July and August, as well as traditionally being the highlight months of the British Summer ‘Season’, also host some lesser-known occasions. One such, on Thursday 2nd July, is World UFO Day, an awareness day for people watch the skies for unidentified flying objects. The date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the Roswell Incident in 1947, when a UFO supposedly crashed in Roswell, New Mexico.
This year Saturday 4th July marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of America’s Declaration of Independence while, according to legend, rain on St. Swithun’s Day (15th July) harbingers wetter weather to come…
Lammas Day on 1st August celebrates a traditional Christian and NeoPagan festival, marking the first grain harvest of the season. The name originates from the Old English word hlafmaesse ("loaf-mass"), referencing the historical tradition of baking a loaf of bread from newly harvested wheat and bringing it to church to be blessed.
Celestial events over the summer include Full Moons on 29th July and 28th August, the latter coinciding with a partial lunar eclipse. Meteor showers abound: the Delta Aquarids – producing up to 20 meteors per hour – peak on 28th/29th July while the Perseids – when up to 150 meteors per hour, with bright streaks and vibrant fireballs, can be seen in dark-sky conditions –peak overnight on 12th/13th August. There will also be a Partial Solar Eclipse on 12th August, during which the moon will partly obscure the sun.
Monday 31st August marks the last Bank Holiday in England before Christmas but, before then – and assuming it doesn’t rain on July 15th –there are hopefully a couple of months of long, warm summer days still to come: time to enjoy relaxing in the garden or on the beach with books reviewed by the Bookworm (Page 19)
In addition to our other regular articles – Nature Notes (Page 17) and Gardening Corner (Page 18) – this issue also contains: a story about how a Flying Fox was brought back to life (Page 5); changes to local Footpaths’ flora and fauna wrought by the local power-line work (Page7); more details about the Maplestead’s Autumn Show (Page 8); the first in a two-part series of tips about how to maintain Mobile Phone Security (Page 9); a notification of Essex County Council’s Electrifying Essex EV Experience (Page 29) and a caution about certain Vegan Food Labelling (Page 32).
Meanwhile, our feature series – Lost to Time – about local places, people of interest, and other aspects of parish life that have now disappeared, continues with the story of Spinning and Straw Plaiting (Page 11), highlighting the disappearance of crafts that were important earning streams for women and children and once helped financially support local rural families.
We would love to hear about other crafts, people or buildings that have been similarly Lost to Time: please e-mail any information, articles or pictures to the Editorial address (Page 31).
Cover Picture: The Gathering Storm by Ann Crisp
Letter from the Reverend Beverley Vincent
This is my penultimate letter before I retire from my post as Vicar of these four parishes. It is a time of mixed emotions. While I am looking forward to slowing down, having more time for family and friends, and embracing new opportunities, I am also sad to be leaving you. Barry and I were made so welcome when we arrived, and we have been greatly blessed during our time among you. We would like to thank you for your kindness, support, and friendship over the years.
Inevitably, I have been reflecting on my ministry here. I have experienced the joy of seeing faith grow in so many people and in so many different ways. It has been a privilege to celebrate marriages, baptise both adults and infants and share in some of life’s happiest moments. I have also known the sadness, yet great privilege, of officiating at the funerals of much-loved members of our communities. I felt called by God to minister here, and I pray that He has used me to make His presence known among you.
As you navigate the vacancy ahead, I will continue to hold you in my prayers. I am grateful to my clergy colleagues in the Halstead Team who will be covering church services during this period. There will be some changes, either to time or place, so please do check. There will be a service of Holy Communion each week in at least one of the churches, and I also thank those lay leaders who will be continuing to provide services. I encourage you to support each church by attending services across the group, continuing to strengthen the fellowship that exists between our parishes.
I am looking forward to my final service which is at 11.00am on Sunday 30th August, this will be a Halstead Area Team Service and will be followed by a bring and share lunch in the Village Hall; please join us to say farewell and bring a plate of food to share!
Thank you for allowing me to be part of your journey, whether that has been a journey of faith or just life events. May God bless you all.
Rev’d Beverley.
