Last week Margaret Mills reported on an inferno that destroyed an Essex village and this week, following on from one tragedy, Margaret outlined a tragedy at sea which occurred in December 1875, involving a ship taking immigrants from Bremen to New York.

The vessel was fully loaded with passengers when she hit a sandbank off the Essex coast. There being no lifeboats available in the area, local craft did their best to save as many people as possible, and its believed that 65 people might have been rescued.

However the disaster spurned action and subsequently life boat stations were set up in Harwich, Southend and elswhere along the coast.

You can listen again here to what Margaret had to say on this subject:-

I hope to have your company very soon for our next trip back in time,

The post At long last a Lifeboat is installed at Harwich appeared first on Phoenix FM.

This afternoon Margaret took us back to May Day in 1874.

This was the fateful afternoon when a devastating fire engulfed the village of Radwinter, near Saffron Walden.

No less than 24 homes, the greater part of  the village, were destroyed on that fateful day and if you missed what Margaret had to say on this incident, you can catch it all again here: –

I very much hope that I will once again have the pleasure of your company at this same time next week when Margaret will again be turning back the hands of time,

The post The Great Fire of Radwinter appeared first on Phoenix FM.

The subject chosen today by Margaret Mills, concerned the life of an actress of note from the 19th century, and her links with Essex.

Her name may not be well known today but in her day, Ellen Terry was the darling of the London stage as a result of her appearances in truly quality productions.

It seems that Ellen Terry was a great friend of, the Countess of Warwick, Daisy Warwick, who owned her own theatre, which she’d established in a barn on her estate at Easton Lodge, near Dunmow.

Having her own theatre, allowed the Countess to stage her own productions, at which Ellen Terry would perform, but only for invited guests – the general public were not admitted!

If you take the time out to visit St Mary’s Church in Little Easton, you may spot a commemoration to Ellen Terry, who in fact regularly attended that church.

If you missed what Margaret had to tell me about this famous actress, you can listen again here: –

I very much hope that you’ll be able to join me once again next week,

The post A 19th century star of the London stage – Ellen Terry appeared first on Phoenix FM.

Last week week Margaret Mills explained why the first attempt made by Queen Mary to escape a potential perceived threat posed by her younger brother was thwarted by having too much luggage,  and this week Margaret returned to report on another cunning escape plan involving some Spanish merchant vessels anchored in the Blackwater Estuary, ostensibly on the look out for pirates.

One may perhaps consider this cover story to be somewhat ironic given that the Blackwater Estuary is now home to the last “pirate” radio ship, RADIO CAROLINE!

You can listen again here to what Margaret told me about this plot:-

I very much hope you’ll be able to join me once again next week,

The post Another failed escape! appeared first on Phoenix FM.

Of course being a Tuesday I was once again joined by our very own local historian, Margaret Mills who this week turned the clock back to the mid 1500’s when Queen Mary – later to be known as “bloody” Queen Mary, was herself in fear for her life.

She had intended to make a bolt hole for Holland, but was foiled by the shear volume of luggage she wanted to take with her.

Once her brother, the “boy king”, Edward VI, died, she ascended the throne thereby allowing her to switch the religion of the country back from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism, thereby “saving here bacon”.

If you missed what Margaret told me you can listen again here: –

I very much hope to have the pleasure of your company once again next week,

The post Too much baggage appeared first on Phoenix FM.

The subject of this week’s trip by our very own local historian, Margaret Mills was Henry Winstanley, a man born in Saffron Walden in 1644, and whilst known for his fascination with all things mechanical and hydraulic, was also responsible for the design and construction of Eddystone Lighthouse.

This occurred after he became involved in investing in ships.

After two of his vessels were wrecked in treacherous waters off Plymouth, he decided to build a lighthouse to warn mariners of the nearby dangerous reefs and so the Eddystone Lighthouse was born.

So confident was he of his construction that he determined to spend a night there, only to be killed during the Great Storm which occurred on the 27th November 1703.

You can listen again here to what Margaret told me today:-

I very much look forward to having the pleasure of your company once again next week,

The post The ESSEX connection with The Eddystone Lighthouse appeared first on Phoenix FM.

You may recall that last week Margaret took us on a tour of the many Racecourses that had existed at one time in our county.

However some of these were ‘pop-up’ courses, that appeared for special events, like fairs for example.

So this week Margaret decided to look specifically at Galleywood which first came to prominence around 1758-9, but continued to host races until 1935.

It was eventually purchased by the Borough Council in 1945.

During its heydays back in the 1700’s, it received the Royal stamp of approval when in 1770, King William III provided a sum of 100 Gns in prize money, known as “The Queen’s Plate”.

You can listen again here to what Margaret told me today: –

I very much look forward to having the pleasure of your company once again next week at the same time,

The post The days when GALLEYWOOD racetrack was in its prime appeared first on Phoenix FM.

The subject chosen by Margaret Mills for this week’s trip back into history concerned the race courses, and notably the “pop up” race courses of old which often appeared especially during the 18th and 19th centuries.

One race course she mentioned was at Oxney Green, Writtle, which it seems was heavily supported by Lord Petre of Ingatestone Hall.

You can listen again here to all that Margaret had to say on this subject here: –

I look forward to you joining me for a further outing next week,

The post The race courses of Essex appeared first on Phoenix FM.

The subject chosen this week by our very own historian, Margaret Mills concerned the somewhat tenuous connection between Essex and JAMES BOND – 007, to you and me.

The connection stemmed from the designs and covers produced by Colchester born Richard Chopping for the James Bond books written by Ian Fleming.

Whilst not mentioned by Margaret there is another connection between him and the world of spies, since it appears that he attended a boarding school in Norfolk where a member of the notorious Cambridge Five group of spies, Donald MacLean, was also educated.

Anyway if you missed it, you can listen again here to what Margaret told me today: –

I really hope you will be able to join me once again next week,

The post What’s the connection between Essex and “007”? appeared first on Phoenix FM.

The subject of today’s historical feature from our resident historian Margaret Mills, concerned a female poisoner, by the name of Mary May from Wix , near Harwich.

It seems that she bumped of her half brother and then tried to cash in on the life insurance policy she’d taken out on him, just a few days before his demise.

Presumably she was a bit too hot off the mark in making the claim for her own good!

Anyway you can listen again here to what Margaret had to reveal on this incident:-

I very much look forward to the pleasure of your company once again next week,

The post Mary May – the poisoner from Harwich appeared first on Phoenix FM.