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Archive: January/February 2013 EDITORIALS
EDITORIAL: February 24th 2013
For those of our (probably older) readers who scan the Silver Surfer pages, you will know that we recently added an article “A New Year: Anchoring Time” the main thrust of which was of not missing the world as it rushed by. Following up on that idea we thought it might be useful to add on a regular basis, odds and ends of the past fortnight’s news to anchor some of the things going on around us as the year progresses. Almost certainly the biggest news issue of the past fortnight is what has been described as “The Great Horsemeat Scandal”. As a result of the news - which has now been running for over four weeks - that horsemeat has been substituted for beef in cheap end burgers, lasagne and bolognese, a recent survey declares that 31% of the public has stopped eating ready meals because of the scandal, despite the fact that horse meat doesn’t seem to be a threat to health. We should probably also note that in this past fortnight the Pope has announced he is to stand down and Ed Miliband has called for a ‘mansion tax’, two bits of news not of equal importance! But it’s news!
On our own front we have added in the new adition to the square, Annies Sandwich Bar, which further increases the already excellent food provision of Rochford. Somewhat further away from the centre of Rochford - on Purdey's Estate to be precise (the first thing there that we've covered) - we were requested to add on Recognition Express Essex who will engrave or put a name on virtually anything for you - possibly with the exception of a cow, but you'll have to ask them about that! But if you're after badges, signs and any promotional goods for that matter, they are the people to go to!
Moving away from businesses to charities, we had the pleasure of interviewing Will & Esther Taylor, a local couple with a heart to reach out and help anyone who has suffered 'a significant loss', and you'll see our interview with them at LOSS-uk: Loss of Something Special which is really worth a read.
In a completely different direction, we had a request from a local author for help finding information about an historical character in Wakering and so you'll find the interview as Dee Gordon is Researching Wakering. If you know anything about the history of Wakering you might be able to help.
An area of our activities that we realise we don’t often publicise on this page is the ‘Events Page’ which shows things that are happening regularly around the town and events on a slightly wider scale that are one-off or things occurring a limited number of times. In this past fortnight we would draw your attention to Line Dancing Classes that have recently started in Ashingdon, a new running course about to start soon, a breakfast with the UK Executive Director of the International Justice Mission who will be talking about modern-day slavery, a couple of days of training for recognising domestic abuse, a charity quiz evening, and open days at the airport for those interested in getting a close-up of the Vulcan. If you are interested in these and many more things, they are all there on the Events Pages.
So there you are; that was the fortnight that was. Have a good fortnight ahead as we ease into March and start wondering if Spring might be coming. Enjoy.
EDITORIAL: February 10th 2013
Those who follow us will know that your friendly editor hates grey skies so it is with great effort that I overcome the temptation to shout, “It’s sunny, Spring must be coming!” But weather gurus muttering in the background about more snow helps restrain me, but for the record it has been nice to see some sunshine recently even though mostly it has remained cold, if not bitterly cold with a northerly wind. Still, the clock is ticking, the days are passing so, if like me, you endure Winter, the Winter hourglass is emptying out! (I hope!!)
The past fortnight (or less than a fortnight as I was late getting the last editorial in) has had an air or normality. Those people who continue to feed us information, have continued to do so. Essex Wildlife Trust have updated us on nature events around the county, while the Neighbourhood Watch have furnished us with a recent warning from the police about a telephone scam that has been occurring recently.
From the airport comes news of flights that are now starting from Southend to Venice and also of flights to Edinburgh starting in May. What excellent provision on our doorstep! From our vown stables we ahve the February Thought for Month and on the Silver Surfers pages a new article entitled, "Less we Forget."
Meanwhile around town we have added the services of JW Tate & Sons under the title of “Anticipating a Funeral?”. Not something we look forward to, but nevertheless important to think about. Wherever we can, we provide an ‘educational’ element to our pages, hopefully providing you with useful information that is more than simply names, addresses, opening times and contact numbers of shops and businesses, but gives wider information that some at least might find helpful. To that end we have recently called back in on All Terrain Mobility on the Southend Road and under a title of “Keeping Mobile” have provided an article on the different sorts of scooter etc., that are available to keep us moving when we get older or are suffering a disability that limits us getting around.
We are always delighted when Clubs, groups etc., update us on things happening to them and so you’ll find a new page added for the Rochford Running Club, who have now achieved affiliation to ‘England Athletics’ the governing body for sport in England, where we met a group of their ‘Improvers’ and two guys who probably put the rest of us to shame who are ‘Endurance Runners’! Thirty three miles over the hills - and back??? I think the expression is ‘a bridge too far at my age’! At least that’s what I’m telling my wife!
So there we are well into February (incidentally, do you ever visit our ‘Seasonal Pages’? Check out ‘February’ for some more light reading.) Have a good fortnight. Enjoy being Rochford.
EDITORIAL: January 27th 2013
There are times when the ‘rich tapestry of life’ seems to sweep in and leave chaos in its wake. Without going into details this past fortnight has been like that with family things and goodness knows what else pouring out like a deluge that has pushed poor old Rochford Life a bit into the background. For the sake of posterity we record it. In fact so fast has it gone that smart readers will realise that this ‘editorial’ has arrived four days too late! I don’t expect anyone will mind because this page is really only for connoisseurs who want to see the finer workings of RL.
