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EXTENDING THE DEDHAM VALE AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY (AONB)

Map showing the area of outstanding natural beauty to the right. The long term aim is to extend the AONB up to Haverhill. However the next application will be from Wormingford to south of Sudbury.

Summary

The existing Dedham Vale AONB should be extended a few miles further upstream in the Stour valley towards Sudbury to include the hilly areas around the picturesque villages of Bures, Lamarsh, Alphamstone and Henny.

This has been proposed before and until 1991 much of the area was designated Potential AONB. The key arguments for this extension are: 1. The area can be shown to meet the criteria of Outstanding Natural Beauty as laid out in Section 82 (1) of the Countryside & Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000.
2. The area has always been known for its gentle farmed landscape qualities and was the subject of paintings by Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable and other famous artists.
3. The area has been greatly enhanced in the past two decades by farmers adopting the various countryside stewardship schemes to help fund a wealth of hedge planting, pond restoration, woodland creation and other conservation measures.
4. This proposal has the support of all local authorities including Essex and Suffolk County Councils and has been proposed to Natural England, the regulatory body which makes the designation.
5. The proposal is now urgent as National Grid is in the throes of decisions on the forthcoming new East-West power lines that will cross the valley. It has already agreed to underground the new lines across the Stour Valley; itself a recognition of the area’s exceptional natural beauty – but funding to underground the existing 400kV structures at the same time will only be possible, as things stand, if the area has AONB status.

The Role of AONBs

The main reason why AONB status is so important is that it gives much enhanced protection to the countryside. This does not mean that no development is ever allowed, but controls on quality are tighter and any changes should be appropriate to the landscape character. Other beneficiaries from AONB status include all who rely on tourism such as pubs, bed & breakfast accommodation and local shops. It can also include priority areas for environmental schemes delivered by farmers. Existing property values should also benefit from the restrictions on further development. Funds are available to help with environmentally friendly community and economic projects and can be given to remedial activities such as undergrounding low voltage wires and, in some cases, associated telephone lines.

The recent changes in planning legislation confirm protection for AONBs but make development, which may or may not be appropriate, much easier elsewhere. It is instructive to read the document “Designation History Series, Dedham Vale AONB” which gives a clear account of the lengthy process required to achieve AONB status. It was produced in May 2010 by Natural England, the Government’s advisor on the natural environment, and details the steps showing how and why these areas were added to the original AONB.

The Dedham Vale AONB

The Dedham Vale was first designated as an AONB in 1970 and there have been only two extensions since. The first added a small area consisting of Shelley and Raydon in 1978.

From the same year, the Dedham Vale Society, the Colne Stour Countryside Association and local authorities, notably Essex and Suffolk County Councils, campaigned for AONB status to be granted to an area comprising Nayland, Wissington, Wormingford, Bures, Mount Bures, Lamarsh and Alphamstone, all of which were given the official designation “Potential AONB”. After a series of inspections, meetings and much correspondence over a decade or more, the Countryside Commission, the body that at that time had the power to designate land as AONB, decided to recommend only the small extension including Nayland, Wissington and Arger Fen, of six and a half square miles. Its report speaks of “degradation in the landscape” beyond this point and the character of the valley being different to the area recommended. The designation “Potential AONB” was removed in 1991 and we were told that evidence of substantial improvement in landscape quality would be needed before the Countryside Commission decision could be reviewed. My own opinion is that the Commission, and in particular the employee, who made the recommendations, never visited the enchanting, often hidden, side-valleys on both sides of the river which frequently amaze visitors by their exquisite and unexpected delicate beauty.

 

245 acres of grassland.

Changing farming practices in the area However, in the main valley, the Commission had a point. As with all arable land, the 1970s and 80s were a time when most farmers had little regard for the environment. Many ancient boundary hedges had been ripped out without any understanding of their antiquity or importance. Ponds had been filled in, public footpaths ploughed up and fields were cultivated to the tarmac on country lanes.

But perhaps most damaging to the landscape and to the reputation of farming was the widespread practice of burning straw after harvest. Indeed, the Stour Valley from the top of Wormingford Hill sometimes looked as if it was the film set for the Battle of Stalingrad with fires and columns of smoke as far as the eye could see and often burning woodland and hedgerows as well. The resulting dirt and damage to households, hospitals, schools and businesses, particularly after the 1989 harvest, provoked a furious reaction from town and country people alike and stubble burning was finally banned by John Gummer (now Lord Deben) when Minister for Agriculture from 1992 onwards.

