Contents:

Home

Village Diary

Latest News

Location Map

Photos

Parish Council

St Mary's Church

Village Hall

Clubs & Societies

Village Preservation Society

Open Garden Day

Newsletters

Village History

Link Sites of Interest

Closures & Openings: May has seen the sad closure of Fairy Tale Flowers in Coppice Row after 6 Years of trading in the village. They were reportedly forced out by a doubling of their rent making it difficult for them to continue with the business at the current level of trade. We wish them well with their new venture.
Two new businesses have opened in the village and are very welcome; 'Walker Blakeley Kitchens Ltd.' (Tel: 01992 814619) has opened in Coppice Row at the shop that was formally Cinderella's and a new plant & flower business; 'The Flower Yard' has opened in Loughton Lane at the rear of the old Post Office.
Please try to support all our local shops where possible, they are an asset to the village and in many cases no more expensive than shopping at the supermarkets.

Theydon Bois Swans in Danger: We received this picture and e-mail from Gary Shanahan in April and unfortunately other reports suggest that that the dangers to both the Swans & Ducks have not entirely gone away, which is a sad reflection on some of the people who visit our village. If you can offer any help please Contact Gary

I am sending you this e-mail to ask for your help. Over the last two weeks there have been a number of disturbing incidents concerning the swans nesting on the island in Theydon Bois village pond. Unfortunately these incidents are increasing. The latest incident demands action and I would like to enlist your help. I have contacted the RSPCA and they are going to get back to me. Two days ago, a neighbour of mine witnessed two young men taking road work barriers from excavation works adjacent to the pond and walk towards a place on the bank of the pond opposite the nesting swan on the island. The youths aged perhaps 16-20 saw they were being watched and walked away dropping the barriers. This barrier is lodged on a tree overhead the nest. The pen is sitting on at least two eggs, probably three. Please forward this e-mail to anyone you know in the village and give them my amyl address. I am contacting any organisation or authority that has a responsibility or interest in the welfare of these beautiful creatures. I think time has come for something to be done to protect them and I have some ideas. I need support to lobby those able to implement the steps necessary and to deal with the perpetrators of these mindless and cruel acts before the swan eggs are destroyed, the swans hurt, killed or driven away. The incident that I was involved in concerned three youths 14-15 yrs of age who I stopped from throwing large branches at the swan on her nest. This happened last week. I detained them awaiting the police. However the police were unable to attend for over an hour, I therefore felt obliged to let them go, as they claimed they had to return to school - it was lunchtime. They were in fact truants from Debden Park school. A passing cab driver witnessed this incident also. The police did attend when they were able, and took all the particulars I could provide. The were carrying Debden Park uniform, so I contacted the school and verified the names I had obtained were pupils of the school. The person I spoke to told me the three boys were absent from school and truanting. The school has not replied to three telephone calls I have made to them since the incident. Please help and if you feel you can do something more tangible please let me know.

They also will be hosting two free talks this year. The title first talk is in July, on the night of the Society's AGM and is by Ken Hoy and is titled " Epping Forest - Our Heritage "
Ken will be talking about the history of Epping Forest and it's flora & fauna.
He grew up near the Napier Arms, became interested in Natural History, and then managed the Field Study Centre for many years. More recently he was the Chairman of Friends of Epping Forest.
There will be signed copies of his latest book "Getting to know Epping Forest" on sale

The second talk on 10th October 2003 is titled"The history of Swan Upping" and is by the Bargemaster to the Worshipful Company DyersDavid Reed will show slides - there will be a coffee break - More slides and questions

Theydon Remembers:

The nostalgia evening hosted by the Theydon Bois Cricket Club on the evening of April 2nd was a great success. At time it was difficult to move around the display stands due to the number of people young and old vieing for a good view. Anthony Purkiss & Peter Gooch with the help of members of the Rural Preservation Society had done a fantastic job of compiling an amazing amount of material documenting the early days of the village and the cricket club. Lots of memory's happy & sad were recalled and stories were exchanged among viewers about some of great characters known and their escapades in the village. Anthony has been putting a great amount of work into finding early photographs and identifying people in them and he was able to add a few more names to his list on the evening. He is still trying to identify more people, so if you went and knew some of the unknown people in the pictures or you have some early photos he could copy he would like to hear from you. He can be contacted at Tel. No.: 01992 813515.
If we find more material perhaps we can persuade him to make this an annual village event.

