Sculpture Town: Six Cubes by Shelley Faussett

 

Click on the photos for more pictures at the flickr site

Given the relatively narrow period in the second half of the 20th century where a large part of the Harlow collection was acquired, it is perhaps inevitable that the influence of Henry Moore is seemingly inescapable. In this instance, the sculptor, Shelley Faussett, started out as an apprentice of Moores. 

The piece is typical of Faussett's work as he liked to create stacks of repeated shapes. It can be found in the Bush Fair area of Harlow, in the middle of a small shopping area.

Bowers Marsh RSPB - A Reserve In Progress

A Fresh/Brackish Water Lagoon

In a previous post, I mentioned the exciting times for the RSPB in the south of the county with the development of the Bowers Marsh nature reserve being amongst the most exciting developments. Well on Saturday the warden for the South Essex Marshes reserves (also including West Canvey Marsh, Vange Marsh and the centre at Wat Tyler Country Park) Marc Outten, gave a small group of us a guided tour of the work so far as the new reserve moves towards its opening in the autumn.

One end of the large fresh/brackish water lagoon. The earth ridge to the left of the picture
will be removed when the Island at the end is finished.

The construction of a nature reserve of this size (270 Hectare) is essentially a case of two things - shifting earth and managing water. Whilst the land was originally salt marsh, when the sea wall was built in the 19th century it was dried out for farming purposes. Some 350,000 cubic metres of earth have been shifted as two large lagoons have been dug out, one for salt water and one that will contain fresh/brackish water.

The Saline Lagoon, from the top of the new sea wall.

A new sea wall has been built to enclose the new saline lagoon which will be connected to the tidal creek through a breach in the existing sea wall. This is due to happen in September, ahead of a hoped-for October opening to the public. A network of small creeks and ditches have been excavated to re-create the salt marsh. 

Redhill Field

One of the problems that had had to be contended with in the construction of the reserve was the archaeology of the site. There was known to be a roman settlement in the near vicinity, and items of pottery were found under the car park. "Redhills" were identified in a local field, small mounds containing clay, fired red by the fires used to evaporate water from brine in the preparation of salt.

Our guides were both enthusiastic and knowledgable, and the two hours sped by, despite some less than clement weather at times. Despite the site largely resembling a building site, we saw some 20 species of bird including sparrowhawk, hobby, greater spotted woodpecker, reed warbler and an avocet family. It was an interesting opportunity to see how these reserves are put together, and I look forward to visiting in the Autumn, and further into the future as the flora and fauna become established.

In Praise of Essex Beer

The Hoop Beer Festival 2011

The news that Oscar Wilde from the Mighty Oak Brewery had won champion beer of Britain has merely continued a remarkable run for the breweries of Essex. With Crouch Vale Gold having carried off the trophy in 2005 and 2006 it made it 3 wins in 7 years. 

Essex has long been viewed as the poor cousin, in brewing terms, of its neighbours, Suffolk in the North and Kent in the South, but the success of it's breweries is going some way to reddress the balance. Following the closure of Ridleys in 2005, Essex had lost the last of their historical brewers, but there emerged a new breed, led by Crouch Vale who, although only established in the early 80s, are now the oldest brewery in Essex. More recently another new brewery, the Brentwood Brewing Company, have joined the fray supplying my favourite beer at this years Hoop Beer Festival (see picture!).

Sculpture Town: Chorus by Lee Grandjean

 

(Click the photos for more pictures at the flickr site)

Lee Grandjean is a sculptor who spent some of his childhood in Harlow. Now resident in Norfolk, this piece was commissioned to mark the 21st anniversary of the Harlow Chorus, an amateur choir still going strong in the town. It is unusual in that it is one of, if not the only piece in the Harlow collection to be made from wood. Having stood outside since 1996, it may have seen better days but still regains it's elegance.