That was over 20 years ago and much has changed. 30 years of happy conservation!

 

30 years of happy conservation!

A 38 page document from Natural England entitled “Guidance for Assessing Landscapes for Designation as National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England” sets out in detail what is required. The formal wording is: Section 82(1) of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 ( ?CROW?) defines an AONB in England as an area that is not in a National Park but which appears to Natural England to be of such outstanding natural beauty that it is desirable that the protective provisions of Part IV of CROW should apply to it for the purpose of conserving and enhancing the area‘s natural beauty. In such circumstances Natural England may, by order, designate the area as an AONB.

Beauty as such is not precisely defined but the factors to be considered are landscape quality, scenic quality, relative wildness, relative tranquillity, natural heritage features and cultural heritage. The Guidance defines this as “the influence of cultural heritage on the perception of natural beauty of the area and the degree to which associations with particular people, artists, writers or events in history contribute to such perception.” The fact that, as in our case, the landscape is entirely man-made over the centuries is understood. It is worth studying the detailed criteria but in my view, the Stour Valley ticks all the boxes even though more remains to be done. The concerns of the Countryside Commission of two decades ago have been addressed.

There has been new legislation such as the CROW Act but as important has been the change in farmers’ attitudes to environmental factors and the realisation that the overwhelming majority, who are not farmers, want the landscape to look attractive as well as be productive.

Attitudes have been helped by programmes such as the Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme (ESA) for the Suffolk River Valleys, introduced in 1987 and Countryside Stewardship, introduced in 1992 both of which gave financial support to landowners who were prepared to put part of their land into agri-environmental schemes. These involved wildflower meadows and other attractive options which were particularly encouraged in Suffolk river valleys. It is interesting to note that the ESA scheme encompassed the Stour Valley to Sudbury to include both the Dedham Vale AONB and the area which is the subject of this paper.

From 2007, the programme of Environmental Stewardship was introduced on two levels. The simplest is called Entry Level Stewardship where in return for modest payments, farmers commit to a range of options to improve the landscape. For example, letting taller and wider hedges grow up and sowing grass margins (formerly known as headlands) around arable fields are amongst the most popular. Nearly all farmers in the Stour Valley have joined this scheme and the benefits are already apparent.

Hazel hedges to improve the landscape.

 

Approximately 7 miles of hedges planted.

 

Phacelia, borage and clover strips to attract wildlife. Five acre lake and conservation washland created in 2001. New homes to swans, geese, ducks, widgeon, snipe, coots etc. Many farmers in the Valley are also enrolled in the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme (HLS). This is considerably more demanding in terms of land management and there are many options, all of which raise the quality of the landscape from an environmental viewpoint. HLS is a ten year commitment and is not automatically awarded. In fact Natural England, which administers the scheme, has concentrated resources in this region on the Stour Valley and the impact has been significant.

 

Phacelia, borage and clover strips to attract wildlife.

Many miles of hedgerows and acres of woods have been planted, ponds have been restored and most arable fields now have a two, six or sometimes ten metre margin, often set with native wild flowers and which encourage songbirds and other wild life. A number of landowners have undergrounded telephone and low voltage electricity cables. Many of the old water meadows which were ploughed up in the era of intensive farming have been returned to their original condition and, taken as a whole, the landscape quality has been transformed for the better over the past twenty years.

Five acre lake and conservation washland created in 2001.

New homes to swans, geese, ducks, widgeon, snipe, coots etc. Dedham Vale AONB & Stour Valley Project Partnership
Another important factor has been the work of the Dedham Vale AONB & Stour Valley Project Partnership (the Project) which was set up in 1981 with responsibility for the AONB.