It was possibly the weather as well as the arrival of American friends that helped cause chaos to the normal sedate and ordered life of Rochford Life. The first half of this last fortnight was plagued with minus freezing temperatures again and then in the middle of it, the snow arrived and stayed for a while! It;s only in the latter part of the fortnight have the temperatures risen a bit and the snow left, leaving us with rain and strong winds.
As far as activity on Rochford Life has been concerned we had a great interview with Julie and Maria at what has been JJW Designs but which will be changing in the near future and you can see the article as "So you'd like an Outfit for the Wedding" which is worth a read if you have a wedding coming up.
On the semi-political front we had the privilege of managing to get time with the last of the Council’s Executive to be covered by us, Colin Seagers and so you’ll find that under Getting to know Colin Seagers which again is well worth a read if you want to understand the workings of the Council.
On the news front we have the latest news letter from Neighbourhood Watch and we always encourage our readers to note their contents as part of a general move to prevent crime, so have a look at the Neighbourhood Watch Winter Newsletter which could alert you to bad things going on around you!
On the ‘airport news’ from have you noted the previous piece of news that long term parking is free in January and February and now, for rugby fans wanting to follow England in the six nations, Aer Lingus are providing extra seats for flights for Rugby in Dublin for the game on 10th Feb.
Well there it is for the time being. See you in a little under two weeks time.
EDITORIAL: January 13th 2013
So there we are, two weeks into the New Year! The weather has been mostly grey although there have been some glimpses of sunshine and puffy clouds once or twice. There has been rain but not so much as previously. Daily temperatures have bobbed around 8 to 10 degrees although in the last couple of days that has dropped and felt much colder with wind from the east. The world has carried on and, depending on your interests, it has either been a busy and interesting year so far, or just a tedious, humdrum passing of the first fortnight. But that is life, a mixed bag which varies from individual to individual. (We say this to explain why we resist the temptation to make this editorial a ‘comment on the news’ page. There is so much, we’re bound to miss something you consider important.)
The advent of sunshine has helped stir the editorial spirit to get up and out and so we have added on two long overdue guests, the Four Seasons Garden & Pet Centre on Southend Road at the bottom of Rochford, and W.H.Whitingham & Sons garage at the bottom of West Street. Apologies that it has taken so long to put them on!
Two of our long term guests have been revisited this past week with a resulting article Watch that Watch (Beware Counterfeits) as a result of talking with Ken Masow of Yeo's, and a delightful piece entitled How a Dream Came True from Julie White of JJW Designs. Both of these are pure 'information pieces'.
Another ‘information piece’ for parents of young children, submitted by Tatia Singleton of the Rochford Day Nursery, has been Five Simple Rules for Young Children that we hope will be first of a number of articles from Tatia in the year to come. From our own desk we have added another quiz to our quiz pages, a Sci-Fi / Space Travel Quiz , but be warned, if you are not a sci-fi buff, it’s not for you! For the Silver Surfers among us, we also now have another article, this one focused on the New Year entitled “Anchoring Time”.
As part of our providing ongoing information updates on Southend Airport, note the Free Long Term Airport Parking in Jan/Feb and the easyjet customer survey for the Airport. RDC continues to pump out odds and ends of news which, if it is about Rochforde and Ashingon, we continue to include.
Because we’re in a new month we also now have our January Thought for the Month, providing a spiritual dimension for those who want it, and our January Review:The Knowledge of Rochford, focusing on the wide range of information and knowledge provided by the many people who now appear on Rochford Life. As we have said in that article, if you know people who you think should appear on these pages, please do let us know.
Just a reminder for all newcomers: appearing on Rochford Life is free. All you have to do is let us know you are here! Well that’s it for the time being. Have a good fortnight.
For those of our (probably older) readers who scan the Silver Surfer pages, you will know that we recently added an article “A New Year: Anchoring Time” the main thrust of which was of not missing the world as it rushed by. Following up on that idea we thought it might be useful to add on a regular basis, odds and ends of the past fortnight’s news to anchor some of the things going on around us as the year progresses. Almost certainly the biggest news issue of the past fortnight is what has been described as “The Great Horsemeat Scandal”. As a result of the news -
On our own front we have added in the new adition to the square, Annies Sandwich Bar, which further increases the already excellent food provision of Rochford. Somewhat further away from the centre of Rochford -
In a completely different direction, we had a request from a local author for help finding information about an historical character in Wakering and so you'll find the interview as Dee Gordon is Researching Wakering. If you know anything about the history of Wakering you might be able to help.
An area of our activities that we realise we don’t often publicise on this page is the ‘Events Page’ which shows things that are happening regularly around the town and events on a slightly wider scale that are one-
EDITORIAL: February 10th 2013
Those who follow us will know that your friendly editor hates grey skies so it is with great effort that I overcome the temptation to shout, “It’s sunny, Spring must be coming!” But weather gurus muttering in the background about more snow helps restrain me, but for the record it has been nice to see some sunshine recently even though mostly it has remained cold, if not bitterly cold with a northerly wind. Still, the clock is ticking, the days are passing so, if like me, you endure Winter, the Winter hourglass is emptying out! (I hope!!)
