colchester places and spaces

Open Studios at Cuckoo Farm

2007-09-12T12:20:00.000+01:00

Cuckoo Farm Studios are again holding their September open weekends, when you can visit individual artists and craftspeople in their studios. For information on opening times for each artist's studio, download a copy of the brochure.

More on Jumbo

2007-09-12T11:59:00.000+01:00

Some of those who object to the new plans for Jumbo are unhappy with the proposed enclosure of the open spaces under the tank. However, the developers have recently stated that: "Great care has been taken that the visual translucency is retained in the top part of the arch. The public will have access to the ground floor cafe and the proposed restaurant at the top of the main arch". Also, the developers are keen to see the area around the Mercury Theatre "revived with well-designed grounds around Jumbo, open for the public to enjoy Colchester's remarkable landmark".

New Town tour, Sunday 2 September, 2pm

2007-08-31T10:43:00.001+01:00

This coming Sunday's architectural tour goes to New Town. It will be looking at the origins of this Victorian suburb, Paxman's engineering works, the Co-op store, the first Kendall school and lots more. Tours start at the Almshouses in Winnock Road at 2pm; tickets are £4.00 for adults, £3.00 for children; and booking in advance is advised. Contact the Visitor Information Centre, 1 Queen Street, Colchester. 01206 282920.

Deflection at firstsite:newsite

2007-08-30T21:30:00.000+01:00

Some weeks ago, a letter published by the Essex County Standard darkly suggested that certain problems were being experienced with the the construction of the firstsite:newsite building, and challenged the council to come clean on the matter. Well, would you believe it, they have. According to a recent council press release, "a deflection in the line of canopy over the entrance way" has been picked up and "and further work will be need to be carried out to correct it" delaying the project by "a matter of a few weeks". No worries, then.

New plans for Jumbo revealed

2007-08-21T09:45:00.000+01:00

A new scheme for Colchester's Jumbo, a disused water tower, was announced last week. The proposals include flats, a restaurant and a café. The proposed restaurant will be situated at the top of the main arch, affording good views over Colchester. A planning application is expected to be submitted soon. Read more here.

Heritage Open Days 8 & 9 September

2007-08-20T10:04:00.001+01:00

Here's a chance to explore some significant Colchester properties which are not normally open or accessible to the public, free-of-charge (including the castle on Saturday 8th only). There will also be history alive performances outside the castle and, on Saturday, a vintage bus will link the town centre to the Heritage Fun Day happening down at the Hythe (see post below). A list of the properties open will be available at any of Colchester's museums, and on the colchestermuseums.org.uk website (but nothing's there at the time of posting).The event is sponsored by the Colchester branch of architects Purcell Miller Tritton. Read more from the council's press office here.

Vineyard Gate public consultation process starts

2007-08-17T12:07:00.000+01:00

With a planning application for the Vineyard Gate area development to be submitted by the end of this year, the developer – Vineyard Gate Developments (VGD) – has begun its public consultation process with local residents and businesses. A website dedicated to the project is now live, and an exhibition about the scheme will be held in St James' House, Queen Street (the former Shoeworld shop) from Saturday 1 September for two weeks. According to Colchester Council Vineyard Gate "will be a contemporary shopping scheme that will be fully integrated with the town centre. It will include over 65 new retail outlets over four levels (including a major department store), a variety of places to eat and drink, a new bus station, additional parking spaces and residential accommodation... Views to St Botolph’s Church and the Abbeygate will also be created from within the development, emphasising the scheme’s unique identity and strong local character. Furthermore, the development will create a new gateway to the town centre by improving links with southern parts of Colchester including the Garrison site. VGD has launched architectural competitions for three key parts of the new development. The winning entries will help to create an interesting and varied townscape that will be unique and relevant to Colchester. A total of 10 of the UK’s top design practices – some of which have worked on some of the country’s most successful developments, including Birmingham’s Bullring and the newly-refurbished St Pancras Station in London - have been invited to take part in the three competitions. Colchester people will get a chance to see and comment on the entries as part of September’s public exhibition." Lead architects for the project are Colchester's own Stanley Bragg. Read more here about how the consultation process will work.

