LANGHAM 

Langham Essex Village Sign

2013 ARCHIVE

Winter

Fox House
Hundred Lane
The gardens on Carter's Hill, Boxted are always worth a shot!
The church of St. Mary's in the winter sunshine
The Hurlock Room in dappled light
The track up from the valley to the church provides a foreground to a dramatic skyline
A series of potholes developed along Dedham Road , just past the turning for the church. I drove into the deepest of these when the road was completely flooded on Christmas Day. Two new front tyres and the tracking later ....
Fox House with lingering snow on the roof
'The Fens' in mid-morning
The junction of Old Mill Road with Dedham Road was frozen and bleak in a pretty way.
Across the field towards the new-build at Holly Tree Cottage on the Dedham Road.
The outbuildings of Martin's Farm line the Dedham Road.
Dressed up warm against the wind and cold, these horses usually forsake the shelter of their stables for the open field.
Mucking out with a view over the Dedham Vale on a crisp morning!
The Old Forge at the junction of Rectory Road and Dedham Road.
Looking towards Langham Hall from the avenue approaching St. Mary's Church
The avenue leading to St. Mary's Church
St. Mary's Church through the trees
Wintry approach to St. Mary's Church
Lynch gate
The Hurlock room
The view up Black Brook from the bottom of Grove Hill.
The sign for Perry Lane was stolen, but a new one has been erected in its place
The War Memorial in the boundary with the Primary School
Community Centre and Field from the footway in School Road
New adult exercise items in the Community Field
Diamond Jubilee Tree
Children's play area
The most recent old shop and post office in Moor Road
First photo of the day in hoar frost was over the back of the garden fence!
The woodland that brackets the headwaters of the Black Brook, as seen from Hundred Lane.
Hundred Lane in snowy frosty conditions
The Black Brook as it passes below the bridge on Hundred Lane.
Looking, and finding, some 'pretties', around the junction of High Street and Old Mill Road/Chapel Road
Children's play area
Cow Parsley adorned with frost
Park Lane Business Centre
Langham Oak Cottage
'The Fens' in the snow
...before it melted away!
Derryl Thatch
Briarwood
Chapel Road
After another snow fall, it was back to Hundred Lane to see what views could be got for potential Christmas Cards!
Langham Hall in the snow, a picture of cool elegance!
Snow draping a sprif of Yew at St. Mary's Church
The airfield memorial in the cold clear air.
Park Lane Business Centre, left, is planning to expand with a new building on the site, in a style complementary to those already there.
The Community Centre in the snow
Making my way around the footpaths is easier in winter when they are frozen
The new bike is posed along FP25 between Greyhound Hill and Bardles Barn.
Looking bright and sharp against a blue sky, the Silver Birch from my bedroom window!
The melting of the snow gave a chance to see what the footpaths were like, but I sensibly stuck to those that did not go over ploughed fields! FP33 from Park Lane to the community field.
Plenty going on in Chapel Road, with the builder's lorry at Ferryer's Wake and the sewerage lining in full swing near the old Chapel ... traffic had to weave in and out.
A view over the rooftops is revealed in School Road after the greenery has been clipped to half its previous height!
Drama in Moor Road, as the water main gives way outside 'The Granary'. The response was pretty quick and all concerned were affable and courteous. The hole was cut, the pipe repaired ... and the hole was left over the weekend for another team in fill-in and close up!
Signs. Are we really this dim-witted, or is this the nanny state in action?
The workshop to consider ideas for marking the centenary of the First World War was held in the Club Room at the Community Centre. Borough Councillor Mark Cable and county councillor Anne Brown lent their support as local residents discussed options.

