News
Our Lovely Essex: the (sometimes) hidden beauty of bluebells
Tuesday 12 May 2020
The bluebells in our glorious Essex woodlands are now starting to fade, or ‘go over’, so we’d better move quickly to include this selection of images from John and Helen Bloxsome in Our Lovely Essex. John’s words offers a perfect example of people getting to know their local area a little better during lockdown: ‘‘We […] Read more >
Uttlesford Local Plan is withdrawn from examination
Wednesday 6 May 2020
Uttlesford District Council has voted to withdraw its draft Local Plan from examination. A three-hour extraordinary general meeting on Thursday, April 30, concluded with a 31-7 vote to withdraw the Plan that had been submitted by the council’s previous Conservative administration in October 2018. Planning inspectors had reported in January that they could not find […] Read more >
Epping Forest unveils its spring glory
Wednesday 6 May 2020
We are indebted to Adrienne de Mont for today’s Our Lovely Essex collection. Over to Adrienne… My husband and I are fortunate to live on the edge of Epping Forest so can walk off the beaten track without seeing many people. It’s been absolutely glorious the past month or so, as spring unfolds. Bare trees in […] Read more >
Our Lovely Essex: you can’t keep Stansted Mountfitchet out of the picture
Tuesday 5 May 2020
They just keep on coming! Our Lovely Essex today showcases three pictures from Ken McDonald taken during walks near his home in Stansted Mountfitchet during the lockdown. Thanks, Ken! Read more >
Shop UK… and enjoy home delivery
Tuesday 5 May 2020
CPRE has been highlighting the plight of rural businesses struggling to survive the coronavirus lockdown and encouraging as many people as possible to support them. Now a free website that promotes UK-made or designed consumer products has launched a home-delivery feature across the country. YouK enables users to “shop for everything that is made in […] Read more >
The country’s smallest bookshop? Well, it’s in Essex, of course!
Monday 4 May 2020
You can’t say that Our Lovely Essex doesn’t cover a wide range of the beautiful, the treasured and indeed the weird and the wonderful! Today we are indebted to Dr Peter Merrett for an image of, in his words, “the UK’s smallest bookshop – well, book room”. It’s at Toot Hill, three and a half […] Read more >
A walk on the wild side
Thursday 30 April 2020
Our Lovely Essex focuses today on the wildlife that, if we allow it, will come to us – all the more welcome, of course, when own movements are so restricted. Firstly, thanks to Peter Damary-Homan, who sent in the image of a grass snake that “decided to make itself at home in my pond in […] Read more >
Our Lovely Essex: Gordon’s camera strikes again!
Tuesday 28 April 2020
In some ways it seems a long time ago, but it was only just over a fortnight ago that Gordon Ridgewell got Our Lovely Essex off to a handsome start (see here). And now Gordon is sharing two more of his fantastic photographs, one of Thaxted and the other of Matching Green. Thanks again, Gordon. […] Read more >
Our Lovely Essex… Stansted Mountfitchet in the frame
Monday 27 April 2020
Contributions for Our Lovely Essex keep rolling in, so we thank all of you who have contributed. As ever, though, we’re always grateful for more, so keep ’em coming! The selection here is from Janet Harris, who takes up the story… These photos are from where I live, at Stansted Mountfitchet. The first two are […] Read more >
Appreciating the silent skies? Then join this survey asking how we’re affected by noise pollution
Friday 24 April 2020
It cannot have escaped the notice of many in the county that everything during the Covid-19 lockdown is so very much quieter – the constant drone (or roar) of aircraft overhead and road traffic around us is a fraction of what it was. While fully accepting of the misery caused by the situation, the lockdown […] Read more >