Archive
Jaywick Summer Fayre
Sunday 18 July
The annual summer fayre organised by local residents will be held around Brookland Gardens and inside the Jaywick Community Resource Centre. Join us for popular entertainment, face painting, homemade cakes plus many fun activities. There will be plenty of fun for all the family to enjoy, whether you are young or old.
All proceeds raised will be donated to local voluntary organisations.
Clacton Concert Orchestra Coffee Afternoon
Sunday 4 July
Clacton Concert Orchestra, which is based in Clacton-on-sea, was founded in 1966 and gives some four or five concerts a year in the Tendring area. CCO performed a wide range of music to suit all tastes from classical and light orchestral music to selections from popular musicals. This was the first CCO concert in a Martello Tower.
CCO is a non-profit making Registered Charity and the donatations raised at the coffee afternoon were given to local charities and good causes, thus returning much needed funds to the community.
Fleet: Art in the Haven Ports
Sunday 4 July
Artist Talk by Sarah Dobai
Fleet artist in residence Sarah Dobai presented a talk about her forthcoming exhibition at Jaywick Martello Tower starting on Wednesday 14th July 2010.
Fleet: Art in the Haven Ports
Saturday 3 July
'Les Bikes de Bois Rond' by Gavin Turk.
The 26 mile bike ride was led by Gavin Turk, famous for being one of the young British artists. It started at Jaywick Martello Tower after a continental breakfast, and finished at Harwich. The event was in association with Sustrans (www.sustrans.org.uk).
Sunday 18 July
The annual summer fayre was organised by local residents and held around Brookland Gardens and inside the Jaywick Community Resource Centre. It was a beatuiful summers day with many people joining in the fun.
All proceeds raised will be donated to local voluntary organisations.
An Evening with Mervyn Stutter 
Sunday 13 June
Mervyn brought the tour of his critically acclaimed one-man show of comedy and song to JMT. The Tower laughed out loud and enjoyed his show tremendously.
Mervyn is a comedian, musician, actor, singer and scritpwriter. His one man show has fast become a favourite with Essex audiences.
Fleet Talk
Saturday 12 June
Artist-filmmaker Sarah Dobai uses documentary techniques and fictional scenarios to explore people and places. Sarah talked about her latest project during her residency at JMT.
Fabien Rigobert, an acclaimed artist photographer from France, also artist in residence at JMT as part of Fleet was present. Fabien talked about his ideas for the residency.
Fleet on Foot
Saturday 12 June
The 4 mile circular walk from Jaywick to colne point illustrated the local natural environment of Jaywick and St. Osyth. The group met at Jaywick Martello Tower where local nature warden Bob Seagle led walk.
Princes Theatre Youth Company Workshops
June 2010
Working together the company looked into all the interesting and dramatic things that have happened at the Tower over the years. They then devised some music, songs and plays and brought the history of the Tower to life. On the final day they staged a performance for friends and family.
Free Spring Talks
March - April 2010
This series of free talks included:
DNA and Facial Recognition, Essex Coastal Trade in the 1800s, Newcomers to Essex and History Through the Sea Shanty. Two JMT200 specials were added to the series to help celebrate the bicentenary of Jaywick Martello Tower, Roger Kennell with The Martello Towers of the Essex Coast and Richard Woodman pesented Martello Towers and the Napoleonic Threat. The JMT200 project is funded by the Hertage Lottery Fund.
Richard Woodman - Essex Book Festival March 2010
Saturday 13th March 2010
Captain Woodman, Essex historian and novelist, brought to life the Napoleonic era as seen in his Nathaniel Drinkwater novels.
Free Autumn Talks
October 2009
This series of the popular annual talks included;
Saxon Settlement in Coastal Essex, The History of Witchcraft in Essex, Essex Railways in the 20th Century, Life the universe and everything and Nicholas Ashton from the British Museum gave further insite into early essex man.