Spring
 Part 1

Snow Drops in High Street
A walk across the fields from Bardles Barn to Greyhound Hill
A pause on my travels on Greyhound Hill, to take my ease on the seat provided in memory of Ted Parslow on the green space alongside Greyhound Hill Farm
The final stop was at Hornestreet Field, where a winter clean-up, including some coppicing, had taken place. it was good to see the catkins in the sunshine against a blue sky!
A wintry surprise in the morning! Despite snow flurried throughout the previous day, nothing had pitched ... but now there was a covering of several inches - and the sun was out!
Field behind Moor Road
Fox House
Chapel Road
The A12 was only just moving southwards
Village road sign in Birchwood Road
Wick Road
The School Farm industrial area was busy, despite the snow snarling up the A12 and the road to Dedham
The shop had a few visitors, despite the weather
The Women's Institute Garden on the community field
Community Centre
Amongst things new was a daffodil emerging through a covering of snow, left, and the pole on the Community Centre, connecting to the new wireless broadband service
The entrance to the paddock and stable off School Road, with small drifts of snow
Low drifts, up to 2 feet high, were being blown off the fields onto High Street
Friday afternoon, with the Half Marathon coming through on the Sunday morning, two days later ... and the road-menders turn in in the nick of time!
The junction of Old Mill Road, Chapel Road and High Street
The slope down Old Mill Road on the southern side of Black Brook
FP11, towards Hill Farm
Dedham Road was closed for the day due to pothole-filling
The junction of Greyhound Hill and Dedham Road, with its signpost and new hedge
Towards the new-build extension at Holly Tree Cottage
Footpath 11, from Hill Farm to Greyhound Hill, with its newly-made stile and rabbit-proof fence
The descent into Greyhound Hill is also quite new, of steps held back by wooden staves. The precipitous gully next to the steps has been made by horses, not thoughtless ramblers!
Water Lane usually lives up to its name! Looking towards the valley floor of the River Stour, Lane attracts drainage from the valley sides, and is now covered by debris washed into it ... as well as the ubiquitous potholes!
In contrast, here is the road to Low Lift Cottages, and a newly-cleared ditch.
The new footbridge over the River Stour, connecting our own FP1 (The Stour Valley Way) with Suffolk's St Edmund Way
The new bridge is a fine structure that should last many years, and, notably, it will not need to be replaced when the wooded attachments rot, as the structural elements are largely steel. the signing is, regrettably second hand!
Grove Hill looking a little windblown, with the largely Ivy hedge, and some of the trees, being thrown over
The Apex 12 Business Park, is the other side of the A12, but is still just in Langham Parish, just past the Ardleigh Crown pub
Just beyond the Apex 12 site is the only hotel in Langham, a 'Quality Hotel', renamed from the former Ramada Inn and before that the Butterfly Hotel!
The notably prestigious Lodge Park, that has, as I recall, no less than 216 solar panels on its roofs!

