Simply Brightlingsea Issue 43

Issue 43

Cover photo by Jon Sturdy Photography

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Bricklesea Bygones By Roy Birnie Early Bird—Chimney Fire—Pasteurised In the late 70’s Cath and I had our son Simon, and first daughter Kelly was on the way, I had been a motor mechanic at Farrow’s at Thorrington Cross, a sheet metal worker in Wivenhoe and a part time barman in a pub and a holiday camp and I fancied a career move. When on the good old Brightlingsea Bush Telegraph I heard House’s dairy wanted a milkman, and having had a taste of the job as a youth on Brian House’s promenade round when he worked for the family business, I applied for it and got it.

Edgar and Cyril were my bosses and I had the “B” round which criss crossed the west, centre and eastern regions of the town, over 500 customers with the most complicated permutations of delivery days,4 types of milk, cream, yoghurt, egg’s, bread, butter, corona, (no not the current illness) a fizzy bottled drink, cigarettes and tobacco.

Collecting money on Friday, Saturday

and Monday. I started with an open mind on what lay ahead and would have probably stayed with the dairy if I had not developed a problem with my foot, but while it lasted for over three years I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of being a milkman.

I started work at 3-30am each morning unplugging my ageing battery powered float from the garage under the old Customs house in Sydney street and driving it 100 yards up to the dairy, an up and over lock up garage just above House’s store. Loading the crates and goods and setting off to my first drop, Don Marsh’s house next to the “Railway” pub in Lower Park road, through the route that resembled a snakes and ladders board to my final drop at Mrs Day’s house in Mill Street. Finish at 10-30 am Tuesday to Thursday, 2pm Friday, Saturday and Monday, Sunday off.

Town Council Update The issue this month is the tidal surge and storms, the western prom, as in 2013,was most affected with many beach huts being damaged and also many Cllr Graham ending up at different locations Steady some being 400 yards from their original sites. The Lido was particularly affected but the

Brightlingsea community spirit kicked in and various work parties have been organised for clear ups in different locations.

We will be having extensive discussions with the relevant agencies to improve our sea defences when all is back to normal. Moving on discussions continue to progress with improvements to the hard ,our tree planting initiatives and improvements to the paddling pool.

Once the round was embedded in my memory, it was an easy healthy invigorating and enjoyable job, I went through some awful weather, torrential rain, howling gales, extreme cold and deep, very deep snow; this was my favourite being the first person to walk on the freshly fallen virgin snow. Strangely it never felt really cold in the fresh snow, it had the feeling of being very healthy and created an extremely quiet atmosphere, even the dawn chorus was muffled by the fluffy uncompressed snow. Alas the snow had its pitfalls, the following week many customers would say, “Please don’t walk across my lawn” they had seen my footprints! I had two coffee stops on the round the first at Dennis the Bakers (Scooby’s) where I often had a fresh cake or bun and a welcome warm by the ovens and later at my then home in North road and on the odd occasions in Star Stores in Chapel road. I was regularly stopped by the local Constables looking for rouges or asked, have I seen certain vehicles on route? I was sometimes the first to know of the night’s local crime. Early one morning I heard this roaring sound that got louder and louder, it was a chimney fire in Regent road, a huge jet like flame, about 10 feet high sounded like a doodle bug, I banged on the front door only to find I had woken the wrong household.

As many milkmen have said over the years, you become a social worker on the round, to some old folk you are sometimes the only person they have seen for days, you hear their worries and problems and I often ran errands for them or collected prescriptions. I had a few awkward customers; one in particular had a loose marker on

his milk crate by the front door, the slightest breeze would move it and I often left the wrong amount of milk, to which he moaned relentlessly, he would not admit his marker was loose, so one morning I moved his marker to 6 pints, I rattled on his door at 5-30, woke him and asked “do you really need six pints sir?” he never moaned again.

I had three great milk boys with me in those years; they are all now married, some with families of their own.

My customers were so kind to me at Christmas, I had dozens of cards, many gifts including wine, whiskey, port, cakes, biscuits, gloves and over £500 in tip’s, they were good times.

We delivered the Christmas milk on Xmas eve, many customers left tots of sherry and mince pies out for me and I had to be careful not to over indulge. Also many mums used to put out the children’s sherry, pie and a wish list for Santa and one, in Love lane, whom I used to work with, left out all three plus a carrot for Rudolf, I drank the sherry, ate the pie, bit off half the carrot and took Santa’s note.

Two weeks later when calling for her milk money, I handed back Santa’s note and she promptly whacked me on the ear, “I’ve accused the world and his neighbour, and it was you “she shouted then grinned, it hurt, but it was worth it. How times have changed, in those days House’s had two milk rounds and the Co-op had three, now they have gone, Edgar, Cyril and Brian have passed away, three Brothers all with different personalities, but all with hearts of Gold.

