The River Stour Festival have been collaborating with Tim Nash from Tensheds Bakery in Sible Hedingham to create The Hedingham Loaf that he also calls Stourdough! Over the past month Tim has gathered wheat from Great Lodge Farm which is within sight of Hedingham Castle. He collected it in his paniers directly from the combine harvester and cycled it straight to Alderford Water Mill in Sible Hedingham where he ground it into flour using a hand mill. He then made a sourdough starter from this flour and water drawn from a local bore hole, which he’ll leave for a week to ten days to start fermenting. To make the loaves he’ll only need one more ingredient, salt, that will travel the furthest at 21 miles, from Maldon Salt. Now that truly is a local loaf and in the ethos of our 30 Days 30 Miles campaign.
To have a taster of the bread, and perhaps and pint of beer, please join us at Tim’s local public house, The Bell in Castle Hedingham. The actual loaves will be ready later in September.
River Stour Festival Apple Day
Come along and have fun making apple juice. You can bring your own apples to squeeze and there will apples from a local orchard available @ £1 per kg.
Suitable for all ages, children must be supervised. Bring your own bottles!
Part of 30 Days 30 Miles, sourcing food and drink locally in the Stour Valley, September 2021
The Dedham Mill 2 Mill Swim and Picnic isn’t a race. It’s a social swim and a picnic in the heart of idyllic Constable Country from Dedham Mill to Flatford Mill. The Mill 2 Mill is part of the Slow Swimming campaign, aimed at encouraging swimmers to take their time and enjoy the opportunity to be out fully immersed in nature. There are no timing chips or results sheets. Everyone who takes part is a winner equally.
We are very keen to get children used to, and enjoying, swimming outdoors. This will improve their safety in and around water and should encourage them to be lifelong outdoor swimmers. There isn’t an age restriction as such, but obviously we would be depending on your adequate supervision of anyone under 16. I would very much recommend that they wear a wettie, as children lose heat quicker than adults when in water, and unless they are very good swimmers a form of buoyancy aid.
To give everyone an enjoyable swim the event is split into waves. Each wave will go off at intervals from 10:30am.
Wave 1: Seriously Need More Cake (Known as Serious), start at 10.15am. Choose this wave if you would like to actually race.
Wave 2: Relaxed ’cause we know where the cake is hidden (Known as Relaxed). Steady pace – no rush.
Wave 3: Enjoying the Journey (Known as Enjoying it). Sculling along, maybe with a bit of paddling, smiling and chatting.
Wave 4: Pooh Sticks. Half the distance (1.2km) But still finishing at the picnic field.
Wave 5: Pooh Sticks. Basically it’s for people who want to really enjoy the scenery and float along using floaty things (nothing bigger than a lilo please) and stick out the occasional hand or foot to paddle. It could be as little as arm bands or a rubber ring.
Rather than specific start times for each wave, as a way of spacing swimmers out, we will be having wave intervals where you are encouraged to start within a time span. This will provide a safe and comfortable experience.
The River Stour Festival has a new initiative for 2021 and invites you to take part whether you are someone who loves to eat good food, a grower or producer. 30 Days 30 Miles – Tastes from the Stour Valley encourages everyone to source their food more locally, support small and independent businesses and help care for our local landscape and health of the planet. We believe that it will be possible to source a good portion of what we eat from within a 30 miles radius of where we live throughout the 30 days in September.
The aims of the project are to:
form a network of growers and producers working in the valley
develop an awareness of where to source local food and drinks
encourage people to grow and forage their own food
further an understanding of the seasonal aspect of growing
connect with nature to help slow climate change locally and globally
together keep our local landscape an outstanding area of natural beauty
encourage a reduction of our individual carbon footprints and plastic usage
As a local food producer, shop or trader we invite you to be a part of our online local register, that includes a map to help shoppers discover what is on their doorstep, reduce food miles supporting local businesses. As a local resident we encourage you to use this register to help source your food in a more sustainable way and welcome you to add to the list so that we can all share and take part in this initiative. We also invite submissions to our blog and your events and promotions, through our festival mailing list and social media platforms.
If you would like to participate please drop us a line at riverstourfestival@gmail.com
Manningtree Beer Festival will be by the beach in Manningtree with a great variety of ales.
This fantastic annual event, held in the centre of this Suffolk market town is all about celebrating, promoting and showcasing the very best producers, restaurants, chefs and food industries that we are so lucky to have in this part of Suffolk.
The aim for 2019 is to have over sixty stalls filling Market Hill and St Peter’s Church with a wonderful selection of top quality food and drink. With free cooking demos by top local chefs, a competition with great prizes, music and delicious food and drink of every variety, it’s a great family day out!
The Taste of Sudbury, a fantastic annual event, held in the centre of this Suffolk market town is all about celebrating, promoting and showcasing the very best producers, restaurants, chefs and food industries that we are so lucky to have in this part of Suffolk.b This year over sixty stalls will be filling Market Hill and St Peter’s Church with a wonderful selection of top quality food and drink. On the main stage we will be welcoming a range of Suffolk’s very best chefs and bakers, inside St Peter’s Church you can watch cooking demos going on throughout the day and this year we are really excited to have a second Fringe Tent on site where you will be able to meet some fantastic producers talking about a whole range of topics including beekeeping, chocolate sculpture and cutting down on waste. There will also be a number of totally free events in the area, before the main event as part of Taste of Sudbury Fringe https://tasteofsudbury.co.uk/fringe-tent/. More info here https://tasteofsudbury.co.uk/
The Party in the Park enables the community in Clare to come together and celebrate what they do best. A truly family day with activities for all ages, freshly cooked food and plenty of space for all.
Beer and local sausage festival in the marquee by the river and along the beach. Manningtree Beer & Sausage Festival
A festival that includes visual arts, music, dance, written & spoken word.
