tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6840940236818199352024-03-14T17:23:57.611+00:00Musings from a muddy islandJuliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.comBlogger645125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-41367647387404633082012-07-02T16:02:00.001+01:002012-07-02T16:02:59.444+01:00Sailing Round the Isle of Wight with Accordions. Job Done!<br />
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Update on previous post: <br />
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Amazingly, Black Diamond and her crew of four made it all the way around the island on Saturday, despite <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-18658773">horrendous conditions</a> - 25mph winds and mountainous waves. An especially magnificent achievement for such an elderly and lightweight little boat. <br />
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They crossed the finishing line at 17.16, with a total time of 8 hours 47 minutes.<br />
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All credit to Greg, James, Tig and Hugo for a job fantastically well done.<br />
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Given the extreme wetness of the whole experience, squeezeboxes stayed firmly down below until the boat was safely back in Cowes. But then, revived by an apres-race beer or two, James and Greg let rip with a musical medley which had our neighbours in the marina dancing on their decks. Here's their final tune:<br />
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<br />There's still time to donate to the RNLI in support of Crew Black Diamond's achievement. Just text BDBD47 £1 [or the amount of your choice] to the number 70070. You may do so anonymously if you wish. Or go to the Black Diamond JustGiving page at <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/blackdiamond">www.justgiving.com/blackdiamond</a> <br />
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Thank you!Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-53779647206123368492012-06-14T21:55:00.000+01:002012-06-14T21:55:11.431+01:00Sailing Round the Isle of Wight - with Accordions!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">30th June 2012. Raising money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution - saving lives at sea every day.</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Donate to the RNLI via our </span></strong><a href="http://www.justgiving.com/blackdiamond"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">JustGiving page </span></strong></a><strong><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></strong></div>
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<br /></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-19645071461315151262011-12-02T10:57:00.000+00:002011-12-02T10:57:24.046+00:00Musings from a Muddy Island photos reincarnatedMy Musings days are well and truly over, but since this blog still gets more hits in a day than my others receive in a month, I thought I'd post this video here - a montage of photos of Mersea which appeared on Musings from a Muddy Island in years gone by. All part of my new business venture (a sideline, not a principal source of income, don't worry!), which you can, should you wish, find out more about <a href="http://www.blackdiamondaccordions.com/">here</a>.<br />
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If you enjoyed that, there are more photos from the Muddy Island on the other videos in our <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/BDAccordions?feature=watch">youtube channel</a> .Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-54494495915641413092010-11-04T23:04:00.004+00:002010-11-06T22:43:35.294+00:00Peter John Holmes 16 February 1929 - 21 October 2010<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbq5SccSBLMMLrldVagpZHA0mCGwMq5QKsSPMKoGPKwthAG2RgeYJGl-wDcVNYQh6XUUdy4INgvv94xUxvwd0yyQDVJhkFgHf5jDaBE7OkM7dOItVUr1U6zkVPCeSz2ccxDOgiKe8S-TQ/s1600/IMG_1464.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbq5SccSBLMMLrldVagpZHA0mCGwMq5QKsSPMKoGPKwthAG2RgeYJGl-wDcVNYQh6XUUdy4INgvv94xUxvwd0yyQDVJhkFgHf5jDaBE7OkM7dOItVUr1U6zkVPCeSz2ccxDOgiKe8S-TQ/s400/IMG_1464.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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Peter was born in Southampton on 16 February 1929 at the home of his mother’s parents. When he was a few weeks old, his father George and mother Muriel brought him back to their home in North Warnborough where they lived until moving to Odiham in 1932. The following year they moved again, to a house named ‘St Ives’, very close to the Grammar School where his father taught, and this was to be the Holmes family residence until after George’s death in 1984. <br />
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When he was 5, young Peter was asked by his parents how he liked the idea of having a brother or sister. Without hesitation, he decided he would prefer a sister, but on 2 July 1934 he was presented with a little brother, Tony. Peter marked the event by taking to his bed with measles! Luckily, Peter and Tony quickly became the best of playmates, and within a few years were constructing complicated games together with their extensive Meccano and Hornby clockwork train sets. <br />
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Two of Peter’s earliest memories reveal at what an early age two of his abiding interests were formed. When he was 4, he was desperate to be taken on a school outing with his father’s pupils to the Eastleigh Railway Works to see steam engines being made – sadly at the last minute it was discovered that very small children were not allowed. Peter howled with disappointment, crawled under the sideboard and wouldn’t come out for some time! At about the same age his favourite daily ritual was to look out on the road for the driver of the Thames Valley bus, who would pass on his motorbike en route to collecting his double-decker bus each morning. Thus, even before he went to school, Peter’s great love of railways and buses was already firmly established. <br />
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Peter started at Buryfield’s Infant School in April 1934, and soon became crayon monitor – but this early position of responsibility was terminated when he dropped a boxful of crayons down the neck of one of his small classmates. At Christmas 1935, he starred in the school pantomime as Little Jack Horner – giving him a taste for amateur dramatics which he explored further in his twenties and thirties. <br />
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When he was 7, Peter moved to the London Road Boys’ School in Odiham and at the age of 8 he started piano lessons. It was while walking to his piano teacher’s house that he first noticed a little girl, whose lesson was immediately before his, cycling past him in the opposite direction on her way home. He thought she was very pretty, and decided that the best way to express his admiration was to take a swipe at her with his music case, or alternatively, as the weeks went by, to poke sticks into her bicycle wheels to try to make her fall off. The pretty girl’s name was Valmai Deane. For Val, at least, it was most definitely NOT a case of love at first sight! Far from it! In fact, she complained bitterly to her mother about the behaviour of that dreadful boy Peter Holmes, to the point where her mother vowed to go and ‘have a word with his father’!<br />
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At the age of 10 it was time to move on to secondary school. Since his father taught at Odiham Grammar School, it was decided that Peter should go to Farnham Grammar School instead. Plans for the start of the autumn term were thrown into disarray by the outbreak of war on 3 September that year, but once the school had built an air-raid shelter, lessons resumed. School proceeded relatively smoothly through the war, with Peter and his great friend Jeffrey Bunting vying with one another to be top of the class. <br />
