The Knowhere Guide

Local Heroes in Colchester, Essex*

Colchester, Essex Famous Residents

Cringing Cult of Celebrity (Famous residents and ex-residents.)

• yer colchester isnt tht great but dermot o leary did go to the six form at philp morant school!!
• Damien from Blur
• Hey, doesn't that cute guy Peter Brame from Fame Academy come from somewhere round here in Colchester??
• The divine Graham Napier of Essex CCC lives somewhere round here
• Twink, drummer and vocalist with the Pink Fairies and the Pretty things - the Original punk - lives here
• JOhn Cooper-Clarke. Yes! The Mancunian godfather of punk-poetry lives here. (Saw him in the butchers last thursday, honest!)
• Steve Harley from Cockney Rebel is from Colchester, and still lives locally. Also i think the former lead guitarist from Whitesnake is from these parts as well.
• Darren Day = went 2 my skool! Dermot O'Leary = pwhoar!! Also, Abs (from 5) didnt cum from ere, but I met him @ Pineapply Dance Studios in London and he was rly rly nasty 2 me.
• The woman who invented funfax lives in wivenhoe.
• Blur.
• The beautiful Dermot O'Leary is from Colchester - what a claim to fame!!
• The twins from Night and Day live in Colchester ( but Im not telling you where - they are only ten!)
• Modern English who had a few minor hits back in the 80's and a few successful albums in the US sort of got going in Colchester and was formed from mainly local residents. There's also Reg Webb who has played and toured with loadsa rock stars and still plays local venues along with the former members of various local bands from the Colne Lodge era.
• Dermot O'Leary!
• -Dancing Man Dancing Man. You will have seen Dancing Man. His appearances - just as mysterious as his method of dancing. His method of dancing - just as mysterious as his appearances. Perhaps you've attending a local music event such as the Colchester Free Festival, or one of the bizarre things they sometimes hold in that square near Boots. He is there. He is at music events, and he dances. He wears an orange hat. He dances. He wears an orange jacket. He dances. He drinks soft drinks such as Dr Pepper, and presumabely takes impressive quantities of hard drugs. He dances. You know who he is. -John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke, the original punk poet. he lives in Colchester, but I've only ever seen him once, at a gig. He even managed to get one of his poems into a GCSE textbook. He is great.
• Well, aside from the obvious.. there used to be a good band called Ripley. I think they became Seven Star Green after a while. I used to end up hammered with them far far too often. So, for the sake of the old days (this must be 6 odd years ago now) - Big shout out to Matty, Kes, Nathan, Jimmy and Matt. Good people. Last I'd heard they signed to some label or other...
• Graham Coxon, poor boy.
• Dermit O'lerey (from "big brothers little brother") used to go to colchester 6th form college on north hill
• i'm sure prodigy came from somewhere round here
• John CooperClarke= one of the nicest punkpoets I have had the pleasure to meet modest and extremely funny if he happens to be in your area having a gig please go see him you wont be disappointed Damon Albarns mum and dad (dad was head of art at the colchester institute) both creative and innovative and greatly missed sinced they left town especially his mum an accomplished artist who could make furniture out of your sunday newspaper an excellent art teacher with great enthusiasm and a good friend to many
• Damon Albarn used to live in Aldham, just outside Colchester - i read that he hated it due to its narrow-mindedness.
• the person out of the weatabix advert lives in wivenhoe just out sid e of colchester
• nope cant think of any except me
• How about Brian Eno? Best of the bunch I think. I dont remember Amanda Root at Lexden Primary School.
• I hate Damon Alburn. What is wrong with Colchester, if you dont like it shut up!
• damon albern ,darren day!
• Most notable politician is probably Bob Russell (Lib). Very active guy, although a little out of touch with almost everything that matters to people on a street level. Claims to not remember the 60s (I asked him once) - we can only wonder why.
• Girl from 2.4 Children/Girls' High was called Clare Woodgate. Changed her name to Georgina Cates for Awfully Big Adventure and hasn't been heard of since...
• Damon bloody Albarn
