Brightlingsea

Brightlingsea
Population
OS grid reference	TM087168
District	Tendring
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	COLCHESTER
Postcode district	CO7
Dialling code	01206
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	North Essex

Brightlingsea is a coastal town in the Tendring district of Essex, roughly mid-way between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, situated at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek. It has an estimated population of 8500.

Its traditional industries included fishery (with a renowned oyster fishery) and shipbuilding. With the decline of these industries, the town is largely a dormitory town for Colchester, and a popular retirement destination.

Brightlingsea is a limb of Sandwich, one of the Cinque Ports. This makes it the only Cinque Port in Essex.

The town retains an active ceremonial connection with the Cinque Ports, electing a Deputy from a guild of Freemen.

Brightlingsea was for many years twinned with French oyster fishery port Marennes, Charente-Maritime, but the relationship fell into disuse. In the mid 1990s, the port of Brightlingsea was used for the export of live animals for slaughter, leading to a protest campaign dubbed "The Battle of Brightlingsea".

In the centre of the town is Jacob's Hall, the oldest timber-framed building in England, built during the fourteenth century. Also in the town centre is Victoria Place, where many local businesses are based.

To the West, on the creek is Western Promenade. It has lines of beach huts, a skate park, swimming pool, boating lake, and paddling pool. It is a popular destination for tourists and Londoners. Bateman's Tower, a local landmark by the sea, has recently been renovated by the Colne Yacht Club with help from a Lottery Fund grant.

History

Brightlingsea Port

Although Brightlingsea has a long shipbuilding history, it was never particularly developed for sea traffic, although it does have a small port.

The port came to prominence in the 1984-85 Miners' Strike, where attempts were made to import coal through the Port (as with the small port at Wivenhoe further up the river Colne). However the efforts of picketing miners prevented coal imports through Brightlingsea.

'The Battle of Brightlingsea'

Protesters block the roads. Image David Johnson

Brightlingsea port came to national prominence again in the 1990s with an attempt to use the port again for a controversial cargo. 'The Battle of Brightlingsea' is the name given to a series of protests against the live export of animals from the town for slaughter in Europe. Many people believed that the conditions in which the animals were exported were cruel and inhumane. The protest began on 16th January 1995 and ended 25th October 1995. During this nine month period, over 150 convoys passed through the town, and 250,000 animals were exported, of which 24 died, 28 were destroyed by M.A.F.F. and 38 were unable to be exported. 598 people were arrested by the police of which 421 were local residents. The campaigners eventually won and the live exports ceased. There were over 1,000 complaints made against the police and the estimated cost of policing the protest was over £4,000,000.

The Mignonette and Canibalism

In 1867 the yacht Mignonette was built by Aldhous yachts in Brightlingsea[1]. The Marionette foundered on its way to Australia in 1884. In desperation, three of the four shipwrecked crew killed and ate the sickest member, a practice known as the custom of the sea. The subsequent trial, R. v. Dudley and Stephens, established the common law principle that necessity is not a valid defence against a charge of murder.

Landmarks

Bateman's Tower

Bateman's tower was built in 1883 by John Bateman as a folly for his daughter to recuperate from consumption. The tower is sited on Westmarsh point at the entrance to Brightlingsea Creek on the River Colne, and is often mistaken for a Martello Tower. During The Second World War the original roof of the folly was removed so that the tower could be used as an observation post by the Royal Observer Corps. In 2005, a restoration project funded by The Heritage Lottery Fund took place to restore the tower to its original condition, including the fitting of a replica of the original roof, refurbishing the interior of the tower and also painting the outside.

The tower is now used by many local sailing organisations to administrate races. During race days, the public can visit the tower, whose new roof makes it a popular gallery from which to watch races.

Brightlingsea open air swimming pool

Brightlingsea open air swimming pool was built in 1933 and is one of the few remaining lidos (open air swimming pools built mainly in the art-deco period) still in use in the UK. Brightlinsea Lido was originally a salt water pool, but is now a two-level non-heated freshwater facility. The pool has recently been threatened with closure, but local opposition to this seems to have saved it. The pool comprises a 15m children's pool and 50m main swimming pool. The facility is still popular with both residents and visitors of the town to this day.

Transport

The Wivenhoe and Brightlingsea railway opened in 1866 and was a branch line that operated rail services from the nearby town of Wivenhoe into the town centre of Brightlingsea.

The service unfortunately fell victim to the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, and was eventually axed in 1964 supposedly prompted by the high maintenance costs of the swing bridge over Alresford Creek, which was necessary to allow boat traffic to the many sand and gravel pits in the area.