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Out of school, Peter’s spare time was largely devoted to his interest in trains and buses. He always remembered the day the signalman at Hook Railway Station invited him into his box and he spent a fascinating few hours watching the indicators and pulling the levers to signal trains along the main line. Many hours and scores of exercise books were taken up with compiling lists of bus and train information, all set out in Peter’s uniquely legible handwriting, and some half-century later, much of the material he accumulated was contributed to the publications of the PSV Circle and the Omnibus Society.<br />
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After gaining distinctions and credits in his School Certificate, Peter moved into the Sixth Form, became a prefect, and was told by his Headmaster one day that he was to go to Cambridge. He duly obliged by gaining good marks in Higher School Certificate in Physics, Chemistry, Applied Maths and Pure Maths, and was awarded an Exhibition to Queens’ College, Cambridge. However, there were National Service obligations to fulfil before going up to university. <br />
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Peter reported for Army duty at Winchester Station on 16 October 1947. He was issued with his uniform and equipment ready for four weeks’ primary training. In the ‘mechanical aptitude tests’ to assess his suitability for technical training, rather than the infantry, Peter completely failed in the task of assembling a switched lamp socket from its component parts – a failure he quite cheerfully admitted and put down to having grown up in a gas-lit house. He was assigned to the Royal Signals and posted to Catterick for initial training. Subsequently he trained as a radio mechanic and was then retained on the permanent staff as an instructor, which brought with it the rank of Lance-Corporal and later Corporal. In his spare time Peter became involved in the Signals Theatre, and also made many excursions into the Yorkshire Dales by bicycle and bus. It was during this time that he developed a new interest – which was to result in the publication of his book on the subject two decades later – the Stockton and Darlington Railway. <br />
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In October 1949, Peter went up to Queens' College. In his first year he read Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Mineralogy and was accepted to read Physics for the Part II exam. He joined the Cambridge Intercollegiate Christian Union, his College’s debating society and the University Railway Club and developed a flair for punting on the River Cam which he was delighted to show off to his wife and daughters many years later. <br />
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Peter started work in the General Physics Section at the AEI Research Laboratory at Aldermaston Court in November 1952, which was devoted to the study of semiconductors. In 1953 he accompanied his mother to Buckingham Palace to see his father receive the OBE from the new Queen. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Through his work at Aldermaston, Peter soon became the local expert on X-ray crystallography, and his research work was published in academic journals. In 1955 he enrolled as a doctorate student at Reading University, and the techniques he was involved in developing at AIE, and the subject of his PhD, formed the basis for his first published book, ‘The Electrochemistry of Semiconductors’. On two occasions his research work was chosen as part of an AEI exhibit at a Royal Society Conversazione at Burlington House in London – an annual white-tie-and-tails occasion attended by the world’s top scientists. He also presented papers at conferences at home and abroad.</div><br />
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During his years at Aldermaston, Peter was a founder member of the AEI choir and dramatic society. Back home in Odiham, he attended local dances and parties, and played tennis with his brother and friends. It was during this time, in the early to mid-1950s that he and Val became reacquainted. After a Christmas Eve party at the home of a mutual friend, Peter insisted on walking Val home to her parents’ house, Highfield, atop a hill just outside Odiham. Suffice to say that Peter expressed his admiration for Val in a fashion considerably more gallant and affectionate than he had done when they were children. No music cases or sticks were involved! They were married on 15th August 1958 in Odiham Church and set up home in Burghfield Common and early in 1960, Juliet was born. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JGHEwph7_6sJjlDuRpwYI9R4yKz9Z4bur4Is061MdMPkP-ia-h9mpykqTkSlfApHZiR0HBVnlYU8hgbxETi-jC5c5b8EV-ESYxZpw5cacrk2kRDyJInfodWPOn5m56KcF-uPJZRie3I/s1600/IMG_1434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JGHEwph7_6sJjlDuRpwYI9R4yKz9Z4bur4Is061MdMPkP-ia-h9mpykqTkSlfApHZiR0HBVnlYU8hgbxETi-jC5c5b8EV-ESYxZpw5cacrk2kRDyJInfodWPOn5m56KcF-uPJZRie3I/s400/IMG_1434.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>In 1963, Aldermaston Court was closed down. Peter’s was offered a position with the Royal Aircraft Establishment at its outstation at Ambarrow Court, to work in a new Semiconductor Group. With Val and Juliet, he moved from Burghfield Common to St Michael’s Road in Sandhurst. Just two months later, Catherine was born – delivered at home with the family doctor, David Bryant, in attendance – and baptised a few months later at St Michael’s Church. <br />
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Following a request from Space Department, Peter started to specialise in the physical causes of failure of semiconductor components. Every transistor rejected by Space Department was sent to Peter for dissection and analysis. When the UK3 Prospero Satellite went into service, his report on transistor production defects resulted in the publication of a code of practice to be used in every subsequent satellite, which was ultimately adopted by NATO for all its suppliers (and Prospero was still working 30 years after its launch!)<br />
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In 1969 Ambarrow Court was closed and Peter’s work moved to the main site at RAE in Farnborough. His section took over the rapidly developing field of ‘thick film electronic technology’. Following his keynote address at a conference in 1971, Peter was invited to edit a book on the subject. ‘A Handbook of Thick Film Technology’ was published in 1975 and remains, in its 2nd edition, the standard reference book on the subject today. <br />
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Towards the end of his time at RAE, Peter took up an offer to give a series of lectures on semiconductors at Reading University, and his position as Visiting Lecturer continued for 19 years, until after his retirement. Around this time, one of Peter’s papers resulted in his being awarded the prestigious Heinrich Hertz Premium by the Institute of Electronic and Radio Engineers. <br />
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In 1974 Peter began the final phase of his working life at the Ministry of Defence in London as Secretary of the MOD’s Electronic Research Council – an august body set up to bring the experience of the country’s top scientists to bear on the wide range of electronic research undertaken by the ministry’s establishments and contractors. His arrival at the MOD coincided with the launch of a major review of maritime air warfare, in which he was much involved. <br />
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Despite his busy working life, he continued to research and write for pleasure, and in 1975 Peter’s book on the Stockton and Darlington Railway was published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the line. <br />