Church Services and Events in July (August dates are on Page 34)
Sunday 5th 9.30am 9.30am 11.00am
Sunday 12th 9.30am 10.30am 11.00am
Morning Prayer
Holy Communion Holy Communion Gestingthorpe Great Maplestead Little Maplestead
Holy Communion Café Church Holy Communion Pebmarsh Great Maplestead Gestingthorpe
My Jowett Flying Fox was made in Bradford in 1934. One of only 187 ever built, it is an open-top tourer with metal bodywork over an ash wood frame, powered by a 907cc side-valve, horizontally opposed flat-twin water-cooled engine. It has a 2+2 seating layout, with a "dickey seat" – a bench seat for two extra people when required – in the lift-up boot lid.
I acquired it some 60 years ago – it worked for very short time before it was deposited in various barns on the farm. Over time it suffered somewhat: the windscreen, lights and radiator were broken and the temperature gauge went missing.
Several children – now all grown up –have admitted to playing on the car when they were younger and the bodywork suffered over the years –mechanically however, it was still very sound. The car was displayed in its dilapidated condition on a flatbed trailer at a show held on Great Maplestead’s playing field in the summer of 2015.
There are fewer than half a dozen Flying Foxes currently in existence, so eventually Ian Johnson and I decided to undertake the renovation of mine while I was still able to do the work on it.
We winched the car into the barn where we were going to do the work in December 2022, little knowing how long the project would take. Having stripped the car down as much as possible, we visited the Industrial Museum in Bradford, where several Jowett cars are on display but not a Flying Fox.
During the restoration process we discovered that there are a lot of amazing companies able still to supply the various parts and sundries that we needed. We also found people with the craft skills that were essential; for example, a very talented chap near Ridgewell re-did all the upholstery and made and fitted a new fabric roof.
Ian and I did the majority of the mechanical work ourselves, with Ian doing all the body preparation, rubbing down of the paintwork and repainting the car in its original green and black.
The renovation has been a labour of love for us over the last four years, gradually converting the car from a neglected, rusty and immobile heap into a well-presented, roadworthy and extremely rare vehicle, worthy of its historic Jowett heritage.
Joe Newton
Perambulating on Parish Footpaths
Since the last Plodder article, back in February, we’ve seen winter become spring and the passing of lambing time. Summer is now upon us but the longer days will be short-lived – the nature of the passing year.
The footpaths are alive with new growth and wildlife, both flora and fauna. Some of the flora is limited to the usual, but very necessary, arable crops but, if you’ve travelled through the north of Pebmarsh during May, you’ll have noticed something very different.
The haul road being constructed to support the Bramford to Twinstead powerline reinforcement cuts across many of the fields to the north of the village, resulting in a marked change to how those fields will be farmed for the next few years. Gone are many of the lush, green cereal crops of uniform height which turn gold (or bright yellow) to signal their readiness for harvest. In their place is a mixed “crop” of startling palette; vivid purple accented with deep, deep red.
The purple is provided by a plant called Phacelia tanacetifolia (isn’t Google lens a wonderful thing?) which has a number of common names, my favourite being Fiddleneck. The deep red is probably only visible when walking a path alongside the crop and is provided by Trifolium (there’s a clue…) pratense or Red Clover. Up close it has flowers similar to a red hot poker and an unmistakable clover leaf.
Both plants are used as ground cover to suppress pernicious weeds and will (as I understand) be ploughed in as a green manure to enrich the soil. In addition to ground cover, they also support a wide insect population and were perfect cover for the pair of Roe deer bucks that gave me a fright as they burst free!
These plants are wilting now to reveal a smattering of tenacious red poppies and the inevitable yellow oil seed. However, they’ll be back again next year and every subsequent year until the haul road is removed and normal agricultural practice returns.
The longer days bring higher temperatures; please be sensible when walking your dogs. Early morning and late evening are clearly best and it helps to know where the streams and ponds are for a quick canine cool down. As ever… get out, enjoy the paths and remember to clean up after your dog.
