Here are a few articles I wrote while doing some work experience with The Suffolk Free Press on 30th June and 1st July. I was then asked to come back and work a full week at the paper in August and hopefully will put the articles I wrote on my longer placement on the blog shortly. For now, here are the articles from June/July.
Space: The Final Frontier by Imogen Blake (p4 of Suffolk Free Press 07/07/11 with own byline)
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| Photo from thelivingmoon.com |
Simon Grice, John Burch and Mark Newby-Robson, who together form the Sudbury Space Society, will release the balloon in about a month.
The weather balloon cannot be sent off from Sudbury due to flight path restrictions. Instead, it will be released just south of Cambridge in the early hours of the morning.
Most of the equipment required for the launch has already been built or bought but the trio are still waiting for the arrival of sensors before the release can take place.
Simon described how the group came up with the idea of sending a weather balloon into space.
"We're a bunch of space nuts and we always have been," he said. "It started when Mark got this great little HD video camera, which sits in the palm of your hand, and we thought: let's send this into space.
"The society was only formed about a month ago and, after some discussions, we agreed we were actually going to go ahead with the plan and send a weather balloon up into space."
The 10ft weather balloon can carry up to 2kg but the society's payload will weigh less than 500 grams. The payload includes an HD camera, a GPS tracker and solar panels.
The launch will cost nearly £600 with subsequent launches only costing £100 each.
In early August, the society hopes to launch a rocket 100km into space but Simon admits this plan needs some careful thought before it can go ahead.
Donations can be made at www.sss.dev.ideas.org/donate. All proceeds go to the Suffolk Air Ambulance and with every donation made, the society will allow the donator to choose a lightweight personal item to send into space.
River walk gets facelift (p4 of Suffolk Free Press 07/07/11 - no byline)
HALSTEAD ramblers and cyclists will be able to enjoy a new-look river walk once a narrow and overgrown path beside the River Colne is transformed.
As part of the Green Heart of Essex campaign, Braintree District Council has agreed to invest £64,000 into the area’s riverside landscape, updating old paths and tracks for the public to use.
To celebrate the scheme, Halstead mayor David Hume and councillor Joanne Beavis, cabinet member for communities, joined volunteers from Halstead in Bloom on Tuesday to begin hedge-cutting along part of the route.
Mrs Beavis said the updated path was great news
for Halstead. She said: “The new river walk really makes the most of the town’s natural asset – the River Colne which runs through it.
“It will be a joy for local people and visitors to the town to know that at any time of the year they will be able to enjoy the tranquillity of the riverside landscape whether on foot or by bike.
“This is just the start of a bigger initiative to improve access along the river and I look forward to seeing the project grow.”
The first phase of the project will see a 2.5-metre wide path laid along two stretches of unsurfaced track:
between Parsonage Street and Nether Court, and from Broughton Drive industrial estate to Chapel Street.
The work is due to start on Monday and will last for six weeks.
Artist’s joy at winning gallery slot by Imogen Blake (p13 of Suffolk Free Press 07/07/11 with byline)
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| Photo from matthewwebber.co.uk |
AN ARTIST has spoken of his delight after one of his paintings was chosen for the country’s largest contemporary art exhibition.
Matthew Webber, from Great Cornard, beat off competition from 12,000 other entries to have his artwork included in the Royal Academy of Arts’ 2011 summer exhibition in London.
Matthew submitted his painting – Junction I – after failing to have his work accepted last year.
The 37-year-old was delighted when he heard the news that his painting had been selected second time
round.
“I was a bit pessimistic about my chances,” he said. “But I had a positive response and it was a really exciting day when I received the letter telling me I’d got a painting in the exhibition.
“Seeing my work on the walls next to such established artists is an honour. It’s been a real boost to me and my career.”
Junction I was sold for £725 soon after it went on display in the exhibition – a feat which Matthew described as the “cherry on the cake”.
The former Great Cornard Upper School student added: “I did my art A-level there and the teachers gave me a real passion for art.”
The 2011 summer exhibition is open until August 15 in the main galleries of the Royal Academy of Arts.
Tickets are £10 and can be bought by calling 0844 209 0051 or by going online at royalacademy.org.uk.
More of Matthew’s work can be viewed on his website at matthewwebber.co.uk.
Swimmers team up to help charity by Imogen Blake (p64 of Suffolk Free Press 07/07/11 - with byline)
TWO Sudbury men have swum to success after completing two fundraising events for a stroke charity close to their hearts.
Andrew Tinsley, 29, from Great Cornard, and 40-year-old Shaun Boldock, from Ballingdon, swam in the Great East and Great London swim events to raise money for The Stroke Association.
Shaun’s father died from a stroke in 2008, while Andrew’s grandfather is currently in hospital recovering from his second stroke in two years.
Andrew, who works at the Kingfisher Leisure Centre in Sudbury, is Shaun’s personal trainer and encouraged him to take part in the Great East swim as part of his fitness programme.
Andrew said: “I had no idea that Shaun’s father had died as a result of his stroke, so when I mentioned that I was swimming in aid of The Stroke Association, Shaun
immediately signed up too.
“It makes it even more poignant that both of us have very good reasons to support this hugely worthwhile charity and cause.”
The two men completed the two-mile Great East swim event in Alton Water reservoir near Ipswich on June 11 and were back in action at the weekend at the Great London swim in the capital’s Royal Victoria Dock.
In Suffolk, there are estimated to be just under 1,500 strokes a year, a third of which are fatal. Around half of those who survive are left with a long-term disability.
The Stroke Association has 20 groups and clubs across Suffolk which support those affected by strokes.
If you would like to sponsor Andrew and Shaun, visit justgiving. com/Andrew-Tinsley1.
For more information about stroke support groups in the region, contact The Stroke Association’s support coordinators Elaine Monsen on 01473 743976 or Wendy Jephcote on 01284 760006.
Thanks for reading!
IB
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