Roy Birnie

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What’s new at Colchester Zoo!

White rhino calf Lottie gets to know her neighbours!

Since being born on the 4th January Colchester Zoo’s young female White rhino calf Lottie has gone from strength to strength!

During the winter weather she has enjoyed the chance to run through the muddy puddles as well as learning how to wallow from mum Emily. Lottie also has been inquisitive, getting up close to her new neighbours and learning which of them like to play with her and who prefers not to play!

Lottie and Emily will gradually spend more time outside and once Lottie is a

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little bigger, she will be introduced to dad Otto and our giraffe. It also won’t be long before Lottie has a play mate with the zoo’s other female Astrid, expecting later in the year.

Meet Gomez the zoo’s hairy but adorable new arrival! on the 22nd January, Gomez the Large hairy armadillo arrived at Colchester Zoo! This is the first time in many years that this species has been housed at Colchester Zoo, so they were very pleased to welcome the new arrival.

Gomez was just over 5 months old when he arrived, and he is settling in well and is enjoying his new home.

He has a great character and loves having a tickle from the Animal Care Team who all adore him! Armadillo is a Spanish word meaning “little armoured one” and refers to the thick bony plates, which cover their head and body. Gomez will not be visible to

the public at all times however he will be available to meet and learn more about as part of the zoo’s Sensation Station encounters.

For more information on the new arrivals and to book E-tickets online visit www.colchesterzoo.org

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Council cuts down on plastic Last year, following warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the council became one of the first local authorities to declare a climate emergency. This commits the borough to be net carbon zero by 2030 and to plant 200,000 trees.

As part of the commitment, the council’s buildings and services continue to reduce single-use plastic where possible.

Leisure World has phased out 13,000 non-recyclable straws a year; 37,000 plastic products from coffee and food sales; 1,500 milk cartons, and only serves plastic water which is made from 100% recycled material. As of March 2020, it will also introduce Vegware Slush Puppies cups, replacing 10,000 plastic cups.

Colchester Museums have begun to use a sustainable paper-based ecofriendly alternative for exhibitions.

Staff also encourage visitors to recycle their Castle maps when they leave the museum.

Other council buildings (including the Town Hall) have transferred from plastic to paper cups and changed

coffee machines so staff and visitors can use their own mugs – removing 40,000 single-use cups since 2018.

Colchester Borough Council is also the lead authority for the North Essex Parking Partnership, which replaced its single-use plastic Penalty Charge Notice pockets with a biodegradable alternative, in July. Since then 50,000 biodegradable pockets have been issued across north Essex.

Councillor David King, Portfolio Holder for Business and Resources, said: “Plastics pollute and litter our streets and countryside and poison marine and animal life.

overall in England and Wales. This is a great achievement, but I am mindful that many issues still surround our environment. “We are supporting a host of initiatives to enhance the environment, including becoming

carbon neutral by 2030, developing renewable energy, planting 200,000 trees, minimising waste and reducing the borough’s carbon footprint and emissions.”

“I am proud the council is setting an example and significantly reducing its reliance on single-use plastic. That’s a great step in the right direction, but we all have much more to do. I call on residents and businesses to act now, wherever they can, and stop using avoidable plastics.”

Councillor Martin Goss, Portfolio Holder for Waste, Environment and Transportation, added: “Last year, Friends of the Earth ranked Colchester as joint top climatefriendly area in the East and third

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Trees for Years event a huge success Queues began forming from 8am, with the first plants being given away just before 10am. The most popular plants were fruit bushes, Lavender, Goat Willow and Red and Yellow Dogwoods.

“In the time it has been running, well over 35,000 trees and fruit bushes have been planted throughout the borough.”

A Colchester Borough Council spokesperson said: “The 14th Trees for Years event was a huge success, with all the plants given away before 2pm.

A total of 10,000 trees and shrubs were handed out to just under 2,000 people who attended the event – 80% of them residents with the remainder representing schools, parish councils and local community groups.

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Cllr Martin Goss, Portfolio Holder for Waste, Environment and Transportation, said: “It was great to see so many people grab the chance to brighten up their gardens, allotments and communities with a free tree, shrub or fruit bush.

“This year’s Trees for Years giveaway was our biggest yet, with more than 10,000 plants on offer as part of the Colchester Woodland Project.

“The huge excitement surrounding the event shows just how much

the project has caught the public’s imagination and inspired both young and old alike to help tackle the Climate Emergency. It continues to prove that Colchester residents share our commitment to create a Better Colchester and an even greener place to live.

“I’d like to thank idVerde for continuing to sponsor the scheme and for their generous donation of such a wonderful variety of trees and shrubs.”