The Pebmarsh Path Plodder
Things to do during the Summer…
Protecting Mobile Phones and Data (Part 1)
Mobile phones are often stolen not just for the device itself but also to get access to bank accounts and personal data.
Keeping the phone and its data safe:
• Avoid leaving the phone unattended, out of sight, or on a table, from where it can be grabbed in seconds as part of a distraction theft.
• Beware of who’s around when using the phone in public – ‘shouldersurfing’ (looking over one’s shoulder) can be used to watch or film passcodes being entered or data being displayed.
• Avoid entering personal information in a public space – wherever possible use biometric authentication, such as Fingerprint or Face ID, rather than passcodes for access to the phone and any sensitive apps.
• Never give the phone to people you don’t know or have only just met. Don’t let them borrow the phone or offer to enter their number.
• Put the phone away after finishing using it.
Securing the phone in case it's stolen:
If the phone is not well protected and is stolen or lost, access to any banking apps and personal accounts could be compromised, leading to identity theft. Consider whether apps with sensitive personal and banking information need to be on the phone at all – some may be better kept on a tablet or other device that isn’t routinely carried in public.
Using the phone’s locking feature:
Choose a strong PIN, passcode, password, or pattern – even better, use biometric authentication such as Face ID or Fingerprint. Passwords are harder to 'shoulder-surf' than short PIN codes. Set the auto-lock to activate itself after a short period of time.
Activating the phone's built-in anti-theft features:
For iPhones, use 'Stolen Device Protection’ to prevent the phone's key security settings being changed if it's stolen. Hide applications such as banking applications in hidden folders by:
• pressing and holding on the app
• pressing ‘Require Face ID’
• pressing ‘Hide and Require Face ID’
Android phones have a ‘Theft Detection Lock’ that activates the phone’s motion sensor feature; this will automatically lock it if it detects any unusual movement, for example, if it is snatched.
Applications can also be hidden in secure or safe folders, allowing the folders to be locked with a different passcode to the phone itself. Further guidance on how to do this can be found on the phone manufacturer’s help pages.
Knowing the IMEI number
The phone's IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number can be used to identify the phone if it is lost or stolen. The IMEI number can be found by typing *#06# on the phone’s keypad – keep a note of it safely and somewhere separate to the phone.
(To be continued…)
Lost to Time – Spinning and Straw Plaiting
Two of the numerically largest ‘paid activities’ to have completely disappeared from our benefice, are spinning and straw plaiting.
Spinning was locally so important that, in the early eighteenth century, ‘women and children found it at least as remunerative – and far more pleasant – than any farm work.’ An estimated 25,000 spinners were required to supply Essex’s weavers, the great majority living in the villages around Halstead, Braintree and Colchester.
With the decline of ‘cottage spinning’ from the mid-eighteenth century, due to a reduction in local weaving followed by mechanisation, a vacuum was created in the budgets of many farm working families – at a time of increasing rural impoverishment. In an attempt to alleviate this situation, the Marquis of Buckingham, who lived at Gosfield Hall, introduced ‘Straw Plaiting’ to the locality in about 1790. Wheat straw was split into narrow strands using a sharply honed splicer, before being ‘plaited’ together into bands, which were sent to Luton to be made into straw boaters and bonnets.
For some eight decades, straw plaiting was to be a fiscal lifeline to the residents of our villages, where women, unmarried daughters and children could do the work at home. In the 1871 census, Gestingthorpe recorded 112 ‘straw plaiters’, (out of a population of 766), Great Maplestead 37 and Little Maplestead 15 (with Pebmarsh presumably being similarly represented).
Many would have been farmworkers wives, who snatched a few hours ‘plaiting’ between other domestic chores. As seen in the painting, wheat straw was usually brought into the house and the work conducted around the table.
So vital was the income from straw plaiting, that early School Log Books often contain frustrated entries from the teachers about the children bringing ‘straw plait work into school’. Before education became compulsory, there were even ‘Straw Plaiters Schools’, where the craft was taught (together with a little reading and writing). One was delightfully depicted at Belchamp Walter by artist George Washington Brownlow.
