colchester 101 january 2011

Colchester’s Access All Areas Magazine

Free

Issue 3 January 2011Issue 3 January 2011

Shoot the Curl with Surfquake’s Nelson

Martin Newell meets firstsite’s Kath Wood

Melissa Porter’s January detox guide

Kem Izzet looks at Colchester United’s year ahead

Pleasetake one

Ady Johnson

A RisingStar

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:03

Call today on 01206 564700Email: [email protected] 7a Magdalen Street, Colchester.

www.ezelet.co.uk

Let your property the way

At eze let we know that each landlord’s requirements are unique. Our highly experiencedteam will work with you to ensure a stress free,tailor made solution to letting your property and ensuring the best return on your investment.

e ezlet

e ez

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:03

Ady Johnson, Page 6.

Kath Wood, Page 16.

03

Colchester 101is published by Tonic Creative SolutionsThe StudioTye RoadColchesterEssex CO7 7BN

Tel: 01206 544700 Email: [email protected]: Simon Crow and Paul ClarkDesigner: Paul Clark

Very special thanks to Roddy Ashworth

Thanks to our contributors:Adrian MultonMelissa PorterAndrew DellMartin NewellPeter SherlockKem Izzet and Colchester UnitedSven WombwellJason CobbHazel HumphreysEd Tabard Christopher MancipleCraig Fookes

Front cover image courtesy of Nick Ilott Photography

All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or whole without publisher’s written consent is prohibited. Whilst every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of all details and information the publishers are not liable for errors and omissions to any features, listings or advertisements. Any views expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers Tonic Creative Solutions.

www.Colchester101.co.ukFind us on Follow us on

e Colchester 101 wishes all its readers a Happy New Year!

ere we are in 2011, and issue 3 ofColchester 101. We are still bowled overby the success of the magazine so far,and have plenty of new ideas and

features planned for the coming months, ensuring we continue to be Colchester’s must read magazine. So watch out for some new sections and featurescoming soon.

This month our intrepid feature writer Martin Newellhad an exclusive chat with Kath Wood, and learnedabout what drives the director of firstsite, who aresoon to take occupancy of the town’s new Visual Arts Facility (VAF).

Meanwhile I met up with New Model Army andSurfquake’s Nelson and chatted about life on theroad with NMA and the surprising story about howhis love of surf guitar music came about.

We also take a look at established local performerAdy Johnson who is soon to release his first albumTell the Worry Dolls, and find out how the album gotits name. Having been lucky enough to have had asneak preview of it I think a worry doll is the lastthing Ady is going to need.

Melissa Porter has been stressing about how muchwe have all been eating and drinking over Christmas,and has gone to great lengths to help us all get backinto good health and shed those festive poundswe’ve put on, so don’t miss her January detox guide,while the Funny Farm’s Hazel Humphreys keeps uslaughing into this new year, and Craig Fookesexplores the world of The X Factor and it’s effect onartists who prefer to choose the old fashioned routesto success. And of course, don’t forget Bid TV andPrice Drop TV Peter Sherlock’s tips for smelling great in his Scent Train.

See you in February

Simon CrowEditor

H

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:03

04

Colchester gets a pizza the action

TEqLOGIC can reduce costs andincrease the quality of your IT using Cloud computing...

Call us today to arrange a FREE no obligation consultation. 0845 034 1256 (Local call)

[email protected] www.teqlogic.com/cases.pdfCloud computing for all - demystified

IT & Telephony Problems?

Watch Out: Here Come the

Chris & Heather, Rochester, NY Martin Newell, Wivenhoe, Essex

Matt Cardle pizza by food artist Prudence Staite.

It wasn’t a tale of two cities; it wasn’t even a tale oftwo towns - more like the tale of uptown NY Statefolk who took the trip across the Atlantic, just to tryout a little taste of life out in the North Essex estuary wilds of Wivenhoe.

Wwwwhat?Chris and Heather have no connection with Colchester. They live in Rochester,NY State, in what seems like an idyllic typical type of modern Americanlifestyle. Chris makes music, Heather is creative with podcasts. They both likecats. So what’s the Colchester angle, you’re asking?

Well...As not is uncommon with some of our special relationship friends, Chris andHeather also both have a fascination with a quintessential English rural lifestyle.They like the landscape, the traditions and the music. They like Martin Newell,the Wild Man of Wivenhoe and the true pop genius of this parish.

This interest took a curious twist this autumn, when having long since enjoyedthe music and prose of Wivenhoe’s finest via CD, printed book and online activity, Chris and Heather went “on vacation to Wivenhoe.”

Wow.It wasn’t quite a Withnail and I holiday by mistake moment, more like a journeyof exploration to see for themselves what a North Essex estuary town is like,and how the surroundings have inspired Martin in much of his written work.

Some online research prior to leaving Rochester also led them to m’blog.Emails were exchanged, advice was passed back and forth online, and beforetoo long, we had agreed to meet up at the Corner House in Wivenhoe to seal our online friendship back in the real world.

I met up with Chris and Heather the morning after Martin had entertainedthem. It will come as no surprise to locals to know that the trans-Atlantic meeting of minds took place over a pint or two (or three, four or five) in The Greyhound.

Chin chin.And so the morning after, delicate heads were nursed over a cup of coffee at the Corner House in Wivenhoe. The first question had to be what the chuffersbrings a NY State couple all the way over to Wivenhoe:

“We’re here in Wivenhoe to meet Martin Newell! The Wildman of Wivenhoe- the greatest living Englishman!” Chris told me. “We knew about Martin for along time, and we thought it would be great to find out a little more about theman behind the music. We also wanted to see what Wivenhoe was like, and how the landscape has inspired much of his work.”

Ah yes, the wonderful North Essex estuary surrounds. Did the picture postcard online representation of Wivenhoe match up with the reality of boozing at The Greyhound and The Station?

“Wivenhoe looks like a charming, beautiful town,” added Heather. “You get the

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:03

The Jason Cobb 101 Blog

05

Americans

I’m a firm believer that you can judge the success of a town by thequality of the local charity shops. Sure it’s great to have the big High Street brands nearby, but the true character of Colchester shines through with the range of charity shops to choose from.

The very ethos of donating cast offs speaks volumes about thesocial conscience of a town. This may sound like a liberal dream, but it is also something of a retail lifesaver for many local families in theseuncertain economic times.

A recent trip into the town centre saw me pick up a woollen jumper, a couple of shirts and a pair of (unused) hiking socks. I blinked at theopportunity of buying a (used) 44DD bright pink bra. I still had changefrom a tenner, and so threw £100 away on a designer man bag.

Only joking...

Age Concern alongGeorge Street, Scopeand the PDSA on LongWyre, Cancer Researchat Culver Street West - itmay not be a West Endshopping experience, butI’d be struggling to find apair of (unused) hikingsocks along RegentStreet for under £1.

What I find fascinatingabout our local charityscene, dahhhling, is theselection of clothes foundwithin. The items donatedserve as a social timecapsule for the currentstate of the town.

Designer clothes don’texactly grace the railsalong the charity shopcircuit. There’s a morepractical approach, withsensible clothing, as your parents might have once said. This doesn’tmean that Colchester is dull - witness the bright young things scrummagingaround in the bargain bins to buy some clothing that they will then customise.

Yep - Colchester is comfortable, rather than costly. This atmospherehelps to promote further creativity within the town. The bottom upapproach of retail during this recession is booming, compared to theearly 90’s. The black bin liner bidding shops that sprung up after BlackWednesday in ‘92 are thankfully nowhere to be seen.

Instead we have the likes of Slack Space, the creatives at 15 QueenStreet and the Hidden Kiosk Project by the old bus station, all successfully using empty building space to create something beneficial for Colchester under these challenging times.

Charity begins at home.

Or along Head Street, Long Wyre, Crouch Street etc.

Jason Cobbonionbagblog.com

Charity begins in Crouch Street

So Matt Cardle, as many predicted, won The X Factor. Whetheryou love or loathe Simon Cowell’s hugely popular talent showit did at least focus the nation’s attention on Colchester for theweekend of the final during ITV1’s live outside broadcast fromCharter Hall. However, Essex girl, and 2010 I’m a Celebrity winner, Stacy Solomon’s disastrous live link to the studio, whichleft us hearing Stacy but looking instead at a sea of happy faces in the crowd filling our television screens, was perhaps my ownpersonal highlight of the Saturday night show. Worryingly though, I’m still a little disturbed by the sight of the pizza that one audience member had with her that had Matt’s face on itfashioned out of sausages and various other pizza toppings! Did I dream that, or did it really happen?

Simon CrowNo sausages were hurt during the writing of this article.

To Advertise in Colchester 101

Call 01206 544700 or email us at:

[email protected]

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

impression that everyone will be so sweet and friendly because everythinglooks so beautiful. And then you get here, and everything is just as you had imagined!

Even our first step - we met some folk at the train. We needed to make aphone call at the station and there was this cute little cat having his dinner! We didn’t have a phone, and the guy in the both passed us his cellphone. This isjust above and beyond the friendliness and hospitality that we were expecting.”

It wasn’t the stunning scenery that was the main inspiration for a vacation inNorth Essex. I picked up a real sense that Chris and Heater wanted to knowsomething of the people, and genuinely experience what life in an English townis really like. This wasn’t so much cultural tourism, but fieldwork to feed somehighly creative minds.

“It is very much an artist’s community here,” Chris told me. “We’ve metartists, musicians, poets, writers, bloggers! It’s fascinating! There are so manypeople doing artistic things. Really sweet people. Everyone has been wonderfulto us on this trip.”

Wivenhoe wasn’t the only pin on the map for our traveling friends. Liverpooland London were also on the radar. I gave Chris and Heather the hypotheticalchoice of choosing where to live out of the three locations:

“We would love to move to Wivenhoe! But in reality, it’s not possible. Jobs,families, cats - I can’t imagine getting the cats over here,” said Heather.

But it all comes back to the pop genius of this parish:“I wouldn’t have thought of coming if it wasn’t for wanting to meet Martin,”

added Chris. “We came here for the people, and not for the town, but the townis so alluring. This is the perfect life!”

Maybe we should erect an unofficial sign just off the Colchester Road as you are passing into the town: Wivenhoe - twinned with Rochester, NY State.Please drive carefully and please look after our cats.

Awesome, dude.

By Jason Cobb

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:03

06

Colchester 101 had the pleasure of catching up with Ady Johnson a few days after the officialalbum release party for his debut solo album Tell TheWorry Dolls and in true rock and roll fashion, Adyhad some time for us despite suffering with the flu.

From FuzzFace to Worry Dolls

Ady Johnson has been a recognised andrespected face on the local music scenefor many years now. He gained a loyalfollowing from his time as lead singer ofFuzzFace, who are widely recognised asone of Colchester’s leading bands fromthe last decade, but it’s his solo acousticproject that has earned him attention overthe past 2 years.

So many of us know Ady for his musicbut we also wanted to find out moreabout the man; how it all started, hisinfluences, the album and what the future holds.

Ady told Colchester 101 “It all startedat school when I was fifteen, I used toentertain the classroom by playing wellknow tunes by plucking a ruler on theedge of a table! Thankfully, my mothersensing some natural musical aptitudestarted me up with some guitar lessons.”

And which artists have influenced you?

“There are so many. Vocally, you canpick from Steve Marriott from the SmallFaces, Stevie Winwood, any of the greatsoul singers. My guitar styles on thisproject come from originally learningacoustic songs by great bands such asThe Beatles and Led Zeppelin and indeedto the artists who inspired them, such asBert Jansch and John Renbourn fromPentangle.