Ronald A Warren When I answered the doorbell way back in the early 70’s I was confronted with the imposing figure of Ron Warren. He was collecting annual subscriptions for the Theydon Bois Rural Preservation Society. I was soon to learn that the Society was one of his main interests, and that he had major links with Bruce Goodchild, a leading light at its inception in 1943. This chance meeting on the doorstep soon embroiled me in the activities of the Society, which have continued to this day.

Ron Warren was a modest man, yet on acquaintance, his dedication to the cause of village preservation was readily apparent. He first came to the village in1958, but left after some eight years to live in Nazeing where the local concern over projected building developments was soon apparent. With other residents, he participated in the formation of the Nazeing Preservation Society, which succeeded in preventing unwelcome development. This society still exists, and it has published some books of merit recording the history of Nazeing. However, after some years, Ron and his wife Georgina had a strong desire to return to Theydon Bois. After spending a few years in Poplar Row, he moved to his final residence in Red Oaks. Needless to say, he had lost no time in rejoining this Society to satisfy his desire to be involved. His home in Red Oaks was always available for committee and other meetings of the Society. He served with the Middlesex Regiment during the war and was commissioned as a captain. He was mentioned in dispatches. Yet his modesty precluded but few mentions of wartime experiences. Even so, the occasional inkling revealed tantalising insights of his various activities from escorting native troops from Nigeria round the Cape to the North African campaign. With the fall of France, he found himself isolated on the coast below Cherbourg where the local Mayor intended to disarm his company and impound them. They located a small coaster transporting coal and once on board they managed to reach the UK on the Cornish coast after spending three days on top of the coal. Such recollections revealed interesting glimpses of his service life. Ron’s service on the Society’s committee was virtually continuous, being chairman for some years and ending as President. I am proud to have shared his friendship, advice and guidance. He has been in indifferent health for some time, but thankfully he died suddenly and in peace. He was 86.

They also will be hosting two free talks this year. The title first talk is in July, on the night of the Society's AGM and is by Ken Hoy and is titled " Epping Forest - Our Heritage "
Ken will be talking about the history of Epping Forest and it's flora & fauna.
He grew up near the Napier Arms, became interested in Natural History, and then managed the Field Study Centre for many years. More recently he was the Chairman of Friends of Epping Forest.
There will be signed copies of his latest book "Getting to know Epping Forest" on sale

The second talk on 10th October 2003 is titled"The history of Swan Upping" and is by the Bargemaster to the Worshipful Company DyersDavid Reed will show slides - there will be a coffee break - More slides and questions.

It goes on to say that any person suspected of buying alcohol to supply to underage persons could well at the discretion of the management not be supplied with alcohol for their own use.

Underage drinking leads to crime - our local establishments are working in partnership with other organisations to make this district safer.

They need your support and involvement to help them in their efforts.

Vandalism and Anti-Social Behaviour Group
This group hopes with the publics help to keep our village safe for everyone - a number of meetings have been held and various objectives have been achieved.

However we need more people to join our group - why? simply because our Chairman has to step down in the near future - purely due to ever increasing work commitments. Later this year we will also loose our Youth Representative as she will be going to University. So if you feel that you would like to become involved please contact us via the Parish Office. You will be made welcome and your ideas listened to. At the present time we are desperately trying to increase facilities for the youth of our village. All of us feel that this is a vital part of our remit. So if you are a young person with lots of ideas about the lack of facilities for you please contact us.

Anti-Social behaviour is not confined to youth - we all see it every day - rubbish dumping- litter - dog mess which people are too lazy to clear up(even though they can be fined) - parking on green verges and ploughing up the grass - parking across access for the elderly and young mums with push-chairs. These may seem minor things but they all contribute to ruining the quality of this village.

So if you feel strongly about these things - please contact us.

Cllr. Margaret O' Connor(on behalf of the Vandalism and Anti-Social Behaviour Group)

In the meantime could they are advertising the following job vacancies:

Full & part time Carers required
£6.00 - £7.00 PER HOUR
Experience desired but not essential as full training will be given.

Domestic & Kitchen assistant

£5.25 - £6.25 required during school hours
may include some weekends.

Please call 01992 812525 or e-mail

As we have received many requests to repeat the evening, it has been agreed to stage the event again on Wednesday 2nd April starting at 8pm. The Cricket Club will again host the evening.