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Colchester Creative Events Fund announce successful applicants

Entry to St John’s Car Park unavailable during road closure

Successful applicants to Colchester Borough Council’s (CBC) Creative Events Fund have been announced.

Access to St John’s Car Park in Colchester will be affected by the closure of Southway’s east bound carriageway which is scheduled to take place between 9am and 3pm on Sunday 1 March.

St John’s car park is a popular car park at weekends, so are keen to let motorists know in advance that the entrance will be unavailable from 9am until 3pm on 1 March, but the exit will remain open.

During these times, there will be no vehicular access to the car park entrance, however the exit will remain open as usual.

“We would encourage motorists to either arrive at the car park before 9am or after 3pm that day, or use one of our other town centre car parks, like Britannia, which has a fantastic Sunday parking offer”.

The Fund aims to support and grow creative events happening across the borough between the 1 May 2020 and 30 April 2021.

The Fund proved extremely successful and attracted more than 30 applications from a variety of groups and individuals across the Borough, covering the full spectrum of creative endeavour from music, theatre and art to creative writing, photography and the digital arts.

The £20,000 in available funding is to be split between 24 successful projects after a panel discussion led

by Cllr Julie Young, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Performance and Deputy Leader of the Council. The diverse projects chosen show the depth and range of creativity across our communities.

All successful projects had to demonstrate they would be deliverable and meet at least two of the following criteria; • Deliver high-quality cultural experiences to local audiences • Develop and showcase local artistic talent • Encourage visitors to the borough • Celebrate local communities Consideration was also given to ensuring support for a spread of events across the Borough; across a wide range of art forms and activity and aiming to attract as wide and diverse an audience as possible for the funding available.

A full list of successful projects follows.

During these times alternative parking is available at any of Colchester Borough Council’s other town centre car parks, including Britannia, where motorists can park from 6am to 6pm all day on a Sunday for just £1.

Councillor Mike Lilley, Colchester Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Communities, Wellbeing and Public Safety, said: “We know that

More information on Colchester’s great value car parks and hassle-free cashless payment options is available at www.colchester.gov.uk/parking The closure of the east bound carriageway of Southway is taking place to allow Essex County Council to carry out resurfacing works. For further information, visit roadworks.org

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Quick Crossword Puzzle New Recycling Calendar Colchester Borough Council will soon be sending its new 2020/21 recycling calendar to households across the borough, together with their Council Tax bill.

Residents who have signed up for paperless bills, will receive their 202021 recycling calendar digitally, whilst other households with a kerbside collection will receive a paper copy printed on recycled paper and using vegetable oil-based inks. Audio copies will be accessible on the Council’s website and braille copies available on request.

The calendar sets out the schedule of all collections between 1 April 2020 and the end of March 2021, including collections over the Christmas and New Year period.

The calendar also provides advice on what items can be recycled through kerbside collections, which containers or bags to use and how to put rubbish and recycling out for collection.

ACROSS 1 A blow for British politician touring university (4) 3 A heavyweight returns to fight for nothing (3,1,5) 9 Grew a plant (4) 10 One won’t have joint or Ecstasy, averting a problem (10) 12 Long suffering Liberal takes the lead (8) 13 Eating out (6) 14 Get angry response to endless mêleé for a change (4,4,6) 18 PC way of meeting people (8,6) 20 Sheen produces different result (6) 22 Fellow gets beating for exposing himself (8) 24 Dark suit needed for these places of entertainment (10) 25 Clergyman won’t start soon (4) 26 Regulators would have done this at Walthamstow? (9) 27 Boast by supporter beginning to grate (4)

The calendar also shows there will be no changes to collection days over Easter, including Good Friday or any other bank holidays including that taking place on Friday 8 May 2020.

There are also only two collection day changes over the Christmas and New Year period.

Councillor Martin Goss, Colchester Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Waste, Environment and Transportation, said: “Residents are continuing to do a great job of recycling and the borough’s recycling rates are continuing to rise with a current recycling rate of 54.6% for 2019-20.

“We’re keen to help the environment and support recycling by making recycling at the kerbside as easy as possible and the calendar is a great tool to help households with their collections.”

Residents can also visit www. colchester.gov.uk/recycling at any time and download their recycling calendar, look up their collection day, find out whether they are on a Blue or Green Week, what should go out that week and what can and cannot be recycled and report a missed collection.

