Lawford – Details, episodes & analysis

Tom West is a serial entrepreneur & champion of our local community in the Stour Valley. Tom is the proprietor of several popular local pubs including The Red Lion in Manningtree & the Marlborough in Dedham while Tom is also the founder of an exciting start up called RentMy.com, in this episode we chat with Tom about

• What was & what might have been when it came to his highly promising sporting career in both Football & Basketball
• We chat about his move into the pub trade and how he has built a chain of hugely popular, community focused pubs
• We pivot to his new internet business, RentMy.com - which is best described as an Airbnb of everything - a platform where you can rent anything, from anyone, anywhere!
• Tom gives some insights on the local & international start up communities he is involved in and coins the fabulous term Silicone Stour
• We close with some passionate comments from Tom about the joy he takes from living in this beautiful part of the world and his passion for making the greater Manningtree area a brilliant community to live in and to do business in

In this episode we had a wonderful chat with David Webb in which we covered

• David's career highlight performing to 20 million people regularly as part of the cast of Hi-de-Hi!
• Performing for the Queen at the Royal Variety Show, rubbing shoulders with Vera Lynn, Bruce Forsyth, Roy Castle  & many more
•  His move into broadcasting and award winning documentary making including his work documenting the travels of Suffolk explorer Bartholomew Gosnold
• David's love for Ipswich Town Football Club and the joy he got from working at the club
• David's love for the local area and his passion projects producing films on Walton Backwaters, Mistley, Constable Country & more

David is incredibly fluid in conversation and incredibly passionate about embracing life, living it to the full. A real pleasure to spend time in his company. Thank you David.

Jenny & Richard Hudson have built & operate the fabulous Lawford House Pool (please take a look at the website https://www.lawfordhousepool.co.uk/ - its a truly beautiful building and setting). Lawford House Pool pool is specifically designed to be accessible for those with limited mobility - more context to come on that.

In this chat we cover

• Jennys early life in Kenya and re-locating to the UK after the Mau Mau rebellion
• Jennys career in the film industry which took her from Cannes to the Wild Atlantic Way
• Jennys love of horses, which saw her produce leading contenders at Burley
• Jennys 2015 accident (broke her neck, her back in multiple places & suffered a crushed spinal cord), how that experience has inspired here passion for physical rehabilitation for those with spinal injuries  and ultimately led to the building of Lawford House Pool

Jenny is a tonic, she & Richard have created something very special in our village - hope you all enjoy listening to this one as much as I did recording it.

Additional Reference Material

• The Hanging Gale
• The McGann Brothers
• Rooprai Trust
• Aspire
• Essex Air Ambulance

In this episode of Lawford we cover amazing not for profit organisations operating in our village. Namely the Lawford Housing Trust, The John Leach Educational Trust & The Cox & Hales Almshouses. We chat with Alan Coley, Chair of all 3 organisations as well as Val & Carlo Guglielmi who have been actively involved for a long period.

• Lawford Housing Enterprise Trust: a 25 property trust supporting local people get on the housing ladder via a discounted rental structure with a savings plan built in
• John Leach Educational Trust: supporting the education of Lawford children since the 1700's
• COX AND HALES ALMSHOUSES: 3 properties in the village

The chat focused on the housing trust which is a truly unique offering providing homes for local residents with the ultimate aim of helping them get on the property ladder. We then chat about the very long serving John Leach Education Trust & The Alms Houses.

For Reference

• More on Lawford Housing Enterprise Trust - https://www.lhet.org/  
• More on John Leach - https://www.essexarchivesonline.co.uk/Result_Details.aspx?DocID=967847 
• Charity Commission - John Leach https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/310766/charity-overview 
• More on the Alms Houses on Cox's Hill Lawford https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/213752 

Manningtree Mermaids are an inspirational collection of year round swimmers. In this episode we chat about 

• Wild Swimming | The Physical & Mental Health Benefits
• The history of the mermaids  - a bright spark from the COVID Years
• The groups parallel campaign for elevated water quality in Manningtree
• The upcoming Beach Day on 27th of May - fun for all the family
• Lots lots more.....

For more details on Manningtree Mermaids https://www.facebook.com/groups/346297944087285/

Bathing Water Status https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-64595307

On this episode we are delighted to chat with Luke Edgar or Edgar Arts. Topics covered include

• Luke's unique art process of tattooing on metal
• Luke's passion for body art and how he set out on his unique journey
• Luke's studio in Summers Park, its foundation & evolution
• As well as a quick chat about the changing role of art in the community
• See Luke's incredible work on Instagram, on edgartarts.co.uk or just drop an email and pop in

In todays episode we chat with Hilary Cook, Headteacher of Highfields Primary School in Lawford. Some of the topics covered include

• How Hilary went from a budding Opera star to finding her passion for education
• How that passion has seen her & her staff transform Highfields School into one of only 3 North Essex Primary Schools recognised as outstanding
• How Hilary herself has been recognised in the National Headteacher of the Year Awards
• How the school is both its own community and yet deeply integrated with the broader community of villages around us (Lawford, Mistley, Manningtree & beyond)
• And much much more

Show Notes

• https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/114769
• https://www.teachingawards.com/award-winner/hilary-cook/

On this episode we are delighted to chat with Caroline & John Hall. Topics covered include

• Receiving an MBE for work in the field of conservation
• The birth of PACE & the Earth Festival
• Education at Oxford to working as an Essex "postie"
• Falling in love in a spruce forest in Mid Wales
• Swing dancing and the end game for Ardleigh sports hall floor 
• Lots, lots more....

Links for more information

• https://www.pacemanningtree.org.uk
• https://manningtreeearthfestival.org

Thank you for tuning into the 1st of our longer form Lawford Parish Council Podcasts. The longer form podcasts aim to some of the amazing & interesting people who live in our community.

Today we meet the Guglielmi's - Val & Carlo are cornerstones of our village and our chat today covers

• Their Origin Stories | from Ardleigh & Southern Italy respectively
• Their years running the Honeycroft & other local post offices
• Their local activism which ultimately led to the cut & thrust of political life
• Correcting the King and lots more besides

• Dean's early life in Lawford, and the personal tragedy that acted as a catalyst for his wanderlust and his embrace of life thereafter 
• We travel with Dean from Spain, to Azerbaijan, from USA to China and lots more
• We hear about the sliding doors moment that lead to Dean & his wife Grace meeting and the subsequent travails with the UK Home Office
• Finally we hear about the experiences & motivation that lead to the creation of Fitness @Summers Park and how it serves the full community, including those with specific medical considerations