“If I ever get stuck with song writingI’ll often go back to The Beatles, however,when it comes to writing lyrics the inspiration can come from anywhere. For example, on the last song on Tell theWorry Dolls, Faithful Shadow, I take asnippet from a song by the EnglishRenaissance composer John Dowland!”

So, the album is now out. How didTell The Worry Dolls come about?

“Well the concept behind Tell TheWorry Doll as an album title comes froma song I wrote for Jewells, a good friendof mine. Jewells picked up on the WorryDolls reference from the track JewellyBox and that led to the album title andthe original album cover design.”Forthose not familiar with Worry Dolls, they

are small and colourful dolls traditionallymade in Guatemala. A person who cannotsleep due to worrying can express theirworries to a doll and place it under theirpillow before going to sleep. Accordingto folklore, the doll is thought to worryin the person’s place, thereby allowing the person to sleep peacefully. The personwill wake up without their worries, whichhave been taken away by the dolls duringthe night.

Ady added “The album title alsoreflects the cathartic process I imaginemany artists go through when writingsongs, so I like the idea that having completed the album any concerns orwoes of mine expressed within the songsare finally laid to rest” Ady has also keptthe whole recording process local. He isjoined on the album by a host of greatmusicians including Toby Bull(FuzzFace), Nelson (Surfquake, NewModel Army), Matthew Kelly(Housework), and Matt Simpkins (RevSimpkins, FuzzFace) and the album wasrecorded at LongTrack Studios nearMarks Tey. Ady believes having a strongteam around him has made the difference.

“There was a time when I’d try to doeverything myself but in the past yearI’ve brought in specialists, so to have mypress and PR side of things covered byBen Howard of Cool Publicity and theproduction of my live performances managed by Andy Winmill of Camandhas ensured the album has started to create the buzz I wanted it to.”

What does 2011 hold for Ady Johnson?“I’ve got 12 months of promotion

planned for Tell The Worry Dolls with acouple of singles to be released from thealbum. It’s going to be a busy year butone I’m very excited about.”

Tell The Worry Dolls is released onCD and digital download on January 17th.

Jewelly BoxYou’re a precious find

Whose treasures deep insideShine into my life

Make me a rich manYou listen to my woes

Of all the things life throwsThursday afternoonsAround coffee tables

So if tears start rolling when those you love go astrayAnd you a friend to guide you through your day

You know you can callJewelly Box

If I should leave some dayFrom this God forsaken place

Please don’t be sadI won’t stay for too long

Tell worry dolls your sorrowsAnd put them under your pillowBy the light of day you’ll find

They’ve taken them away


You know you can callJewelly Box

Ba ba ba ba ba [etc]


You know you can callJewelly BoxJewelly Box

Copyright andProduction AdyJohnson 2010

Pho

togr

aphy

by

Nic

k Ilo

tt P

hoto

grap

hy

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:03

When I talk to people in bands and to musicians, a lot of people refer to The X Factor as taking over music and itcould be said that it is. In the 10 years or so that thesetypes of programmes have existed, it has become clearthat the masses not only enjoy the gladiatorial spectacleof the Saturday night shows; but also enjoy the pantomime of the judges picking faults with the acts and also each other – and why wouldn’t you?

It would also appear that people prefer to vote for theirfavourite artists, in addition too, (or perhaps instead of)buying their music in a traditional sense, ITV revealed thatThe X Factor received 15.4 million votes during the 10week series.

It is perfect Saturday night entertainment. It undoubtedlywill the launch the careers of many pop artists and Ibelieve that it will continue to do so. It has taken over thecharts and there is no going back. I heard on the radiorecently that Simon Cowell is now looking at a weekly versionof the show and, if it proceeds, no doubt it will help him tocommandeer even more of the charts than it does already.

However, and this is for me the key point, The X Factordoes not replace new music. The X Factor needs newmusic to survive and without the combination of newmusic that people have to seek out, enjoy, interact andengage with The X Factor simply wouldn’t exist.

The winner, local lad, (apparently from Colchesteralthough he lives near Halstead) Matt Cardle covered BiffyClyro’s “Many of Horror,” although it would seem that thetitle Many of Horror isn’t palatable enough for SimonCowell’s undoubted Christmas number one; ‘When WeCollide” and the other tracks could be seen as an attempton credible new music by The X Factor. The Biffy Clyrotrack was released in 2010, and is break from the norm forThe X Factor, as previously a new track was commissionedspecifically for the winner.

The X Factor works because people are not only supportingthe contestants’ ability to sing, they also associate withthem, over the 10 weeks you get to know the artists, youhear about their “journey,” their families, what they didbefore the show, how it is changed their lives forever.

The music played behind the video clips of check-out

workers or painters and decorators, is more-often-than-not, something “stirring and emotive” like Coldplay’s “FixYou” or Take That’s “Greatest Day.” Viewers build a stronglike or perhaps even stronger dislike for their favourite characters; and it is this more than the music that getspeople to pick up the phone and vote.

Louis Walsh continually called for the people ofLiverpool to pick up the phone and vote for Rebecca, andin the final weeks of the show, they come to the contestants’“home towns” in order to request the support of their fellowresidents. It is because people like to associate with theirfavourite musicians, as much as they enjoy the musicitself; and this is exactly true of new bands and new artists.

The challenge for new bands and artists today is notsimply to produce great new music, there are hundredspossibly thousands of bands that can do that. I believethat to get to the stage of having “made it:” bands andartists have to create their own music scene, a scene in to which their fans feel a part.

Furthermore a scene doesn’t have to be thousands ofpeople, it is probably best if it starts small, with a few dedicated members.

My band, The 633, is attempting to build a scene usingour new music night, The 633 Presents: The Raging Bull,we invite local and touring bands to play at our night, wealways do our best to get the very best bands that we canto play, and than promote the hell out of it. This way everyone can come to a well run, promoted and attendedclub night, this in turn means that we get to meet withother local bands, and continue to develop the“Colchester new music scene.”

When you think ‘music scene’ instantly you can think ofthe punk scene, mods and rockers, rave etc, etc: there arenumerous examples. The X Factor is simply a musicscene that has the benefit of a huge platform (Saturdaynight prime time TV) and the ability to reach across thewidest possible demographic, given the various contestantsand their backgrounds. It becomes easy for most viewersto find at least one contestant that they like or dislike andthen; it then becomes a self-perpetuating hype-machine,given the competition element, as viewers want to see

their guy or gal do well.Locally, there is only one band presently that is doing

very well at creating their own scene and that is Angry Vsthe Bear. They have identified the need for a “street team”which they refer to members as “Cubs” (play on wordswith; ”the Bear” – a master stroke) and they ask people tocome to their gigs and buy a t-shirt.

Members of the Street Team feel part of the band, part of the gang, and will look to find other members of thegang too, and bring them in to it.

Having great songs is important to be a great band.However, being part of a great scene and people understanding and identifying with your band and the individuals in it, mean that people identify and associatewith you and your music and are more likely to tell peopleabout your music because they will know more people who will also want to be part of that scene.Would the SexPistols have been anywhere near as famous if it wasn’t forthe punk scene? If you want your band to become popular,think of a way that you can involve your audience, so thatthey are part of the scene and they will do the rest.

However, this can not be contrived in any way, it has tobe led in a credible and considered manner, people cansmell subterfuge from a county-mile away, your band’sscene absolutely must be remarkable and consistentlydelivered, otherwise it will not work. Raging Bull has nowbeen going two years, and we are still working on it, it isnot perfect, but it is getting better and better, the nightsare now well attended every month, and the quality oftouring bands that are asking to play is staggering.

For your band to grow, and therefore ensure the successof new music, create your own scene, this could be a clubnight, fan club, street team, blog, social media profile, festival, charity/fund raising event, sports team or event.Whatever you choose make sure you do it with passionand conviction and like-minded people will join in.

An extract from www.themarketingcampaign.co.uk a marketing and networking blog by Craig Fookes.

So The X Factor is over for another year, with just another 41 weeks until it all starts again.It could be difficult to think how new artists can compete the huge behemoth that The X Factor has become - with the 19.4 million viewers that watched the The X Factor final.

The 633

New Bands:Your TimeTo Shine

07

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:03

08

“Nel is like an Ian Botham of music, he can do all thejobs really, really well... drums, bass, guitar, mandolin,banjo, violin...all sorts of stuff. And if he doesn’t knowit, he’ll learn it.

“If you’ve got Nel in the band, you’ve got the bandbasically.”

Nelson has been the bassist in the legendary post-punk band New Model Army for over 20 years, andtouring the world with them is still a big, and time consuming, part of his life, but when he is back home in Colchester it’s his surf-guitar band Surfquake that is his passion.

Surf music evolved around America’s surf culture in Southern California in the early 1960s, and has subsequently enjoyed a revival in recent years.Surfquake play a heady mix of surf-guitar classicsalongside their own self-penned tunes.

He managed to resign before he could be sacked.

I caught up with Nelson the same week thatSurfquake had just played to a packed Bull on CrouchStreet. For a member of New Model Army, a bandfamed for their political and humanitarian messages,and their stand against American imperialism, I findNelson to be very down to earth and reassuringly friendly.

Maybe that’s a result of his having remained so closeto his Colchester roots, apart from a nine year stint inBradford when he first joined New Model Army. Bornand bred in the town, Nelson attended the long sinceclosed Wilson Marriage School on Barrack Street beforetaking up a job in the drawing office at Woods. But bythen music was already his life and he managed toresign before he could be sacked for repeatedly fallingasleep at his drawing board, exhausted from playinggigs the night before.

Martin had told me that Nelson is usually in fourbands at any one time. Actually, he’s in six right now,

including having just worked with up and coming localperformer Ady Johnson on his debut solo album ‘TellThe Worry Dolls’.

“Oh great, that’s going to take a while!”

It was a tour of the USA with Modern English in theearly eighties that really kick-started his career. “Thatwas my first big break. They approached me and I wasgrateful for the offer. “We toured for four months and played exactly one hundred gigs”.

He went on to play in a couple of bands with Martin -‘The Cleaners from Venus’ and ‘Brotherhood ofLizards.’

“We did what we think the Brotherhood of Lizardswas the first “green” rock tour of the south of England.

“We spent three weeks on bikes promoting our albumLizardland on Deltic Records which was part owned byCaptain Sensible” co-founder of the legendary punkband The Damned.

It was on the road in the America that Nelson’s loveof the surf-guitar sound began.

“I’m really loving playing with Surfquake, it’s myfavourite thing at the moment. I’ve got New ModelArmy to thank that.

“We’d be touring and we’d hire a splitter van, so ourgear would be in the back and we’d be in the front.Then the manager and I would take turns drivingbecause none of the others were awake enough, or soberenough, to do it”.

They would average 400 miles a day with only theradio to break the monotony. “I remember getting in thevan one day and the sat nav said “Continue for 765miles”. I thought ‘Oh great, that’s going to take awhile!’

“So I would turn on the radio and they’d all be playingall this surf music and I was checking out the secondhand record shops, which I love doing, and I kept

coming across all this surf guitar stuff. “We really got into it because it was one type of

music that all of us in the band loved, so if I was driving I could always put the surf CDs on and nobodywould mind”.