Trafalgar Day at JMT
Featuring the Historic Maritime Society
17th October 2009
The Historic Maritime Society was at Jaywick Martello Tower to mark the 204th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
The Society presented a picture of the true nature of life at sea in the Royal Navy of Nelson's time. Costumed re-enactors presented a series of free short talks on a variety of topics as well as displaying costumes, weapons, navigational instruments and other items of the period. Talks and displays covered topics including signalling (how did Nelson send the famous "England expects... " message?), how the navy was fed and watered, how ships were navigated, the role of the Royal Marines and how ships were maintained and repaired at sea.
A Somewhere Exhibition by Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope, for Jaywick Escapes
16th September – 4th October 2009
Karen Guthrie & Nina Pope presented an exhibition to demonstrate ideas from their 'Jaywick Escapes' project - part of Essex County Council's Jaywick Parklands Feasibility Study, looking at how green spaces in and around the village of Jaywick can be transformed in the future. The exhibition used a variety of displays to highlight native and cultivated plants successfully growing in the locale, integrating many exhibits contributed by local people. They hope it reflected some of the aspects of Jaywick's unique visual identity and encouraged visitors to review their own notions of gardens and gardening.
A roof garden was constructed at the tower chiefly using potted planting. This 'show garden’ used native plants and allowed seating areas to be retained, and access to the lookout balcony for viewing.
To see a copy of the Green Spaces report please download here.
Taking the Tower: A Living History Experience
Featuring the 95th Rifles Re-enactment Society
12th – 13th September 2009
Jaywick Martello Tower had launched its 200th birthday celebrations with a bang when the 95th Rifles Re-enactment Society staged a Living History Experience on the 12th and 13th September 2009. The Rifles and their associated regiments arrived on the Friday from all over the county and set up their authentic Napoleonic period style camp. One very special guest was Jason Salkey who played Rifleman Harris in the popular Sharpe TV series staring Sean Bean.
On Saturday the scene was set to take Jaywick back in time to 1809 when Napoleon's naval and armed forces were gathering at the port of Boulogne in France to begin the crossing to invade this country. Only the Royal Navy were there at the time to stop them by blockading the port with English warships. The English governement feared the worse and instructed their 
military Generals to arrange for installation of three large cannons on the roofs of all the constructed East Coast Martello Towers including Tower C in Jaywick.
Luckily at the time the English forces successfully blocked the invasion. However at Taking the Tower the 95th Rifles demonstrated just what might have happened in Jaywick if the French forces had landed on English shores. Many local people were dressed in period costume and joined in the fun.
Jaywick Summer Fayre
26th July 2009
Brooklands Gardens and Jaywick Sands Community Resource Centre
The second Jaywick Summer Fayre was held at its new home Brooklands Gardens. The fayre was bigger and better than last year. There was over thirty stallholders and games galore. The Hog Roast proved particularly popular. Cream teas and sandwiches were served inside the community centre.
There was plenty for the kids to do with bouncy castles and plenty of childrens' games as well as face painting and slippery slides. For the over sixties there was the 'Golden Oldies' competition. The winners represented Jaywick at the Clacton Carnival on August 8th 2009.
Proceeds will once again go to local voluntary organisations.
The Spirit of Jaywick exhibition was created by Gillian Townsend and Judith Wolton and was proved very popular with visitors with over 4000 people visiting the beautiful display of art photography and poetry. The exhibition reflected a wide variety of aspects of Jaywick including the coastal environment and beach. Using poetry and creative writing local people had written about their views and feelings for their community. Below are some of the comments from our visitors. "Lovely exhibition, really enjoyed visiting the tower." "Excellent exhibition, nicely laid out." "Very impressed by the poetry." "What a wonderful, inventive, unique and modern way to utlize an historic building, to express one's feelings and pride of their local community." "A wonderful rennovation of a Martello Tower, now put to use as a fascinating exhibition centre. A great surprise to stumble across something that is so interesting and free of charge!" "Very interesting lovely views and it is great its free. Jaywick is lovely place for walks and its lovely to see all beautiful things and nice place to stay all year round and we would like to hear more about history of it." "The exhibition is very interesting and wonderfully collected."
Spirit of Jaywick Exhibition at JMT
April - August 2009
Free Spring Talks
March - May 2009
Some highlights of JMT weekly Spring Talks 2009 included;
Essex Railways in the 19th Century, Harwich Redoubt, A Trip Round the Walton Backwaters, Coastal Erosion and Scenery and a visit to St Osyth church with local historian Mark Roberts.