Spring
 Part 2

The sunshine drew me out to Gun Hill and past its junction with Dedham Road
East Lodge side door open to walkers
East Lodge
There has been a good deal of tree-cutting, and replanting, in the hanger below Church Farm. The Essex Way footpath has been 'corrected' to run up the newly-cut track, so everyone can see some woodland management in action. We have, I feel, far too many mature and over-mature trees just falling over and rotting (good for wildlife doubtless) rather than being put to productive use, so I rejoice in this management
St. Mary's Church
Dedham Road is flanked by The Old House and Martin's Farm to the right, or north, of the road. Little martin's shows up in the distance on the bend in the road
Langham Church through the wooded gully that separates it from Langham Hall
Looking over the woodland from the lane at Church Farm
Some views of Langham Hall
Church Farm, with Langham church in the background. There is a Constable painting, one of several called 'Glebe Farm' that depicts the two buildings, but Constable mischievously re-arranged the foreground topography!
Highfield Cttage on Dedham Road
Boxted Mill
More visits to the church to obtain the right angle to duplicate the Constable painting, this time on a clear Spring morning!
Langham Lodge, where the U.S. officers had their base during World War II
From the bridleway that runs past Langham Lodge. This is the same view as the frozen lake in the 2012-13 Calendar!
Hundred Lane in the sunshine
Footpath back to Langham
Broomfield Farm with its array of 54 solar panels
Pond Cottage on Boxted Straight Road
The Royal British Legion Club in Boxted Straight Road
Aluminium matting was put down in the cricket-bat willow meadow on Old Mill Road ..by the Water Board
The view from the bottom of Grove hill, looking up towards Nightingale Hill
The Forge on the junction of Rectory Road and Dedham Road
Blossom near the church
The Old House in Dedham Road
One of the fields of cricket-bat Willow on Old Mill Road.
Aluminium matting ready for use ... since removed and leaving only flattened grass!
'The Fens' in Spring, the second season's photograph of the house set in a changing garden
Emerging growth at The Fens
View of the house in clear spring sunshine
Adelphi Cottage in Moor Road
Lyme Cottage in School Road
St. Margaret's Cross
FP26 as it enters a charming section alongside Hobday's Wood
The stile of FP26 has been revealed from the enclosing holly tree, but has had its wire netting broken, presumably for the easier passage of dogs. Such criminal damage does not encourage landowners to maintain footpath furniture.
A quick check to see the state of the bluebells on FP28 towards Hill Farm from Bardles Barn
On the way the lovely display of potted flowers in chapel Road took my eye!
The Jubilee Table and Chair can be seen in Langham Church
Enlarged to show the inscription running along its front
Orchids, wild garlic and a carpet of bluebells were on offer in early May
And the bluebells were also in evidence in Langham
Cheshunts
Woodland walk across the valley from new to old Boxted.
Bowered Green Cottage

Lancaster Memorial 25 April 2013

A plinth has been erected in the grounds of Space Savers in Ipswich Road, marking the crash of RAF Lancaster UM-K2 of 626 Squadron on 25 April 1944 at 04.10 hours. The aircraft had been attacked by a lone nighfighter and was burning .. and trying to make a landing at RAF Boxted, a mile away. The base lit the flare path, but to no avail, the Lancaster came down with its seven crew-members, three Canadian and four British, short of the runway, and all were killed
Sir Bob Russell M.P. opened the proceedings in front of quite a media presence
Sgt. Len Manning, shot down in a Lancaster on his third mission, with his parachute burning .. and suffering from burns himself. He was sheltered in a French village for three months before being liberated by advancing Americans
An audience consisting of veterans and relatives of the downed Lancaster's crew, and local representatives
During the service there were speeches from Colonel Paul Keddy, Air Attache, Canadian High Commission...
...and David Mackie Smith of the Canadian Air Force Association
Peter Potter, a veteran himself of 626 Squadron, reads the "Ode of Remembrance"
The Revd Michael Hall of RAF Marham conducts the service
Elizabeth Schofield MBE., Chairman of Langham Parish Council and and Simon Gallup, who read the poem 'High Flight'
relatives of the fallen aircrew and other veterans look on
Roy Tolhurst, other veterans and David Mackie, unveil the plinth and its inscriptions
Colonel Paul Keddy, Air Attache, Canadian High Commission lays a wreath at the memorial...
... followed by W.O. Carruthers from RAF Marham...
...and a number of other veterans
At one stage a UAV overflew the service, across Ipswich Road in a high and blustery wind! Should have got some good shots!
The service included a solo, 'Remembrance', sung by Janet Shell, a relative of one of the crew, Ft/Sgt John Shell, and a professional opera singer. She is in the black dress with white spots. When two police cars and an ambulance sounding its siren raced up the Ipswich Road she stopped in mid song, then started again as the noise receded! Notable also was a volley of rifle fire by the USAF Honor Guard from RAF Mildenhall and the sounding of the last post by Simon Sinclair
At the end of the service it was announced that the Lancaster from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight would fly over, but there was a delay of some forty minutes. This gave ample opportunity for all concerned, especially relatives of the aircrew to mingle, inspect the plinth and have their photographs taken. It was also time for the Harwich Royal British Legion Band to play!
The Lancaster from Coningsby made three passes over the site .. to cheers and waves!
Time to go home for some ... and time to linger for others
The Lancaster departs
To complete the day for a good number of those invited to the ceremony, a Robinson helicopter gave rides from the Museum site
Inconspicuous throughout was the instigator and driving force behind what became a formidable team ... Chris Stanfield