“I wanted to play guitar”

This got Nelson thinking about putting together hisown surf-guitar band. “I wanted to play guitar as Ialways played bass with New Model Army, so I washaving a drink with Nick Sadler in the Fat Cat inColchester and Danny Sceats walked in and I thought:

“Hang about, I’ve got a drummer and a bass playerhere”, so I asked them what they thought of getting a band together and playing surf-guitar music and TV themes.

“Neither of them knew what surf guitar music was soI made them a CD of my favourite tunes and they bothgot back to me and said they’d love to do it.

“A year later we got Ophelia to join us on the keyboards but even though it’s now been three years wehaven’t really done as much as we would have liked yetas New Model Army takes up so much of my time.

They have, however, managed to find time to do somerecording at LongTrack Studio in Marks Tey. They havealso completed a couple of five date tours in Germany,dates in Holland, as well as forthcoming gigs inNorwich and London, with a trip back to Germany alsoin their plans.“Once we’ve got the album finished we can promote theband more. New Model Army are planning a quiet yearin 2011, almost like a break year - although festivalbookings are already coming in - so I’ve got moreopportunity to work on Surfquake.”

So it looks like we’ll be hearing a lot more ofSurfquake’s distinctive sound over the coming months.

Hang Ten as weChat with Nelson By Simon Crow

Before interviewing Nelson I thought it would be a good idea to have a quick chat with his long time friend and fellowmusician, Colchester 101’s feature writer Martin Newell. Martin quickly offered me the following insight. “As long asI’ve known him he’s been playing in about four bands at once.

Surfquake: Left to right:Nelson (Swell), Nick(Noserider), Ophelia(Hannah Lulu) and Danny (The Dune)

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:03

09

Well, really it’s a mixture of four different musical genres, JazzFusion, Jazz Funk, Funk and Souland began as an American genrecharacterized by a strong backbeat (groove), electric instrumentssuch as the Rhodes Piano and the bass guitar, and often the presence of the first electronicanalog synthesizers. It was a popular genre across the pondthroughout the 1970s and the early1980s, then grew in popularity herein the mid 1970s where a hugescene grew around it.

To us it all revolved around themusic and the dancing. Oh Andthe clothes! The weekend was allabout planning your dance moves,dressing up, and going out... andwhatever looked good WAS thefashion, whether that be a beret,jodhpurs, tight jeans and winklepickers, fingerless gloves, a big mohair jumper, it was allgood. But not forgetting, and mostimportant of all, white socks. Wedidn’t go out to drink and have alaugh, we went out to look goodand dance the weekend away toour music at venues such as theformer Woods leisure centre onBergholt Road (more about that in a future issue), then later the

Embassy Suite on Balkerne Hill(now a Chinese restaurant) whereAndy Starr, Gary Soul and JohnDouglas were regular DJs on theweekly Sunday soul nights.

At the Embassy we had our owncorner where our little group wouldhang out before taking to thedance floor to strut our stuff to thelikes of The Fatback Band, Kooland the Gang, Lonnie ListonSmith, Roy Ayers, James Brown,Eddie Kendricks, Level 42, HerbieHancock and many, many more.Often we’d spot a group fromanother area, Chelmsford orIpswich perhaps, and take themon. Not with boots and fists, butwith our best dance moves toshow them who was boss.

If we weren’t taking to the dancefloor in Colchester we’d head off to clubs such as Lacy Lady inIlford, The Goldmine in CanveyIsland, or to one of the famoussoul weekends in Caister, whichare still going strong over 30 yearslater, and where there always was,and still is, a strong Colchesterpresence.

Although the scene has longsince passed its heyday manynational and regional DJs includingGilles Peterson, Norman Jay andTony Blackburn continue to playjazz funk and soul tracks on theirradio shows and at club nights tothis day, and just like them I stilllove that music - the memoriescome flooding back when I hear it.

None of which really answers thebig question though: Could GaryPryor really dance?

Gilly

I mentioned last monthwhen 101 interviewed methat my great musical passion is Jazz Funk andSoul. But for those of you who don’t know... what is it?

All that Jazz(funk and soul)DJ Gilly writes for 101

20 Church Walk, Colchester CO1 1NS (small lane off Head St between the cafe and the fishmongers)

t: 07800 796042 w: www.gallerydesign.co.uke: [email protected]

THE GALLERY

OPEN THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND

SATURDAY 10am-5pm

art, graphic design, photography and illustration + the gallery design shop

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:04

10

More popular than ever it seems is the Detox. This isno mere diet. ‘definitely not designed for the fainthearted’. More of an exercise in endurance. I readabout a Detox called ‘The Master Cleanse’ morecommonly known as the maple syrup diet, madefamous by Beyonce.

You are encouraged to exist on a squeeze of FreshLemon Juice, a spoon of Maple Syrup, and CayennePepper in Pure Water for as long as your sheer willpower will allow, often up to three weeks or longer.Followers drink six to twelve glasses throughout theday whenever they are hungry. Take a laxative,morning and evening - needed because your bodygoes into starvation mode and nothing in meansnothing out - or instead of the morning laxative, you are encouraged to partake in the ‘Salt WaterFlush’. This involves drinking a litre of salt waterwhich your body cannot digest and expels almostimmediately. Just bizarre!

The health risks it seems are obvious, althoughoblivious to some. Doctors have stated that the dietmay actually inhibit proper operation of the liver,rather than cleanse it. It may also interfere withproper kidney function, and in some cases cause cardiac arrest. While most doctors are not opposedto a short, detox cleansing fast, they say the MasterCleanser Diet is simply too dangerous. So why do so many women put themselves through the miseryof it all?

I’m not against diets in general. I think that a well

balanced eating plan, low in fatand high in fruit and vegetablescoupled with regular exercise isthe only sustainable way tolose weight whilst keepingyour sanity. The results can beslow and painful so I can seewhy some desperados areenticed by the quick fix methodof an extreme crash diet just likethe new ‘master cleanse’ or the ‘cabbage soup diet’ of yesteryear. I cansympathise with the women who feel so inadequate that they actually contemplate starvation as a means to squeeze into that LBD.

I have obviously felt the same pressures to lose afew pounds over the years, and dieted on and off.Looking back I think my low point was thinking thatan extreme case of glandular fever and a stay in hospital were a blessing due to the huge weight lossit induced when I was 17.

Time moves on though and I quickly realised thata life of self denial and abstinence where food wasconcerned was not for me. I also came to reject thenotion wielded in every fashion magazine that youjust have to be thin to be a worthwhile human being,let alone beautiful. I don’t buy in to any of that nonsense now, but I’m still concerned for my daughters,the pressure they will feel growing up will be fargreater than the ones I faced. My own personal

campaign against their corruptionis to ban all fashion and gossipmagazines from the house.Why would I buy somethingthat lowers my self esteemand makes me feel bad anyway. Women can not help

but judge themselves againstthe perfectly airbrushed models

adorning every page.So lets try to be realistic about our

goals for the New Year, rather thanmaking unachievable promises to ourselves.

I think that cutting the calories in an unobtrusiveway works better in the long term. If you are given astrict diet to follow it’s only a matter of weeksbefore you would literally kill for a Kitkat (replacewith your own favourite snack!). Much better I thinkto make some smaller permanent changes. Changeto sweetener in your tea, skimmed or semi skimmedmilk on your cereal, choose lower fat foods, go vegetarian two days a week, cut down on your butter& carbs, walk into town rather than drive sometimesand just see how it goes without the pressure of afull on DIET.

If you fancy a bar of chocolate or fish & chips ona Friday then have it, life is just too short to spend itobsessed with what you eat and the way you look.‘Everything in moderation’ will be my New Year’sresolution, good luck with yours.

By Melissa Porter

Food forThought

When I first started to think about a main feature for January the first and most obviousthing that came to mind was dieting. All thoseNew Year resolutions to shed a few poundsmade in haste and regretted at leisure.

FOOD

You are encouraged to

exist ona squeeze of FreshLemon Juice, a spoon of Maple Syrup, andCayenne Pepper in

PureWater.

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:04

11

Why eat breakfast...• Breakfast eaters tend to be slimmer than breakfast skippers. • Eating breakfast can aid concentration and mental performance

at work and at school. • It provides you with the nutrients and energy needed for an active lifestyle. • Research shows that breakfast eaters are less depressed and have lower

levels of stress than breakfast skippers.

So whoever and wherever you are, join in and Shake Up Your Wake Up from 23 to 29 January with a healthy balanced breakfast.

What about making you own Granola? It’s pretty simple and tastes delicious with some berries, yoghurt and a drizzle of honey.

Find more breakfast inspiration at www.shakeupyourwakeup.com

Let me introduce you to Wick’s ManorFarm, not only do they breed their ownherd of pigs, and butcher them on site,they also grow the wheat and barley tofeed the pigs, and produce the strawused as bedding too! The result must be sampled to beappreciated, their dry cured bacon,sausages, ham, gammons and porkare all of the highest quality.Although some of their productsare now quite widely availablelocally, you miss out on the real‘feel good’ experience when youvisit the farm yourself and buytheir produce, knowing that themeat you are buying has beenreared on the farm land allaround you. Incidentally, theanimals also keep the kids entertained while you shop!

Wick’s Manor Farm - 01621 860629Witham Road, Tolleshunt Major, Maldon, Essex CM9 8JU.

Local’s Best

Telephone 01206 825573www.thegreyhoundwivenhoe.co.uk

The Greyhound Pub and Restaurant Head chef Michael King offers a combination of modern and

traditional British cuisine complemented by a selection of real ales, cask and bottled beers along with

a sophisticated selection of fine wines. All meat and produce is locally sourced.

OpenTuesday to Saturday 12pm to 3pm & 6pm to 9.30pm

Sunday 12pm to 5pm

Farmhouse Breakfast Week is an annual campaignwhich has been running since the year 2000. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast anddemonstrate the variety on offer.

With one in four people regularly skipping breakfast, HGCA are challenging the nation to re-evaluate their morning routine.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper,scoop your mix onto the tray. Bake at180oC for 20-30 mins until it looks goldenand toasted. You can store your Granola inan air tight container for a few months inthe cupboard... if it lasts that long!

4 cups of oats2 cups of flaked almonds1 cup coconut1 cups dried cherries,chopped2tbsp honey2tsp ground cinnamon

Granola

Farmhouse Breakfast Week:23 to 29 January.

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:04

This month that all American staple that can be so, so bad froma tin it’s enough to put you off forlife, but home made... well that’san entirely different story.

Cook the Macaroni in plenty of boiling salt water.Drain. Pour into an oven proof baking dish.

While the pasta’s cooking slowly melt the butter ina saucepan with the garlic and diced onion. Lightlybrown on a low heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the flour& mustard powder to form a thick paste. Slowlyadd the milk, stirring all the time. NO, you can notjust answer the phone it WILL be ruined!

Once you have achieved a thick, creamy, lump freesauce you can relax. Season with salt, pepper, bayleaf & grated nutmeg. Leave the sauce to simmerfor 10-12mins.

Take the pan off the heat and stir in most of thegrated cheeses. Remove the bay leaf. Pour over thecooked pasta, mix to combine.

Top with the remaining cheese and sliced tomatoes, bake at 220oc for 20 minutes, until browned and bubbling.

Serve with green salad.

Now feed your children and pour yourself a glass of wine, you deserve it!