The Project area was extended in 1988 and 1992 to include the Stour Valley right up to the headwaters of the river at Great Bradley in Cambridgeshire (see map). The Project is funded by DEFRA (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and also by Essex and Suffolk County Councils, Colchester and St Edmundsbury Borough Councils and Babergh, Braintree and Tendring District Councils. The Project joint managers are Katherine Potts and Simon Amstutz, both highly experienced and effective, who with their small staff and large number of volunteers have done wonderful work throughout the valley. If the AONB is to be extended, the new area will have to have a formal management structure. In our case it already exists and is working to good effect with local farmers and others. The case for extending the AONB is already known, understood and supported by all the official bodies concerned because local authority Councillors and Officers work together on the Project Joint Advisory Committee and Partnership. It was at a meeting of the Project Partnership in November 2009 that the resolution was passed “to issue a statement of intent to Natural England seeking an Extension of the Dedham Vale AONB, including westward towards Sudbury and to evaluate and provide a substantive case and detail in support of an extension.” This intention has been incorporated in the area’s Management Plan 2010-2015 and acknowledged by Natural England as one of a number of requests for boundary changes put to it. The strong support of local authorities is vital and this has been forthcoming both from Councillors and Officers, with Suffolk County Council taking the lead. An AONB is a legal entity for which the local authorities concerned have to take responsibility and meet certain requirements laid down by Acts of Parliament. In straightened economic times further spending commitments will be unwelcome so it will be necessary for funding to be realised from other sources. This will present difficulties but they can be surmounted. For example, Managing a Masterpiece, funded mainly through the Heritage Lottery Fund, (whose work is described elsewhere in this magazine), has raised the profile of the Stour Valley through its wide range of projects, not least the understanding of local history and archaeology.

Other supportive factors for granting the area AONB status

A further key factor has been the research which has identified works by major artists notably Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable in the area. Specific views by Gainsborough in Henny, Lamarsh and Bures have been identified and Constable’s connection with Bures, where his grandfather was miller have shown he was active in this section of the valley, with his painting Lamarsh Hall (actually Daws Hall), a well-known example. The wealth of Grade 1 and Grade 2 listed buildings has also been highlighted.

In the years since 1992 there has been only a modest amount of development in the area. A few regrettable farm buildings have been more than balanced by some sensitive restorations. For example the ugly cheese factory in Bures with its industrial chimney has been replaced with a charming housing development which blends in well with the historic Church Square. Essex and Suffolk Water has built a pumping station near Bures, effectively disguised as a large Essex barn. The few telephone masts in the valley may become redundant as technology makes them unnecessary. Even the prominent masts at Assington with their red lights at night will probably be needed for only a few more years, and their removal will be welcome.

The river itself was also degraded in the late 1960s by Anglian Water building dykes from Bures to Sudbury, ostensibly to prevent flooding. Under the Water Framework Directive (to improve the ecological status of water bodies) the Dedham Vale AONB & Stour Valley Project are now looking at some potential river improvement and restoration schemes.

National Grid powerline plans lend urgency to the issue of AONB status

The major issue over the last three years, however, has been the intention by National Grid (NG) to build a new 400kV power line from Bramford to Twinstead. After consulting widely, NG has decided to place the new line underground across the Stour Valley, the first time that it has agreed to do so outside an urban area, AONB or National Park which is recognition of the scenic, cultural and historic quality of the landscape.

The older, 132kV overhead line is to go and the pressure will now be on to get the existing 400kV power line undergrounded at the same time as the new one is installed. The removal of these eyesores would be a huge benefit and restore the timeless integrity of the valley.

Electricity lines buried at Chapel Meadows.

However, the immediate problem is that, although NG has been told by its regulator OFGEM that £500million can be spent on remedial work undergrounding unsightly overhead lines, it applies only in AONBs and National Parks. This unique opportunity to get rid of such horribly damaging structures will be lost unless either the rules are changed or the Stour Valley achieves AONB status. As work is planned to begin in 2016, time is very short.
Conclusion

Because of this dilemma, I believe it is now urgent that AONB status should be sought for the Stour Valley from its present boundary to a line South of Sudbury, probably to include parts of Little Cornard, Henny and Twinstead. A Landscape Character Assessment will be required, not least to recommend exact boundaries, although much of the detailed work has already been done by other bodies. Approaches have been made to people who could undertake further work, and it is conceivable that funds could be raised from sympathetic organisations and local residents to pay for the survey.

Subject to the conclusions of the resulting report, the case can then be made to Natural England and, provided there are no last minute objections, a public enquiry will not be required.

