Site cleared and ready to build

The Mill Lane site was completely cleared in the first week of December. It now seems ready for ground work to be started with the builders likely to move in in the New Year.

The picture above is of the whole site seen from the next door neighbour's driveway. The following pictures show how first number 72 and then Woodpeckers met the wreckers ball. (metaphorically speaking: there was no ball - simply a large backhoe/loader that did the work)

72 Mill Lane hiding behind its leafy hedge (above) and ....

...exposed after the shrubbery was removed, ready for razing to the ground.

The last remaining corner of 72 Mill Lane before it disappears into a large skip.

A charming vision of Woodpeckers in August...

...and with the contractors fencing in place in mid-November...

...and all gone by the end of the month. This is the entrance to the erstwhile Woodpeckers. The buildings seen at the back are part of the Mission that stands on Maldon Road.

The unsuitability of Mill Lane to carry heavy traffic was amply demonstrated when the heavy plant was delivered. The low loaders managed to squeeze through only to face a difficult manoeuvre when getting on to the site. That is, presumably, why the contractors surfaced a new passing place by the entrance.

More heavy vehicles will no doubt appear as the construction of the new development proceeds. What this space for pictures!

Messing up Eves Corner

After only a couple of weeks of the brand new car park, vehicles are already churning up the edge of the green.


When the car park, carriageway and footways were repaired and renovated recently, (see blog below, 8 November) lowered kerbs were put in place to help those with mobility difficulties. Because of a gap in the line of protective posts around the green, it has provided an opportunity for drivers to drive more easily over the footway.

Careless drivers?
Lazy drivers?
White van drivers?
I've-got-a-4-wheel-drive-and-I-can-go-anywhere drivers?


Who knows?
But while it may not be too bad at present, as the winter progresses it is likely to get worse. The gap in the posts may even tempt some impatient moron - if the car park is full - to drive fully on to the green.

Can the Parish Council get a couple more posts fixed to stop this happening?

Comments welcome - click below on the right.

Long established Danbury trader leaves

Changes are afoot at the trio of shops at Eves Corner.

Mrs Pam Southgate, proprietor of Danbury Antiques, is closing her business on retirement to Lincolnshire. She has been trading in the village for 22 years, originally in a shop on Main Road. She moved in as the first tenant at the Eves Corner shops when they were opened in 1992.

The shop premises are on two floors. Mrs Southgate has sold jewellery, silver, porcelian, pottery, furniture, rugs, copper and brass artefacts there for 17 years.

During her last week of trading she has staged a 'closing down' sale and there has been a stream of her regular customers through the doors. Her last day was Saturday 14 November and here she is seen with two of her regular assistants Vera Viner and Margaret Main.



A new business is moving in immediately and will be opening as a delicatessen and bakery. It hopes to open before Christmas.

Eves Corner car park - part 2

The car park at Eves Corner is now almost resplendent with a smart black surface and gleaming white lines.

During the night of 4th/5th November, an asphalting team got busy and laid a fresh surface. The picture shows them at work under lights, disturbing the local residents for a while. In fact they soon moved on along Little Baddow Road to continue the rest of the resurfacing job.


It appears that they put down a subsurface layer followed by a 30 mm wearing layer. There is still seems to be some snagging to be done but it looks quite attractive.

The lining team arrived over the weekend following and marked up ten parking bays. In fact the last one is oversize and two cars can squeeze in without too much trouble. In the picture, a close look at the furthest bay shows a Jaguar and a Mercedes parked alongside each other.



Dare we ask how soon it will be before one of the utilities has to dig a hole? Or is that being cynical?

It will get worse before it gets better

The small car park at Eves Corner has been a cause of complaints for a long time.
Now, at last, something seems to be happening. At the beginning of October there were the first signs of something happening when the signs went up.
Work started and new kerbs were set.

Obviously time must be allowed for the concrete in which the kerb is set, to properly cure. Yet the weeks went by.
Now at the beginning of November we have seen the old surface scraped, burnt and swept away. The subsurface is certainly one to slow the traffic down.

No doubt we shall see a smart new Eves Corner soon.

Land for Sale

A plot of land on the edge of the village is on the market.



The 'for sale' sign has been vandalised, either as a random act of youthful exuberance or as a forceful demonstration of resentment. The land is around 6 acres in size, three sided and lies between Gay Bowers Lane and Capons Lane.



It is entirely uncultivated and has been so for the best part of 20 years. Parish footpath 36 stretches across it southwards from a point opposite Pedlars Path towards St Josephs.



There have been suggestions that this piece of land would be suitable as a second village green. Enquiries by the Parish Council of the agents, Belle Vue Estates (http://www.bellevue-estates.co.uk/index.aspx) for an indicative price have not really led anywhere. However its present condition is far from any recognisable type of village green. It is rough scrubland and would take many thousands of pounds to clear and level.

But does the village need another green? Danbury is already well supplied with public open space both within the village and on its edges.

Could the village afford it? As well as the purchase price, whatever that might be, ongoing maintenance would be significant.

Perhaps it might be better left as another Danbury green wedge and natural feature.

Declining standards in Danbury?

Is Danbury facing the same declining standards as the rest of society or have Mr & Mrs Nasty moved into the village?



Fresh notices have appeared above the counters at the Barclays Bank branch at Eves Corner. Customers have been surprised to see warnings about the abuse of staff. The management promises strict action against those who use threats or bad language against staff.

Not in Danbury, surely? Oh, yes.



Questioned whether the notices were meant locally, a teller said, "Yes, there have been one or two incidents. That's why the notices have gone up"

We may have issues about banks and, according to the latest figures by the Financial Services Ombudsman, Barclays has one of the worst records for complaints (http://www.ombudsman-complaints-data.org.uk/). Yet staff, as the notice says, are entitled to be able to work without threats or intimidation.