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In 1978 Peter opted to move to a completely different area at the MOD and started at the DLRAT, based in New Oxford Street, where he headed a section dealing with defensive aids for RAF and Army aircraft. His role involved organising and chairing numerous meetings with the manufacturers of multi-million pound radar and early warning systems. During this time he travelled widely. His most lengthy trip was an extended tour of the US which included a high-level briefing in the Pentagon. <br />
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One perk of working in the MOD was the annual ballot for seats at Trooping the Colour, or its dress rehearsal. In 1982 Peter won a pair of tickets for the rehearsal and he and Val enjoyed a sunny day on the grandstand – the only thing missing was the Queen!<br />
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In his final two years at work, Peter was involved in the procurement of American equipment for Hercules and then, in accordance with Civil Service rules, he retired on the eve of his 60th birthday, but remained active in his specialist field by accepting the invitation to take on a party-time consultancy at Ferranti in Bracknell. <br />
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Unlike many upon retirement, Peter was never at a loss as to how to fill his time! Quite the reverse. His interests and community involvement burgeoned and his family and friends always marvelled at the enormous amount he packed into every single day after he stopped having to commute to London. <br />
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He and Val travelled widely during these years, both at home and abroad, making the fullest possible use of their National Trust and Royal Horticultural Membership cards to visit historic houses, gardens, flower shows and festivals, cathedrals, churches, sites of archaeological interest and, of course, the routes of disused railway lines, axed by Dr Beeching, occasions always marked by Peter with a symbolic but heartfelt ‘sniff’. <br />
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During his retirement Peter also added to his growing list of published books with volumes on the history of Robert May’s Schools at Odiham, various aspects of the Aldershot and District Bus Company, and the Nancy Bus Company as well as writing numerous articles on buses and local history for magazines and journals, including the Hampshire Magazine. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>He continued his research into his and Val’s family history, too – a role which he entrusted this summer to his grand-daughter Olivia. <br />
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He was an active member of the Aldershot and District Bus Interest Group; the Sandhurst Historical Society and the Sandhurst Museum Committee; the Odiham Society; the Odiham Grammar School Old Scholars’ Association and the Old Farnhamians Association; and he was Chair of the Bracknell Forest Heritage Forum Committee. In 2009 he was presented with the Sandhurst Town Council Community Award at the annual Civic Service. <br />
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And of course, retirement gave Peter more time in which to serve the Church of St Michael and All Angels, where he was, together with Val, a regular and committed member of the congregation for 46 years. To mention ALL that he did for and in the church in Sandhurst would take too long, but at the time of his death he was Lay Vice-Chairman of the PCC; Chairman of the Social Committee; a Sidesman and co-ordinator of the sidesman rota; a Eucharistic minister; Church Historian; a lesson reader and occasional verger; he sang in the choir when extra basses were required for special services or performances; and was a former churchwarden. He organised Heritage Open Day tours of the church and churchyard; he had been involved in churchyard maintenance since the early 1970s (in fact it was Peter and Val who, when hacking away at the front hedge one day, discovered that there was actually a wall beneath, which, with much further hard work over weeks and months, they gradually revealed to its present state); he was Secretary of Pledged Giving, formerly the Stewardship Campaign, in which he played a key role since its inception in 1964. He was a man of steadfast personal faith, which was evident both in his practical action and organisation on the Church’s behalf and in the wise counsel he offered to those who sought his help, whether on an ecclesiastical, administrative or personal level. <br />
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Peter achieved so much in his long life. Yet all of it characteristically understated, achieved efficiently but without any fuss or, as he would have put it ‘making a song and dance about things’. He was quietly proud of many of his achievements, but unfailingly modest in public and never self-congratulatory, except in his choice of wife – which he regarded as his greatest triumph by a long chalk. His pride in, and devotion to, his daughters and their families, his brother and sister-in-law, his niece and nephew and their families, too, was unstinting. Family always came first with Peter. <br />
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Perhaps the words of others, on hearing the news of his passing, provide the best tributes to his unique character and to the loss we feel: <br />
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‘An inspiration and a fount of both knowledge and wisdom to all who knew him.’<br />
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‘A rock-solid pillar of the church.’<br />
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‘A true elder of the community.’<br />
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‘Meticulous and measured – a safe pair of hands.’<br />
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‘A lovely, gentle, gentleman.’<br />
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‘A remarkable man of wisdom, wit and good counsel.’<br />
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‘Kind and considerate.’<br />
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and . . .<br />
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‘A wonderful example of a life so well spent for us to try to emulate.’ <br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-40245028900905140822010-08-27T23:42:00.001+01:002010-08-27T23:56:27.195+01:00The Packing Shed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhzoVfYHidf2RERA42_gS-3Rqq4JaDTxwoIKcAoF17J48_iCBI0Dolwih-2-T_zjNPjBNeS8cUCKW_NHc5kLJ0LIEgnUNzT0ZUo8dQFAUwPuvu_BKuFitDTPeOW7Ca9cN8A2yPD4nqqc/s1600/IMG_1102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhzoVfYHidf2RERA42_gS-3Rqq4JaDTxwoIKcAoF17J48_iCBI0Dolwih-2-T_zjNPjBNeS8cUCKW_NHc5kLJ0LIEgnUNzT0ZUo8dQFAUwPuvu_BKuFitDTPeOW7Ca9cN8A2yPD4nqqc/s400/IMG_1102.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Gazing at the sunset this evening, as the children and I ate our picnic supper sitting on our upturned dinghy on the beach, reminded me that Mersea's famous <a href="http://www.packing-shed.org.uk/history.htm">Packing Shed</a> (on the left in the photo above) is currently celebrating the 20th anniversary of its restoration.<br />
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There will be a <a href="http://www.packing-shed.org.uk/index.htm">Packing Shed Open Day </a>this coming Sunday, starting at 2pm, with motor launches leaving the hammerhead at regular intervals through the afternoon, to transport visitors to and from Packing Shed Island. Ferry tickets are £3 (adults), £1 (children), and the price includes a cream tea in the Shed, freedom to stroll around the island, with its abundant wildlife and lovely views of West Mersea, and the opportunity to learn a bit about the history of the Shed from members of the Packing Shed Trust. <br />