I am confident that Natural England’s demanding criteria can be met and we must hope that the urgency of our case can persuade it to allow our application to go forward alongside that of Suffolk Coasts & Heaths AONB who are hoping to have the South bank of the Stour Estuary included and which is now near the top of the queue. The wholehearted backing for this vision from all concerned will be a key factor in realising our goal.

Robert Erith

Robert Erith has lived in Lamarsh overlooking the Stour Valley since 1966. He is President of The Dedham Vale Society and on the Committee of the CSCA. His farmland is mostly within the proposed extension of the AONB and in recent years he has joined the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. He has replanted hedgerows and added many trees, mainly oak. Geoffrey Probert , who lives at Bevills, Bures, has provided all the pictures for this article and, as can be seen, he has transformed his land so that it now adds to the scenic value of the proposed extension of the AONB.

Bevills Farm sits on the bend of the Stour river around Bures village.

2023 - Read about the wonderful new gallery being built in Sudbury for Gainsborough's masterpieces; follow the trail of a tireless local environmental campaigner; get ready for the second EA cultural festival, the Bures music festival and Opera at Layer Marney; discover the beautiful garden of Holm House with its wildflower meadow and lake; travel through the Colne valley along the Gainsborough line; find out where you can get local financial advice; enjoy an illustrated walk in the Stour Valley; and read our Chairman's update on proposed housing developments, solar farms, and the National Grid's Bramford to Twinstead electricity grid reinforcement project. 

2022 - Read about the wonderful new gallery being built in Sudbury for Gainsborough's masterpieces; follow the trail of a tireless local environmental campaigner; get ready for the second EA cultural festival, the Bures music festival and Opera at Layer Marney; discover the beautiful garden of Holm House with its wildflower meadow and lake; travel through the Colne valley along the Gainsborough line; find out where you can get local financial advice; enjoy an illustrated walk in the Stour Valley; and read our Chairman's update on proposed housing developments, solar farms, and the National Grid's Bramford to Twinstead electricity grid reinforcement project. 

2022 Magazine
Year: 2022
Chairman’s Letter
Year: 2022
Rebel with a cause
Year: 2022
A National Centre for Thomas Gainsborough’s Masterpieces
Year: 2022
EA Festival at Hedingham Castle
Category: Culture
Year: 2022
The Gainsborough Line
Category: Adventure. Travel, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2022
Music, Mischief and Mayhem – Opera at Layer Marney
Year: 2022
Bures Music Festival
Year: 2022
Holm House Gardens in Suffolk
Year: 2022

2020 - Welcome to our 2020 lockdown edition - only published ONLINE. Read about the wonderful Alfred Munnings Exhibition "Behind the Lines"; find out how the beavers have been getting on at the Spains Hall Estate in Finchingfield, introduced back into Essex after an absence of 400 years; explore the link between Ferriers in Bures and the Voyage of the Mayflower, the Salem Witch trials and Wampum belts; read a fascinating interview with Carl Shillingford, talented Michelin chef and keen local forager; and enjoy a celebratory update from Ken Forrester on South African wines and his support for a wonderful local school.  

2020 Magazine
Year: 2020
Chairman’s Letter
Year: 2020
Behind the Lines: Alfred Munnings, War Artist
Category: Art, Culture
Year: 2020
The Foragers Retreat – Michelin chef in Pebmarsh.
Category: Food, Nature
Year: 2020
Dam Good Job – Beavers back in Essex after 400 years.
Category: Explore Colne Stour, Nature
Year: 2020
Ferriers – a Bures house and its connection to the Mayflower.
Category: Adventure. Travel, Architectural Interest, Culture, History
Year: 2020
Three special milestones for Ken Forrester Wines  
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2020

2019 - Read about Tudor living on a grand scale at Alston Court, how Samuel Courtauld & Co. shaped our towns and villages, hear inspiring stories of local vineyards Tuffon Hall and West Street, get an update on the Dedham Vale AONB extension, and take a tour round Polstead Mill, one of East Anglia's beautiful secret gardens. 