12

FOOD Mum,I’m

HungryMac ‘n’ CheeseMac ‘n’ Cheese

500g macaroni pasta3 tbsp butter3 tbsp flour1 tbsp mustard powder1 litre milk1 small onion, finelydiced3 cloves of garlic,finely sliced

1 bay leaf150g grated cheddar100g grated parmesan1tsp salt1/2 nutmeg gratedFreshly ground blackpepper3 tomatoes, sliced

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:04

Open 7 days a week- Evening service coming soon -

- Available for private parties/bookings -

Tel: 07506 992 971 www.chouse.co.ukThe Corner House Café 7-9 High Street, Wivenhoe

Coffee Shop& Café

Serving breakfast, lunch,award winning MonmouthCoffee and an extensive

range of loose teas.

Place a large pan on a medium heat, add the Olive Oil and Butter. Add all your chopped and sliced veges and fry gently, stirring now and again with awooden spoon.

Cook for around 10 minutes, until the carrots havesoftened, and the onion and leeks are lightly golden.Add the garlic.

Sprinkle in the stock cubes, 1.8 litres of boiling water& the diced potatoes.

Give the soup a good stir and bring to the boil. Reducethe heat and simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on.

To serve your heart warming creation; Remove the panfrom the heat & season with salt and pepper.

Serve as it is, or pulse until smooth using a handblender or liquidizer.

Divide between your serving bowls. You could add adrizzle of cream and a sprinkle of parsley to make it afeast for your eyes as well as your stomach... enjoy!

13

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

In the following months I hope to motivate you into thekitchen to put our recipes to the test and inspire youwith stories about our local home grown Colchesterfood heroes. I would like you to share your own local

food hero discoveries too. Nominate your favouritebutchers, farm shop, fishmongers or bakers. We willshare your nominations with our readers so that otherscan sample the best food our town has to offer.

Seasonal Food GuideVegetables Beetroot, rhubarb, red, white and green cabbages, turnip, cauliflower, sprouts,

celeriac, swede, kohlrabi, kale, leeks, onions, potatoes, parsnips, spinach and chard.

Fruit and nuts apples, pears and walnuts.

Game Duck, guinea foul, partridge, pheasant, mallard, and venison.

Fish Brill, clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, place, turbot, halibut, haddock and scallops.

Leek & Potato Soup serves 6-8So simple yet so satisfying, especially on a cold winters evening, or take to work with a hunk of bread for a super healthy lunch. You could be eating this soup in 20 minutes, start chopping... NOW!

THE YEARAHEAD E-mail your nominations to [email protected]

2 Carrots, quartered and chopped, don’t bother peelingthem it’s just not worth the hassle

2 sticks of Celery, chopped

2 medium Onions, thinly sliced

400g Leeks - quartered, washed, & sliced

2 cloves of Garlic, finely sliced

400g Potatoes, peeled and diced

1tbsp Olive oil

1tbsp butter

Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper

2 Chicken or Vegetable Stock Cubes, try Telma koshercubes for a good flavour

Fat CatColchester

Free Mouse

Colchester’s Finest Real Ale and Fine Wine Pub

Come in for a warm welcome65 Butt Road, Colchester CO3 3BZ. 01206 577990

Live Music In January (music starts at 9pm)

Sat 8th Ryan GalvinSat 15th Geoff, Kirsty and the gorgeous guests

Sat 22nd Strontium CatsSat 29th Jazmine Ava Band

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:04

14

When working with a single light source suchas the sun or a household lamp, you might needto add some fill light to the side of your subjectfurthest from the light source. Fill light brightensareas in shadow, and reduces the overall contrastin the image; it can be vital for a successful portrait – unless you want your subject to looklike a moody movie villain.

The first version of the portrait (above left) has too much contrast for the mood of the photo,which is soft and romantic. With the light comingfrom the right of the subject, a small reflectorwas needed to bring out some of the detail on the left, and soften the look of the whole image.

(Quick Tip: if you want to learn more aboutlighting, study the shadows in photographs you really like, and try to work out where thephotographer placed the lights.)

You can use a second light, or purchase areflector, but you can also save money andimprovise.

TONE UP YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY

Professional photographers frequently use more thanone light source to create stunning imagery, butthere’s only one sun, and a limit to the number oflamps you might have lying around the home. Sodo you need to splash more cash? Not necessarily...

Adrian Multon is a freelance photographer based inWivenhoe. He provides high quality imagery for local businesses. Adrian offers group and 1-2-1 photographic tutoring and image editing workshops.See www.adrianmulton.co.uk for details.

Any bright reflective surface can become areflector, but different surfaces will contributedifferent qualities to the light they reflectback on the subject:

Coloured surfaces may add an undesirable colourcast to the area of the subject they are lighting;this can be removed in Photoshop, but best avoid it in the first place

Silver surfaces such as tin foil can reflect a lot of light on a subject, but note that it can be quitecold bluish light

A golden surface will reflect warm light onto a subject

Bright white card is a good all-round choice, as it is colour neutral and neither warm nor cold; it also comes in different sizes!

Move your reflector closer to the subject to increase theamount of fill light and produce a more balanced overall effect.

Small reflectors can be useful for diminishing localisedshadows such as the shadows under a person’s chin (askyour subject to hold the reflector above their lap if you areshooting a head & shoulders portrait).

What if you need a really big reflector? Well, you maywell be surrounded by the largest reflectors you will ever need. Light toned walls can reflect lots of light for portraits, just watch out for colour casts.

Next month, in the third home studio feature, I’ll be looking at what is behind every good subject – thebackground – including simple ‘studio’ style backgrounds,and tips about making the most of location backgrounds.

The DIY Home StudioPart 2: Bouncing Light

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:04

Slack Space has always been a successful exhibitionspace, featuring and promoting the work of localartists. What has really changed in the last year,however, has been the number and range of eventsand other activities put on by the organisation.

Slack Space has always run a monthly mini festivalof performance art incorporating music, poetry, comedy, theatre and live art. Our ethos has alwaysbeen to offer a unique and esoteric experience to aselect few rather than buy into the ‘bums on seats’mentality of commercial organisations.

Following the successful letting of the Long WyreStreet property, Slack Space moved into anothermuch bigger, empty shop - the old Keddies store,(or, more recently, ‘Shoeworld’) on Queen Street in Colchester.

The move, combined with a successful funding application for event lighting, has allowed us to puton a wider range of events and to work much morein partnership with other local organisations. Wenow host regular theatre events, talks and seminars(such as last month’s National Empty ShopsWorkshop event), a weekly breakdancing workshop,a comedy club, a folk club (as featured in lastmonths issue), meetings, workshops, music, songand dance!

However, not everything works at Slack Space.We do turn away a lot of potential events in the space if they are not right for us and what we stand for.The feeling at Slack Space has always been that we would rather have less people in the space experiencing something that they couldn’t find anywhere else than a full house consuming an event that could be had in a dozen venues in town.

This month we’re looking forward to starting anew jazz club and an exciting mini fest week which welcomes the comedy club back after a short break.Keep an eye on our blog for other events and activities www.iheartslackspace.blogspot.com

A year ago this month Slack Space was resident in an empty shop in Colchester’s Long Wyre Street.The organisation had been running for just over six months and was attracting national and localattention as being at the vanguard of what was tobecome known as the ‘empty shops movement.’

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

A year inSlack Space

15

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:04

Photography: www.nickstrugnell.com

Meanwhile, back in the

Culture Bunkertalking with firstsite’s

Kath WoodBy Martin Newell

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:04

the only time duringour conversation,Kath Wood of firstsitegets a militant gleamin her eyes when the

subject of London arises. Like me, shedoesn’t think that London is the be-alland end-all of art. She doesn’t evenlike the word ‘regional’, she says. Shebelieves that each place should haveits own cultural identity. She’s been inColchester for 16 years now, sincefirstsite took over at the Minories ArtGallery in the mid 1990s. During thattime, she’s helped organise some ofthe more unusual contemporary artexhibitions that the town has hosted.Now I have to confess that like muchof the public, I hold rather traditionalviews on art. I like three kittens in a boot, stags in glens and blurry paintings of a bowl of fruit – that sortof thing. I have a friend who’s evenmore extreme. He says: “If it’s notdogs in eyeshades playing billiards or poker, then it’snot art.”

Does Ms Woodagree therefore,that enticingmany people intoa modern art exhibition is liketrying to get adog into a bath?She laughs at this.She could probablyhave chosen aneasier job. Art,especially modernart has its opponents.There’s neverbeen a Hollywoodfilm on the subject. But if there everwere it would probably star JohnWayne as its two-fisted hero, trying tobring radical art installations to thesaloons of a lawless western miningtown in the 1880s. Not that I’m comparing Colchester to a lawlesswestern mining town in the 1880s, buthell, if the cap fits, please do put it onand then sashay around in front of themirror for a while, won’t you?

One of the early firstsite exhibitions Iattended was called Belladonna. Theartist was Elizabeth Wright, who’dconstructed models of a number ofeveryday objects, all scaled-up in size.There was a red, drop-handled racingbike, for instance, far too big for anormal human being to ride. I didkeep going back to stare at it. That wasthe beginning of the conversion. Thereal pearler for me, though, was fewyears on, when an artist called MarkDion suspended a huge model of adead mole, in one of the Minorieshigh-ceilinged Georgian rooms. It wasmassive – and strangely compelling.Like a goldfish in a bowl returns to asunken castle, I just kept coming

round to it again and again. A whileafter that, I attended a Yoko Ono exhibition there. It had been travellingthe world for about 30 years and as aresult looked suitably scuffed. Theshow, again, featured ordinary objectsbut this time, sawn in half and paintedwhite. There was half an old electricfire for instance. Yoko’s people wereon the phone to Kath at one point.Probably about me: “Whatever happens,Kath, don’t let him play with the electricfire.” For the time being, until she getsthe (ahem) new premises, Kath’s runningfirstsite from a building in Short WyreStreet. “It’s not exactly a shop but notexactly a gallery either” she explains.She does like shops, though. “I used towork in Marks & Spencer. I’m good atretail,” she laughs, “I could go back toit tomorrow.”

Katherine Wood was born inWoking in 1965, and lived inGuildford and Aldershot. When shewas eleven she moved to Birmingham,

where her father,who’d workedfor the BritishFilm Institute,had relocated, towork for ITV.Her mother, Anne,a former teacherand children’sbook publisher,co-created thechildrens series,Teletubbies anddid rather well.She laterploughed many of the profits intoa children’s educational

foundation. In Birmingham, Kathattended secondary school where shedescribed herself as being a ‘grafter’rather than an academic. And popmusic, I ask? When Duran Duran arementioned, she lights up slightly and Ibegin to get a clearer picture, of apretty girl running aroundBirmingham in her New Romantic kit.She also had, apparently, a slightlywild period. She doesn’t enlarge uponit and I don’t ask, but shortly there-after, her parents sent her to a boardingschool near Utoxeter in Derbyshire,where the focus was upon the arts andthe outdoors. “I wasn’t very sporty,though” she adds.

She later went to SterlingUniversity, where she changed horsesmid-stream – from reading French toreading History of Art. Then she wentto America. Not to New York but tothe rather wilder mid-west. To Kansasin fact – America’s bread basket.“They had a great library.” she said.Then she worked. She’s alwaysworked. She was at Bristol’s famousArnolfini Gallery before she came toColchester. It struck me that this

woman, who’s been a prime player in Colchester’s contributions andexposure to contemporary art, hasbeen working here for 16 years nowand hardly anybody’s bothered to ask her anything about her work orherself.