Summer

Derryl Thatch in Chapel Road
The pond at The Fens
Our new 40mph speed limit signs on Park Lane
Another walk to Boxted brought out the sunshine and fresh colours ...
... especially walking the footpath through Rivers Hall
Fine views of the largest of the Rivers Hall lakes
Looking over towards Stoke-by-Nayland
A somewhat obscured Boxted Mill
'The Shepherd', as the 'Shepherd and Dog' is to be known, is just starting its makeover
The old school at Boxted, now transformed into a luxury house
Boxted church
Boxted Village Hall
Two more views of the church, including a grave cross with remarkable growths of moss!
'Songers' in Cage Lane, a gem that is kept in immaculate condition, both house and garden!
The sheltered walk down the track from Rivers Hall hosts a display of rhododendron and azalea every year
View looking up the track to the footpath marker
Row upon row of onions adjacent to High Street
The new rabbit-proof fencing in the Community Field
Langham Tennis Courts
A sad occurrence in the village is the destruction of the bench in Wick Road. It was in robust good health, but was subjected to extreme force to break it in half
On Saturday 6 July, in the morning, the first of two Heritage Boards was ready to be unveiled by our Borough Councillor, Mark Cable, centre, talking to Terry Knight of Atlas, the producers of the board ... and well-known for their large-scale maps of town centres. they are a local firm from Fordham/Wormingford www.atlas-uk.co.uk
Tony Ellis talks to Chris Graves
Tony Ellis has a few words about the Heritage Boards, before the board is revealed...
...and then some comments by Liz Schofield, the Parish Chairman
The gathered get to look at the new board, which has a central map, with road and place names. This is surrounded by photographs of parts of the village, including some 'before and after' pairs, to show the 'Then and Now' changes that have affected Langham. A section of photographs is included to show the various business parks in the village ... with their location being marked on the map!
Andrew Stacey and Tony Ellis in front of the board. A further board will be erected next to the USAAF Monument in Park Lane, to inform and direct visitors that have not managed to find the Community Centre!
Nicely refurbished cottage on Greyhound Hill
The 'Shepherd and Dog pub' continues its transformation to 'The Shepherd', with removal of the planters and a bright new paint job. the interior has been stripped back to the brick, before new walls, fittings and fixtures are put in. It also has a repeater aerial for the new wireless broadband, sending the signal down Moor Road at 12 Mb!
One of many hot and sunny summer days this year; ripening barley in the large field to the south of Hundred Lane, seen from Chapel Road
'Fox House' is having a paint job and a new roof
In the evening, down Langham Lane, are David Isted's farm yard and vegetable plot
By Martin's Farm on Dedham Road, left, with views over the fields
After looking for August -orientated subject...
I was surprised to see the new bus shelter, outside the Community Centre in School Road, erected and waiting for its concrete base
The thatcher has been busy in Park Lane, currently working on 'Cherry Tree Cottage'...
...whilst 'Floral Dene' sports a recent thatching and even newer paint job!
A summer visit to 'The Fens' sees deep blue skies and even deeper shadows ... and rampant growth under the tree canopy...
A new view of the church
The village sign
The new Heritage Board at the Park Lane USAAF Memorial is in place
The W.I. held their annual Garden Party at Langham Lodge, as the guests of Tricia and Robin Gooding. On a beautiful sunny day, in lovely surroundings and with copious amounts of good food, it was not surprising a good time was had by all!
New gate at the Recreation Ground...the old stile has been forcibly removed and holes for the new steel gate are being dug. The gate will have netting over it to extend the anti-rabbit defences
Sarah Potter, our new Essex CC Footpaths Officer for Tendering and some north Colchester parishes, gets stuck in
Roger Hobday lends a hand...before getting on with marking the football lines!
The gate has been installed and levelled, and is now being packed with old concrete and a hardening powder that simulates concrete when moistened
A celebratory photograph, left with David Winter (Parish Clerk) and Bob Schofield being joined by Sarah Potter
Last minute checks before adjusting the closing mechanism
Job done!