Chairman’s Letter
Year: 2019
Dedham Vale AONB extension
Year: 2019
The Tuffon Hall Transformation
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2019
A Hong Kong racehorse in an Essex field
Category: Nature
Year: 2019
Andy Gentle – A chainsaw love affair
Category: Business
Year: 2019
A vivid insight into Tudor living on the grand scale.
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2019
Underground Moats & Zinc Cathedrals
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2019
Secret Gardens of East Anglia – Polstead Mill
Category: Gardens
Year: 2019
Repairing the damage of a supermarket delivery van
Year: 2019
How Samuel Courtauld and Co. shaped our towns and villages
Category: Architectural Interest, Culture, History
Year: 2019
Ken Forrester
Year: 2019
CSCA Photography Competition
Year: 2019
Garden Visits
Category: Gardens
Year: 2019
Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2019

2018 - Read about Hedingham Castle, a new National Centre for Gainsborough in Sudbury, award-winning new Gins from Adnams, aspects of our Industrial Heritage, the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, the Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley Project, and take a look at the proposed new Constitution for CSCA.. 

Chairmans Letter April 2018
Category: Annual, News, Planning Issues
Year: 2018
History of the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds
Category: Architectural Interest, Art, Culture, History
Year: 2018
Another Suffolk Success Story – Time for a G & T?
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2018
Some more aspects of our Industrial Heritage
Category: Agricultural, Brewing, distilling and wine, History
Year: 2018
An Earl’s Tower
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2018
A Castle Reborn
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2018
Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley Project
Category: Explore Colne Stour, Nature, Planning Issues
Year: 2018
A National Centre for Gainsborough set within the town where he was born and the landscape that inspired him
Category: Architectural Interest, Art, History
Year: 2018
Garden Visits
Category: Gardens, History
Year: 2018
Treasurer’s Report
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2018
New Constitution
Year: 2018
Editor’s Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2018

2017 - Read about our local industrial heritage, Paycocke's House history, why heritage matters, the art of Alfred Munnings, a haunted house in Lamarsh, celebrating Gainsborough, the beauty of recreating Cedric Morris's Iris collection and a small wine snippet from Ken Forrester. 

Chairmans Letter April 2017
Category: Annual, News, Planning Issues
Year: 2017
Heritage Matters
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2017
Some aspects of our Industrial Heritage
Category: History
Year: 2017
Paycocke’s House: a witness to history
Category: Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2017
The House of his Dreams: Reimagining The Munnings Art Museum
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2017
‘The Haunted House’ of Lamarsh – Some Early Reflections
Category: History
Year: 2017
Gainsborough’s House: Celebrating the Past and Looking to the Future
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2017
Another, highly unusual, Suffolk Success Story
Category: Gardens, Nature
Year: 2017
Garden Visits 2017
Category: Gardens, Nature
Year: 2017
Dirty Little Secret
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2017
Website
Category: News
Year: 2017
Editor’s Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2017
Treasurer’s Report
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2017

2016 - Interesting articles on medieval graffiti, farming in the Stour Valley, exploring our AONB, early settlers from the Stour Valley to America, the archaeology of a local farm, a wonderful catalogue of British birds, celebrating a Suffolk joinery business, the weather from a South African winery. 

Chairmans Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2016
Medieval Graffiti: the hidden histories…
Category: History
Year: 2016
Stour Valley Farming
Category: Business
Year: 2016
The Godly Kingdom of the Stour Valley
Category: History
Year: 2016
Keeping It Special in the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Stour Valley Project
Category: Nature
Year: 2016
Lodge Farm, Rectory Road, Wyverstone Street, Suffolk
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2016
A Miscellany of Information about British Birds
Category: Nature
Year: 2016
Another Suffolk Success Story
Category: Business
Year: 2016
Garden Visits
Category: Gardens
Year: 2016
Harvest, Fires and Fynbos
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2016
LOOKING FORWARDS, BEFORE I GET LEFT BEHIND….
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2016
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2016
Annual General Meeting and Summer Party
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2016
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2016

2015 - The life and times of a flint knapper. A continuation about the history of the ancient farm at Henny and a visit to the inside of Alston Court, Nayland as well as an insight into The Antiques Roadshow.  