So I ask her, what goes on at firstsite?I mean, it’s not a shop, selling leg-warmers and pencil sharpeners, is it?And you probably couldn’t get a giantdead mole into the display stand. Thetruth Kath informs me, is that aboutthirty per cent of what they do, isabout education, a depleted enoughcommodity and one which soon maybecome even more so. Another thirtyper cent of what firstsite does, concernsitself with mounting exhibitions forlocal luminaries – the artist JamesDodds, for instance. The remainderconsists of community arts and homearts, the workshops and many otheractivities. They have an arts bus, a double decker, which visits variouslocal communities encouraging arts participation – for all ages. Kath tellsme a story about a girl from one of theestates who attended some of the kids’workshops which firstsite runs. “Hermother contacted recently me to saythat she was now at art school.” Theseare opportunities which never existedfor people like me when I was a lad.Which is presumably, why, until quiterecently, I only knew about kittens inboots and stags in glens.

The thing about art, in our Targetsand Evaluation-driven age, is that it’svery hard to measure or quantify thegood which it does. After food,warmth and shelter, however, you mayfind that you need something to read,something to listen to, or perhaps apicture on the wall to look at.Otherwise, life will get rather soul-less.Take the art out of life and what you’llprobably be left with is me, SimonCowell and Facebook. In the future,when Colchester gets measured upagainst the great centres for the artswhat will we say for ourselves? “Well,we’ve got a Roman Castle and quite afew nightclubs” It wouldn’t quite cutit, would it?

When I ask Kath Wood whether shewas ever an artist herself, surprisingly,

she says no. She tells me quite bluntly,that she neither paints nor draws,explaining that she’s a facilitator. Herbuzz, in other words, is making theprocesses and events – especially theevents – happen for other people.“Like Brian Epstein, did for theBeatles?” I ask. “He didn’t play anything, did he?” “I hadn’t thought of that.” she answers. But then shesays that she’d always loved museums,galleries and exhibitions, ever sinceshe was a little girl.

Go upstairs into the office above thefirstsite HQ in Short Wyre Street andit’s very quiet. I’d half-expected thereto be a group of ethereal creatures allfloating around in kimonos and usinglong cigarette holders. Not a bit of it.It’s more like an old fashioned typingpool, only the people are actually typing – not sitting chattering and eating cake because it’s somebody’sbirthday or something. There are twostaircases. I wondered if one of themled to an underground bunker withshelves full of canned food, blankets,crayons and colouring-in books – justin case the government finallyremoves all of the arts funding andthey have to become a resistancemovement. But no, it’s only a team ofwomen getting on with their work.

I’ve met Kath on many occasionsover the years, but couldn’t reallyhave said I knew much about her.Except that she never seemed to taketime off. So I asked her whether shehad much of a social life. “Oh I do.”she says, with that slight defensivenessof a compulsive workaholic. So whatdoes she do to relax, then? Does shego night fishing at Harwich perhaps? Stock Car racing? A spot of cage fighting? None of the above, it seems.She admits to doing quite a bit ofreading. I ask Kath, that when it gets tough, is she ever tempted to give it all up and go back to Marks & Sparks? “My grandmother wantedme to.” she laughs. Then she showsme to firstsite’s secret lift, from which I go down a long tunnel, finally exiting via an innocent-lookingdry cleaning shop in St John’s Street.

Hell if this is art, I’m all for it.

For

17

“I used to work in Marks

& Spencer.I’m goodat retail,”

she laughs,“I could go back to it

tomorrow.”

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:05

18

Decking, modern formality, outside livingrooms and block planting have been the

rage for the past 5 or so years, butwhat will be cool in 2011. Well a

good place to start is to look backat Chelsea 2010, well it was pretty much the same as everyyear for the past 5 or 6 previous...Large reflective black pools, veryformally laid out plots. Smoothcut stone. Then the contrastingmore natural looking informal gardens. One of the big trends of

last year was the living wall, whereyou plant on a vertical plane with dripirrigation and feed systems to keep theplants alive.

One of the most important trends overthe past few years that is set to stay issustainable gardens. To me this is alwayswhat a garden has been about. Usingmaterials that are recycled or from a sustainable source and plants that areeither grown from seed or sourced fromlocal growers and not shipped from thefar side of the planet. This in no waymeans your garden needs to be someEco Eden, but just think about thelong term effect your plans have onthe planet.

The final trend is more of onethat I have noticed over my careerand that is when people start thinkingabout making changes to the garden.It always amazes me that we areflat out in the summer, layingpatios, designing, and building newgardens. My best advice to you isto get on with it during the timewhen you won’t be using your outdoor space. the majority of ourwork is done when the weather is

good meaning the client watches us baskingin the warm sunshine when they want tobe out there! So take my advice and

get the garden sorted in the newyear ready for summer!

Cool gardendesigns for2011By Sven Wombwell

Pho

to: w

ww

.nic

kstr

ugne

ll.co

m

When you work in a particular field such as garden design you have to keep up on trends both in terms of what customerswant and when they want it.

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:13

19

Gardens can be as extravagantor as simple as you please anddesigns can suit all tastes andbudgets. Even if you live in a flatthere is no reason why you can’tgrow a few things in pots or baskets, even on your windowsill. There are no excuses!

Any garden re-shaping is bestdone now, in the dormant season.Replacing fences and trellis willavoid plants being trampleddown later in the year. Why notreshape your boarders to ring thechanges or develop a new patioor decking area for entertaining

on when the Summer arrives? If doing the hard graft is not for you,remember to get at least three quo-tations from reputable recommendedgardeners who are insured andgive you a clear written quote.

The planting of hardy deciduous trees and shrubs isbetter completed now before thesap starts to rise, remember toadd these to a planting plan to fill gaps, add privacy or provideSummer shade. It’s too early toplant bedding plants and mostvegetables but there is no reasonwhy you can’t plan what you wish

to buy by browsing through somegardening books or seed/plantcatalogues for inspiration. If planning to use tubs or potsclean these out now, disposing ofold compost and dead plants soyou’re ready to go when theweather warms up. Remember toshelter non frost resistant pots fromextreme cold and double checkthat any plant protections remain inplace over this cold season.

All the trees should be barenow so take the opportunity onany dry days to complete leafclearance and make sure guttering

remains clear as over spillingwater on paths will freeze and beincredibly slippery. If snow falls,clear paths quickly to stop re-freezing at night.

Finally, if you don’t already, whynot leave some nuts or seeds outfor birds? There are many typesof feeder available from verybasic to more sophisticated squirrelsafe versions. There may not bemany plants showing colour atthis time of year so a colourfulRobin, Great Tit or Green Finchwill add a welcome splash ofinterest to your wintry garden.

Using theWinter to YourAdvantageBy Andrew Ross, Nicenstripy

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

Why not make your new year’s resolution to appreciate your outside space like never before?

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:13

20

THE

SCENTTRAIN

The bird roasting in the oven with herb-laden stuffing, brandy-doused, spicy cakes and puddings,rich, heady party perfumes… Withthe wonderful scents of the festiveseason behind us, January canlook and smell rather grey. In thedepths of Winter, how can we usethe power of fragrance to conjureup a bight, sunny day inColchester?

Aromachology is the scientificterm for the power of smell tochange our mood and if you thinkabout it, that’s often the very reasonthat we use fragrance: to lift ourspirits, to make us feel special orbeautiful or sexy. Scent is directlylinked to the most primitive partsof our brains. It can help us torevisit wonderful memories and itcan definitely alter the way we feel.

So, how can you add some Springor Summer sparkle to your daywhen you’re still reaching for thatmuffler?

For the girls I recommend YSL’sCinema. The clue is in the bottleitself. Gold light seems to streamout of it, and this is a fragrance tobrighten your life and your soul.Sunshine in a bottle. Soft, accessible and perhaps the mostaffable fragrance ever made, itblends light, zestiness with clear,sheer blossoms on a bed of richBourbon vanilla. It’s a scent thatcan be worn by anyone, any age, any time.

Bvlgari’s first ever scent, EauParfumée De Thé Vert, is trulyastonishing. Never has a light,fresh fragrance smelled so cleanand invigorating without everappearing ‘throwaway’. Many modern fragrances have a cheap,shower-gel character about them –but not this one. This is a fragrance that makes you feelfreshly-showered in rain watersomewhere in Bali. As Southend ismore within my budget, I can butdream... Elizabeth Arden’s widely

available Green Tea fragrance is agood budget alternative and canoften be found for about a tenner.It has a similar lightness of touch.

And for the fellas?

Fancy strolling across an Italianhillside rather than trudging to thebus stop in your Winter coat? Likethe idea of the sun beating downon terracotta roof tiles, warmingyour skin as the scent of lemons,herbs and earthy patchouli risesfrom the ground beneath yourfeet? Tuscany by Aramis is deepand masculine yet clean and lively– an easy-going, day-into-eveningscent that can truly transport you.

Still the biggest selling freshcologne in France, Dior’s 1966classic Eau Sauvage always liftsme and makes me feel ready toface the world, how ever cold andgrey it may be. Its square-jawedmasculinity is offset by a wonderful,uplifting feeling - similar to putting

on a brand-new, crisp white cottonshirt. Naturally, it doesn’t comecheap, but you get a true classic.

For those like me who findJanuary financially exhausting, it’stime to go back to ck One, which Ireally don’t enjoy in the Summer.Somehow, its eternally optimistictone grates on me in July, but on an overcast day that very peppiness is the perfect antidote.Spray it on your scarf - it lastslonger on fabric.

Finally, something for everyone.Forget the willful sweetness ofAngel, Thierry Mugler’s Cologneis cleanliness personified. Thejuice itself is a bright, Spring greenand the scent, at once sparklinglyzesty but unlike any traditional ‘eau de cologne’ you may havesmelled, makes you feel as ifyou’ve line-dried and steam-pressed your lucky pants. And we all need that kind of optimismin January.

Peter Sherlock’s ScentTrain

Bid TV and Price-Drop TV’s resident expert gives his regular lowdown on fragrances for both men and women, old and new, good and bad. This month, Peter lifts you from the mid-Winter doldrums with thepower of fragrance.

You can also find plenty of fragrancebargains and loads more besides atBid TV and Price-Drop TV.

Peter is Managing Director of The Scent Train,a unique organisation that provides fragrancesales videos for online retailers and createsbespoke staff training courses.

www.TheScentTrain.com

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

21

My Life WithMiss Berta

Dog About Town

By Andrew Dell

I hadn’t had Berta very long but shewas becoming a terrible scruff.Around that time that I went on apleasant day out with some friendsand their new puppy.

Well, I say “pleasant”. ‘Jonty andBelinda’ were trying to strap an enormous parlour palm to the back ofa little Vespa. Her string of real pearlsbroke and all the demons of hell werecursed in a crisp, Kensington accent astroubling crowds thronged around thecoffee stand.

We decided to sit on the curb withour cups and pups and try to block outthe madness. Pepper the BorderTerrier was way cuter than Berta andreceived all of the attention from themany passers-by. My scruff satdejected. Until…

“Is that a Mini?!”“No, it’s a dog.”Oh yes, I can be cuttingly hilarious

when I’m bothered. As dry as SisterWendy on a Cream Cracker diet.

An elderly lady was standing overme and eyeing Berta with suspicionand a strong whiff of disapproval.She crouched as far as she was able,examined my Schnauzer like a Cruftsjudge and delivered her verdict.

“Not bad. Good, boxy shape. Butwhy isn’t she groomed?”“She’s only a few months old. I’vebeen meaning to sort it out. But Ikinda like her scruffy.”“Well, that’s just cruel. You have abreed that’s supposed to be groomed.”

