Reflections – half way through the Society’s Year Newsletter
The Chelmsford Civic Society is a vibrant, forward looking organisation. We are a charity, aiming to ‘stimulate public interest in the appreciation and care for the appearance, history and character of Chelmsford; to promote high standards of planning and architecture and to secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of features of historic or public interest in the area.’
There are seven committee members sharing responsibility for what we do. We work as a team but each member takes charge of specific areas of what we do. Paul McLean leads on the Heritage Open Days (HODS) programme and with Pam Swaby manages the monthly programme of events for the membership and the general public. Alan ‘the Historian’ Pamphilon takes historical walks around the city and puts forward applications for the blue plaques that tell the stories of prominent individuals in Chelmsford’s history. John Hammond monitors planning applications. Kevin Miller represents the Society on Culture Chelmsford. Judy Gilles is our Secretary.
Heritage Open Days is our flagship event of the year. There are 27 live events and 9 films this year. They form part of the national Heritage Open Days programme. We are grateful to the City Council and Chelmsford For You their financial support with the fantasic help of Edith from the Arts Place we managed to obtain a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to help our
programme and to fund youth group Spark to run their own event and help us with feedback from visitors to the events. Last year 6,000 people attended at least one event.
A highlight this year was our contribution to VE Day 80 commemorations in May. This was a good example of the society working in partnership with other local organisations. Our activities for VE Day 80 encompassed the foyer of Shire Hall and Tindal Square. The Military vehicles looked great outside the Saracen’s Head and Chelmsford Community Radio kept the day moving extremely well. We supported the exhibition with the military vehicles on the Echoes of History Day. Particularly important partnerships for the Society are with the CRACL group seeking to extend the use of Chelmsford’s waterways and the Ideas Hub (Art Place). On October 23rd Edith Miller will preside over a celebration of the Ideas Hub’s contribution to the Community life of Chelmsford.
Lastly, there is Shire Hall. Two of our Committee members, Pam Swaby and myself, are members of the Essex Shire Hall Trust (ESHT). We are working to determine a long term future for the building. Looking forward, we are gradually bringing parts of the building into in use. We have had tours of the building, exhibitions in the foyer,, often linked with activities on Tindal Square.
Looking forward, we are supporting efforts to bring Shire Hall into use. Mostly, so far this has been limited to tours of the building and exhibitions in the foyer.
Malcolm Noble - Chair
Programme
12th - 21st September - Heritage Open Days
Various events (see page 4 for poster)
October 18th @ 2pm @ Patch - The Proposed Napoleonic Invasion of Chelmsford with Neil Wiffen
In the late 1790s and early 1800s there were two very serious invasion threats from the French aimed at either the south or east coasts of Great Britain. Essex was strategically placed on the north-eastern flank of London to defend the capital from an enemy landing on the east coast. Within the county the central position of Chelmsford was key to military plans to halt an advance on London. Join us for this talk from local historian Neil Wiffen, who will be discussing the defence of London at Chelmsford.
£5 non members/ £3 members - email info@chelmsfordcivicsociety.co.uk to book
November 4th @ 2pm @ Patch - The Gunpowder Plot with Richard Pussey
The background to the famous 1605 plot to blow up the House of Lords and assassinate King James l will be outlined and the plotters will be introduced.
The details of where the plot was hatched and how it was to be carried out will be described and you will hear all about the Houses of Parliament at the time and the planning details.
The talk then describes how the plot was discovered and the famous ride across the Midlands pursuing the plotters and the big shoot out at Holbeach House when Catesby was shot and killed.
The talk will end with the gruesome details of the fate of the remaining plotters and you will hear the anatomical reason why Guy Fawkes was unable to sign his death warrant and was unable to climb up the ladder to his execution! And lots more.
£5 non members/ £3 members - email info@chelmsfordcivicsociety.co.uk to book
December 12th @ 7pm @ The Chelmsford Club - Christmas with Alan and PaulAlan with The Dark History of the District of Chelmsford and Paul’s Quiz
Hear Alan’s brand new talk about the dark history of the District of Chelmsford followed by a quiz by Paul which may have a seasonal round or two within! Teams of up to 4 people!
And a prize for the winning team!
Bar will be open and we will have mince pies!
£5 non members/ Free members - email info@chelmsfordcivicsociety.co.uk to book
January 20th @ 2pm @ Patch - Charlie Haylock -The History of Spoken English, Parts 1 and 2
At Patch in Grays Yard £5 non members/ £3 members - email info@chelmsfordcivicsociety.co.uk to book.
