LANGHAM 

Langham Essex Village Sign

2011 ARCHIVE

Winter

Opening of the new Pre-School. The new room, pictured here, is just part of the the additional new facilities now enjoyed by the Pre-School Group in the Community Centre
On the way to look at he really large pothole in Langham Lane, the effects on flat fields of the recent heavy rain was apparent.
Langham Lane pothole
Runkin's Corner was awash and needed to be navigated with some caution; the ditch was a real joy as you can see. a couple of days later the drain under the road was unblocked. The patch on the pothole will probably life, as a drain runs under the road here also, I am informed.
A walk along Hundred Lane
A walk along Hundred Lane
Squirrels Nook and its array of photovoltaic cells. With 12 units it might be thought this is a record for the village, but the new barn on Grove Hill has 16!
New steps on Footpath 19
Emerging snowdrops alongside High Street
Holly Tree Cottage. This is a listed building that is having newer additions removed and modern extensions added. The work reveals a fascinating mixture of architectural styles and building methods.
Towards Dedham Road along Footpath 15
The top of the hill in Old Mill Road
The new Vehicle Activated Sign in Park Lane. The VAS picks you up outside the limit and flashes its warning
An expanse of clay drying out in the sunshine in the big field inside the square
The entire length of Birchfield Road and School Road had a good deal of attention from the road menders in the last fortnight of the financial year. It is hoped that the job could be finished with a new surface; dare we hope?
Margaret's Cross bathing in sunshine and blossom
A neat row of stumps, on the Dedham Road, has been joined by new hedge planting. On the other side of the road are the fences and paddocks of Langham Hall
Paddocks of Langham Hall
Dedham Road around Martin's Farm
Maintenance on the Dedham Road courtesy of Balfour Beatty
Me clearing a branch blocking FP 18
Newly-sculpted potato furrows leading to Hill Farm
Turned into a watercolour!
Keeper's Cottage
Black Brook at the bottom of Grove Hill
Many machines make light work; in fact 4 graders and a couple of seed drill and a loader all working on the big field in the centre of the square, planting potatoes.
The line-up of firms occupying the business centre in Park Lane

Opening of Community Shop 22 Jan 2011

All ready for the 'off'; with the wine ready and the glasses lined up!
Bernard Jenkin, our local M.P. and his wife Ann, arrive
Representatives of Essex county council and our County Councillor, Ann Brown, chat with Parish Clerk David Winter
The site fencing was still be to fully removed, as there was a job still to do on the car park, making things tight for the ceremony ... not that anybody was unduly perturbed!
Parish Chairman, Elizabeth Schofield, formally opened the shop premises in the Community Centre

Spring

The trees bordering Langham Oak Cottage have been thinned to good effect and give a fine view of the renovated property off Park Lane
The new office complex, also off Park Lane, looks busy with cars
The dangerous trench at the side of the road, as Langham Lane approaches Langham Lane/Moor Road, has been filled by aggregate; a good result. A better result would be an end to the HGV's on minor rural roads that cause this damage in the first place!
The scene when travellers invaded the land due to be their prescribed site, and were confronted by farmer Ian St Clair. Police were in attendance at this time. Eventually a court order was obtained but, bearing the delay over the Bank Holiday season, the invaders had left several days before
A pair of jewels: Moor Cottage nestling in its garden foliage...
...and the stunning Cherry tree cottage in Park Lane
Two distinguished older buildings in Moor road; Munsons, left, and The Old Granary, right
In Chapel Road the Old Chapel was having its roof replaced
A line of gardens in Chapel Lane seen from under the oak in Squirrel's Nook
Potato runnels sculpted in the field next to the Community Centre
Langham Cottage, next to the pub, in morning light
Little Martin's is having an exterior paint job
The sun still shines on Martin's Farm and the weathered boards of its barn alongside Dedham Road...
A bend in the road; looking towards Martin's Farm along Dedham Road
Ferns making a bid for dominance in the meadows along Black Brook on Old Mill Road
The poppies are coming out everywhere
Old Mill House

Boxted Airfield Museum Opening 29 May 2011

Henry Farwell, left, opened the Boxted Airfield Museum. He was a tail-gunner in a B-26 Marauder, similar to the one in the next photo, which joined him on this day. The tail of the Marauder was still intact enough to see the gunner's position, cramped behind some armour plate. The tail section had a number of patched bullet holes
The Boxted Airfield Historical Group had worked long and hard for this day, and the meticulous preparation was evident upon arrival; flags flying, parking organised and everything tidied away!
A suitable addition to air memorabilia was a couple of U.S. Army vehicles, in this case an air-portable truck. The owner, dapper in U.S. uniform, showed pictures of the truck broken down for air movement. The other vehicle was a White Half Track
The Marauder rear-section was brought in on a flat-bed pulled by a tractor! The cramped rear fuselage was evident, as was the thinness of the aluminium, save for the gunner's area, where it was a little more robust. The 'star-and-bars' looks like a 1943 pattern to me
Henry Farwell and Peter Potter, another air gunner from the war, this time in Wellingtons and Lancasters, look into the Marauder fuselage for a photoshoot!
M.P. Bob Russell, raised in nearby Mile End, inspects the display boards
Bob Schofield brings in oldest resident Laura Smerdon, 96, to view the exhibits
The guests and media prepare for the opening ceremony
Henry Farwell pulls the US flag aside to reveal the plaque
A few words from Bob Russell
The veterans confer on times past
The plaque having been unveiled by Henry Farwell a minute earlier