Vange Marsh RSPB Nature Reserve

The saltwater lagoon / scrape at Vange Marsh

Vange Marsh RSPB reserve is hidden away about as well as it is possible to hide a large area of land. Down an unprepossessing path behind an industrial unit, over the railway line and there it is. A small oasis of peace and (bar the occasional passing train) quiet near my home.

A brackish lagoon surrounded by reed beds

Despite being relatively compact, they squeeze a good number of different habitats into the area - saltwater and brackish lagoons, a scrape, salt marsh, reed beds and heathland.

Now, I know very little about wildlife (bar what I learned watching springwatch) so I've decided to adopt Vange Marsh and get down there as often as possible over the year to see what is going on. It's exciting times for the RSPB locally as they are back working on the nearby Bowers Marsh reserve, and of course in 5 or so years time they will be taking over the land currently occupied by the Pitsea landfill site featured on Springwatch.

Moorhen and Chick

St Margaret of Antioch, Margaret Roding

St Margaret of Antioch, Margaret Roding

On the occasion of a friends wedding recently, I had the opportunity to stay in a B&B in Margaret Roding. The Rodings, as they are known, are a series of villages on the road between Bishops Stortford and Chelmsford. They're not really part of "my patch" but not to worry...

The B&B, Garnish Hall, was interesting enough; a 14th century manor house. What really caught my eye, however, was the church next door. On the face of it, a parish church typical for small villages all over the place; it most likely would have been originally built for the lord of the manor with the chancel added when it was opened up to the wider community. What was most remarkable about it was this doorway:

To my eye, it seems completely out of keeping with the rest of the church and is quite unlike anything I've seen elsewhere. Unfortunately the need to get to the wedding reception meant that I was unable to take up the offer of a look inside, and the reason behind why a small parish church should have such a striking door will, for the moment at least, remain a mystery.

Paglesham and the Last Days of the HMS Beagle

HMS Beagle in Australia, from an 1841 Watercolour by Owen Stanley

This article, published in the Guardian recently, came to my attention shortly after an enlightening visit to Paglesham for lunch with friends. In the local pub, I picked up a book by a local historian called Ann Boulter about the final days of the HMS Beagle, and the search for it in the River Roach.

In a period after the Napoleonic wars, Britain's attentions turned to the expansion of their empire and the exploration of the already conquered territories. HMS Beagle went out as an exploration vessel, initially under the command of Commander Pringel Stokes for the first voyage of exploration then a Commander Robert Fitzroy for the second. Acknowledging the limitations of his information-gathering team, he determined to recruit a naturalist and scientist which brought him to meet Charles Darwin, the most famous man to have travelled on the HMS Beagle. It was on this voyage that Darwin made the observations that formed the basis of his "Origin of the Species".

HMS Beagle was to make one further voyage, to Australia, but then in 1845 the tired ship was passed to the Coastguard for use as a watch vessel. The rivers and creeks of the Essex coast around, and to the north of the Thames estuary, were prime smuggling territory and the river near Paglesham was no exception. The pub nearby, where I went for lunch a couple of weeks ago, was a notorious haunt for smugglers.

It wasn't a glamorous posting, but for former Navy men it offered the opportunity to live with their family as the Beagle was fitted out to accomodate 7 men and their families. There was plenty of work to be done as not only were smugglers to be deterred, the local oyster beds prized by the likes of Benjamin Disraeli, had to be protected.

Unfortunately the Beagle was not well maintained and as it began to disintegrate it had to be moved to a permanent berth in the Paglesham mud, where it finished its days. Eventually it was sold off. Initially believed to be scrapped, an investigation described in the book I bought in the pub, "Watch Vessel No. 7". The search concluded that the remains of a ship matching the dimensions of the Beagle could be detected beneath the Paglesham mud. There they will remain, unless money can be found for an archaeological excavation. 

So far as I can see, the book isn't available on the internet, so if you want a copy you will have to visit the pub and take a walk along the sea wall...