We will be working hard to organise further events for next year shortly. If you have any suggestions please email info@chelmsfordcivicsociety.co.uk
Event Reviews by Judy Gillies
We were granted a beautiful day for our celebrations of VE Day, and Tindal Square and Shire Hall looked majestic. 2 Military jeeps, bristling with equipment and grenades parked in front of the Saracen’s Head with their uniformed drivers. What a setting!
A lucky find was Julia Plumb (Jukebox Jules) who kicked off the first hour with a perfect medley of songs from the 40s, finishing with “I Vow to Thee my Country”. She has a terrific voice, and the crowd were soon up and dancing alongside Lornalou’s group of friends who jived on and off all afternoon with their 1940s gear and infectious enthusiasm. At 3pm, Kevin Stemp read a portion of Churchill’s speech and the crowd were hushed and attentive. I found it very moving to be there 80 years on. More dancing followed to music broadcast by the wonderful Michelle and her team at Chelmsford Community Radio and CHAMPS played a
lot of wartime favourites on the steps of Shire Hall with great gusto.
The arrival of the Mayor and her entourage and, Tony Harris, (another Churchill Impersonator!), and four Police officers in contemporary uniforms created a real buzz walking up the High Street. Both parties were very generous with their time and posed for endless photos. Alan and the Mayor gave a couple of very interesting speeches. The day finished with Peach singing more songs of the period and The Last Post and Auld Lang Syne on bagpipes played us out. Huge thanks to all our generous sponsors, performers and donators of Raffle prizes. There would have been no event without them.
It was a wonderful memorable day with a great atmosphere and appreciation from the crowd!
Review of Three Men Without a Boat with Tony Tuckwell
Another most enjoyable evening was spent listening to Tony Tuckwell recounting his series of walks along the Thames, (at Oxford, the Isis!), with two of his good friends. Our tour guide was passionate about his subject which was rich with intriguing facts about the river and surrounding land and historical buildings. He shared details of famous schools and noted rowers who had trained on the water, we glimpsed beautiful cottages where political scandals had been played out, and he shared some glorious photos of the river in early Autumn mists.
To Alan Pamphilon’s joy, many building techniques of bridges were discussed, illustrated and set in fascinating historical context. The delights or otherwise of various hostelries and charity shops were shared and some hidden artworks of note uncovered.
Tony Tuckwell is an accomplished speaker with a formidable general knowledge and a relaxed delivery. Fingers crossed that he’ll be back to talk to us before too long.
Review of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Buildings of Chelmsford
It was a very hot evening as we assembled at the Stone Bridge, the group buzzing in anticipation of Alan Pamphilon’s latest addition to his walk and talk series in and around Chelmsford.
The formula worked well, and voting was a clever device to bring about some good discussions before selecting a category for each building Alan introduced. Generally speaking, the group was fairly much in
Review of Essex Record Office July 25
agreement. As always, the content was excellently researched and confidently and enthusiastically presented. Yet more to contemplate as I walk up the High Street in future! Personally, I was delighted that Alan put the red Phone Box on Duke Street into the mix alongside the magnificent Shire Hall and the “underappreciated” Cater House at the opposite end of the High Street. The most controversial was the perhaps the County Council Building.
Another blisteringly hot day brought us over the new Bow Bridge to the Essex Record Office. Neil Wiffen was our very able guide, who showed us round the building and oozed knowledge and passion for his subject at every turn. Many beautiful old maps (or copies therof!) were poured over by the attendees, keen to find their own properties or points of historical interest. We were then led into the climate-controlled archive store to be shown a fabulous Bible with provenance back to King Charles I (known as The Broomfield Bible) and their oldest document from Lord Petre’s collection housed in the ERO, an Anglo Saxon Charter from 962 AD. We rounded off with a visit downstairs, passed the Registry Office, for a talk about the painstaking work of the Restoration Department. It was a fascinating afternoon.
Review of Echoes of History August 25
This is not a Chelmsford Civic Society Event, (staged in the Living Memorial at White House Farm, that features a garden of remembrance with plaques commemorating post-1945 military conflicts), but one which we try to attend every year because it is a most remarkable weekend gathering of Military vehicles, battle re-enactments, tableaux of Red Cross stations, old mechanical workshops, regimental pipes and bands, the list is
endless. This year we made many useful contacts and distributed brochures advertising our Heritage Open days, I would urge you to put it in your diary for next year, and if you would like free admission, volunteer to man/woman the Civic Society’s stand for a few hours which would help us enormously!
Thanks again to Colin at Essex Historic Military Vehicle Association for giving us a stall.