However, this time it is hoped to expand the material on display. So if you have any old photographs or film of the Village from years gone by, that you don't mind showing, we would be very pleased to hear from you. Please contact either Anthony Purkiss on 01992 813515 or myself on 01992 812908

Progress has been made during the past 12 months with a number of meetings to plan these improvements and to produce a professional report, which it is hoped will soon be printed and distributed to every household. This does depend on funds being available, contributions towards the cost have come from the District Council, the Parish Council, Rural Preservation Society and the Horticultural Society. It is hoped that the balance will come from sponsorship.

The planting plan and selection of tree species is being drawn up by the Landscape and Arboriculturist Officer for District Council, when completed the committee will then meet again to consult and finalise arrangements. It is aimed to commence planting later in the year, or aim is to further enhance our village of Theydon Bois for the benefit of our residents.
Councilor Wilfred S Shales

Quiz Evening at Wansfell College on Sunday 27 April, starting at 5 PM Price £7, including fish and chip supper. Provide your own drinks and nibbles. (Bottles of wine will be available for purchase.) Tables of up to 8, but single or small group bookings are very welcome. Tickets by personal application from Wansfell College or from the Treasurer at 10 Vale Close, Brentwood, CM15 9RG. (Please enclose sae and make cheque payable to 'The Friends of Wansfell College'.)

May Fair, organised by the Friends of Wansfell College, in the College and its grounds on Sunday 18 May from 1pm to 4pm. All are very welcome. There will be stalls, sideshows, raffle, tombola, etc. Delicious home-made refreshments will be available all afternoon. This is also a good opportunity to explore the lovely garden. Admission only 50p.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH NEWSHEET from Chris Caten of The Mobile Police Bus:
Advice about e-mail scams:
How many of you work for companies with their own internal e-mail systems? Well, one clever chappie who does worked out that he could e-mail different people within his organisation looking for 'Out of Office' replies. Some people do like to be colourful with their replies. For example, 'Gone to Spain, see you all in two weeks' that sort of thing. As he worked for this organisation, our clever chappie also had access to employee's home addresses. So, armed with both bits of information, he and his friends knew which properties would be unoccupied and vulnerable to burglary. Criminals also buy up lists of e-mail addresses to find out the same information. Be warned.

MOVING HOUSE
You have moved house and you have been there for a few months. Letters are still arriving for the previous owners and all these you return without opening. So many arrive that you have the Post Office stop them. Then, one day, you arrive home to find that you can't get in your house. The locks have been changed and there is a notice on your front door telling you why. The previous owner had not paid for one of his services i.e. gas, electric and so they had obtained a warrant to enter your property and cut the service off. Had you opened one of the letters to the previous owner you may have been aware of what was going to happen. The company does not know your name so can not write to you and of course you being at work all day, you will have missed any of their callers. It may well be that when you moved in to your new property you phoned and made this company aware of who you were. Guess what? They have no knowledge of you doing this. Did you take name and details etc? I bet you didn't. This you may think is rare. Well, it may be rare but not as rare as would think. May I suggest that when you move house and you contact these companies that you take the name of the person you are talking to and get a reference number. I tell you to do this when you phone the police. Get a reference number. These details are important and could save you so much trouble.

MONEY
Many of you will remember Micky Page. He was a police officer based at Ongar for many many years before moving on to Scenes of Crime at Harlow. He recently lost his battle with Cancer at the age of 42yrs. Many of you will remember him from the days when we used to run the cub and scout movements around the villages. Many were the times he travelled around England with the little horrors. He was the type of chap that 'Things' just happened to. He was a character and everyone had a story to tell about him. I felt that it was wrong to allow these tales to fade with time so I asked people for their stories….I ended up with 140 stories. I have never written a book before but there is a first time for everything. I have completed 72 chapters. The idea really is to present one copy to his widow and one to the Essex Police Force Museum. Others will be printed if people then require copies and all the donations collected will go to his cancer charity. My problem now is that I need money to start the whole venture and with that in mind I am bringing my poor old body out of retirement to do a charity walk. The way it feels at the moment, I think I will do it in a wheelchair!! However, I need to raise a thousand pounds so if any of you wish to donate then please feel free. Cheques are made payable to 'Essex Police Memorial Trust'. Thanks.

Chris Caten
E-mail: - [email protected]
Mobile - 07715771603

The Mobile Police Unit will be in Abridge and Theydon Bois this month on the 13th & 27th February. Abridge 10am - 12 Noon & our village 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Please contact us with your Latest News. E-Mail: Web Manager or send copy to the Village Office. Preferably on floppy disk.