Autumn

Potatoes being harvested just north of the Dedham Road. There was no waste, for at the end of the row both drivers got out and picked up those that the harvester could not reach!
The long-awaited opening of the 'Shepherd and Dog', now rebranded 'The Shepherd'. Much spruced-up outside, and with a completely gutted and re-decorated interior, the area thronged with crowds for the opening event
The queue for the toilets ahead of the fun run!
In Wick Road the vandalised bench has been replaced, and the display of flowers in planters did not disappoint ... again. In School Road the lowering of a garden hedge produces new, or merely lost, views ... and a deal more light!
Grapes ripening at the Granary
Berries at Sundew House
Church Farm seen through a gap in the churchyard conifers
The church from across the horse paddock
The churchyard on a fine autumn day
The wooded trail, now instated as a footpath and part of the Essex Way, from Church Farm down the slope to meet the path following the valley sides from Boxted
Loading beet over the hedge and into lorries waiting in Park Lane. This does do away with muddy tractors making a nuisance of themselves, but best done during the quiet times outside rush hour!
Colour at Floral Dene
Next door at Cherry Tree Cottage, the thatcher nearing completion of his work
Ripened grapes at The Granary (I do keep an eye on them!)
Across the fields from Dedham Road towards Martin's Farm
The view from the bridge over the A12 in Severalls Road, looking north. This is the view of the proposed solar farm which, if built, would appear as a smudge just below the far hedge line
The avenue leading to the church in fine light
The telephone box in Dedham Road has been purchased by the Parish Council. It is kindly being kept spick and span, and having various plants, according to season, adorning its location
The road through Sprike's Grove, also part of the Essex Way
A pair of views down Langham Lane from outside Langmoor House...
The storm that whistled in the night left a good few trees broken or uprooted ... if not anything like 1987. Here a bough in Langham Lane, left, has fallen, whilst (in the next two photos), more substantial damage was done in Chapel Road, including the electricity being knocked out...
Looking through the boughs of oak that fell in Chaplin Road
In Park Lane a substantial Willow came across the road, blocking it for some hours
The same day, near the church, there were a number of branches off, and plenty of leaves strewn around, but fewer signs of damage
Old Mill Road, left saw many trees either side blown over, whilst in Hundred Lane a faller blocks the path
If you enlarge the view on the left you will see the sign on Dedham Road has been turned around. Of course, us locals don't even look!
The newly acquired telephone box in its setting!
The junction of Old Mill Road, Chapel Road and High Street
Langham Hall paddocks
Langham Hall
A long-shot of the church along the paddock fence...
...and from its classic viewpoint
The Community Field and its children's playground
Women's Institute Centennial Garden
The annual services of Remembrance, starting at the School. Roger Hobday brings the union flag to the memorial
Denise Hobday again officiated for the service ...
.... whilst the wreath was laid by a serving soldier leaving imminently for Afghanistan
The service at the Airfield Memorial was again well-attended
Link to Langham Community Shop website, North EssexLink to Langham Community Centre website, North EssexLangham's monthly Community Coffee Morning in the Community Centre, North EssexLangham Film Nights - Community Cinema in North EssexLangham's annual 10k Race and 2k Fun Run, North Essex
Langham is a village and civil parish in the north east of Essex, England approximately 5 miles north of Colchester - close to junction 28 on the A12.