Art and heritage of the Hythe

2007-08-03T14:52:00.000+01:00

According to Colchester's Courier magazine, a group of artists have been working with the community to create an art trail for the Hythe area. Here's some text from the magazine (which can be viewed as a pdf online here.) The route passes through some surprising parts of town, each with their own stories and character, which inspired the themes of the artworks. The Town to Sea Trail is part of the wider regeneration of East Colchester. Starting in the town centre the trail heads down East Hill, past the East Bay allotments, through the Moors, to Haddon Park, finishing at the Hythe Quayside, where it links with the Wivenhoe Trail. Artists Andrew Rowe, David Mackie, Becky Adams and Heather Parnell have been working with local schools, groups and the wider community on design ideas to link the trail together. More than 100 walkers joined a Test the Trail day in the spring, and added more ideas before the designs were finalised. A touring exhibition is now visiting local venues, allowing people to view some of the work produced by the community and the artist’s proposals for the trail. Visit www.visitcolchester.com for dates and venues. The permanent artwork along the trail should be completed in the autumn. Bob Bunn, chair of the Hythe Residents’ Association, said: “The trail goes a little way towards raising the profile of this area, and hopefully it will spark further improvements where they are needed.” Funding has come from the European Union's Interreg IIIB North SEAfaring Programme and local developers.
Some of East Colchester’s historic buildings and vessels will be be open to view for the first time at this year’s Hythe Heritage Day. The event takes place on Saturday 8 September, with a vintage bus offering a shuttle service to from the town centre, plus music, entertainment and guided tours. For more information contact 863998. Take the following link for a report on a "test the trail" event earlier this year.

Dark realities on the way

2007-07-30T10:14:00.000+01:00

For anybody who really does want to take the council's advice to heart and leave the car behind for getting around Colchester, a dark reality lurks in the way of most journeys: pedestrian subways. While motorists pass comfortably overhead in broad daylight, walkers (and cyclists) are forced down smelly, litter-strewn, dark holes at key points around the town. Every passage feels threatening; many are nauseating. And in winter, it all seems doubly awful.

It's no wonder so many people drive to school, work, or out-of-town retail parks; the alternative is too depressing. For those without cars, however, there is no choice. Part of any plan to reduce motor traffic must include making walking about town pleasant, sociable and preferable. When "vibrant new quarters" are being planned for the town, it would be gratifying to learn that the threatening and nauseating old bits are being removed. More nasty pics here.

Ash Sakula/Garbe chosen to develop cultural quarter

2007-07-13T15:53:00.000+01:00

Following an international competition to find a development partner to create Colchester’s cultural (St Botolph's) quarter, Colchester Cabinet selected (Wednesday 11 July) Ash Sakula/Garbe Group as the preferred development team to create a "vibrant new area for the town". Read more from the council's press release, and see some drawings at bdonline. See also Ash Sakula's website. In Poncrinator's view, these people have done some good work.

Plannerrhoids: a Colchester disease

2007-07-13T14:04:00.000+01:00

They have become so prevalent in Colchester that one begins to forget that they are there, infesting the skyline, or sprouting up in redundant spaces between buildings. They come in many shapes, sizes and materials, but what they have in common is that they have no purpose, no function, no value. They are plannerrhoids, and they are a symptom of a dysfunctional and afflicted body civic. Whereas haemorrhoids are caused, I understand, by too much straining, plannerrhoids occur through an absence of effort, a paucity of thinking and a loss of integrity. Expect more plannerrhoids around town, because this distemper is far from played out. What is curious, however, is that some buildings don’t have them at all. Why aren’t there any on the Mercury Theatre, the Town Hall, Holly Trees Museum, Temperleys, the new firstsite building, the new university lecture hall, or the University Quays buildings? Are these somehow disease-resistant designs? Perhaps the planners should investigate.

Pevsner's Essex – updated and enlarged by James Bettley

2007-07-06T14:58:00.001+01:00

Between 1951 and 1974, Penguin published a monumental series of books describing the buildings of England. They were written by architectural and design historian, Sir Niklaus Pevsner. The volume for Essex was published in 1954 and, despite the changes of half-a-century, it has remained the sole definitive guide to the county's most important buildings. Until this year that is, when the great work was republished by Yale University Press, updated and enlarged by Essex historian James Bettley. It is worth buying for the 50 magnificent pages on Colchester alone. See a review at the Real Essex website.

Colchester Architecural Tours

2007-07-06T14:27:00.000+01:00

Firstsite are again running their summer programme of Colchester architectural tours, every Sunday from July-September. More details are available at this page on Visit Colchester's website. Above: detail of Town Hall, built 1897-1902, architect: John Belcher.