I was strangely entranced by herefficient judgments. I wanted toreceive meagre Christmas gifts fromthis woman; have her make me bittercocoa and ‘tut’ as she put me to bed.She shook her head with some dramaand fumbled in her handbag.

“Do you have a pen and paper?”“No. Sorry.”“Well you must have a mobile telephone. Take this number. CallFaye. She’ll sort this problem out.”

I looked at my puppy and saw her as a problem for the first time. I obediently took the telephone numberand as the lady strode away with asense of purpose that I doubt I shallever achieve in my life, I resolved togroom my ‘problem’ puppy like agood dog owner apparently should.

When I called Faye a few days later,she sighed a long sigh. “Oh, I wishshe’d stop doing that. I can’t accommodate any more of Mary’sreferrals. I’d better have a word withher.” But we made an appointment and I took Berta along to her semi at thearranged time.

That first time I visited Faye, I

stayed and observed the process. I wasstunned. Something of a ‘SchnauzerWhisperer’, a gifted and admirable doghandler, Faye efficiently transformedmy scruffy, matted, wriggling pup intoa completely different dog. Claw clipping. Ear-fur pulling. A skill andprecision that was something like across between Barbara Woodhouseand Vidal Sassoon.

Not only is Faye an accomplishedgroomer, she is a lovely, warm personand I delight in her company. I havelearned more from her about dogs thanany book or website. I once had causeto take Berta to a different groomerand the difference was monstrous.The blunt clippers made the poorhound look like her fur had beenchewed-off by a crew of rabid ferrets.Her beard was lop-sided. Oh yes,Faye’s perfectionism makes me hopeshe can always groom Miss Berta.

And she makes me so glad that Iencountered Mary, the stridentSchnauzer expert and breeder that Sunday.

But the loss of her thick fur on thatfirst, dark evening as we left Faye’s‘Schnauzer Salon’ (actually, hergarage with a sink and a groomingtable) meant that I had to put one ofthe many little jackets that I hadalready purchased for Berta on her tostop her shivering.

I don’t believe any pleasure shouldbe ‘guilty’ (who cares what the neigh-bours think?). When I take Berta outin one of her many coats, some laughat us dismissively but most smilewarmly and even initiate a chat.We’re sometimes derided andridiculed. But so was Quentin Crisp,Joan of Arc and Galileo. Who had thelast laugh?

It’s not cruelty. Berta often needs awarm coat or sweater in the chillyweather, especially after a recentgrooming. Letting her shiver would be cruel.

Dogs in clothes never fail to makeme happy, and if the majority of reactions are anything to go by, itpleases others. As the song goes:“Make someone happy and you willbe happy too.” You should see Bertain her Tom Cruise-esque Top Gun flying jacket or her Snoop Dogg basketball t-shirt. It would make youhappy. I promise.

www.trophypetfoods.co.ukCall: 01206 211491 or 07812 371590

Email:[email protected]

Top quality, own brand pet foodsdelivered free to your door.

British ingredients with no artificial colours or additives.

Foods to suit all pockets.

Most household pets catered for plus the wild birds too.

Free samples and nutritional advice.

Treats and accesssories availableplus a microchipping service.

QUALITYPET FOODSDelivered toyour door

NEXT TIME: Training classes and Berta’sbrush with superstardomwhen she appeared in a pop video. Oh, yes!

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

Each major combat unit takes its chaplainwhen it deploys, and during the sixmonths of an operational tour the chaplainstravel widely among the soldiers in theirvarious locations, spending time livingalongside them in forward operatingbases and patrol bases, sharing in the discomforts and occasional dangers ofday-to-day life so that they can ministermore effectively to the soldiers in theircare. The principal role of the chaplain isone of pastoral care: soldiers on operationsare sometimes placed under great emotionalstress, not just as a result of their experiencesin combat, but through the strain of longperiods of separation from family andloved ones. Some serving soldiers, itmust be remembered, may only be eighteenyears old, and may have been living athome with their families until fairlyrecently. Although the army’s chain ofcommand is far more compassionate andunderstanding in its dealings with soldiersthan the uninformed popular imagesometimes suggests, the ministry of thechaplain as a confidential friend, adviserand counsellor to all members of the regiment, from private soldier to commanding officer, is highly valuedwithin the British army.

Remembrance is a poignant observance

Before commissioning in the Royal ArmyChaplains’ Department all chaplains mustpass the Army Officer Selection Board atWestbury, and then complete a specially-tailored course of military training at theArmed Forces Chaplaincy Centre and theRoyal Military Academy, Sandhurst,where they receive basic military instructionto enable them to function within thearmy, but, unlike any other branch of thearmy, chaplains, as clergy, are neithertrained nor authorized to carry firearms:this unarmed status, unique within thearmed forces, is an important and prizedelement of the chaplains’ identity as clergy,not soldiers, and serves to emphasize animportant aspect of the chaplain’s role,that of serving as a kind of bridgebetween the sometimes harsh militaryworld in which the soldier lives and the

gentler civilian world his family inhabits.As a winter tour, the current deployment

has seen chaplains busy with two of the emotional high points of the armycalendar, Remembrance and Christmas.Remembrance is a poignant observancefor any military organization, 16 AirAssault Brigade being no exception, assome of the names of the fallen will benames of good friends whose loss iskeenly felt. Soldiers are often confrontedwith death at a very young age, and havelittle time to deal with the emotions ofbereavement. It is a key role of the chaplainto help direct and conduct the rituals surrounding death in war, and to supportand counsel young men and women whoare faced with issues of mortality yearsbefore their peers in civilian life.

Hardworking Christmas brings its own confusion of

emotions: an avalanche of mail and gifts,the raucous and boisterous fun that issomehow generated in even the mostSpartan conditions, hearty singing ofChristmas carols, and a culinary miracleby hardworking chefs are all temperedwith the sadness of separation from families, parents, wives, girlfriends, husbands, boyfriends, and, perhaps hardest of all, children. This is indeed abusy time for the chaplains, who willspend most of the Christmas season out visiting, by road move or helicopter,invariably receiving a warm welcomewherever they go, as all visitors do.

PrivilegeThe ministry of the army chaplain is,

in many respects, a life of privilege, notthe privilege that comes with rank or acommission, but the privilege of permissionto live alongside soldiers, to share in their lives, to listen to their worries, theirstories and their jokes (lots of those).

It is a ministry to mainly young men and women, usually from quite ordinarybackgrounds, who are asked to doextraordinary things. The demands thatare placed on our young soldiers areenormous: the chaplains are there to helpthem bear their burdens.

22

Chaplains of 16 Air AssaultBrigade16 Air Assault Brigade deployed to

Afghanistan in the autumn, the front line fighting soldiers were, as ever, joined by avariety of personnel in supporting roles, from

chefs and clerks to medics and dog handlers, all trained soldiers with a vital contribution to make to the militaryeffort in Helmand. Among the very smallest of these groups of specialists to deploy was the chaplains, priestsand ministers who have left ordinary parish ministry toserve with the armed forces not as fighting soldiers, but as clergy, wearing the uniform of the armed forces andtrained to work alongside service personnel.

When

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

23

For further information regarding assistance or fundraising contact Craig Treeby: [email protected]

The Afghanistan Trust is dedicated to assisting

wounded members of the Regiment, their families and the families of those

who have been killed.

www.AfghanistanTrust.org

Corporal Stu Hale was a sniper operatingfrom Kajaki Dam, when he walked into anunmarked minefield whilst moving to aforward position and lost his right leg.After treatment he returned to duty withthe battalion. As section commander, Stu Pearson was involved in the same

incident when he lost his left leg abovethe knee and seriously injured his rightleg. After rehabilitation he returned towork in 3 PARA. Both Cpl Stu Hale andStu Pearson benefited from support fromthe Trust including funding of depositsfor Motability.

Reg

iste

red

Cha

rity

Num

ber

1121

647

Revolver Retro Clothing35a Sir Isaacs Walk, Colchester, Essex CO1 1JJ.

01206 562961

RETRO CLOTHING ACCESSORIES HOMEWARES

www.RevolverRetro.co.uk

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

WEBSITE

www.denimcity.co.uk

EMAIL

[email protected]

TELEPHONE

01206 563475

1a-1c Eld Lane, Colchester,

Essex CO1 1LS.

The silky white sands and clear turquoise watersof the Caribbean may seem a million miles away,but the remarkable investment opportunities offered by this exotic part of the world are right here in Colchester.

DB International Homes will be hosting an exciting Caribbean Investment Evening at Stoke-by-Nayland Golf Hotel and Spa on Thursday, 20 January at 7pm.

The exclusive event will be a free introduction totheir self-financing freehold investment propertiesin five stunning locations across the Caribbean, tar-geting the luxury end of the market where propertyrentals are achieving the best results. With a reserva-tion fee of just £1000 and guaranteed rental returns,DB International Homes are keen to showcase justhow affordable Caribbean property investment can be.Directors, David Blackwell and Roger Galton-Davis,who work in conjunction with Harlequin Property,are delighted to announce that former professionalfootballer and now television and radio pundit, AndyTownsend, will be presenting at the Colchesterinvestment evening.

“We are honoured to have such a legend present at

our event,” said David. “It will be a fantasticevening – one not to be missed!”

David and Roger are also fans of our very ownfootball stars, Colchester United – sponsoring theU’s Away Player of the Year at last year’s end ofseason dinner. They also donated a £2500 luxuryCaribbean holiday for two as a prize to help raisefunds for the ColchesterUnited Community SportsTrust – won by lifelong U’ssupporter Paul Olorenshaw.

This generous holiday give-away is also available toeveryone who invests at theCaribbean InvestmentEvening, inclusive of flightsand full board luxury accom-modation.

“Open to everyone, theevent will be a real celebrationevening with a Caribbeantheme, buffet and Mai Taicocktails for all our guests,”said David.

Spaces are limited so please telephone 0845 003 8098 to reserve your placeCaribbean Investment Evening, Thursday, 20January 2011, 7pm for 7.30pm startStoke-by-Nayland Golf Hotel & Spa, Keeper’sLane, Leavenheath, Colchester, Essex, CO6 4PZ.

Sporting Legend Andy Townsend to Visit Colchester’s Caribbean Investment Evening.(Along with canapés, cocktails and a free Caribbean holiday.)

A D V E R T I S I N G F E A T U R E

24

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

26

dear post-Christmas reader, you’veinvited all your friends and family round for festivities, done all your shopping and wrapped your presents, baked the mince tarts, decantedthe buckfast and sat back on Christmas

eve to bask in the warmglow, only for all yourguests to start telling youthey won’t be able to makeit, while a snow cloud thesize of Columbia looms ominously ahead.

Or perhaps you orderedyour Christmas dinner from asupermarket online, only forthem to call you up on the24th apologising that theygot the dates wrong or thatthey didn’t have turkey.

www.Gosh.co.uk

osh!gGosh! is a marketing agency with a new

approach, helping businesses towards fresh

ways of strategic thinking, and innovative

ways to reach their customers.

From branding and design to creating digital

media via truly innovative communications

including social media, Gosh! offers its clients

unique ideas and solutions.

t: 01206 823618 e: [email protected]

The Studio, Tye Road, Colchester, Essex CO7 7BN.

Talk to us today about how Gosh! can

help you promote your business.