A taste of the Orient came to the seaside when Chinese dance artist Sin-man Yue, and musician Zeng-hui Qiu performed at JMT as part of the Essex-Jiangsu festival. The two artists demonstrated traditional Chinese dance and ran three workshops during the day-long event for those keen to learn some traditional Chinese performance art.
Chinese Dance Demonstration and Workshop
Sunday 14 December 2008
46 Brooklands Gardens
Summer 2008 – Spring 2009
JMT worked in collaboration with firstsite in Colchester on an art commissioning programme with the aim of inviting local people to engage with issues relating to contemporary art, and enabling an artist of international standing to enter a dialogue with a unique place and audience.
Nathan Coley was invited to make a work in a location of his choice in Essex, and after several tours of the county he found his response to Jaywick was the most immediate and potentially fruitful, and in particular he was interested in making a work in Brooklands.
Colchester-based artist Clare Iles was commissioned to work with Nathan and residents while developing her own practice. Having previously worked in Jaywickm, and building on her long-held interest in, and affection for the town, Clare was based in Brooklands over the summer of 2008. She slept outside using furniture she had made herself, and met residents on an informal basis to learn about the area and its people.
Nathan’s work, 46 Brooklands Gardens, was designed and installed on site at the beginning of November 2008 and was in place until February 2009. Residents and Friends of Brooklands and the Friends of JMT were closely involved in the development of the project and the construction of the installation. A series of events were also held during the winter to explore some of the ideas and inspirations for Nathan's work.
During the installation there were opportunities to visit JMT where documentary resources about the project were on display. By re-creating the form of an informal sitting area, visitors were able to browse through publications about some of Nathan's previous works, watch a short documentary film, ask questions and discuss the installation at 46 Brooklands Gardens. Some residents disliked the installation while others were inspired by Nathan’s work, including Ian Burit, who wrote a poem in response to Nathan’s previous work.
The project was funded by firstsite, Henry Moore Foundation and Essex County Council.
Free Autumn Talks
September - November 2008
Autumn 2008 popular free talks included;
The East Coast Floods of 1953, The Strange Story of Food, The Napoleonic Artillerymen, The Story of the Universe and Jill Cook from the British Museum gave insight into Jaywick and the Earliest Human Settlement in Britain.
JMT, the Martello Beach Caravan Park and a Working Group of local residents held a Summer Fayre around the Tower in August 2008. The Fayre was in part a recreation of the Jaywick 1934 Carnival including a Classic Car show, a Jazz Band, traditional carnival games and attractions. Jaywick organizations collaborated with the local community to put on the event which was hailed as a great success. Over 1500 attended the event, with profits donated to local community organizations. There was twinning ceremony during the day between Studd Hill in Kent and Jaywick. Both villages were built by the Stedman family and have numerous similarities including the same road names.
Leaving a Legacy Students from Bishops Park College and Colbayns High School collaborated with Triggerset, one of the UK's leading Video DJ collectives, to create a celebration of the Jaywick community through music, video and photography. Materials produced by the students during workshops held at the tower, including oral history interviews with local residents which were exhibited in an interactive exhibition at the Tower from April to June 2008.
February - June 2008, (internet resource is ongoing)
Free Spring Talks
February - March 2008
JMT's Spring Talks 2008 included;
The building of the Martello Towers, The Jaywick Miniature Railway, The Flora and Fauna of St Osyth and Jaywick, The Development of Dot's Newsagents in Jaywick and The Napoleonic Wars From the British Perspective.
Victorian Christmas Craft Fair
16 December 2007
Father Christmas was in attendance giving out free presents for every child. Residents sold seasonal produce and gifts, and some also dressed in Victorian costume for the occasion. Local businesses supplied raffle prizes and Frobisher Primary School made all the Christmas decorations. Seasonal music and a key board player added to the atmosphere and refreshments were available all day. Over 150 people attended the event.
WINDscale
October 2007 to March 2008
Essex artist Rob Smith showed an environmentally responsive video installation called 'WINDscale' at Jaywick Martello Tower. An anemometer constantly measured the speed of the wind, and this data was linked to a computer controlled video that responded to the changes in wind speed.