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At the end of the nineteenth century, Mersea's oyster industry was burgeoning. 'Mersea Natives' were transported by Thames sailing barge to Billingsgate Market in London and many thousands more were exported to the Continent. Cleaning and sorting oysters by size became an important part of the preparation process for export and sale. The first Packing Shed was built around 1890 by the Tollesbury and Mersea Native Oyster Fishing Company. Soon, more than 60 fishermen were working in and around the Shed, grading and packing their catch.<br />
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However, after a few years in operation, the original shed was completely destroyed in a storm. A replacement was built in 1897 and that Shed was used almost continuously until the late 1950s, when the industry collapsed as a result of the first post-war oyster disease. A second, smaller, shed was built in 1920 but that, too, was destroyed in gales and floods. After the 1950s, the original Shed was used occasionally for the storage of fishing gear, but was eventually abandoned and left to rot. <br />
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After the ravages of the great storm of 1987, all that remained was a bare skeleton - picturesque and beloved of artists, but liable to total collapse at any moment. It was at this point that a group of volunteers decided that the building had to be restored, once and for all, or it would disappear into the sea and be lost forever. Today, thanks to the dedication of the current Trust and other volunteers, and funded entirely by public donations, the Shed is not only an important historical landmark, but is also <a href="http://www.packing-shed.org.uk/hiring.htm">available for hire </a>as a venue for parties, dinners, and even wedding receptions for the more adventurous bride and groom. <br />
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You can read all about the restoration - and lots more besides - on the <a href="http://www.packing-shed.org.uk/restoration.htm">Packing Shed website </a>. <br />
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Unfortunately, the Shed now faces another threat - erosion. The island on which it sits is being gradually eaten away by the sea, so a huge amount of money has been raised to replace the original shells and sand with granite ballast. The first wave of reinforcement has proved successful but the process is going to have to be continuous if the Shed is to survive, so fund-raising remains a priority. <br />
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The Packing Shed is featured in the 'save our seaside' pages of this month's <a href="http://www.allaboutyou.com/home/channel~index?source=6&tab=v1">Coast magazine</a>. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheFtV-kLfNMBwhJPZMxmtkx_b2P_LScHy62mctCeTFlZa6BhfNXrfXLEPkSVP32afpe9H3r5-ziQkOTqMjrSG5ybgKgyjvwt5_MuDQUKSfEKuWxhZ0WiXbz23XPknk-7M3hJimgRexYOA/s1600/Coast1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheFtV-kLfNMBwhJPZMxmtkx_b2P_LScHy62mctCeTFlZa6BhfNXrfXLEPkSVP32afpe9H3r5-ziQkOTqMjrSG5ybgKgyjvwt5_MuDQUKSfEKuWxhZ0WiXbz23XPknk-7M3hJimgRexYOA/s400/Coast1.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-38548564403149532662010-08-27T21:19:00.000+01:002010-08-27T21:19:30.120+01:00TBTE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCiJvRiudzHX6ucuNgHn18HE3FSLoaUJ9_SCKJVBqkbRmrdmFZcox-RtIVYa48Q8DzZh0ihTiH6YY_6KGm-h3RhnVL48_DfGP-1BN7WqMndB2ebBzHnk1ksT9MgBbN0rny1PU2AFy5z8/s1600/IMG_1111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCiJvRiudzHX6ucuNgHn18HE3FSLoaUJ9_SCKJVBqkbRmrdmFZcox-RtIVYa48Q8DzZh0ihTiH6YY_6KGm-h3RhnVL48_DfGP-1BN7WqMndB2ebBzHnk1ksT9MgBbN0rny1PU2AFy5z8/s400/IMG_1111.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrA_HLlaRonPV_pFLAqvDBLo6iEM-Tte1W9zkg4LEeN4Rx6UF3WOpfz0-6XsiXcqyHqV2oG3oqNkFOHhY3kymXjIhQa3LXuZDJwEi2_us4C0IxcNsaXeIS549LkjcB2ZQH5w_xf-QrLdg/s1600/IMG_1122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrA_HLlaRonPV_pFLAqvDBLo6iEM-Tte1W9zkg4LEeN4Rx6UF3WOpfz0-6XsiXcqyHqV2oG3oqNkFOHhY3kymXjIhQa3LXuZDJwEi2_us4C0IxcNsaXeIS549LkjcB2ZQH5w_xf-QrLdg/s400/IMG_1122.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-51851116319341838872010-08-24T21:17:00.000+01:002010-08-24T21:17:48.393+01:00Congratulations . . .<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCq_XeYjE44aJqMWnixufjQ5YIHtVTOXEUvu-TRjgULTtQXVO8VI8-nmmC1Pto4MQ-NXzAh1VxmWYKgjGcaejmzR_Q3uVCOO-nKQ_7gjBAODDU43AAGCXiYKhQ2wMa9E3BnTnaI5q3JtA/s1600/f6036l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCq_XeYjE44aJqMWnixufjQ5YIHtVTOXEUvu-TRjgULTtQXVO8VI8-nmmC1Pto4MQ-NXzAh1VxmWYKgjGcaejmzR_Q3uVCOO-nKQ_7gjBAODDU43AAGCXiYKhQ2wMa9E3BnTnaI5q3JtA/s320/f6036l.jpg" /></a></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">. . . to Olivia on the most fantastic set of GCSE results! We are all sooooooooooooooo proud and delighted.</div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-24420119254355065812010-08-24T18:53:00.001+01:002010-08-24T18:53:00.406+01:00An impromptu evening in Heybridge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQpHqIf3eWTLVK1qXhdYXRIkV_aisB1hieViC9DmGCFCNqbIFy58fsk7ziORKD_QHDFI3uMQoEwX7eCWcDMaut1RCOmKDjQRS_YJ9CWQPF06fpqe4H45e-vGpN4oG3pQj4nYZIpuLj4U/s1600/IMG_0712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQpHqIf3eWTLVK1qXhdYXRIkV_aisB1hieViC9DmGCFCNqbIFy58fsk7ziORKD_QHDFI3uMQoEwX7eCWcDMaut1RCOmKDjQRS_YJ9CWQPF06fpqe4H45e-vGpN4oG3pQj4nYZIpuLj4U/s400/IMG_0712.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>On a beautiful evening after a long day's work, we drove over to Copsey's incomparable chip shop in Heybridge, and sat on a bench overlooking <a href="http://www.itsaboutmaldon.co.uk/basin/">Heybridge Basin </a>to eat our superbly battered haddock and perfect chips (with mushy peas, naturally) while watching the sun go down. It was observed, simultaneously, that, had we taken time off for a few days' 'real' holiday somewhere in the UK, we'd probably just be sitting on a bench watching the sun go down over water, eating fish and chips anyway. At such moments it becomes clear that, when one lives in such a beautiful part of the world, there's often little point in bothering to go anywhere else! <br />
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We'd intended to repair briefly to the Old Ship after supper, but, following a chance encounter, ended the evening sharing a glass or two of wine aboard a beautiful 40ft yacht in the <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/540725">Lock</a> , with a couple who had returned days earlier from a year's sailing trip to the Caribbean with their two young children. What an enviable adventure. <br />
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We got up early, drove to Stansted, flew into Belfast, investigated Dungannon for an hour or so, lunched splendidly in a gloomy but friendly pub, then drove west and over the border to Sligo. It was a lovely day. I took precisely three photographs. And while the whole enterprise might appear somewhat disastrous on the Carbon Footprint front, please bear in mind, before consigning me to Carbon Hell, that, with a combined age of 38 years, the younger Doyles had never flown in their lives before!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the return flight, IM watched in wonder as the sun set slowly over layers of fluffy pink cloud, and then the first twinkly lights appeared far below. Nose pressed to window for the entire hour's journey. Magical.</div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-51423935607589892552010-08-23T19:36:00.000+01:002010-08-23T19:36:08.816+01:00West Mersea Town Regatta 2010<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ncNR4TljcLRfp2VcS6YgitjtxNx-ke1CRFQn3a1_3wxCDKBoQXoMzQoB1XFUekToofm03MJ3tcg-C2pAN1KcChOuoJF_O7O_8inDReUMBTlh-f55Uxsl5_o2mLCdBa0scIqFa9dN-a4/s1600/IMG_0377.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="327" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ncNR4TljcLRfp2VcS6YgitjtxNx-ke1CRFQn3a1_3wxCDKBoQXoMzQoB1XFUekToofm03MJ3tcg-C2pAN1KcChOuoJF_O7O_8inDReUMBTlh-f55Uxsl5_o2mLCdBa0scIqFa9dN-a4/s400/IMG_0377.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The <a href="http://www.mersearegatta.org.uk/">West Mersea Town Regatta </a> has been running since 1838 and forms a wonderfully festive end to <a href="http://merseaweek.org/">Mersea Week</a> . This year, as always, there were <a href="http://www.mersearegatta.org.uk/sailing.htm">sailing races </a>in the morning for smacks, yachts, dinghies and open fishermen's boats, with up to 150 boats taking part, so it was quite a spectacle.<br />
