The Social Programme for 2024

  Tuesday 4th June 2024 Meet at Greyfriars at 10am for our June Coffee Morning.

Cost Free but donations to cover the cost of tea/coffee welcome.

Monday 10th June 2024 Meet in the Cloisters at Greyfriars at 7pm for our Annual General Meeting. The present Civic Society held their inaugural meeting in the Moot Hall on Midsummer’s Day1964 so this AGM will mark our 60th Birthday – well, almost! It therefore seemed appropriate to invite St John’s Green School to tell us about their superb One Square Mile Project as this was designed to celebrate their 125th Birthday. Cost? Free, but donations to cover the cost of tea/coffee welcomed.

Saturday 29th June 2024 Meet at the bus stop outside Greyfriars at 9am for a visit to Silchester. This, as I mentioned in my preamble, is the first of our experimental joint outings with new partners, in this case FoCAT, the Friends of Colchester Archaeological Trust, who are organising the visit, and the Essex Society for Archaeology and History. We will be visiting Silchester, the Roman town near Reading. Silchester had its origins as Calleva, a centre of the Iron Age Atrebates tribe from the late Ist century BC. After the Roman Conquest of AD 43, it became the large and important town of Calleva Atrebatum. Unlike most Roman towns, it was never reoccupied or built over after it was abandoned in the 6th or 7th century, so archaeological investigations have given an unusually complete picture of its development. The complete circuit of the Roman walls, some of the best preserved town defences in England, and the remains of the amphitheatre still stand. Today we will be lucky enough to have Mike Fulford as our guide. Mike is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading and he has undertaken several excavations on the site. Arrangements for this visit are still being made and full details will be available in our next Newsletter. I understand that the cost is expected to be around £30 but that will be confirmed nearer the time. It would be extremely useful to know whether you would like to join this visit so please compete the slip if you are interested.

Wednesday 17th July 2024 SAVE THE DATE, please, as this will probably be the one for a visit to Nymans. I am still trying to arrange a visit to this National Trust property near Haywards Heath. The National Trust, rather sniffily, describes Nymans as ‘a convincing creation of a medieval manor house remodelled in the 1920s and now a partial ruin.’ It is actually rather lovely. However, probably its real charm lies in its gorgeous gardens, which is why we will hopefully be joined by various local gardening groups! I am determined to start running coach trips again! It won’t be cheap, I’m afraid, particularly if you are not a NT member. I haven’t fully costed it yet but I suspect it will cost a good £30 for NT members and £47 for non members. I can do nothing to reduce those prices, I’m afraid. If you are interested in the visit, can you please let me know on the reply slip. No obligation!

 Sunday 28th July Meet at St James the Great Church on East Hill, probably at 2pm Again, this is a save the date situation as plans are still being made for a visit to this beautiful church.

Tuesday 6th August 2024 Meet at Greyfriars at 10.00am for our August Coffee Morning Discussion Cost? Free but donations welcome Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Meet at Greyfriars at 10.00am for our September Coffee Morning Discussion. Cost? Free but donations welcome

Friday 6th to Sunday 15th September 2024 Heritage Open Days The full programme for Heritage Open Days in Colchester will be published on our website as soon as it has been finalised. However, I understand that the emphasis will be on the weekend of the 7th and 8th September when Civic Society members will be stewarding Audley Chapel on the Saturday morning and the Roman Theatre on both Saturday and Sunday. Do make the most of the opportunities to visit places not normally open to the public. You will learn so much about our city!