Rob Smith’s project made connections between real environmental conditions and the images that were produced, which presented an ephemeral image that was itself affected by the random effects of the wind over a period of time.
Jaywick was the first location for this project which was developed over one year to connect with venues in Shanghai, the Artsway in the New Forest, Hackney Wick and Southampton.
This project was supported by Arts Council England, Essex County Council, SCAN, Artsway, Space Media. Rob Smith is part of Escalator Visual Arts, an initiative by Arts Council England, East to support talented artists in the area.
See Rob Smiths’ website www.robsmith.me.uk/ for more information
Cross Fade
October - December 2007
Using material from the Clean Slate event during the summer of 2007 (where visitors to Jaywick Martello Tower were encouraged to create their own artworks about what Jaywick means to them) local artist Rosemary Mackinder responded to some of these contributions by creating new and exciting artworks.
Using our three themes of Community, Heritage and Environment, Rosemary explored the richness of the original material, while interpreting the perspectives that led to these creative and spontaneous contributions. While some examples were chosen to be exhibited simply as they were drawn or written, other works were incorporated into Rosemary's own personal responses for her exhibition.
Friends of Brooklands Anniversary Showcase
27 October 2007
Organised by the Friends of Brooklands to commemerate their first anniversary, celebrate their achievements in Jaywick in 2007 and to showcase the strong community cohesion that exists locally. The FOBs worked in partnership with other local organisations includeing Hutley's Caravan Park, Park Resorts, The Green Team and the Jaywick Gardening Club, Jaywick Local Historical Society, Tudor Residents Association, Signpost, Brooklands Classics, Interaction and the Community Wardens and Bishops Park College. Over 300 visitors attended on the day. Part of the proceeds went towards setting up a fund to continue community programming at the Tower.
The event highlighted the roles of each organisation and a representative was available to explain further the work that is being done in Jaywick. Two films were also shown on the Tower's large screen: ITV's East Coast Arcadia , and Karen Whitread's Jaywick Rocks.
JMT invited the community to bring forward any photographs, postcards, posters - any images that can be scanned to start creating a Digital Archive. We encourage interested people to assist in the creation of a digital Community Archive, by gathering still and moving images and audio materials.
Workshops with Linda Arkley
August 2007
Linda Arkley ran a series of fun and exciting workshops throughout August 2007 for families and young people in partnership with Jaywick Martello Tower.
In the Old and New Perspectives workshop, participants explored Jaywick's past and present by creating their own postcard collage, using a wide range of media, including digital printouts and found objects.
The Cultural Trail workshop inspired participants to find out more about the heritage of the Martello Towers. Activities included: comparing the architectural details of Jaywick's Tower with that of other towers along the east coast, and creating 3D models of a Martello Tower from recycled materials, then placing the model onto a large scale, hand drawn map of the east coast.
Linda Arkley, artist and workshop leader said: "I wanted to create workshops that tied together the themes of JMT: community, heritage and environment. Inspired by William Steven's collection, families and young people created their own postcards made from the natural environment."
Something to Sing About
July 2007 - April 2008
William Stevens, a local amateur historian, with his wife Pam, have collected over 200 postcards of Jaywick. These early images celebrate a sense of place that is still evident in Jaywick today. A selection was on show at the Tower, as part of a rich archive of historic material being preserved for the community.
Clean Slate
July-September 2007
An exhibition created by the residents of Jaywick and summer visitors to the area. It started with 17 blank canvases, a box full of paints, brushes, pens and pencils as a chance for visitors to express thoughts and images of their community using the three themes of Heritage, Environment and Community. Over a period of twelve weeks over 2000 visitors contributed to the exhibition which later formed the basis for 'Cross Fade'.
Jaywick Rocks was a film made by artist Karen Lois Whiteread in Summer 2006. Karen spent the summer holidays talking to and filming people in Jaywick to find out what was special to them about the place they choose to live or holiday in. Over 100 people were involved in the project, resulting in over 20 hours of footage for editing. Jaywick residents expressed through their own words, their enthusiasm for their community and deep sense of their own history.