Sea-Change: Wivenhoe Remembered

This book is the outcome of the ‘Wivenhoe Remembered’ community oral history project based on voluntary contributions of many kinds. It tells the story of how Wivenhoe changed since the interwar years through to the 1980s, with reflections from contemporary perspectives. During that time the town grew from little more than 2,000 people to 10,000. It was a period of great change when much of its former industry and shops were lost but it gained from the establishment of the University of Essex and a community of artists.

People speak with their own voices and recall: life on the quay and the water; farming and social hierarchy; the riverside; factories, shops and pubs; professions, services and churches; societies and clubs; childhood and family lives; new people; narratives of change – war, local politics and struggles; and sailing the Colne. There are cameos from Ernie Vince and the artist Jamie Dodds.

A 67 minute long companion DVD entitled ‘Sea-Change in Wivenhoe: The Fortunes of a British Riverside Community since 1920’, is also available, published in 2006 by the Wivenhoe Oral History Group.