New Aldi's on Magdalen Street

2007-07-06T11:54:00.000+01:00

Last month, the new Aldi store in Magdalen Street opened with a bit of a fanfare – and mixed feelings in the mind of Poncrinator. It‘s good to have a new shopping area to which people can walk from local homes: much more of this is needed in Colchester, which has polarized into town centre shops versus edge-of-town superstores, causing car journeys for every shopping trip, and isolation for the old and poor. The creation of pedestrian access at the back of the site into the New Town area is a good move. Architecturally, however, this is just one more "backing into the future" building for Magdalen Street and Colchester.

It is evident that there have been attempts to give the street-face of the building some variety and rhythm but, in reality, the features are just stick-on nostalgia bits. These presumably please the planners as, except for a few notable exceptions (mainly around the Hythe), Colchester is becoming overwhelmed with similarly poor stuff.

Street sequences in the town centre

2007-03-31T22:50:00.000+01:00

It's always a pleasure to wander through Colchester’s town centre, or at least the small back streets. The non-linear arrangement of open spaces makes every turning interesting. One is never quite sure what to expect – whether it's going to be a church, a small green space, a couple of benches in a pedestrian street or a water fountain surrounded by shop frontages. The opportunity to discover the town over and over again is one of the refreshing and fascinating aspects of Colchester. Apart from the pedestrianised areas, the High Street provides generous pavements for shoppers to browse shop fronts and well-designed paving and crossing points allow for ease of movement. Gratifying, too, is the enlightened decision to do away with pedestrian barriers along the High Street. This has resulted in a central space, presided over by the attractive timber framed post office, which feels owned by pedestrians and cars alike, and even offering shoppers the chance (if lucky) to briefly stop their car outside the required shop. The only time the High Street becomes unpleasant is at weekend nights, but that problem is beyond even the powers of architects.

Colchester green spaces – a council strategy

2007-03-31T22:48:00.000+01:00

Probably one of the principal reasons that Poncrinator was moved to start this blog was the existence of so much open space in and around the town centre, with many random plots apparently 'unclaimed' by council or commerce. An example is the green valley to the north of Magdalen and Barrack Streets, through which the railway and the river pass. The wide, green view from the back of Magdalen Street away to Highwoods Country Park is, remarkably, uninterrupted but for a few of Colchester's older buildings. This is astonishing in the centre of a busy modern town of 130,000-plus – and needing great care if not to be lost, particularly because something away from the public eye can easily become a victim of commercial greed or bureaucratic neglect. It's gratifying, therefore to see that Colchester council is now developing a new strategy to improve the amount of green spaces available in the borough, and residents are being asked for their views. You can read more about this at the council's website. For comment or opinion you are invited to contact Councillor Kevin Bentley, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Public Relations on 07770 571622. Let's hope the view above is included in his strategy. Take the following link for more pictures of Colchester's hidden inner green spaces.

Circus: no need to bring on the clowns

2007-02-05T10:26:00.000Z

Colchester's Roman circus, unearthed recently at the Abbey Field site and the only-known one in Britain (similar to Rome's, see pic above), is another free gift from the past with the potential to enrich Colchester immensely. Unfortunatley, despite uproar from many quarters, Colchester Council appears resolute to proceed with its plan to build a road across the find. In the Essex County Standard on February 2, 2007, our council's planning portfolio holder is reported to have said "We are actively working on ways to protect this significant find". Actively working, note - not just plain working. Follow this link for press cuttings and comment from the Camulos site. For location of Abbey Field, see map, waymark 19. See MS Virtual Earth shot of site here (best in Explorer or Firefox).

Vehicle fumes "stunt lung growth"

2007-01-26T10:28:00.000Z

Results of a US survey just published in the Lancet suggest that living too near a busy road can stunt a child's lung development. Read more at the BBC News website. As Town Hall continues to approve countless additional developments, merrily ignoring Colchester's already choked streets, perhaps somebody should warn new residents that their children may not have much puff in later life.

Allowing a name to keep its meaning

2007-01-25T14:25:00.000Z

Apparently, some of the last remaining buildings at the Hythe are to be demolished. They are not architecturally special, neither are they very old. However, they are the last of the working buildings, right on the riverside, from the Hythe's heyday and, as such they have enormous significance. They also constitute an important (and completing) component of the lower part of Hythe Hill. They carry the last visual clues that give people access to an important period of Colchester's history, and are inestimably more meaningful than archive photgraphs, important as they may be. Allowing them to remain adds another dimension to the experience of visiting, living or working in the neighbourhood. Knocking them down and then renaming the replacement "Old Wharf Heights" or similar will add insult to injury. There's plenty of good new building design further down river (I shan't comment now on the sad 'wharfism' in between), so let's see what good can be done here. See more pictures of the old Hythe area. For location, see map, waypoint 8.