The diary of an independent comedy promoter by Hazel Humphreys

That pretty much cryptically sumsup the tale of two gigs since mylast journal. The first, at StanwayRovers Football club in Novemberwas woefully underbooked andwith the threat of snow I bit the bullet and cancelled rather thanrisk losing £250 right before. Theacts, notably headliner PatrickMonahan were all understandingabout it, which if anything mademe feel worse. Patrick Monahan isone of life’s beautiful people,inside and out. He’s also some-what of a ninja hugger. However,he’s still keen to do a gig for me in2011 so let’s hope next time wecan make it happen. Sadly it won’tbe in Stanway on a Monday nightas this seems to be the least popularplace in the universe. Who knew?

It was interesting returning toWivenhoe, but this time at theCricket Club on December 16th.After the debacle of the World Cupvotes, it seems that Cricket is thenew football, at least until VladimirPutin takes an interest in the gentleman’s sport. In the weekleading up to the gig I had toreplace three acts, including theheadliner, due to a mixture of familyproblems and confused dates.With only 32 seat reservations forthe night and hints of a blizzard inthe air, I was feeling less than prepared for MCing the night.

Somehow, though, a little bit ofChristmas magic transpired andwe had just under 70 people showup on the night, which made for agood atmosphere in the cosy, andwarm forgiving audience who happilywent along with my hastily cobbledtogether witterings. The acts allheld their own, with disarminglycute but filthy half-Filipino, half-

German (“I don’t JUST clean thehouse”) songstress Ria Lina especially storming it. I love itwhen audience members taketurns to congratulate a comic who’sdone well, and Ria was practicallymobbed by people asking “Whyaren’t you on telly?” (the answer:“bad luck”. Ria’s been working thecircuit for over 10 years).

It was a pleasure to have comedyhero Simon Munnery headlining.Munnery may confuse some audiences with his cerebral meanderings (disguising a razorsharp comedy brain), but his cynicalreconstruction of John Lennon’s“Imagine” was a delight. Plus, itwas a secret proud moment whenafterwards he said “All gigs reflectthe personality of the promoter,and you have a lovely gig here”(swoon!). Also he gave me a copyof his brilliant DVD “Hello”, so thatwas my Christmas made already.This gig was a trial to see whetherthe Cricket Club would agree to aregular comedy night there, andthe guys at the club seemedpleased as punch at the turnoutand entertainment value, so TheFunny Farm will be back at WTCCat the end of January.

Before all that we have aSlackspace free comedy night fornewer acts on 6th January and I’mappearing in Wivenhoe Pantomimeat the William Loveless Hallbetween 19th and 22nd January(Oh yes I etc.).

Wivenhoe Funny Farm’s next show is Thursday 27th January and you can book via: www.wivenhoefunnyfarm.co.uk

Imagine

View from the

Funny Farm“I don’t

JUST clean

the house”

Ria Lina

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

First things first, happy new year to everyone, andI hope that the next twelve months brings youeverything you want it to. (Some nice warm weatherwould be a start after the recent stuff we’ve had.)

We are halfway through the season and shouldbe relatively pleased with the fact that we are inthe top six of League One and in the Third Roundof the FA Cup. Being in contention is obviouslysomething that we were aiming for, but I’ve got tobe honest and say that I can’t help thinking thatwe should be in even better shape, especially inthe league.

Early on in the campaign, we had a fantastic runof eleven games unbeaten, which is a record forus, but we drew a fair few of those matches.Looking back at some of those games that wedrew, we were, and still are, disappointed that wedidn’t win them.

We played some fantastic football and got ourselves in front but never really turned thescrew and scored more goals, something that ourplay definitely deserved. Being only one goalahead is always risky and we conceded late goalsto drop points. No player likes conceding goals

but had we been two or three goals ahead, a lategoal against us wouldn’t have cost us any points.

I try not to, but it’s hard to look at the leaguetable and not think where we could be had wewon two or three of those matches. We have tolearn from this though, and in the second half ofthe season, do all we can to win all three pointsmore often than not. It’s a tight division and oneor two games where we hang onto leads could bethe difference between success and failure.

That’s the aim then between now and May - togo out every week and really put in the performancesthat will bring us the victories we need. It will bebusier than normal because of the games we’vehad postponed in the last month, but all the ladsare desperate to do well and we’ll be fightingtooth and nail to win.

Kem Izzet

UNITED FC COLCHESTER

Points Win Prizes

STADIUMTOURS

If you have had trouble in the past knowing whatto buy your Colchester United supporting friendor relative, worry no more. The U’s have beenworking hard and we’re delighted to announcethat we will be launching Official Stadium Toursin the early months of 2011, and these couldmake a great present for your U’s supportingfamily this year.

These tours will be our best yet, providing youwith a day to remember at the Weston HomesCommunity Stadium.

On the tours you will:• Get to see behind the scenes, including the kitroom, Chairman’s Suite and press lounge• Visit the home and away dressing rooms andsee what it looks like ahead of a game• Be given a special eight page brochure on thehistory of the Weston Homes CommunityStadium• Discount in the Club Shops for a period ofseven days after your stadium tour• A Q&A with a former U’s player at the end ofthe tour

We’ve also got special “Sunday Luncheon” tourswhere your journey around the Weston HomesCommunity Stadium will end with a three course lunch.

The following dates are available for OfficialStadium Tours:-

JanuaryThursday 13, 4pmSunday 23, 12pm and food at 1.30pmMonday 31, 6pm

FebruaryThursday 10, 4pmSunday 20, 12pm and food at 1.30pmMonday 28, 6pm

MarchThursday 10, 4pmSunday 20, 12pm and food at 1.30pmMonday 28, 6pm

April Monday 11, 6pmSunday 17, 12pm and food at 1.30pmThursday 28, 4pm

You can book these tours by visiting U’s Centralor the Stadium Shop – or you can choose thetour date as a product on the online shop.

Prices for the tours on their own will be £10 foradults and £2 for U16s. We are also hoping toconfirm the prices for dining – and keep youreyes on the official website for details of whichformer players will be attending the dates above.

27

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

LIKE about Colchester: The historical parts that stun myfriends that visit.The pubs, the ArtsCentre.

LOVE about Colchester: Crouch Street especially the shopsopposite the Tesco Express end.

LOATHE about Colchester: Colchester Council who are are so self-focused, inward-looking and self-important they can’t even, forexample get the High Street cleaned daily.

Graham Fraser

LIKE about Colchester: I like the fact that the River Colneflows through the heart ofColchester - no town should be without a river.

LOVE about Colchester: I love the fact Colchester is a university town, with the resultant cultural diversity a student population brings.

LOATHE about Colchester: I loathe the way Colchester (andother towns) are becoming glorifiedidentikit shopping malls.

WANT in Colchester:I want Colchester to have pubs in which I can smoke.

Adrian Multon

LIKE about Colchester: The character of England’s oldestrecorded town.

LOVE about Colchester: Top restaurants like Siege House, Ivory Spice, Na Ree Thai.

LOATHE about Colchester: Nothing.

WANT in Colchester:More small businesses and less massive supermarkets.

Pete Slegg

LIKE about Colchester: Highwoods Country Park, CastlePark, Nightlife!

LOVE about Colchester: Aqua Springs, although it is well overdue a fresh paint job!

LOATHE about Colchester: Being charged £4 per entry at night in some bars. The non-existentTraffic flow during rush hour & Speedcameras!

WANT in Colchester:A cinema bigger than a cardboardbox with films that start after 9pm,similar to Ipswich Cineworld. Andsomeone to convert the old cinemainto a superclub!

Tim Hawes

LIKE about Colchester: Colchester Zoo, the Castle, St Botolph’s Priory.

LOVE about Colchester: The speciality shops and boutiquesin Eld Lane.

LOATHE about Colchester: The mess that has been made of ouronce beautiful High Street.

WANT in Colchester:Our High Street pedestrianised orrestored to its former glory.

Michael Crouch

LIKE about Colchester: Bike rides from town along theWivenhoe trail.

LOVE about Colchester: Stopping for a drink at the Rose and Crown, Wivenhoe during a bike ride...

LOATHE about Colchester: The awful buildings that have gone up around the Hythe.

WANT in Colchester:No more ugly blocks of flats aroundthe town.

Mel Jackson

Like itLove itLoathe it101 needs your inputThis is your chance to tell us what you LIKE, LOVE, LOATHEabout... and WANT in Colchester that we don’t currently have.

WANT IT!

28

Send 30 words or less on EACH of the following subjects to: [email protected]

Dear Chris

I was putting a Spotify playlist together for my Goddaughter the other day - I like to introduce her to as many different artists and genres as possible - and I found myself going all early 80s electropop. It was as if I was drawn to bleeps, sparse, tinny drum beats with a barely discerniblebass line, icy winds blowing through Mittel-Europe and ‘shattering shardsof sepulchral majesty’, seemingly against my will!

It wasn’t long before I was trawling through Depeche Mode’s catalogue.They were the first band I ever saw live (on the Construction Time Againtour) and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of real pride for the Essex boys -how they were derided and dismissed in their earliest days and went on to conquer the world.

But I decided not to include ‘Master and Servant’ for an eleven year-old.

YoursEd

Dear Ed

You’re forgetting Basildon’s finest there – Alison Moyet. With a careerthat‘s lasted nearly thirty years, surely she’s a National Treasure now?

Her career shows just how much music has changed since I bought herfirst single with Yazoo aged 14. ‘Only You’ was that delicious rarity - anelectro pop balled with real heart and soul that has now achieved classicstatus. Naturally, I have wiped all thoughts of The Flying Pickets’ versionfrom my mind. I don’t like A Capella. It makes me anxious, and there are so many musical instruments widely available.

It was Alison’s version of ‘That Ole Devil Called Love’ that introduced me to Billie Holiday, something for which I shall always be eternally grateful.

And as ‘Madchester’ and rave took the crown away from eighties pop,Alison had a last stab in the singles chart with one of her finest moments‘Whispering Your Name’, remixed by her old ‘friend’ Vince Clarke. This rollicking piece of pop has an intensity that is seldom found in the top twenty today - highly recommended.

RegardsChris

Dear Chris

You’re right – as ever. I’m a huge Yazoo and Alison Moyet fan. ‘Upstairs at Eric’s’ is a seminal album for me and I’m genuinely pleased that recentyears have been very kind to the family-orientated Ms. Moyet. Imagine mydelight when stuck in traffic on the M25 to hear Radio 4 rave about her version of Purcell’s ‘Dido’s Lament’. To hear a voice as resonant and asfamiliar as Alison’s tackle one of the most famous vocal pieces in history is a rare delight. It’s found on her 2005 album ‘Voice’.

The recent tour with a reformed Yazoo was totally thrilling. So kudos to Mr Vince Clarke as well, one of the finest electro pioneers, creator ofDepeche Mode, endlessly sampled and cited as an influence and surelysomething of a Legend now?

YoursEd

Dear Ed

Oh, yes indeed. But the less said about Erasure, the better.

Chris

MMuussooPPeenn PPaallss

Despite being a pair ofColchestrians, Ed and Chrishave never actually met. Noteven for gig at The Twist.But they email each otherall the time about their verybroad music tastes.