• Urm... the band Blur are from hear (damon was in the year below my mum!)
• Mrs Stewart was and indeed still is a complete dragon. I remember a very amusing time when I had a German exchange visitor in class. I instructed him to introduce himself to her but told him her name was Frau Clitoris, he duly obliged and sent the entire class into hysterics. When things calmed, however, I was sent to my head of year and got an after school detention.
• Mrs Stewart of the Gilberd School, is seriously the most evil thing you will ever come accross, its people like her whom spoil it for everyone else!. I agree with the statement about A.Fairclough and Adnam, your sorted if you know them but if you dont, whoa there really scary. (Honestly)...
• Claire - can't remember her surname. She was the girl with the auburn bobbed hair who was the first actor to play the daughter in 'Two Point Four Children' (after her, one of the twins from Grange Hill stepped in). Claire went to the Girls' High, and was four years older than me. She used to wear really cool moddy clothes, i remember, such as an amazing black and white pvc rainmac and white plastic earrings. The lst thing i can remember her being in, she pretened to be from Liverpool to get part in a film with Hugh Grant about a rep company staging 'Peter Pan' (an awafully big adventure'?). Mrs Pearson and Mrs Davidson (the hip-swaying dram teachers at the Girls High) thought she was marvellous and got very excited when CLaire sent them Christmas cards. Oh, and Jean Hickson - Miss Marple to you and me - lived in Wivenhoe. I have to say that here s there's no Wiv'no pages...
• Carol Leader, the woman who was on Choc-a-bloc! Oh, and me!
• Adnam- friend of everyone. Andy FAirclough- the Grant Mitchell of colchester, comes package with dodgy cars, and dodgy social habits!!
• Just thought i'd point out that MRs.Stewart is still at the Gilberd and everyone hates her as much now as they always have done. I haven't met anyone who likes her.
• Dave the drummer from Blur was also in Colchester - he went to my school, the Gilberd - which was, and probably still is, a hell-hole. I wonder if he knew Mrs Stewart, and hated her as much as I did. When I was at 6th form college, Blur came and played a gig there as a favour to their old music teacher. Weird.
• I seem to remember being in the same class as Amanda Root (Jane Eyre, Persuasion, Mortimer's Law etc.) at Lexden Primary School in about 1970-72. I think she also went to Colchester Institute to study drama.
• Jay Kay from Jamiroqui went to Oxford House Prep School And when Ripley become famous they will abandon Colchester as well The person who wrote Humpty Dumpty and Twinkle Twinkle little star is from Colchester
• The University was Constable country. Judge Dredd artsists known to frequent the area.
• Martin Newell (Wivenhovian poet), of glam rock group Cleaners From Venus and Brotherhood of Lizards fame, hangs out at the Greyhound and, for the price of a pint, would gladly let you buy him a pint (buy his poetry books - 'I Hank Marvinned', 'Under Milk Float' and 'An Illegible Bachelor' all from U of E press - they're very good).
• John Cooper Clarke (punk poet-type fellow) has been known to hang out after 3pm.
• It's also the home town of children's TV presenter and Joseph star, Darren Day.
• Both Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon, from BLUR, come from Colchester.

Buskers, Street Entertainers

• We get some buskers down Eld lane, ie that bloke and his dog with the funny specs.
• Some pretty good buskers around. Derek, our oldest busker (and severe alcoholic) can often be found in Eld Lane outside the Fruit & Veg shop. He's mostly tuneful.
• The late Heather & Bob were Colchester's most well-known street entertainers, due to unsavoury habits e.g. relieving themselves in public. Does anyone else remember them?
• Look out for Rick in the precinct - maniac ska mandolin player
• Those pan pipe blokes are always in Colchester by the Library, when they're not in Cardiff, Bristol, Bath, Manchester to name a few places I've seen them pop up.
• The guy selling the Big Issue outside Mothercare has to be seen to be believed.
• Bird in harlequin suit with her flute who can usually be found on Long Wyre St, outside the co-op.
• Derek-can play anything but then likes a beer or 10.

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Credits

Last updated: 2007-09-19