Summer & Autumn

After many good years of service as a Community Shop, the metal cabin was removed from the car park and put on a low-loader ...
... to be taken a few dozen yards to its new resting place, as a store for all the village paraphernalia, especially the kit used for Bonfire Night, and now being hosted by a number of charitable souls about the village
The steel cabin in carefully placed on its new base and, after the shop sign is removed, the job is done!
A new entrance surface has been constructed to improve access to the field in wet weather
A new surface is rolled into the excavated area by Whitnell's in no time ....
Neatly levelled off and awaiting the grass to grow!
The old and the new stores on the west side of the field!
Topsoil awaits spreading, to complete restoration of the access track for the Community Centre building programme
The woodland area of the Hornestreetfield Trust has a variety of plantings now growing into the landscape. A visit on a sunny morning ...
... gives ample opportunities to observe the colour of the season
The pond has been cleared and is a attractive focus of the project ...
and the seating, left, along the mown walkways, is all very civilised!
This tremendous display in Wick road, has been giving pleasure to all for many weeks now
There are fewer field of onions in the village this year. Just south of Park Lane is one of them, behind the business park and crossed by Footpath 33. despite some heavy rains, irrigation is again needed and, in I wistfully wonder if this noble bulb might now find its way onto the village shield?
Pears in various states; here being eaten by a multitude of wasps...
...and here Conference pear ripening nicely
The tree-cutting by Carter's Bus Company, along Langham Lane, Chapel Road, Wick Road and Dedham Road in particular, although necessary to allow double-decker busses passage, did cause some problems. Cuttings, some quite large branches, were left along the verge and some of these made their way into the road. Elsewhere, the cut was not clean, and this left the tree unsightly. In one case, branches from an oak with a Tree Preservation Order were lopped! Although it might have been a job that needed to be done, representations have asked Carter's to remove the fallen foliage
Still displaying its cut branches from the impromptu hedge pruning by the Bus company is the triangle of green at the junction of Moor Road and Park Lane
Wenlock Cottage ob Chapel Road
The meadow along the Black Brook on Old Mill Road, replete with it cricket willow crop!
Shadow and light along Old Mill Road at the entrance to the footpath towards Hill Farm
The footpath at the top of the hill, leading to Hill Farm
Dedham Road in the afternoon...
...with its PO telephone box
Wall and greenery at Whalebone Corner
Approaches to the church: here the avenue from Dedham Road...
...and here the avenue of trees forming part of the Essex Way
St. Mary's Church in the autumn sun
Solar energy - the day photo-voltaic arrived!
The whole thing starts off with the scaffolding arriving and being set up, centre, although our installers (Arran) were already on site. Whilst the electricals are wired in the house (basically a converter and the power cable to get the power output to the main electrical board) the installers spend most of their time ....
... cutting grooves in the tiles and putting in the clips to hold the aluminium frames. Only then are the panels hauled up and attached. The cabling from the panels to the converter comes next, and finally the connection to the mains power box
The Highway Rangers, from Essex county council, respond in hours to remove a broken branch overhanging the junction of Moor Road/Chaplin Road
Work on the Traveller's Site has been rapid, to put it mildly!
A crew from ECC picking up the lopped branches left in Langham Lane. They took at least three trips back to base ... and said the wood was sawn for logs whenever possible!
A fine autumnal morning on the bike, here at Hornestreetfield, with auburn bracken in the foreground...
...and here passing newly refurbished 'Wynel' on Greyhound Hill
The hedge-line from Rectory Road towards Dedham Road
At the end of Rectory Road and its junction with Dedham Road, is The Old Forge
Overlooking Dedham Vale and Docura's Farm
Walnut Tree Cottages on Dedham Road
From Dedham Road, just west of Whalebone Corner, looking over the Dedham Vale
The woodland either side of Old Mill Lane, as it descends to the Black Brook is always attractive, but difficult to photograph ... so one keeps trying!
A section of Old Mill Road that has been closed for a few days and now rid of its sharp potholes!
From the telephone box on Dedham Road is a view across the field
the Community Centre with its Play School addition facing the playing field
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

Winter

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.