‘Three Men Without a Boat.’
Malcolm Noble
January 22nd @ 3pm - Dick Madden My Career in the Police
At Patch in Grays Yard
£5 non members/ £3 members - email info@chelmsfordcivicsociety.co.uk to book
February 18th @ 2pm - Escaping from Colditz with Brian Key
At Patch in Grays Yard
£5 non members/ £3 members - email info@chelmsfordcivicsociety.co.uk to book
March 13th @ 7pm - AGM with a Talk ‘My Time in Parliament So Far’ with Marie Goldman MP
At The Chelmsford Club - Our Annual General Meeting chaired by Malcolm Noble followed by a talk from Marie Goldman MP on her time as an MP so far... FREE ENTRY email info@chelmsfordcivicsociety. co.uk to book
April 8th @ 7pm - The 12 months up to VE Day At Patch in Grays Yard
£5 non members/ £3 members - email info@chelmsfordcivicsociety.co.uk to book
May 13th @ 7pm @ Men Without a Boat by Tony Tuckwell. At Patch in Grays Yard £5 non members/ £3 members - email info@chelmsfordcivicsociety.co.uk to book
Proposed Trip to Lodge’s Coaches
We are planning a trip to the Lodge’s Coaches Museum in June, the trip will involve
• Arrive by individual cars 12.30pm for inclusive ploughman’s lunch/tea or coffee
• Talk by a member of the Lodge family with slide show and short film
• Ride in 2vintage vehicles along the local lanes
• Return to site for tea & cake followed by time to look around the museum we need to know if this would be of interest to our members before we book it. The cost is likely to be £30 per person.
Please email paul@chelmsfordcivicsociety .co.uk to express your interest.
Review of Tudor Chelmsford Talk by Judy Gillies
Through the magic of time travel, extensive research, passion for her subject and the imaginative use of Artificial Intelligence, Yvonne Lawrence’s talk on 15th October was funny, pacy and totally riveting. We received a briefing of the characters to be encountered, smells to be endured, buildings to be observed and customs such as bull baiting to be witnessed, by way of preparation for a time travelling walk up the High Street on a busy Market Day in Tudor Chelmsford.
Richly illustrated images, with fascinating detailed explanations, provided the backbone of the talk. This AI enhanced image depicts the very grumpy and unpleasant landlord of The Cock Inn, Richard Putto. Amongst many others which have particularly remained with me,
are those of a bug infested fourposter at The Saracen’s Head, a lively court sentencing scene, fish and material stalls on the market and the famous High Street map of the time.
Yvonne has the gift of bringing history alive to all the senses, and I can predict that those who attended, when walking through our City, will recall this special evening with great pleasure!
Review of The Prison Walk by Judy Gillies
The weather on 22 October was perfect for a dark and sombre walk round the walls of Chelmsford Prison.
Lindsay Whitehouse is a master storyteller and has given a number of very popular, diverse, and well informed talks to the Civic Society in recent years.
The prison walk is undoubtedly the most chilling and suspenseful. After a most interesting briefing on the founding of the prison and the involvement of the ruling
classes and Church, we listened to tales of inhuman deprivation, senseless punishments, an attempted escape, and tragic illness and death. A very vivid description of the spectacle of a public hanging on the prison walls left few unmoved.
Thank you, Lindsay, for sharing your knowledge and leaving us with a lot to think about.
Review of The Shire Hall Talk by Judy Gillies
To a very well-informed and interested audience, our Chairman, Malcolm Noble delivered an absolute showstopper talk on 19 November. He lead us through the journey he and his fellow trustees have been on to get to the very brink of success in regard the reopening of his beloved Shire Hall. The much anticipated first public viewing of the business plan and the proposed modernisations and alterations were displayed on screen, including plans for a lift to the upper floors and Ballroom to comply with accessibility requirements.
We were also given a brief history of the Grand Old Duke of York and the graves of 13 Germans who comprised some of the 10,000 men who were marched “Up to the top of the Hill”. These graves are in the grounds of Chelmsford Cathedral and proper care needs to be taken of them if Malcolm’s dream of opening up a door at the back of Shire Hall into the Cathedral grounds is to be realised. A lively question time followed and much huddling in groups after that. At such a tantalising time, watch this space
Review of Backnang Evening at The Chelmsford Club by Judy Gillies
The Chelmsford Club on New London Road hosted a most enjoyable evening for our annual social event. We were treated to a very amusing, technically intriguing and memorable talk on Chelmsford’s twin town, Backnang in Baden-Württemberg in Germany, given by Sabrina Moser and ex Chelmsford resident, David Whitehead.
We learned of their customs and traditions, (eg the fabulous Goose fair and the triumph of their women folk back in the 1600s), their character, their cuisine and their fine buildings. It was our mutual expertise in the field of telecommunications which lead to the twinning initially, and we were told of visits and art projects from Chelmsford residents and return visits over here, which have been cementing our bonds with Backnang since 1990. After the talk we enjoyed copious amounts of mulled wine and German goodies. Thank you, Sabri-
na and David, for all the above and showing us that Backnang is indeed much “more than just a name on a sign”.
We would also like to thank the members of the Chelmsford Club for the exceptionally warm welcome we received and for allowing the use of their premises; in particular, Chris for his introduction and passion for the place, David for acting as our sponsor, Sue for all her thoughtful preparation and communication, and John for providing his excellent tour of the impressive building. It was the perfect setting, looking especially festive at this time of year.
