Our Essex

Essex is a wonderful county with a beautiful coastline, lovely villages and a great deal of history. The name Essex derives from the East Seaxe or East Saxons. Colchester in the north east of the county is Britain’s oldest recorded town, dating back to before the Roman conquest, when it was known as Camulodunon, and was sufficiently well-developed to have its own mint.

We have many interesting places and interesting people in the county: people who have totally changed their lifestyles to a more natural way of living; people who have dedicated their lives to helping others; people who are striving in many ways to make a difference to their lives and to the community.

Our Essex will feature some of these people, places and other interesting aspects of our lovely county.

We can also highly recommend www.visitessex.com This is the official home of Essex Tourism and is an excellent source of information.

Essex, like everwhere else in the country and indeed the world, is changing at an incredible speed. In the blink of an eye technology leaps forward light years and what was once science fiction rapidly becomes reality.

We certainly need to plan for the future, and plan very carefully indeed if humanity is not only to survive but survive with dignity and the joy of living that seems to escape so many of us. The conflict between essential developments necessary to ensure we can house, feed and cloth the growing population and the fight to retain our ‘green and pleasant land’ will no doubt continue indefinitely.

As we struggle to keep pace with this frantic world we often lose the sense of who we are. Sometimes it helps to look back and reflect on the past: both the struggles and the glories of previous generations. Our heritage in Essex comes in many guises, from lowly fisherman’s cottages to wonderful stately homes and Anglo-Saxon burial sites.

It is good to think back to our grass roots and to see how our forbears lived, worked and played.  It is particularly relevant to think back just a generation or two to ensure progress is genuine progress that isn’t at the expense of happier, healthier, greener lifestyles.