onlineFOCUS – News and Stuff For Rochford District since 2003

One of the local websites in our sidebar is the Rochford District Community Archive. If you have a look, you’ll find a small goldmine of stories about local people and places..

One example is about Love Lane School in Rayleigh from 1955 to 1957/58. This article actually demonstrates just how fast Rayleigh grew in the 1950s – pupils as young as six were being bussed to Thundersley because of the rapid increase in population!

Another is about William Atkinson, one of the finest violin-makers in England, who moved from Tottenham in 1911 to avoid the air pollution that affected the varnish when it was drying. So he moved to Paglesham, took over the village shop and still made violins. He had a secret formula for his varnish:

“The old man realised too late that he was dying, and tried to impart the secret to his son, but the effort was too much for him. He fell back on his pillow, dead….he was an old sailor, and lived for many years at Tottenham, moving to Paglesham in order to secure the pure air and sunshine for drying the varnish on his violins. To fill in his time he took a small general store and became postmaster for the village”.

January 8th, 2013 | Category: Education, History and Culture, Paglesham, Rayleigh | Comments (1)

First of all, congratulations to Schucks Chutneys and Jams from Hockley for reaching the finals of the Essex Food and Drink Awards last night. They didn’t win, but it was still an achievement for such a small business to get so far.

You can buy their stuff at Ven’s shop in Hockley, which is the retail outlet for Ven’s Brewery in Rawreth. (What do you mean, you didn’t know there was a brewery in Rawreth?)

Ven’s sell Schucks products, plus bottles of their own beer, plus a good range of other local beers, cider and wines, including Paglesham Punch Cider. (What do you mean, you hadn’t heard of Paglesham Cider?)

The real question is – are these beers and chutneys any good? One of us on the Onlinefocus team carried out some research today. Ven’s Gold is a pale golden colour with a very good taste, without feeling too heavy. Schucks Caramelised Red Onion Chutney is a bit of a surprise when you open it, with quite long wisps of onion and shallot inside. But it has a very nice homemade taste, and you don’t need too much of it , so is quite economical.

Take the beer , the chutney, a fresh roll and some cold meat, and you have a very pleasant combination. A couple of bottles and a jar of chutney could make a very welcome present for the right person.

September 25th, 2012 | Category: Food and Drink, Hockley, Paglesham, Rawreth, Retail | Comments (5)

The Punchbowl at Paglesham is up for sale:

“This delightful destination inn is located just off the A127 near the coastal resort of Southend on Sea in the hamlet of Paglesham.
This quaint hamlet is located within the catchment area of many similar affluent villages and towns in addition to being situated close to Chelmsford, Billericay, Basildon, and Wickford and the coastal resorts of Clacton on Sea, Southend on Sea and Wallasea Island where the RSPB Wild Coast Project is situated, making this superb inn ideally situated to draw trade from the nearby surrounding towns and villages. The hamlet of Paglesham forms one of Essex’s’ oldest fishing villages and the area was once renowned as a smuggling centre. Including being home to one of the more famous smugglers in the region, Hard Apple, who was actually the parish councillor and local constable William Blyth….”

The description is fair enough – except for the bit about Clacton. Seems odd though that they mention Wickford, instead of Rayleigh…

September 11th, 2012 | Category: Food and Drink, Paglesham | Comments (1)