Chairman’s Letter – February 2015
Category: Annual
Year: 2015
Caught Knapping
Category: History
Year: 2015
ALSTON COURT
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2015
ORGANIC MUTTERINGS
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2015
THE STORY OF SPARROW’S FARM, GREAT HENNY – PART 2
Category: History
Year: 2015
ON AND OFF THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW
Category: Business
Year: 2015
UNLOCKING THE ARTIST WITHIN: FINE ART LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2015
BADGERS – LOVE’EM, OR HATE’EM?
Category: Nature
Year: 2015
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Gardens
Year: 2015
FORRESTER VINEYARDS, SOUTH AFRICA
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2015
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2015
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2015

2014 - A hair-raising flight from UK to South Africa and an insight into the Wineries of Stellenbosch. An exceptional old mill just outside Bures and a most unusual chapel on the hill behind, as well as a time warp farm at Henny. 

Chairman’s Letter – February 2014
Category: Annual
Year: 2014
ST. STEPHEN’S CHAPEL, BURES
Category: History
Year: 2014
THE STELLENBOSCH WINE ROUTE – THE PEOPLE AND THE DOGS!
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2014
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF A FLIGHT TO STELLENBOSCH AND BACK
Category: Adventure. Travel
Year: 2014
A SUFFOLK SUCCESS STORY – JIM LAWRENCE LTD
Category: Business
Year: 2014
HOLD FARM, BURES ST MARY; A RARE TUDOR WATERMILL
Category: Architectural Interest
Year: 2014
THE STORY OF SPARROW’S FARM, GREAT HENNY
Category: History
Year: 2014
YOUR COUNTRYSIDE – FIGHT FOR IT NOW! your Britain fight for it now
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2014
TUNBRIDGEWARE
Category: History
Year: 2014
EXTENDING THE DEDHAM VALE AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY (AONB) – UPDATE
Category: News, Planning Issues
Year: 2014
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Annual, Gardens
Year: 2014
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2014
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2014

2013 - Watermills on the Stour. How Constable and Gainsborough would have seen many of the buildings in our area. Let’s protect the Stour Valley by extending the AONB from where we take over from The Dedham Vale at Wormingford towards Sudbury. 

Chairman’s Letter – February 2013
Category: Annual
Year: 2013
THE WATERMILLS OF THE RIVER STOUR
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2013
MANAGING A MASTERPIECE: THE STOUR VALLEY LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP
Category: Art, History
Year: 2013
EXTENDING THE DEDHAM VALE AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY (AONB)
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2013
BUILDINGS IN THE EAST ANGLIAN LANDSCAPE – AS SEEN BY JOHN CONSTABLE
Category: Art, History
Year: 2013
THE ROUND CHURCH AT MAPLESTEAD
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2013
THE FINE WINES OF ENGLAND
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2013
PROGRESS AGAINST PYLONS: A ROUNDUP OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PYLONS SAGA
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2013
TEA AND THE TEA CADDY A BRIEF STUDY OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF TEA AND ITS CONTAINERS
Category: History
Year: 2013
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Annual, Gardens
Year: 2013
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2013
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2013

2012 - A walk through many of the churches along the River Stour and how the Romans once lived right here in our midst, and how your pint is brewed. Also the ongoing fight to rid the Stour of the blight of Pylons. 

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER – FEBRUARY 2012
Category: Annual
Year: 2012
TREES R US – AN AMATEUR ARBORETUM
Category: Nature
Year: 2012
GLIMPSES INTO SOME STOUR VALLEY CHURCHES
Category: Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2012
THE ART OF BREWING
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2012
PLANNING REFORM
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2012
‘ELF ‘N SAFETY . . . AND ALL THAT
Category: Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2012
BRINGING OUR PAST TO LIFE: GESTINGTHORPE ROMAN VILLA
Category: History
Year: 2012
MINIATURE OR APPRENTICE PIECE?
Category: History
Year: 2012
GAINSBOROUGH’S VIEW
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2012
NEW STOUR VALLEY ENVIRONMENT FUND
Category: News
Year: 2012
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2012
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2012
THE COLNE STOUR COUNTRYSIDE ASSOCIATION. MINUTES OF THE 46TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT FERRIERS BARN, BURES ON THURSDAY 12TH MAY 2011
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2012

2011 - The brewers of East Anglia. The gardens of Marks Hall as well as the paintings of Alfred Munnings on display in Sudbury. How a small church became the Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds and all you need to know about antique birdcages. 