Unfortunately, between 1879-1881 the straw plaiting industry collapsed, due to mechanisation and cheaper imports of an improved plait reaching England. In a few short years this crucial activity, which had brought so much valuable extra income to local families, all but died out.
Acknowledgments: ‘Prosperity and Poverty, Rural Essex 1700-1815’ and ‘Meagre Harvest’: both by Arthur Brown. ‘A History of Little Yeldham’: by Adrian Corder-Birch Little Maplestead: by Patricia Fletcher and my own work: ‘Our Mother Earth.’ Ashley Cooper
Nature Notes from a Cottage Garden
The Red Legged Partridges are back! For the past few years, in May, a pair of these attractive little birds have visited the garden. They are seen strutting around, apparently inspecting the premises and three times recently they have chosen our garden as a safe space in which to lay their eggs and ultimately hatch their brood. So a few weeks ago I was delighted when I saw the male (identified by his leg-spurs) once again making his first tour of inspection. I am very fond of him.
There is something military about him, he has impeccable deportment and marches about the garden as though he owns it. He returned several times, sometimes accompanied by the female but this year alas! we have not come up to scratch! They have chosen to nest just the other side of our fence in the field set-aside and I have to admit I feel quite snubbed. I can hear their strange, hoarse, panting calls whenever danger (usually in the form of the neighbour’s cat) approaches.
The female will lay one egg daily over a two week period in a roughlyscraped shallow piece of stony ground. When all 14-15 eggs are laid the male will start to incubate them. Meanwhile the female creates a second shallow nest and lays another clutch of eggs which she incubates herself. This is known as ‘double clutching’. After hatching, the chicks will all be moved to a different location. I will never forget the sight of one of the adult partridges leaving my garden followed by all fifteen chicks in a line, like a schoolchildren’s crocodile.
Partridges are not the only welcome visitors to my garden. Over the years several plants have appeared as if by magic. The first is Centaurea montana (Mountain Cornflower), which has made its home in the herb garden and it looks so pretty in amongst the sage and the rosemary. Originally wild and from the southerly European mountain ranges and meadows, it has become established in British gardens and readily escapes. Hence its welcome arrival in my garden. Its petals are intensely blue, and its purple-pink interior is in glorious contrast. It is pollen and nectar-rich and attracts bees and other pollinators.
A second arrival is Symphytum (Comfrey), a bushy plant with drooping cream flowers also beloved by bees. Comfrey is very useful: its leaves can be left to infuse in a bucket of water for some weeks. This results an excellent liquid fertiliser (that needs to be diluted), which is rich in potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus. This is referred to, euphemistically, as Comfrey tea, however don’t be misled and be sure your bucket is covered – it smells absolutely terrible!
Patricia Fletcher
Gardening Corner
Midsummer has been and gone, yet again; despite the really hot temperatures, I have visited some really well laid out and imaginative Open Gardens. It's surprising the number of small towns and villages where enthusiastic gardeners open their gates to let the public view the hard work and time they have devoted to design and colour schemes.
A shrub that stands out against a green backdrop is the black elder, Sambucus nigra, with its pink flower heads; it makes a good focal point in the summer months.
Ensure greenhouses and cold frames are well ventilated – a good idea is to throw some water on the floor to cool the atmosphere on a really scorching day; this will also help with humidity. Continue to take the side shoots out of upright tomatoes but leave the smaller bush tomato plants as they are: they tend to have a tumbling habit and are ideally grown in a hanging basket.
If you have a garden pond, remove any blanket weed as soon as possible – it can create a thick covering over other water plants, especially lilies.
Continue to take the dead heads off roses, dahlias and lupins. Also, remove the seed pods from peonies; this will encourage further flowering and the plant will not be putting its strength into making seed. Cut back any overgrown shrubs, for instance Photinia or laurel, trim to shape and put the debris in the green bin.
Late summer is a good time to save seed from annual poppies such as Nigella and Eschscholzia, if you have them in your garden. Keep the seed in a brown paper bag until next spring.