The station building was located on the southern side of Lower Park Road where the town's community centre now sits. It stayed in place for four years after the railway's closure until it was destroyed by fire in 1968.

The visible relics of the railway's presence today are the Railway public house and micro-brewery, and the old embankment which is now a footpath. It is possible to walk along virtually the whole length of the former route from very near the site of the old station in Brightlingsea along the old embankment to the site of the former swing bridge. This makes for a pleasant, scenic walk alongside the River Colne with its the ecologically interesting salt marsh environment.

Alresford station on the Colchester to Clacton Line is now the closest railway station to Brightlingsea.

Being almost totally surrounded by the Colne Estuary, Brightlingsea Creek & salt marsh, Brightlingsea's road links are unusual for a town of its size, with only one road linking the town with the outside. During the North Sea Flood of 1953 Brighlingsea was cut off from the outside, though the town itself was not as severely affected as some neighbouring communities.

Education

Brightlingsea is home to the Colne Community School, a secondary school which serves an extended catchment are including Wivenhoe, Alresford, Thorrington as well as Brightlingsea itself. An ex-principal, who now resides in China with his family, was honored (whilst still in the position of headmaster at the Colne) with an OBE.

Sports

The town has an active recreational boating scene. Brightlingsea Sailing Club runs an active competitive sailing programme, and has produced many champions at international and Olympic level. The Colne Yacht Club caters mainly to cruising members. It has an active cruiser racing fleet.

Brightlingsea Regent FC (formerly Brightlingsea United) plays its matches at North Road in the Essex and Suffolk Border League. Brightlingsea Cricket Club plays home matches at the Recreation Ground, and competes in the Two Counties Championship during the summer months. The Rugby Club plays its matches at Strangers Corner.

Brightlingsea One Design

The Brightlingsea One Design is a class of wooden dinghy designed in 1927 by Robbie Stone of Stone's shipyard (now the waterside marina).

The boats are of clinker construction, originally planked in elm and later boats in mahogany. The boats numbered 5x boats are constructed in GRP.

Boats 1 - 14 were built before the war. The use of the symbol 'C' on the sail has never been fully explained, although it is thought to stand for the river Colne.

The last wooden boat built, C32 'Avocet', was built in 1989 by Malcolm Goodwin.

The numbers do not run in sequence. The Stone built boats are 1 - 30 (27, 29 & 30 by T. C. White). 31 was built by John Mullins and 32 by Malcolm Goodwin. Another series starting at 40 was built in West Mersea. The new GRP boats built by John Mullins are 5x and 75 was the only boat built by the Aldous yard.

In 1951 a new rig was designed for the boat, and caused a split between the advocates of the new rig and the supporters of the old. The class raced as two different fleets until the end of the 1950s, when most of the boats racing converted to the new rig.

The new rig has no bowsprit, a shorter boom and a taller mast. This rig is to be seen on most of the boats sailing today, although C28 has an original rig. Two other boats are expected to fit the original rig after restoration.

In 2004 C1 'Jean' was relaunched 77 years after being built as the BOD prototype, after a ten year restoration by Malcolm Goodwin.

In 2007 the first GRP BOD C51 'Greta' built by John Mullins was launched.

In 1986 the BOD became a film star appearing in 'The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story', Billed as a profile in courage, the film examines the trauma and effort that Senator Edward Kennedy's (Craig T. Nelson) son (Kimber Shoop) went through after losing his leg to a rare form of cancer and with the rehabilitation that was required. Apparently the BODs are the nearest to those used by the Kennedy family at Cape Cod.

Notable residents

Plants person & TV Gardener Christine Walkden lives in Brightlingsea.

Reg White was olympic gold medalist in the Tornado catamaran sailing class. Rod MacAlpine-Downey was the designer of many multihull boats, including the Tornado, the Iroquois yacht, and the Challenger trimaran for the disabled.

References

• Nancy Mathams. (1991). Sixty Years on: With the Brightlingsea One Design. ISBN 0951229702.
• Lance Edwards. (2008). Brightlingsea One Design. Brightlingsea One Design Association. Retrieved 2008-07-30.

External links

• Brightlingsea Town Website
• Brightlingsea Sailing Club
• Live weather from Brighlingsea from a weather station at Brightlingsea Sailing Club
• Brightlingsea Regent football club
• Colne Yacht Club
• Brightlingsea Cricket Club
• The Battle of Brightlingsea - Photos of the 1995 live export protests
• Brightlingsea live exports - Photos and figures of the Battle of Brightlingsea protest