I didn't go out sailing that day - I had relatives arriving during the morning and the races start very early - but the TM and crew, Richard and John, put up a magnificent show in <a href="http://bursledonblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/diamond-mystery-boat.html">Black Diamond</a>, winning the Fast Classics race with style. Sailing photos below are by <a href="http://www.leafydumas.co.uk/">Leafy</a>, who was out with her camera, racing on her family's beautiful boat, Ivy Green. <br />
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Once the racing crews were ashore, it was time for the immensely popular <a href="http://www.mersearegatta.org.uk/watersports.htm">water sports </a> - an entertaining range of fun rowing races for all ages as well as the famous 'greasy pole' competition.<br />
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In previous years there has always been a bit of a lull immediately after the watersports, when people tend to drift off home, but this time there was a new event, 'Song & Dance' - brainchild of Regatta Commodore Chrissie Westgate - to keep the waterfront buzzing. Two and a half hours of shanty singing, ceilidh dancing and live bands, with hot and cold food and a bar. <br />
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It was all great fun, very family-friendly, and well worth all the hard work before, during and afterwards. There were real live <a href="http://www.ches.me.uk/18th_century_maritime.htm">eighteenth-century Pirates </a>on parade and joining in the dancing, too! After the day's prizegiving ceremony, the Regatta ended in the usual way with the magnificent Grand Firework Display, which half the island (or so it seemed) turned out to enjoy. <br />
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(The images on the poster I put together to publicise the Song & Dance (below), are by island artist and doyen of the greasy-pole, Leafy Dumas, whose lovely website and blog you can find <a href="http://www.leafydumas.co.uk/">here</a>.)<br />
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These are a few representative pictures. Lots more can be found on the <a href="http://www.mersearegatta.org.uk/watersports.htm">Town Regatta website </a>and on the <a href="http://merseasession.blogspot.com/p/west-mersea-regatta-song-dance-2010.html">Mersea Session blog</a>.<br />
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</div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-28506319406625696032010-08-23T18:03:00.001+01:002010-08-23T20:04:51.453+01:00My Mersea Week IV - Shanty NightTo celebrate the spirit of Mersea Week, the <a href="http://merseasession.blogspot.com/">Coast Inn Acoustic Session </a>held a special nautically themed night on Thursday 12th August. <br />
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We advertised it as 'Shanty Night' - and traditional seafaring tunes certainly played a large part in the evening's musicmaking - but all kinds of songs inspired by the sea (some with a fairly tenuous link) appeared - from The Drunken Sailor (twice!), to Row Your Boat (played by IM on the piano - the evening's youngest performer and witness to my lax parenting standards), to Yellow Submarine (at which point, as if from nowhere, a fantastic visiting trumpeter appeared at the window and inserted the solo twiddly bits with considerable panache, which brought the house down). <br />
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A couple of hours before kick-off, we made the executive decision NOT to hold the event outdoors - despite the gorgeous late sunshine and a holding-off of the forecast rain, there was a stiff breeze blowing straight into the garden of the <a href="http://www.thecoastinn.co.uk/">Coast Inn</a>, which would have dispersed the sound and made conditions too chilly for drinkers. So we held it in the bar as usual, which made for a packed-out night, but it all added to the atmosphere. A record number of musicians and singers turned up, plus all the regular punters and plenty of visitors (including lovely fellow-Mersea Blogger Teresa, aka <a href="http://tarviragus.livejournal.com/">Tarviragus</a>, although unfortunately the occasion did not lend itself to much in the way of quiet chatting). <br />
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Next morning, the general consensus on the island was that Shanty Night had been a Jolly Good Thing, which should certainly be repeated next year. So perhaps we've started a grand new tradition for Mersea Week - it would be rather nice to think so.<br />
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Here are a few grainy pics (I don't like using flash - it's too distracting for performers): lots more can be found on <a href="http://merseasession.blogspot.com/2010/08/shanty-night-photos.html">the Mersea Session Website</a>. As explained there, the bar was so crowded that I ended up trapped, standing on a table, by the fireplace, camera in one hand, tambourine in the other, glass of Guinness balanced precariously above me - hence the unvarying viewpoint of these photos.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgq4YdNgfbSAlczp7Vtb4ZGX9WC8QbU1TqgXNQcIQbcS5_B33iV2yI_8SqXs7M7NEOMOD_M3f-auXjx2KzvdCNB2luB9nCPvVGERj8UweVOFdhkqA3YgJHgAK4qs5Jr_FdO5pbl4eMHEY/s1600/IMG_0301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgq4YdNgfbSAlczp7Vtb4ZGX9WC8QbU1TqgXNQcIQbcS5_B33iV2yI_8SqXs7M7NEOMOD_M3f-auXjx2KzvdCNB2luB9nCPvVGERj8UweVOFdhkqA3YgJHgAK4qs5Jr_FdO5pbl4eMHEY/s400/IMG_0301.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-282189684382209612010-08-23T18:00:00.002+01:002010-08-23T21:29:05.070+01:00My Mersea Week III - Round the Island RaceThe <a href="http://merseaweek.org/roundtheislandrace.html">Round the Island Race</a>, for dinghies and small multi-hulls always takes place on the Wednesday of Mersea Week, weather permitting. There is a time-limit, but within that, entrants have to decide in advance what time they wish to start, and which way around the island they intend to sail.<br />
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With one of the least racy boats in existence - the 8ft 'Sea Pig', a rotund little lug rig, Mersea-built, wooden dinghy - the TM had a bit of a job on his hands getting all the way round the island in less than 24 hours, let alone the 6 or therabouts allowed. He opted (contrary to prevailing opinion amongst the rest of the fleet) to make the attempt in a clockwise direction. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSWkU3lIPwTRh1jYphO9PMkU1KTPD7rm0pnYHNI6RFsQD7EHa7hpg0GzAchlZcnyDz8-v7BJbJsiYvidC9Zd-Vm2fNrkXOnAiuL97QUYpvQtV6KlDZH5Cpk5smgkYyMMnO_6CV6WH15M/s1600/IMG_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSWkU3lIPwTRh1jYphO9PMkU1KTPD7rm0pnYHNI6RFsQD7EHa7hpg0GzAchlZcnyDz8-v7BJbJsiYvidC9Zd-Vm2fNrkXOnAiuL97QUYpvQtV6KlDZH5Cpk5smgkYyMMnO_6CV6WH15M/s400/IMG_0003.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>This meant heading up Strood Channel from the starting line, opposite the West Mersea Yacht Club. I set off on foot, along the sea wall with IM and the dog, fully confident that we would be able to keep pace and assist in the really exciting bit of the day - carrying the boat across the Strood. In fact, he streaked ahead, and the little tan sail can only just be seen in these pics. H and his friends were waiting at the Strood, in radio contact, to do the heavy lifting bit. (Below, you can just make out the Sea Pig, left of centre, having been launched into the water the other side of the Strood.)<br />