It's not too late to put in a late sowing of French beans, lettuce, radish and spring onions while the light levels are still fairly high. Main crop potatoes can be dug in August, if the haulm has died back; the rain we had in early June should help with crop yields.
My final tip for mid-summer gardening is to sit in the shade, even if it's only for five minutes, and think about what you have achieved and plan for the autumn season ahead.
September will soon be here…
The Arborist
Book Reviews
A choice of either historical fiction or a futuristic love story this month, providing some more interesting and enjoyable reading over the summer.
A RESPECTABLE TRADE : Philippa Gregory
Set in 18th C Bristol, this novel offers a painful glimpse into the flourishing slave trade of the era, which enabled a number of England’s enterprising merchants – and the nation at large – to amass fortunes on the back of unimaginable human suffering.
Seen through the eyes of three main characters — Frances Scott, a spinster who marries beneath her rank because of penury and finds herself caught between two alien worlds; her husband Josiah Cole, an ambitious, morally ambivalent merchant, who is determined to succeed no matter what the cost; and Mehuru, an African priest who is kidnapped and brought to England in chains this is a story of class and avarice dependent on the trade in human life.
While Josiah puts everything on the line for the sake of advancement in a society that despises his kind, Frances plunges into a fantastical and ultimately destructive love affair with Mehuru, illuminating the devastation that slavery wrought upon Africa. Threaded throughout the novel is the character of England itself satiated on the so-called respectable trade it has perpetuated, violently divided over the torment it has caused, and poised on the edge of irrevocable change.
Source: CW Gortner for The Historical Novels Society
ATMOSPHERE – A LOVE STORY : Taylor Jenkins Read
Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, she is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University until she sees an advert seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan has a burning desire to be one of the few people chosen to go to space.
Selected from a applicants pool of thousands in the summer of 1980, Joan trains alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easy-going; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is working through her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the mysterious engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.
The new astronauts become unlikely friends and, while preparing for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined and begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe. Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant… Source: Laurie/Goodreads
Fun for all the Family…
Gestingthorpe Goings-on
Gestingthorpe Village Hall Coffee Morning & Book Exchange
Fortnightly on Fridays from 10.00am to 12 noon
Join friends and neighbours in the Village Hall for tea, coffee, cake and a chat. All cakes are homemade and served by our fabulous team of volunteers. Tea or coffee and cake £3.00 – pay by card or cash.
Bring a book to swap or buy a book for £1. Our bookcase is located next to the big window in the small hall. There is a large range of books and genres to choose from.
The next Coffee Mornings and Book Exchange will be on 3rd, 17th & 31st July and 14th & 28th August
All funds raised go towards running and maintaining the Village Hall.
FRIDAY 2nd OCTOBER AT 7.00pm
Gestingthorpe Village Hall
More details in the September Parish News
Gestingthorpe Village Hall – Management Committee Notice
Following the Village Hall AGM held on Wednesday 3rd June, the members of the Management Committee are as follows:
Elected members: Nic Smith, Roger Goldsmith, Myra Quick, Geoff Quick. Penny Bagby and Steve Bagby
Representative members: Dawn Green (Parish Council), Peter Nice (Parochial Church Council) and Andy Craig (History Group).
At the Management Committee meeting following the AGM, Dawn Green was re-elected as Chairman & Roger Goldsmith as Vice Chairman. Nic Smith and Penny Bagby were re-appointed as Secretary and Treasurer respectively.
Thank you to the members of the public who attended the AGM.
The date of the next AGM is 2nd June 2027.
Forthcoming Local Events
Hedingham Heritage Society
Our events during the summer months have interesting historical themes: a talk in July on St Stephen’s Chapel in Bures is followed by a walk and visit there in August and then a talk on ancient trees that grace our woodlands in September:
Thursday 2nd July: ‘The De Veres and Bures Chapel’. On the hillside opposite the famous Bures Dragon just outside Bures, lies St. Stephen’s Chapel. Built on the spot where King Edmund is believed to have been crowned, it also houses the tombs of the three Earls of Oxford. The story of how they came to be here is the subject of this talk by local historian, Jan Cole.