The past fortnight (or less than a fortnight as I was late getting the last editorial in) has had an air or normality. Those people who continue to feed us information, have continued to do so. Essex Wildlife Trust have updated us on nature events around the county, while the Neighbourhood Watch have furnished us with a recent warning from the police about a telephone scam that has been occurring recently.
From the airport comes news of flights that are now starting from Southend to Venice and also of flights to Edinburgh starting in May. What excellent provision on our doorstep! From our vown stables we ahve the February Thought for Month and on the Silver Surfers pages a new article entitled, "Less we Forget."
Meanwhile around town we have added the services of JW Tate & Sons under the title of “Anticipating a Funeral?”. Not something we look forward to, but nevertheless important to think about. Wherever we can, we provide an ‘educational’ element to our pages, hopefully providing you with useful information that is more than simply names, addresses, opening times and contact numbers of shops and businesses, but gives wider information that some at least might find helpful. To that end we have recently called back in on All Terrain Mobility on the Southend Road and under a title of “Keeping Mobile” have provided an article on the different sorts of scooter etc., that are available to keep us moving when we get older or are suffering a disability that limits us getting around.
We are always delighted when Clubs, groups etc., update us on things happening to them and so you’ll find a new page added for the Rochford Running Club, who have now achieved affiliation to ‘England Athletics’ the governing body for sport in England, where we met a group of their ‘Improvers’ and two guys who probably put the rest of us to shame who are ‘Endurance Runners’! Thirty three miles over the hills -
EDITORIAL: January 27th 2013
There are times when the ‘rich tapestry of life’ seems to sweep in and leave chaos in its wake. Without going into details this past fortnight has been like that with family things and goodness knows what else pouring out like a deluge that has pushed poor old Rochford Life a bit into the background. For the sake of posterity we record it. In fact so fast has it gone that smart readers will realise that this ‘editorial’ has arrived four days too late! I don’t expect anyone will mind because this page is really only for connoisseurs who want to see the finer workings of RL.
It was possibly the weather as well as the arrival of American friends that helped cause chaos to the normal sedate and ordered life of Rochford Life. The first half of this last fortnight was plagued with minus freezing temperatures again and then in the middle of it, the snow arrived and stayed for a while! It;s only in the latter part of the fortnight have the temperatures risen a bit and the snow left, leaving us with rain and strong winds.
As far as activity on Rochford Life has been concerned we had a great interview with Julie and Maria at what has been JJW Designs but which will be changing in the near future and you can see the article as "So you'd like an Outfit for the Wedding" which is worth a read if you have a wedding coming up.
On the semi-
On the ‘airport news’ from have you noted the previous piece of news that long term parking is free in January and February and now, for rugby fans wanting to follow England in the six nations, Aer Lingus are providing extra seats for flights for Rugby in Dublin for the game on 10th Feb.
Well there it is for the time being. See you in a little under two weeks time.
EDITORIAL: January 13th 2013
So there we are, two weeks into the New Year! The weather has been mostly grey although there have been some glimpses of sunshine and puffy clouds once or twice. There has been rain but not so much as previously. Daily temperatures have bobbed around 8 to 10 degrees although in the last couple of days that has dropped and felt much colder with wind from the east. The world has carried on and, depending on your interests, it has either been a busy and interesting year so far, or just a tedious, humdrum passing of the first fortnight. But that is life, a mixed bag which varies from individual to individual. (We say this to explain why we resist the temptation to make this editorial a ‘comment on the news’ page. There is so much, we’re bound to miss something you consider important.)
The advent of sunshine has helped stir the editorial spirit to get up and out and so we have added on two long overdue guests, the Four Seasons Garden & Pet Centre on Southend Road at the bottom of Rochford, and W.H.Whitingham & Sons garage at the bottom of West Street. Apologies that it has taken so long to put them on!
Two of our long term guests have been revisited this past week with a resulting article Watch that Watch (Beware Counterfeits) as a result of talking with Ken Masow of Yeo's, and a delightful piece entitled How a Dream Came True from Julie White of JJW Designs. Both of these are pure 'information pieces'.
Another ‘information piece’ for parents of young children, submitted by Tatia Singleton of the Rochford Day Nursery, has been Five Simple Rules for Young Children that we hope will be first of a number of articles from Tatia in the year to come. From our own desk we have added another quiz to our quiz pages, a Sci-
Because we’re in a new month we also now have our January Thought for the Month, providing a spiritual dimension for those who want it, and our January Review:The Knowledge of Rochford, focusing on the wide range of information and knowledge provided by the many people who now appear on Rochford Life. As we have said in that article, if you know people who you think should appear on these pages, please do let us know.
Just a reminder for all newcomers: appearing on Rochford Life is free. All you have to do is let us know you are here! Well that’s it for the time being. Have a good fortnight.