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Review Article of the Month - September 2012
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Extending the Boundaries

Last month in the August Review we scanned over the reviews of the last year, trying to give an overview of this community in which we live. This month we need to report on a major editorial  policy change that has gradually been taking place so that, for events at least and then for days out, we have been extending our boundaries to cover events further afield in Rochford District and then places in South East Essex.

When we started out with Rochford Life, simply to cope with the task that was before us, we were very strict in covering people, businesses etc. etc. that were within the boundaries of the mini-conurbation that makes up Rochford, Ashingdon and East Hawkwell.  We broke that rule when we included new items from the Council that advertised events in Rayleigh, such as at the Windmill, on the basis that they might be of interest to people in Rochford.     
When we started including including regular information from Neighbourhood Watch and the Essex Wildlife Trust, we did it on the grounds of general interest and things for which we would like to encourage interest within the community. But then we were asked to include an event just outside that boundary above, and from there the dam was broken and we have subsequently carried a number of advertisements for events in the wider area of Rochford District that we considered people here might like to know about and then go to.  Thus we created our ‘Events Pages’ which are regularly updated to include anything anyone in the District asks us to include.

But then there was something else that was having an influence on us. Having included pages on the Essex Wildlife Trust we found, either on their regular Newsletter or in interviews with Grant Maton, references made first of all to the opening of a brand new Visitor Centre up at Abberton Reservoir, south east of Colchester. Happening to be in that area, it seemed sensible to drop in and look at it and report back on our pages. A little while later the same thing happened in respect of the Thameside Nature Park at Thurrock and so we included that. Some time back we carried an article about the Cherry Orchard Country Park and had been meaning to do a visit and carry an article on it. The summer holidays provided such an opportunity and we have now covered  it in an article, “A Walk on the Wildside”. Having thus covered three ‘nature projects' we reasoned, why not cover one of the EWT’s Visitor Centres nearer to home, one that had been established some time, and so took the opportunities of the summer holidays - again - to visit Hanningfield Reservoir and cover it in an article here.

While we were in that area, it was suggested to us that there were two other places in that vicinity of the county that might merit our attention, especially as they were places that would appeal to families, and thus we have also now included articles on Tropical Wings Zoo up at South Woodham Ferrers, and the Barleylands Farm Park and Craft Village just down from the A129 between Wickford and Billericay.

We hope you will find these pages interesting and helpful. We still keep to the boundaries set as far as shops, businesses, clubs, groups and organisations are concerned, but if there events in the wider  area of Rochford District, we’re very happy to advertise them for you and if there are places of interest out there in South East Essex, you think would be useful for us to cover, please let us know. These things covered on this page are all events or places that we think people in Rochford might like to know about and visit. We hop;e we were right. Enjoy.