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At the end of the sea wall path, I handed IM over to a friend, who whisked her away by car, leaving me to trek the couple of miles back to West Mersea with the by then rather exhausted dog (it was a very hot day) and pick up my trusty bike (which is not a mountain bike but a sedate 1964-vintage Triumph with a basket on the front, so strictly for roads, not sea walls).<br />
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Whereupon I zoomed back down to the Strood to join the assembled throng in watching other boats being lifted across at high water and take a few pictures. <br />
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And thence to East Mersea to see if I could spot the Sea Pig emerging from the River Colne. After a longish wait - during which I retraced my tracks to the East Mersea Village Shop to buy an ice-cream, and then had a little post-snack snooze at <a href="http://fenfarm.co.uk/">Fen Farm </a>- a small black dot with a red dot on top hoved into view at the extremity of my camera's zoom facility, and I watched as it tacked its way, painfully slowly, as it seemed, towards the beach. <br />
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The wind had all but disappeared. And sporting a sail the size of a tea-towel atop a boat as hydrodynamic as a washing-up bowl, is not the best method of harnessing every last bit of available wind-power. So, just off Fen Farm, out came the oars, and Sea Pig's skipper, mindful of bending every rule of the race well beyond breaking point, <em>rowed</em> his vessel the remaining 5 miles home. <br />
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And <em>still</em> missed the cut-off time by 15 minutes! <br />
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Oh well. Still a better result than last year. Luckily, it was all hugely enjoyable, if a little tiring (for followers as well as for rowers).<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivi06nY3aunoJm-_kGJNp7Q1vWk6NW7Pv7By-mmozzBKons2mtULKvYYXO4fowVzAbF9X5ZusjOn6gGkb4vzUJDKcssL7Ni9vOKDhDcnnGy5bUdRdPwIPg8hSR1wzvnCokTEXj7kF2mow/s1600/IMG_0110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivi06nY3aunoJm-_kGJNp7Q1vWk6NW7Pv7By-mmozzBKons2mtULKvYYXO4fowVzAbF9X5ZusjOn6gGkb4vzUJDKcssL7Ni9vOKDhDcnnGy5bUdRdPwIPg8hSR1wzvnCokTEXj7kF2mow/s400/IMG_0110.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-2551914992647127802010-08-23T12:21:00.001+01:002010-08-23T15:44:52.438+01:00My Mersea Week IITuesday 10th August. My first - and, as it turned out, <em>only</em> - race of the week, on the TM’s beautiful 1962 classic yacht, <a href="http://bursledonblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/diamond-mystery-boat.html">Black Diamond</a>. Not one of the sunnier days this month, but not cold, either. Got good and wet upon the rail, hanging on tight as the boat heeled over, slicing through the grey waves. Exhilarating stuff. Very glad of my ‘Po suit’, aka red oilskins, with vast baggy trousers which make the question ‘does my bum look big in this?’ wholly redundant! <br />
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Photos taken with my point-click from a bouncing boat are always fuzzy and disappointing, but here are a few which are just about publishable.<br />
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The smack Maria.<br />
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The transom of Richard Hayden’s Boatox. Richard did a fine job as Commodore of Mersea Week, and also managed to race.<br />
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The beautiful Kismet (originally launched in 1898, she spent some 50 years lying in the Essex mud until rescued and recently restored) slicing through the smack fleet, cheating the flood tide on the Bradwell shore. <br />
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West Solent No. 2, <a href="http://www.classicboating.co.uk/Suvrettathumbs.html">Suvretta</a>, overhauling a very well-sailed <a href="http://www.oystersmack.org.uk/">Boadicea</a>. Suvretta, built in 1924, is a modern classic by comparison with <a href="http://www.oystersmack.org.uk/">Boadicea</a>, who is 202 years old!<br />
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Suvretta slides gracefully past Boadicea.<br />
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But everything isn’t going Suvretta’s way! West Solent <a href="http://www.classicboating.co.uk/Badderthumbs.html">Black Adder</a> is well away down to leeward, and will lay the No. 1 mark a couple of minutes ahead. Black Adder has the best boat name in Mersea for their tender, ‘Baldrick’! <br />
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West Solent Suvretta preparing to cover smack Mary before the gybe mark at No. 1. Sistership Black Adder (W18) has already gybed and is on her way across the river to the most seaward mark of them all, the dreaded No 10. (OK, as long-time readers of Musings will already have surmised, I have received some considerable expert advice on the captions to one or two of these photos!)<br />
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Tuesday ended most enjoyably with the annual 'Coast Road Evening' in Peter Clarke's flag-bedecked Shed - a lively get-together of Mersea folk from every generation, with hot food, a bar and a thumping good night's dancing with music from perennially popular local band The Poachers.Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-89198145918140488232010-08-22T17:01:00.000+01:002010-08-22T17:01:13.669+01:00My Mersea Week IJust getting to grips with all the photos, at last.<br />
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Sunday 8th August. West Mersea Yacht Club. The TM's band, <em>Blackwaterside</em>, provided the afternoon's entertainment on the lawn after the sailing races in the Dabchicks Regatta, while children sat around chatting quietly over a drink and grown men played noisy games on bouncy inflatable things.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZBv27WPB55S4UcSB4cHx_HN0PJloJvsgq3iXbbbDK9FzHZqH7EokznZlxA3NWZNWpOHZxwWQyYYBWfG_VEwi-LP30PqFfQMle07tDyZxcfbRwQ8-6IJcSTsJtqMlm1l3v33YTTMdDdQ/s1600/IMG_0863.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZBv27WPB55S4UcSB4cHx_HN0PJloJvsgq3iXbbbDK9FzHZqH7EokznZlxA3NWZNWpOHZxwWQyYYBWfG_VEwi-LP30PqFfQMle07tDyZxcfbRwQ8-6IJcSTsJtqMlm1l3v33YTTMdDdQ/s400/IMG_0863.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-35341740411147584322010-08-12T11:54:00.000+01:002010-08-12T11:54:26.561+01:00Mersea WeekHave actually been far too busy rushing around doing Mersea Week things to write any posts about Mersea Week yet, but have taken lots of pics so watch this space. . .!Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-19164178858831821482010-07-28T21:06:00.001+01:002010-07-28T21:07:06.715+01:00More little boats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVKP2NzD3WB11KvwzCcrpmXqAr3jO1NIphz-CJxUhlEmIMc4QqqM3SgREmzhpzj_LzTOhdB-S24Mpk_PVHDwRMxEyd0roYdYoGqUeQXKoqI7zL5sUnZg1atpZqugtWqVCfOjO7ItUpyY8/s1600/004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVKP2NzD3WB11KvwzCcrpmXqAr3jO1NIphz-CJxUhlEmIMc4QqqM3SgREmzhpzj_LzTOhdB-S24Mpk_PVHDwRMxEyd0roYdYoGqUeQXKoqI7zL5sUnZg1atpZqugtWqVCfOjO7ItUpyY8/s400/004.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>A few more pics from Mersea Cadet week - some of the youngest sailors in their decorated <a href="http://www.kbsuk.com/optimist/iocauk/newmemb1.asp">Optimists</a>. <br />