DOWN 1 Only just how naturists live? (6) 2 Heard teacher in class is to give incorrect details (9) 4 Respect obtained by wayward niece with ASBO (9) 5 With potential, say, to be murder victim (4) 6 Recital isn’t arranged on time for musician (12) 7 Foreign article contains untruth (5) 8 Unusual icon in urn depicting legendary beast (7) 11 Administrative leaders of British union shown by funny caricature (12) 15 Burden unpleasant woman with some riding gear (9) 16 Elderly person in boarding house meeting Royal (9) 17 One country or another with sea, we hear, not river (7) 19 Travelled back taking horse for a drink (6) 21 Athenian’s introduction to Socrates? (5) 23 Cold boy gets dressed (4)

SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1 bump. 3 not a scrap. 9 rose. 10 vegetarian. 12 languish. 13 picnic. 14 lose one’s temper. 18 computer dating. 20 lustre. 22 flashing. 24 night-clubs.

25 anon. 26 watch-dogs. 27 brag. DOWN: 1 barely. 2 misinform. 4 obeisance. 5 Abel. 6 clarinettist. 7 alien. 8 unicorn. 11 bureaucratic. 15 saddle-bag. 16 pensioner. 17 Iceland.

19 eggnog. 21 sigma. 23 clad.

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Will you join the Great British Spring Clean?

This spring, Keep Britain Tidy is calling on Litter Heroes and schools across the borough to help improve the environment on their doorstep by taking part in the Great British Spring Clean 2020.

Running from 20 March to 13 April, the Great British Spring Clean is organised nationally by Keep Britain Tidy and supported locally by Colchester Borough Council.

This year’s campaign will not only see tonnes of litter being removed from the environment on our doorstep, it also aims to rescue thousands of the plastic bottles and aluminium drinks cans that are simply thrown on the ground but could, very easily, be recycled.

Using the ‘three bags full’ approach, volunteers will be asked to separate the litter they pick into three bags: one for plastic bottles, one for aluminium cans and a third for the rest of the rubbish.

Colchester Borough Council’s Neighbourhood Services team will then collect these bags to ensure that they are recycled appropriately.

They can also support your litter pick by providing you with bags, hi-vis jackets and loan you litter pickers,

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including extra-long ones for those tricky spots, smaller ones for children and ones specifically designed for use on beaches.

Cllr Mike Lilley, Colchester Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Communities, Wellbeing and Public Safety, said: “Like most people, I simply cannot understand why people drop litter in the first place. One thing we do know though, is that litter tends to attract more litter, so the sooner it is cleared up the better. The council cannot be everywhere, so it is vital that we act in partnership with local groups, parish councils, schools and businesses to keep our borough clean.”

Cllr Martin Goss, Colchester Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Waste, Environment and Transportation, said: “I encourage all residents to take part and enjoy the day – it’s such a great way to teach young family members about caring for the environment too.

“Residents who would like to make a regular difference to their local area can also sign up to become Litter Warriors. In groups of up to 20 friends, family or neighbours, Litter Warrior’s pledge 16-hours per month to keep their community spick and span.

Together we can make a difference

and clean up the environment on our doorstep for a Better Colchester.”

To find out more or to register your ‘clean up’ head to Keep Britain Tidy’s website www.keepbritaintidy.org/ get-involved/support-our-campaigns/ great-british-spring-clean Those

that would like bags delivered and collected by our Neighbourhood Services team, or borrow litter pickers or hi-vis jackets will need to contact communities@colchester.gov.uk.

Find out more about Litter Warriors at www.colchester.gov.uk/litterwarriors

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Colne Medical Centre Staffing The practice would like to announce that Dr Justice will be retiring from General Practice at the end of March 2020.

We are in the process of recruiting clinicians and arrangements will be made to ensure continuity of care for all of Dr Justice’s patients.

Further announcements will be made via our Facebook page and on the practice website.

The practice manager Caroline Bowden will also be retiring at the end of March this year. Her replacement Katie Pirie has taken over the role of practice manager with effect from 1st January 2020.

I am sure you will join us in wishing Dr Justice and Caroline all the best for a happy and healthy retirement after more than 20 years at Colne Medical Centre.

National No Smoking Day No Smoking Day is an annual health awareness day in the UK which is intended to help smokers who want to quit smoking. The first No Smoking Day was on Ash Wednesday in 1984 and it now takes place on the second Wednesday in March so the date for this year is 11th March 2020.

Free NHS Healthchecks Invitations are currently being sent out for patients eligible for a free NHS healthcheck. As we get older, we have a higher risk of developing conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease or type 2 diabetes.

Your NHS Health Check can spot early signs and help prevent these happening to you, which means you’ll be more likely to enjoy life for longer. If you are interested in this service, please contact the surgery to book a 20 minute appointment with a Healthcare Assistant who will

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ask you some questions about your lifestyle and family history, measure your height and weight and take your blood pressure.

Once you’ve had your NHS Health Check the Healthcare Assistant will discuss your results with you. You’ll be given advice to help you lower your risk of a stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes or dementia and maintain or improve your health.

Thank you for reading Katie Pirie, Practice Manager www.colnemedicalcentre.nhs.uk 01206 302522

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