CCoollcchheesstteerr 110011 has been givenpermission to reprint their messages. One-upmanship? Yes, occasionally…

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

Alcoholics AnonymousSupport group for persons needing help toovercome and recover from alcoholism.Helpline 0845 769 7555Email: [email protected]

Al-Anon Family GroupsSupport for anyone whose life is, or has been, affected by someone else’s drinking.Helpline 020 7403 0888Email: [email protected]

Narcotics AnonymousSupport group for persons needing help toovercome and recover from drug addiction.Helpline 0300 999 1212www.ukna.org

Cocaine AnonymousSupport group for persons needing help toovercome and recover from cocaine addiction.Helpline 0800 612 0225From UK Mobile Phones 800 612 0225Email: [email protected]

Colchester Gay SwitchboardHelp and advice for gay, lesbian, bi-sexualand transgender individuals and those affectedby HIV and AIDS.Helpline 01206 869191 or 0845 1 23 23 88www.gayessex.org.uk

BrookFree and confidential sexual health adviceand services for under 25s providing professional advice on Contraception, STIs and Pregnancy.Helpline 0808 802 1234 www.brook.org.uk

Overeaters AnonymousOvereaters Anonymous is a fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience,strength and hope, are recovering from compulsive overeating.Helpline 07000 784985 www.oagb.org.uk

beatThe leading UK charity for people with eating disorders and their families.Helpline: 0845 634 1414Email: [email protected] 0845 634 7650Email [email protected]

RelateSupport and advice, relationship counselling,sex therapy, workshops, mediation, consultations and support.Telephone: 0300 100 1234

Families Need FathersSupport and information if you are separatingor divorced and are worried about not seeingyour children, or the effects on them. Open tomothers, fathers, grandparents, new partnersand extended families.Helpline: 0300 0300 363 www.fnf.org.uk

SamaritansIf you are in crisis, feel distressed or are perhapsthinking of suicide, Samaritans trained volunteerscan give you the time and space to talk aboutyour feelings, help you explore your optionsand perhaps seek a way to face the future.24/7 Helpline 01206 561234www.Samaritans.org

Open RoadReducing the harmful impact of drugs and alcoholon users, their families, partners and society.Telephone: 0844 499 1323

29

Each month Colchester 101 features readers’ own stories about issues thataffect, or are still affecting, their lives. This month, Mandie Holgate talksabout how depression took over her life.

HELPLINES If you need help and support to deal with an addiction or crisis, below are contact details for organisations dedicated to providing support and advice for a variety of problems.

years ago I was sitting here working out thequickest way to die. What a way to start mystory. My name is Mandie Holgate, and I think

it is very important to start with that, because so manypeople feel the need to hide their illness, their past, theirproblems, and you know what they say about a problemshared. I’m not ashamed of what I went through and morethan that I will go out of my way to tell people about thoseawful 18 months in the hope that I can help a lot of people,both personally and professionally. So why was I doingmy best to check out of this thing called life?

Six years ago I had no reason to be down or depressed, Iwas happily married to my teen holiday romance, I hadtwo beautiful children, I was lucky enough to live onMersea Island and my family lived nearby. I had workedin the car industry for many years as a body shop managerand company secretary, but made a conscious decision tobring up my children for a few years while they were littleand we had the chance, and I loved it.

Then, out of the blue, something happened that changedmy life. One evening my husband and I were carrying ourchildren up the stairs to bed, singing and playing as wewent. For some reason on that February evening I lookedout the window - just to see our cat get run over by a car.

At that moment I had no idea of what impact thatmoment would have on my life.

The next day, feeling devastated, I got up and decided tocontinue as if nothing had happened. Working in the carindustry you need to think fast and act right. If somethinggoes wrong you don’t worry about whose fault it was, it’smore important to work out what you are going to do. So Iwas always the one you could rely on to sort it out. Soafter February 27 I did just that. But over the next coupleof months I became aware that I was not feeling my normallively happy self.

Anyone who knows me will tell you I was always thereto help and smile, but on the inside I noticed I was notfeeling that any more. I went to my GP and he recom-mended that we have our annual holiday and if I still feltlike this we could reassess things.

It was the worst holiday of my life. I could not findpleasure in anything. I snapped, cranked and cried and Icould tell my husband was worried. It’s an odd feelingwhen you feel like you are looking at yourself saying“Why are you behaving like this?”

I shook with the medicationOver the coming months I started to take various

antidepressants and medications to try and alleviate my symptoms, but I just got worse and worse. But thatdoes not really sum that up. When I say worse, I mean my husband worked an hour and half drive from home andI would ring him panicking that I could not cope. I could

manage 20 employees, looking after three county’s policeroad traffic collisions, 22 insurance companies and over 20recovery agencies in floods and snow storms but suddenlyI could not handle a home and two children. Can youimagine what it feels like to feel like you are watchingyourself disappear? I can remember one time when myhusband had come to the rescue I was hiding behind thesofa sobbing uncontrollably. And a part of my tears wasme wondering what the hell was going on? Where wasMandie Holgate? And was she coming back?

I stopped sleeping, I ate either nothing or everything Icould find, I shook with the medication, I lost lots ofweight and then I gained lots of weight, I self harmed andI tried to kill myself - twice.

I hated myself beyond words. I believed I was the mostworthless pile of rubbish on the planet and regularlybegged my husband to leave me so he could get himself a decent wife. I was on medication to get me up and medication to get me to sleep. I had regular ECGs tocheck my heart could cope and by the end I was on maxi-mum medication before the only option became hospitali-sation. The only treatment left to me was ECT (ElectroConvulsive Therapy.) Look it up - it will truly scare you.What is more frightening is although my whole familywere against it I wanted to go to the hospital and talk aboutit. I was that desperate.

Someone you know could be sufferingI have told you everything about that time in my life

because thanks to a great husband, a very supportive familyand the wonderful work of Colchester Mind, I am healthierand happier than ever before in my life.

Don’t think it was easy. It was a long, harrowing and avery scary journey to getting better. But in 2007 I canhonestly say I felt better than ever. I have shared this storywith you, because right now someone nearby could be actingdifferently. Someone you know could be suffering andunsure how or where to get help from. And speaking fromexperience it takes a hell of a lot of guts to pick up thephone and admit to yourself that you have a mental illness.One of the reasons my problem was so prolonged andbecame so serious is because I refused to treat it like anillness. I saw it as a weakness, something to be ashamed of.

This truly has a happy ending because, once I wasfully recovered. I trained as a coach and put my years ofmanagerial experience into helping business women. I amthe founder of The Business Woman’s Network that is inits second year and has already grown across East Anglia.It is about empowering, motivating and supporting business women and most importantly getting them newideas and opportunities to grow their business. Before myillness to say that I could have a roomful of businesswomen thanking me for my help and support in helping

their business growI would never havebelieved it. I amvery lucky and Iwant to make sure that mental health illness stops being adirty word and starts getting the same level of compassionand consideration as any other awful illness.

I am not a doctor or a psychiatrist, but from my experience the advice I would give would be:

1. You need to accept a mental illness just like you wouldany other. You would not expect to drive a car with a broken arm, so why expect to soldier on through a mentalhealth illness? Give yourself the time, the space, the careand attention you need to get better.

2. Medication does not always work for everyone. I didnot know this, and it is due to this that I got so poorly. One of the things that worked for me was talking therapies.Counselling that included CBT (Cognitive BehaviouralTherapy) and CAT (Cognitive Analytic Therapy), self hypnosis, Taiwanese reflexology and acupuncture alsohelped with many of my symptoms.

3. You are not super human. One of the reasons my illnessescalated is because I always said yes to everyone andeverything. Somewhere down the line the body saysenough is enough. It’s not failure or a weakness to say “I would love to help but it won’t be until next week.” I learnt that to disrespect myself and undervalue my timeled to feeling of under-appreciation which led to me feeling worse and caused a downward spiral which mademe even more ill.

4. Lastly - talk about it. It was the hardest thing to be honest outside of my family and say: “I have a mental illness” but it helped so much. Yes, unfortunately youlearn who your friends are (hence my openness about it –we will change the stigma attached!) but in talking about ityou are lightening the load. You are admitting to yourselfthat things aren’t right and are preparing to move forward.Sometimes talking to a stranger is easier and I was luckyenough to have an amazingly understanding and kind GP,but other people really helped too. And I am so grateful toColchester Mind I am now a trustee for them too.

Colchester Mind: www.colchestermind.orgMe: www.thebusinesswomansnetwork.co.uk

If you have a story to tell then send it to us at [email protected]

A Problem Shared

Six

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

30

EconomicEconomicrevival?revival? OrOr just just wishful wishful thinking?

Would a rebrand or corporate identity makeover give your company a competitive edge?

Maybe it is time to refresh your website to make it truly work for your business?

Do you want sales and marketing literature that will really get you noticed?

Then talk to Tonic, Colchester’sgraphic design and creative communications specialists.

Your future growth depends on effectively promoting your business.

The Studio, Tye Road, Colchester, Essex CO7 7BN. Email: [email protected]

Call today to find out how we can help you take your business forward.

01206 544700www.TonicOnline.co.uk

GRANITE

GCS

GRANITE COMPUTER SOLUTIONSBusiness I.T. Solutions & Services

Tel: 0845 871 0821E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.GraniteComputers.co.uk

I.T. SOLUTIONS YOU CANTRUST

Computer, Server &

Network Support

Disaster Recovery

Planning

Web Design, SEO &

Hosting Packages

Come to Gin Dental for your smile enhancing experience

you can share.

131 London Road LexdenColchester CO3 9AHT 01206 576296W GinDentalStudio.com

Call Emma today on 01206 576296for our special offers.

Late evening appointments available on Mondays and ThursdaysGet your free fear report by visiting http://freefearreport.gindental.com

NEW PATIENT SPECIAL£40.00 Normally £125.00

Initial visit includes Exam, X-Rays + CleanPLUS £30.00 off your treatment.

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

31

Colchester 101 is the Colchester magazine written by LOCAL people, for LOCAL people, about LOCAL people, LOCAL issues and LOCALevents, and some other pretty cool stuff thrown in too!

Advertising Opportunities

INSIDE FRONT PAGE Type area 270 (high) x 190mm (wide)Full Bleed 303 x 216mm (297 x 210mm type area)

SINGLE PAGEType area 270 x 190mmFull Bleed 303 x 216mm (297 x 210mm type area)

OUTSIDE BACK PAGEType area 270 x 190mmFull Bleed 303 x 216mm (297 x 210mm type area)

INSIDE-BACK PAGE Type area 270 x 190mmFull Bleed 303 x 216mm (297 x 210mm type area)

HALF PAGE (landscape)Type area 133 x 190mm

QUARTER PAGE (portrait) Type area 133 x 93mm

EIGHTH PAGE (landscape) Type area 64 x 93mm

Advertorial FeaturesGet your business noticed

Contact: 01206 [email protected]

www.Colchester101.co.uk

Advertise With Colchester 101

Co

lch

este

r 10

1 C

olch

este

r’s Acce

ss All A

reas M

agazin

e J

anuary 2

011. w

ww

.Colch

ester101.co.uk

Find us on Follow us on

Colchester 101 is a full colourFREE A4 Colchester magazinebursting at the seams with local news, interviews, things to see and do, reviews, music, theatre, sport and much, much more...

Find us on

Colchester’s Access All Areas Fanzine

FREE

Issue 1 November 2010

The Real John Cooper Clarke by Martin NewellA View from the Funny FarmSven Wombwell’s Tales From the TellyHop Aboard the Scent TrainColchester United’s Kem Izzet writesfor 101Full Monthly Events Guide

Pleasetake one

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

101issue3pp.qxd 30/12/10 13:14

colchester 101 january 2011

Documents

new ideas

new sections

happy new year

detox guidekem izzet

paul clarkvery special

paul clarkdesigner

lastthing ady

worry dolls