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(Taken on a mobile phone from two of the best vantage points on Coast Road.)Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-15400624515269504302010-07-28T13:57:00.000+01:002010-07-28T13:57:57.662+01:00Little boats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7N22owT9Z9SOZCle1qcezHpzfgCn4l9P7chgL5zWDgUUwZWV1cioPEtsaQK4wGAzSZL8j7TD3-CLfcesKUrpjoRenzRuZgUDpxxFqJ3GoJHnktPXpuqivnmtvXbCjQfxGu6zKzKLGbDo/s1600/IMG_0666.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7N22owT9Z9SOZCle1qcezHpzfgCn4l9P7chgL5zWDgUUwZWV1cioPEtsaQK4wGAzSZL8j7TD3-CLfcesKUrpjoRenzRuZgUDpxxFqJ3GoJHnktPXpuqivnmtvXbCjQfxGu6zKzKLGbDo/s400/IMG_0666.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>It's <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=353813969465#!/group.php?gid=353813969465&v=info">Mersea Cadet Week</a> this week - with a programme of sailing events for youngsters aged between 8 and 18. None of my tribe is involved, but some of their friends are, and all the little dinghies make a very pretty spectacle as they gather each morning, ready for off.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQwgJppHH9jsckKMmCyWXIS7FQ24CRntOw-glI02i9IWPZNeyFGXrftJ6KmM2iunmN2PCPNxLoL36vwoO4xwZm4GxMPz5AUp6Mo4LpmgKYDhw8GXn8QMJdu3hrwl_pLPJXw13vz06U0O4/s1600/IMG_0696.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQwgJppHH9jsckKMmCyWXIS7FQ24CRntOw-glI02i9IWPZNeyFGXrftJ6KmM2iunmN2PCPNxLoL36vwoO4xwZm4GxMPz5AUp6Mo4LpmgKYDhw8GXn8QMJdu3hrwl_pLPJXw13vz06U0O4/s400/IMG_0696.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-24261836661155340892010-07-28T09:00:00.001+01:002010-07-28T09:00:03.814+01:00The Muddy Island joins Essex Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6Xh-QwTSh4vzBBkRtN0qHduSGIWjVgIhQWL-IyqhAVb0nwNrHmXFGpejKVoDnRX4WVyqMOIRh9bmZSElJwAPeLIs0mIzoR1lSk4k7_EqevHynlzzy8mH2viwvIkgYEdA7DUpFlCqM-s/s1600/279.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6Xh-QwTSh4vzBBkRtN0qHduSGIWjVgIhQWL-IyqhAVb0nwNrHmXFGpejKVoDnRX4WVyqMOIRh9bmZSElJwAPeLIs0mIzoR1lSk4k7_EqevHynlzzy8mH2viwvIkgYEdA7DUpFlCqM-s/s400/279.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br />
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While I shall continue to Muse about anything and everything here, I am now also to be found Musing about Essex issues - and Mersea matters in particular - on <a href="http://essex.greatbritishlife.co.uk/people-and-places/people-and-places-blogs/">the Essex Life website</a> .Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-19555010075197148382010-07-27T22:41:00.002+01:002010-07-27T22:41:52.901+01:00TBTE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl9Vv-yqMgIuHMN9GjJXjBPQUPGPKmocv3EiKQs_CdzLTbtDt5n-uXkZNQ-ISDSjw_enT-beV78InQMpELFx7CQDwPsWmxZbro6HsNMlcDmXzSgSfXzFEOqP0SZrOffIOWKUwvIa4Xiw/s1600/IMG_0704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl9Vv-yqMgIuHMN9GjJXjBPQUPGPKmocv3EiKQs_CdzLTbtDt5n-uXkZNQ-ISDSjw_enT-beV78InQMpELFx7CQDwPsWmxZbro6HsNMlcDmXzSgSfXzFEOqP0SZrOffIOWKUwvIa4Xiw/s400/IMG_0704.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-12317435408137828132010-07-27T21:00:00.002+01:002010-07-27T21:00:01.736+01:00Songs of the Sea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBdKtqQKz58w8qHgij1C6YstpuMaIthWS3Y9zqrudFNI5rvtkkS-Uave6TZYCEOYQ4MT4oSeKxJLkNUEnOqYIjJhs0mXtgzCjqUGkdpH8abP0jRmW8_W7v3pq41OXn-RSmm7t6Q9BlO8/s1600/ShantyNight+fliercolour+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBdKtqQKz58w8qHgij1C6YstpuMaIthWS3Y9zqrudFNI5rvtkkS-Uave6TZYCEOYQ4MT4oSeKxJLkNUEnOqYIjJhs0mXtgzCjqUGkdpH8abP0jRmW8_W7v3pq41OXn-RSmm7t6Q9BlO8/s400/ShantyNight+fliercolour+copy.jpg" width="282" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The Mersea Session on Thursday nights is always entertaining - one never knows who is going to turn up. The Thursday before last, it was my great misfortune to be chained to my desk by The Book From Hell (or one of them - they crop up from time to time in my line of business), and thus unable to nip down to the Coast Inn for even half an hour. Just my luck, because who should turn up and join in, in my absence, but <a href="http://www.billybragg.co.uk/">Billly Bragg</a>. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was contacted by text with the exciting news, but in my jaundiced mindset at the time, I simply thought it was a ploy to soften my resolve and get me down there for half an hour and half a pint, so I ignored the summons and consequently <em>missed</em> possibly the most memorable Thursday since the sessions began last October. Arggh! But I have nobody by my own doubting-Thomas self to blame. Pictures of the evening's music-making can be found <a href="http://merseasession.blogspot.com/2010/07/thursday-150710-billy-bragg-session.html">here</a>.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Anyway, The Book From Hell was duly finished a day or so afterwards, and my in-tray is filled with mostly rather enjoyable-looking jobs for the next few weeks. Which means that I was able to go along last Thursday, accompanied by IM, freshly released from school for the summer. I'm sure that some would not necessarily approve of my taking my 8-year-old daughter to the pub of an evening, still less that I publicly broadcast this lapse in Responsible Parenting on the internet. But she loves the music, and <a href="http://merseasession.blogspot.com/p/gallery.html">taking photographs </a>and drinking CocaCola <em>with ice in it</em>, and is now busy polishing up her own little party pieces on the piano, so that she can join in next time. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>With the Muddy Island's week-long sailing festival - <a href="http://merseaweek.org/">Mersea Week</a> - coming up next month, we thought it would be fun to hold a special nautically themed musical evening on 12 August. We're calling it Shanty Night and one of my tasks for the week ahead is to pin posters advertising it to every lamp-post on the island and inveigle it into shop windows by one means or another. It's certainly not going to be restricted to traditional sea shanties - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd_nopTFuZA">'La Mer' </a>and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1v60FITAfY&feature=related">'I Am Sailing' </a> will undoubtedly feature, amongst others. IM wonders whether <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3YjBP5MYTY">'Row Your Boat'</a> qualifies, since it involves a stream, rather than yer actual sea. If it does (and who's going to quibble, with all that merrily merrilying and life being but a dream, after all?) she's up for playing it on the night.Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-63186547752381397942010-07-27T13:08:00.006+01:002010-07-27T13:09:37.759+01:00Stella Toucan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtgXsnuLm700Rfi9VXhFADX9JuVZz4LonQ6-UjXgTMgZJF5C2ylv9WnqkLlDtwutzXVZ_QelhbByhPO76hbLz7aoz2aRvMtr06c1txNb4S12URyMboenKysIESSqzOc0ZkIHMWh667oHA/s1600/IMG_0621.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtgXsnuLm700Rfi9VXhFADX9JuVZz4LonQ6-UjXgTMgZJF5C2ylv9WnqkLlDtwutzXVZ_QelhbByhPO76hbLz7aoz2aRvMtr06c1txNb4S12URyMboenKysIESSqzOc0ZkIHMWh667oHA/s400/IMG_0621.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Great excitement last weekend, as Stella number 62, <span style="color: #cc0000;">Toucan</span>, made the long journey to Mersea from Dundee. <br />
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Stellas were originally designed and built on the Essex coast, 50-odd years ago, but as their popularity increased, some were built further afield. Toucan herself was built in Scotland, so while this isn't exactly a 'homecoming' for her, she will surely enjoy the company of so many other Stellas in her new location.<br />
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Toucan is shortly to be the star of her very own blog, which will recount her history, her 13-hour road-trip south and, with any luck, her slow - but steady and loving - restoration and eventual (fingers crossed) re-launch. <br />
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Meanwhile, here are some pics of her journey and the condition she's in. Quite a project. Probably a mad one, but . . . . well, we'll see what happens.<br />