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER – APRIL 2011
Category: Annual
Year: 2011
Pylons
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2011
THE PAINTED CHURCH BECOMES BURY’S CATHEDRAL
Category: History
Year: 2011
MARKS HALL AND THE PHILLIPS PRICE TRUST
Category: History
Year: 2011
BREWING IN EAST ANGLIA
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2011
BURES MILL OVER NINE CENTURIES
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2011
LANDSCAPES BY MUNNINGS EXHIBITION AT GAINSBOROUGH’S HOUSE
Category: Art
Year: 2011
BIRD-CAGES – A FASCINATION
Category: History
Year: 2011
DAWS HALL EVENTS 2011
Category: Annual
Year: 2011
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2011
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Annual, Gardens
Year: 2011
TREASURERS REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2011
THE COLNE STOUR COUNTRYSIDE ASSOCIATION. MINUTES OF THE 45TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT FERRIERS BARN, BURES ON THURSDAY 6TH MAY 2010
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2011
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2010
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2011

2010 - An artist who enjoyed his port and a canoe adventure along the Stour. Sudbury’s history and Coggeshall Abbey and a fight to get rid of Pylons from the Stour Valley. 

Chairmans Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2010
A Pint of Port to Paint a Picture
Category: Art, History
Year: 2010
A Walk Round Coggeshall Abbey
Category: Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2010
By Canoe to Cattawade
Category: Adventure. Travel, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2010
Nocturnal Visitors
Category: Nature
Year: 2010
Sudbury New Town – c.1330
Category: History
Year: 2010
A Stay in a Nomad’s Tent
Category: Business
Year: 2010
Freeing our countryside of the blight of pylons
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2010
Hobbies on the Stour
Category: Nature
Year: 2010
Editor’s Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2010
Website
Category: News
Year: 2010
Annual General Meeting 2009
Category: Annual
Year: 2010

2009 - Norwich School art and the Maplesteads. Ancient wallpapers, and is Long Melford the epitome of a Suffolk village? and don’t throw away a rug before checking what it is. 

Chairmans Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2009
By Hook or by Crook
Category: Art, History
Year: 2009
Unwanted Wildlife – Some Handy Hints
Category: Gardens
Year: 2009
East Ruston Old Vicarage
Category: Gardens
Year: 2009
Squash a Squirrel – Save a Tree
Category: Nature
Year: 2009
Historic Wallpapers and Cole & Son
Category: Business
Year: 2009
Long Melford – ‘Suffolk in a day’
Category: Architectural Interest, Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2009
Don’t throw away a fortune!
Category: Business
Year: 2009
Garden Visits. Away Days
Category: Gardens
Year: 2009
Website
Category: Annual
Year: 2009
Editors Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2009
Annual General Meeting 2008
Category: Annual
Year: 2009

2008 - The bell founders of Sudbury and all about a rogue from our area, Sir John Hawkwood, and a Sudbury secret – Gainsborough’s House. 

Member’s Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2008
Cycling in Suffolk – An Environmental Holiday
Category: Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2008
The Sudbury Bell Founders
Category: History
Year: 2008
The CSCA Website
Category: News
Year: 2008
From Sible Hedingham to Florence. The Remarkable Life of Sir John Hawkwood
Category: History
Year: 2008
‘One of Suffolk’s Best Kept Secrets’- Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2008
Discovering Historic Wallpaper in East Anglian Houses
Category: History
Year: 2008
The not so humble Mole (Talpa Europaea) and how to catch him
Category: Nature
Year: 2008
Annual Report 2007.
Category: Annual
Year: 2008

2007 - Why a bell had to be chipped to get into the belfry at Lamarsh. Watermills on the Colne and Dragonflies. 

Water Mills on the Upper Colne
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2007
Dragonflies on the Stour
Category: Nature
Year: 2007
Lamarsh Bell Restoration
Category: Architectural Interest
Year: 2007
The CSCA Website
Category: News
Year: 2007
What is wrong with our Horse Chestnuts?
Category: Nature
Year: 2007

Join Colne-Stour now

WEBSITE EDITOR

Emma Stewart-Smith

MAGAZINE EDITOR

Christy Simson

CHAIRMAN

Alexander Robson

HON TREASURER

Michael Goodbody

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