Community Stadium builders appointed

2007-01-25T14:09:00.000Z

Colchester Borough Council reports that it has appointed Barr Ltd to build the new multi-million pound Community Stadium, and selected Drivers Jonas as project managers for the construction stage. However, a number of further preliminaries still need to be settled before the building contract can be signed and building work started. Read more on the council's news release page.

The problem with buses

2007-01-19T10:51:00.000Z

It's received wisdom that public transport causes less pollution than the use of private cars. To the pedestrian, child in a buggy or cyclist however, the opposite feels true. The bus roars past (bus drivers are always accelerating, braking or swerving to maximize the jerky effect) and we all know what to expect: a swirling fog of warm, particulate-laden, diesel exhaust through which we must hold our breath until we are clear. Bus exhaust outlets seem designed to do this deliberately, pointing down towards the road surface to ensure an even distribution of toxic gases at the breathing level. This is not how it has to be. Many continental cities have buses whose exhausts vent vertically. Granted the gases have to go somewhere and upper-storey windows over the street may have to stay closed during busy times. But the city of Florence solves this by using smaller, electric buses for the clogged inner city routes. Most big trucks have vertical exhausts. Why not buses, which spend so much of their journeys belching their way past pedestrians in narrow streets?

East Hill and East Street

2007-01-05T23:14:00.000Z

East Hill and East Street together must have as many old timber buildings as the Dutch quarter. Alright, I haven't actually counted, but take a walk along this ancient (often traffic-choked) highway and be impressed. Some have been restored and are maintained magnificently (for example, Charlie Brown's), others look tired, while not a few appear almost terminal. Star attractions in East Street include The Siege House and the Rose and Crown. The brick buildings are to be noted, too (there are some grand ones on East Hill). The former East Mill is an imposing pile, and there are some interesting finds in East Bay, opposite. It's an attractive spot at the river, marred a bit by the sorry state of East Bridge itself – whatever happened to to its missing lamp posts? See also post on East Bridge below. See more pictures of East Street, and of East Hill. For location, see map, waypoint 6.

Magdalen Street, New Town

2007-01-04T14:25:00.000Z

Colchester's old "commercial road" is Magdalen Street: the connecting thorougfare to the town's port. The port has gone, but the street still reflects some of its original character, both in the remaining architecture, and in its busyness. The new Aldi's (see picture above) should help keep things busy, at least. There are some very old buildings behind the plastic fascias and affordable double-glazing. To the north, by contrast, on land previously occupied by railway sidings, there's a new neighbourhood - all white and pretending to be classical - with amazing views over Colchester's secret inner green valley. Magdalen Street's reaching a tipping point: if any more of the old buildings go and are replaced with meaningless cod-Tudor/Georgian/Victorian styles, we'll be saying good-bye to another fascinating part of Colchester. For location of Magdalen Street area, see map, waymark 5. See more pictures in and around Magdalen Street.

Andrew Phillips says goodbye to the Victorian Garrison

2006-12-30T10:58:00.000Z

"The redevelopment of our garrison is the largest public/private initiative in Britain. Soon 3,000 new dwellings will house 9,000 people overlooking the Abbey Field, forming the Abbey Field urban Village... The challenge to get it right is huge..." This is Colchester historian Andrew Phillips writing in yesterday's edition of the Essex County Standard. His article, which includes the story of the Victorian cavalry barracks, together with some interesting photos, argues that current attention on the St Botolph's Quarter redevelopment could easily obscure what's happening on Abbey Fields from public gaze. Go to the Garrison section of the Renaissance of Colchester website for an outline of the plan. For location of Abbey Fields, see map, waymark 19. See MS Virtual Earth shot of site here (best in Explorer or Firefox).

Paxman site application for 393 homes

2006-12-29T14:48:00.000Z

Jubilee Homes of Brentwood have filed an outline application to build 393 dwellings on the Paxman site (bounded by Port Lane to the west and St Leonard's Terrace to the north). The developer's proposals (now viewable on the council's planning website – see link right) reveal a formal layout, similar to New Town's terraces, but with a mixture of houses and apartment blocks. A public open space (a linear park) is proposed at the end of Parson's Lane, on the eastern perimeter of the site. It's difficult to judge at this stage whether the building style proposed is the usual periody-pastiche fake mash-up. Could we get something genuinely contemporary and authentic? After all, this is an industrial site and we do live in the 21st century. For location, see map, waypoint 3. See MS Virtual Earth shot of site here (best in Explorer or Firefox). See also Evening Gazette story.