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And the <a href="http://collectables.shop.ebay.co.uk/Collectables-/1/i.html?_nkw=guinness+toucan&_dmd=3&_sop=2">Toucan/Guinness</a> connection is certainly going to be a source of entertainment on various levels. Incidentally, on a literary note, it's a little-known fact (and one I had forgotten until recently researching toucanalia on the internet) that the original advertising slogan for Guinness which employed the toucan was none other than <a href="http://www.sayers.org.uk/">Dorothy L Sayers</a>: <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">“If he can say as you can </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Guinness is good for you</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">How grand to be a Toucan</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Just think what Toucan do” </span></div><br />
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To find out more about Stella Class yachts, click <a href="http://www.stellasail.org.uk/">here</a>.Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-37957101408410689822010-07-07T23:38:00.000+01:002010-07-07T23:38:47.873+01:00TBTE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxilXhPNWtlXbLDl_uehfM10bbiejAsgaaBK2cRgnK7tA1Djw_wQyvt8_CialnVSKJ3hfG4hQWP5zbCqfroPPHwEijeIOCaQQsRODXjRnTogWIHFhVaEj4ROE-gvO0GBSZ6zii9UdM-U/s1600/IMG_0207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxilXhPNWtlXbLDl_uehfM10bbiejAsgaaBK2cRgnK7tA1Djw_wQyvt8_CialnVSKJ3hfG4hQWP5zbCqfroPPHwEijeIOCaQQsRODXjRnTogWIHFhVaEj4ROE-gvO0GBSZ6zii9UdM-U/s400/IMG_0207.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>That's the <a href="http://www.dongenergy.com/Gunfleetsands/GunfleetSands/AboutGFS/Pages/default.aspx">Gunfleet Offshore Windfarm</a> on the horizon.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj773JSyTEu61iUkew6KkTa8awaDlnIO9Pdi4jmwhNrnHs6l2xOiY4xHz3qHxYaJ2m0M2L47YcYCl2VYzRuBL_YTSv0x6YyReAVgX7nTbRmxRZWVlyNKbZv0t1EJ6iRyprKMkbLxqSNZtM/s1600/IMG_0255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj773JSyTEu61iUkew6KkTa8awaDlnIO9Pdi4jmwhNrnHs6l2xOiY4xHz3qHxYaJ2m0M2L47YcYCl2VYzRuBL_YTSv0x6YyReAVgX7nTbRmxRZWVlyNKbZv0t1EJ6iRyprKMkbLxqSNZtM/s400/IMG_0255.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-64081409906289754472010-07-07T11:25:00.000+01:002010-07-07T11:25:09.196+01:00TBTE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBvCVkgjDmad2GyIrDlRI8MZ7OCY0oT4d3JRSASa2w0jJ8K0tOOt0itbwV6jQh2OeA1RxYawMhplWXVYSoSMYkTJmWjyXAZyBJNTr2sbVmgLt7JruEuvNIudMPp2b61OkFglywqxMHyw/s1600/IMG_0204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBvCVkgjDmad2GyIrDlRI8MZ7OCY0oT4d3JRSASa2w0jJ8K0tOOt0itbwV6jQh2OeA1RxYawMhplWXVYSoSMYkTJmWjyXAZyBJNTr2sbVmgLt7JruEuvNIudMPp2b61OkFglywqxMHyw/s400/IMG_0204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwU-g9H7MY8uYQjTkFdBvK5Qj44hzW2Csz0bzLXnEZ1sTAitwkUboJREYv4bR48C46wy5WdvbIgQPndMczcgqszUCqyokqETzwiqTRdRG2-SjTvVmAZ2iEvaGoz6m43s-_4IyzDMXkbNU/s1600/IMG_0202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwU-g9H7MY8uYQjTkFdBvK5Qj44hzW2Csz0bzLXnEZ1sTAitwkUboJREYv4bR48C46wy5WdvbIgQPndMczcgqszUCqyokqETzwiqTRdRG2-SjTvVmAZ2iEvaGoz6m43s-_4IyzDMXkbNU/s400/IMG_0202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-19566402269970901572010-07-06T09:55:00.004+01:002010-07-06T10:18:57.426+01:00Mersea Island Live MusicThe new Mersea Island Live Music website now has the easier-to-remember address: <br />
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<strong><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.merseaislandlivemusic.com/">www.merseaislandlivemusic.com</a></span></strong><br />
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Lots of interest already from local venues and bands and it's rapidly filling up with news of forthcoming events. The more it's visited, the easier it will be for people to find it via the usual search engines. <br />
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If you live on or around Mersea and know of anything which should be listed but isn't, <em>do please get in touch</em>.Juliethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055924620237477722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-684094023681819935.post-55195077979031357452010-07-04T22:42:00.000+01:002010-07-04T22:42:51.633+01:00An island weekend and TBTEWell, a whole week has gone by (as they frequently do) when I haven't set foot off the island. Not since returning from the most delicious fish and chip supper on the Quay at Maldon last Saturday night. And this is a huge part of the charm of island living for me - the wonderful self-contained, self-sufficiency of it all. (OK, admittedly, I sailed across the Blackwater to Bradwell and back yesterday evening, but I don't think that counts. It wasn't by car and I didn't land anywhere!)<br />
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I used to refer to my children here as Small Doyles (SDs) 1, 2 and 3. But since numbers 1 and 2 are now no longer smaller than me (in height, if not girth!), I'm going to have to change the terminology. They'll doubtless object to any clever acronyms I might devise, so for now they can simply be O, elder daughter, freshly emerged from the rigours of GCSEs, looking forward to a summer of music festivals, unrestrained Facebook interaction and never having to do another physics or German exam again in her life; H, pining slightly for rugby but rejoicing in his new-found prowess in javelin and triple-jump, living a Swallows and Amazons existence whenever he can, rowing 'Sea Pig' (of which more soon) with his mates around the creeks and tiny islands off Mersea; and IM, uber girly girl, owner and wearer, by default, of my entire collection of high-heeled party shoes (not items of attire I need much, if ever, these days), obsessive hair-stylist and The One With The Performing Gene. <br />
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Much of the weekend was taken up by IM's appearance in Mersea Island Youth Player's' ambitious summer production, <em><strong>The Junction</strong></em>, with performances on Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday, O and H accompanied me to the island's theatre at the MICA centre, seated cabaret-style, for an interesting, if sometimes unsettling experience. The gritty urban storyline, devised by some of the older members of the ensemble - and all credit to them for their imagination - was hardly bedtime story fodder for the 8-year-olds (IM, for example) in the cast, in my view, but maybe that's because I'm an Older Mother and not a hip, cool, whereitsat one. But the dancing, costumes, lighting and general spectacle were superb, and the months of rigorous rehearsal were well rewarded. Directed, produced and musically devised by a dedicated team of islanders, all regular performers at <a href="http://www.merseasession.blogspot.com/">The Mersea Session</a>, <em><strong>The Junction</strong></em> was a splendid showcase of young Mersea talent.<br />
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What weather we are having! Today was another cloudless scorcher - but here we have the sea breezes to mitigate the otherwise oppressive heat. I had stacks of work to do, but luckily it was of the scribbling-with-red-pen-on-piles-of-paper kind, so I was able to sit in the garden (paperweights to the fore) for five hours and got through another few chapters before the insistent siren wail of the ironing mound could be borne no longer, and in I came to wrestle with sheets, shirts and skirts, and got a bit steamy. <br />
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After hearing IM read another chapter of <em>Matilda</em> aloud, do her guitar practice and finally, after a good deal of prevarication, get into bed, I zipped out for a quick circuit of West Mersea on my lovely 1964 green Triumph Ladies' Bicycle (with basket, naturally) to take the night air and stretch the creaking legs before night fell (the bike being unilluminated, since H 'borrowed' and subsequently broke my last set of lights - and not for the first time, either). Here are the resulting TBTE pics, the first two featuring the historic Oyster Sheds, soon to be demolished, despite vociferous local oposition, to make way for a 'fine dining' restaurant (all highly controversial - more soon) the latter two taken from the Best Office On The Island.<br />
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