Thursday 12th September 2024 Meet at Roman Circus House Cafe at 10am for a guided tour of the Cavalry and Royal Artillery (Le Cateau) Barracks. I was amazed to discover that several Civic Society have never visited Roman Circus House so I have arranged coffee (or tea) and cake at the Visitor Centre Cafe to sustain us on our walk! Roman Circus House is one of the old Garrison buildings so it is a very appropriate meeting place. Today our guided tour will be led by Civic Society member Paul Knappett, whose knowledge of the area is staggering! Many of you will know that Paul has been raising money to fund a superb monument that will commemorate Le Cateau Barracks and the soldiers who were based here. Not only will this explain the history of the Barracks but it will also help those who are visiting the place where they were once stationed. Much has changed and the monument will help them orientate themselves. Hopefully the monument will be in place by the date of our visit, even though more funding is needed. This will be our opportunity to donate to the ‘monument fund’ and I hope that Civic Society members will be prepared to help Paul, whether they are coming on the walk or not. Paul says: ‘The walk will start at the original entrance to the Cavalry Barracks off Butt Road which was the first permanent barracks to be built in Colchester You will see many of the surviving historic buildings built in 1862-64 including the Officers’ Quarters, Guard Room, stable blocks with Page 33 soldiers’ accommodation over. Standing where the Parade Ground once was, we can reflect on such events as the return of the 17th Lancers who rode in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. And of course, the filming of the opening and closing credits to Black Adder. We will make our way to the Royal Artillery Barracks past the riding school where Baden Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement, would have been trained as a young Cavalry Officer. Reaching the Royal Artillery (Le Cateau) Barracks you will see such beautifully restored Grade 2 Listed buildings as the Adult School, Sergeants’ Mess, Officers’ Quarters, later designs of two stable blocks with soldiers’ accommodation above, the water tower which provided water for all the horses and men and the bath house used by the Artillery officers. All being well, we will visit the Royal Artillery (Le Cateau) Barracks Monument to learn more about the history of the barracks including why it was renamed Le Cateau Barracks after the Great War. The tour will finish where the Roman Circus starting gates were discovered in the front garden of the original Officers’ Quarters. Cost? £4.50 for coffee/tea and cake PLUS a donation to the Memorial Fund. Please give generously as Paul is still some way off his target.

Tuesday 1st October 2024 Meet at Greyfriars at 10.00am for our October Coffee Morning Discussion. Cost? Free but donations welcome

Sunday 6th October 2024 Meet at the War Memorial outside the main Castle Park Gates at 2.00pm for a guided walk in the city centre. Glyn Barritt, Chair of Colchester’s Tour Guide Association and our newest Civic Society Executive Committee member, invites you to immerse yourself in ‘Colchester’s Rich History’ as she leads this afternoon’s walk. Colchester is a thriving, successful City and Britain’s newest in the 21st century. But back in AD43, after a successful invasion by the Roman Emperor Claudius, it was the first Capital City of the new Roman Province of Britannia. We’ll see how the Roman fabric and foundations of the Roman City have supported Norman, Medieval and Tudor structures through the centuries and how some of those buildings still bear the scars of the Siege of Colchester which occurred at the end of the English Civil War. And we’ll also marvel at the buildings that reflect the engineering prowess of the victorious Victorians! The walk will finish at the Mercury Theatre at circa 3.45pm. Cost? £5 All proceeds to the Civic Society

Monday 14th October 2024 Meet in the Salon at Greyfriars at 7pm for our annual Burning Issues meeting. This, like the Spring Up meeting earlier in the year, is an opportunity for those unable to attend our monthly Coffee Mornings to catch up on what the Society is up to and to raise any issues of concern relating to Colchester that they would like the Society to address. All are welcome. Cost? Free but donations welcome.

Saturday 26th October 2024 Meet at the Mercury Theatre Box Office at 10am for a tour of the Theatre. Page 34 I am aware of the fact that several people missed out on our tour of the Mercury a couple of years ago so I have arranged another. There is nothing stopping you coming again if you wish because this tour will have an extra point of interest, Can you guess what that might be, boys and girls? Could it just be that the staff will be preparing for the legendary Mercury pantomime? Oh no they won’t! Oh yes they will! This is a really fascinating tour, thoroughly recommended. Children welcomed. Cost? £10

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Meet at Greyfriars at 10.00am for our November Coffee Morning Discussion. Cost? Free but donations welcome

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Meet at Greyfriars at 10.00am for our December Coffee Morning Discussion. Cost free, but donations welcome.