7.30pm – Castle Hedingham Memorial Hall
Sunday 9th August: ‘A Summer Walk in Bures’. This is a guided walk of up to 4 miles around Bures that includes a visit to St Stephen’s Chapel and a sighting of the Bures Dragon. The walk is expected to finish around 1.00pm
Meet at 10.30am – Bures Community Centre Car Park, Nayland Road CO8 5BX
Thursday 3rd September: ‘Trees That Grace Our Woodlands’. A conservationist by profession, Chris Gibson is and an ecologist by training whose enthusiasm for the natural world has been lifelong. He has many project successes to his credit, including the expansion of the Abberton Reservoir. We are delighted to welcome him back for his talk on the trees that grace our local woodlands.
7.30pm – Castle Hedingham Memorial Hall
Do join our local and natural history society. Annual membership for 2026 remains at £15.
Members come free to all walks and talks Non-Members - £5. Everybody is Welcome.
E-mail: hedinghamheritage@gmail.com or visit www.hedinghamheritage.org.uk
And coming up in October…
Electrifying Essex’s EV Experience
Essex County Council is hosting its first electric vehicle (EV) experience event on Saturday 18th July at Colchester Park and Ride.
This event is intended to allow people who may be thinking about acquiring an electric vehicle, or who are not yet sure whether going electric is the right choice for them, to come along and try out a wide range of current electric vehicles, all in one place.
The event opens at 10.00am and runs through until 3.00pm. People can arrive at any time and stay as long as they like to test drive and look around all the latest EVs and even try out e-bikes on a test track.
It also provides an opportunity to meet local EV owners and chat with them about costs and charging, ask experts and dealers questions about their EVs and find out more about local EV pay-as-you-go car clubs.
Parking on the Park and Ride site will cost visitors arriving by car £3 or, alternatively, they can take the Park and Ride bus from the town centre.
The EV brands being represented – Chery, BYD, Geely, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Toyota, KIA, BMW, Mini, Renault, Alpine, Ford and Honda – will have cars available for test drives and there will be static vehicles on display to look around and appraise for suitability..
Anyone unsure about whether they want an EV, or what might be the best one for them, will be able to try out all the available options by driving a number of diffent makes and models back-to-back during this event.
To book tickets and find directions to the venue, go to Colchester Park and Ride (A12 J28) Colchester, England
Parish News Information
Advertising/Announcements/Articles
The 2026 Parish News Business Advertising Rates for the year (10 issues, pro-rated as applicable) and for monthly single-issue advertisements and event announcements are shown below, along with the Copy/Artwork Deadline dates for the next four issues of Parish News:
Contacts:
Advertising
Articles
Please submit these by e-mail, as a Word document attachment with separate jpeg/png images:
½ page: 150-160 words + images
Full page: 400-420 words + images
Ann Harris ann66harris@gmail.com
Editorial Parish News Team parishnewsmaplestead@gmail.com
The Parish Representatives, to whom articles and event announcement submissions should be sent, are listed on the Inside Front Cover
Vegan Food Labelling and Allergens
Vegan food products are becoming increasingly popular and consumers are choosing them for ethical, environmental or health reasons. However, it is important to understand what vegan really means when it comes to food labels and allergens.
It is important to note that, in the UK, there is no legal definition of vegan in food law. Vegan claims, stamps or logos are often based on voluntary standards or marketing decisions by the businesses involved. While these may indicate that no animal-derived ingredients are used intentionally, they do not guarantee that a product is free from allergens.
For consumers with food allergies or intolerances this is especially important. Vegan products may still contain allergens, such as traces of milk or egg, when they are made in environments where crosscontamination can occur. Always check the full ingredients list and allergen information, even if a product is labelled or marketed as vegan.
Trading Standards encourages consumers not to rely solely on vegan branding when making purchasing decisions related to allergies. Clear, accurate allergen labelling is essential for safety.
If you are concerned about a food product, its labelling, or think a product may be misleading, please contact Citizens Advice. You can do this by calling their consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 or by contacting them via their website. The information you provide will be shared with Trading Standards to help protect consumers.
