Tribute to County Standard reporter Julien Vanhinsbergh

For more than 50 years Julien Vanhinsbergh would tuck himself in his bedroom on Sunday nights and hunt and peck, rattle and ping on his faithful portable typewriter to compose his weekly “lines” for the benefit of fellow villagers. 

The village correspondent for the Essex County Standard, who has died aged 78, loved his part-time job recording the goings-on in East Bergholt.

In his time he covered about 600 parish council meetings, many arts and crafts and civic society meetings and thousands of the weekly stalls run by the Time & Talents Club, which raised money for the upkeep of the towerless St Mary’s church. 

Then there were Christmas bazaars and school fetes as well as visits by the great and the good to open sports pavilions and landmarks, including the new Flatford lock.

In 1976 he documented the activities connected with the bicentenary of the birth of John Constable, who was born in the village. Constable 250 takes place next year.

Mr Vanhinsbergh had been a typical teenager whose ambition was to be a sport reporter. In 1962, looking for a job, he rang the Essex County Standard to be told the only position was as a penny-a-line “corry” for his home village. He leapt at the chance.

His dream of a full-time job in journalism was never fulfilled but he worked at the BXL plastics factory in Brantham, first in the dispatch office, then on shifts and finally as the sales administrator. He was known for his loud sneezes, which traumatised many workmates. 

Smile - Julien Vanhinsbergh leaped at the chance to join the County Standard (Image: Public)

Mr Vanhinsbergh was born in 1946 and raised in East Bergholt, where Reuben, his Flemish grandfather, had settled after migrating from Europe. 

Reuben is believed to have been the gardener who, in 1909, was bribed by Madge Moult, a young nun, to help her escape from the convent in Old Hall.

When the alert was raised, the sisters and their abbess, who was also from Belgium, chased Miss Moult three miles to Manningtree where the stationmaster hid her then slipped her onto a milk train to London. Her barbarous treatment in the nunnery made headlines worldwide.

With such a family history in East Bergholt it is no surprise that Mr Vanhinsbergh felt rooted there.

In 1975 he married Jean Lister of Bradfield and the couple moved into a home in Elm Road.

Always one to play with words, he called the new house Od Realm, an anagram of the street name.

He was active with East Bergholt football club and played in various positions, including goalkeeper, until he injured his back.

He started and ran the reserve team and when too few players turned up for a game, Mr Vanhinsbergh called on the village friars to fill in.

He also took to arranging walks for people in the village but few companions knew a family secret: Mr Vanhinsbergh’s love for shortcuts would lead them down lanes thick with head-high nettles, deep in mud or blocked by barbed wire. His public walks were apparently better planned.

Mr Vanhinsbergh’s wife died in 2007 after a long spell of ill health. Six years later a stroke took most of his sight and led him to blow the whistle on his journalistic sideline. 

Loved - Julien is survived by his sons Gavin and his wife May, Paul and his wife Claire, grandchildren Lucy and Fred, and sister Pearl (Image: Public)

His younger son Paul said: “Dad loved being part of the village.

"He met Fatima Whitbread, the javelin thrower, when she opened the sports pavilion. He enjoyed meeting the different characters and getting to know them.

"He wouldn’t use a computer and his copy was sent in on paper in the post.

"He was voted villager of the year and was really proud of that.”

In retirement, he flew twice to China to see his older son Gavin, who works in tourism. He enjoyed gardening for other people and working with Paul, a kitchen fitter in Capel St Mary. 

In 2016 he was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer.

Two years later Mr Vanhinsbergh, by then living in Chaplin Road, made the news himself, but for a disturbing reason.

He was on crutches at the time and had been in bed for a couple of hours when three burglars broke into his house at about midnight.

The men used a broomhandle to stop him getting out of bed, threatened him, gave him a bloody nose and left with a small amount of cash. They were never caught.

Mr Vanhinsbergh’s funeral has taken place and he is survived by his sons Gavin and his wife May, Paul and his wife Claire, grandchildren Lucy and Fred, and sister Pearl.