LANGHAM 

Langham Essex Village Sign

2014 ARCHIVE

Winter

The sluice at Boxted Mill is being rebuilt, and it appears to be quite an undertaking.
A lorry has slipped off Langham Lane. the verge was incredibly slick as led immediately to a shallow ditch.
Runkin's Corner under water, a result of culverts being blocked yet again!
The rains have rally come now! Water is flooding off the properties in Langham Lane, unable to get away due to blocked ditches and pipes.
The surging River Stour just off Stratford High Street (but in Langham!)
The flooded bottom lands of Langham. In the centre should be the Stour Valley Path; in the distance, Higham!
The Stour in full flow
The footpath to Langham Church under about 2 feet of water!
Hundred Lane falls victim to the wet weather, flooding quite near its junction with Chaplin Road. Water has been coming off the field these last several years.
Whilst pulled over and stationary, waiting for the bus to pass on the other side, a brand-new concrete mixer slid into the drainage ditch as the road surface collapsed.
The vehicle, reported costing some £200,000, was then unloaded of its shingle load and eventually recovered. I understand the chassis was twisted and so was a write-off
The road has been narrowed by the collapse, and the drain has been largely blocked by the material that slid into it. Traffic lights were put in place.
Drainage woes at Runkin's Corner and Langham Lane.
Potholes at the bottom of Greyhound Hill.
Black Brook just upstream of Old Mill Road
Looking back to Old Mill Road
A clear-water brook gushing out of Water Lane!
Underneath the placid surface of the lake at the bottom of Grove Hill ... lies potholes!
After several years trying, a new sign has been made and installed at the junction of Old Mill Road and Chapel Road.
Spring blossom is starting to line the fields, as seen from Hundred Lane
The far end of the churchyard has been cleared of invading vegetation ...
... and this means some new views of the church have been opened up.
Junction of Water Lane and Docuras Farm Road, very wet and potholed!
The waterworks
Low Lift Cottages from across the fields
Runners on the 20 mile race, passing the potholes at the junction of New Road and Docuras Farm Road
Run control point, with runners passing down New Road. The pair might have noticed that they are parked on a roadside nature reserve, and that the post against which they have placed their table has a small plaque on it informing people of this!
Running past further potholes on Greyhound Hill
Black Brook running quite clear
A meeting with the 'Beast of Boxted'. This pothole, that has caused Cage Lane to be closed for some time, is only now showing itself, after being submerged for several weeks. It is 8-10" deep and has sharp edges. There are grooves where vehicles' suspensions have grounded next to the edge; it is about 6 metres long.
We do have reminders of the 20-mile race (not the much larger half-marathon), even on a footpath, as at Park Lane. time for a word with the organisers?
Work has begun on the bus stop raised pavements, here outside the Community Centre and its bus shelter. A good deal of soil is being removed.
Work gets a little further on outside The Shepherd, where the large kerbstones have just been placed.
Rapid progress at Runkin's Corner, in that ECC have contractors piping the ditch alongside Langham Lane (the same ones that ditched the other side of the road) and the carriageway will be re-instated, but with considerable building up to get ride of the adverse camber.
The raised kerb at the Chapel Road/Moor Road junction involved a large excavation, but this is now complete after tarmac has been added.
The potholes go on, as does the problem of the land opposite the Primary School, abused by thoughtless parking, even when the grass surface was as slick as ice!
The raised kerb at the Community Centre Stop and also at St. Margaret's Cross are now complete, with the asphalt added and rolled.
Final touches ... and the lady waiting for the bus will have a better place next time!
The monthly coffee morning, this week hosted by the Bridge Club, was joined by horse and rider for a minute or two!
Job done in Moor Road. What to call our official stops? I think that 'St. Margaret's Cross', Community Centre' and 'Shepherd' all write themselves, but of the above might it be a call between 'The Fox' and 'Chapel Road'?
The job has been concluded, all too quickly with the ultimate in vulgarity ... the yellow bus markings! In the case of The Fox stop the length is suitable for a 'bendy-bus', but we may hope that the road will be re-surfaced in the near future!
Meanwhile, although things look unchanged in High Street
A new entrance is cut
There is still some unfinished business in Langham, pothole-wise ...

Spring - Summer
A bank of spring flowers on the Dedham Road
The aftermath of weeks of flooding in Cage Lane ... a squelchy and small mess!
Again in Cage Lane is the massive pot-hole that still needs filling in. Now largely dry, the marks of scraped transmission casings can be seen by its side!
The green triangle at the junction of Old Mill Road and Dedham Road
Horse Chestnut flowers
Piled logs from the footpath below Church Farm
St. Mary's interior
A chart inside the church displaying attendances over the past years
Church Farm, looking out over the Dedham Vale
Langham Hall across its tennis courts from the drive leading to the church
Priory Cottage cutting a new driveway down to bridleway leading to the bottom of Grove Hill
The Primary chool
Looking over the fields on Docuras Road towards Little Hall on the skyline.
The steep rise up from Old Mill Lane ... by this time walking, not cycling!
Newly-felled softwood timber has made a clearing at Hill Farm, as seen from the footpath from Old Mill Road
A constant companion in the garden through the summer was this blackbird ... together with a robin
The war zone that is Water Lane! Deep potholes have been excavated by tractors, most likely, as lesser vehicles would have grounded
Workers are mending nearby Docuras Road and New Road (to Low Lift Cottages)
Through our recent rains the lane has been a veritable river, removing sub-base from the potholes and gouging more holes
A well-kept and really-useful English garden fronts Mount Pleasant on Greyhound Hill
As I cycled up to the church for the licensing service, I noticed the telephone kiosk, bought by the Parish Council, and kept clean and enhanced by plants by the good people opposite, had its undercoat of pink on display. I could not but think this was some kind of auspicious omen!
A huge congregation turned out for the licensing of the Rev Dr Mandy Elmes on 29th July 2014. As the coach from West Bergholt could not turn into the drive, its passengers walked down the tree-lined avenue on a perfect summer's evening ... and added to the spectacle of the occasion
Jerry the cat is largely unmoved by thelicensing service, but did enjoy the attention!
The new Rector, her Bishop, and her parishioners gather for the licensing
The Rev. Dr. Mandy Elmes, seen here with the Bishop of Chelmsford, who licensed her ... and the Archdeacon of Colchester installed her ... as the Priest-in-charge of Langham-with-Boxted, Great Horkesley and West Bergholt
The road being patched by our resident mending gang in Moor Road, demonstrating the quality of a good patch. (I know they read this!)
A really thorough job being done to remedy the long-standing road and drainage problems in Greyhound Hill
More fun and games in Moor Road ... and others ... as the electricity people replace some of the telegraph poles
The damage to the pole by its forceful removal, shows how well it was embedded!

Autumn

A small celebration was held at the home of Elizabeth Schofield to celebrate 25 years of hosting a peripatetic podiatry service run by Sue Bamber .. who produced a rather lovely cake for the occasion!
The patients await their cake!
A number of smart new banners have been produced, and placed at entrances to the village, to advertise the annual Bonfire Night
The leaves are turning, and falling (in Langham Lane) and hedges are being cut
The high hedges of Langham are a distinctive local feature and are being considered as a Heritage item
Autumn rains bring puddles, but this one, in School Lane outside Whitnell's, is really overdue for sorting
A plethora of signs on the A12 at Birchwood
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The Shepherd at Blackmith's Corner.
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.