Tiptree's bike shop is up for sale.

M E Dale Cycles in Church Road will be closing down at the end of the month, but its owner hopes to sell the business as a going concern.

Mike Dale, a Colchester borough councillor, is selling up after being offered a job as a fundraiser for the Labour Party in the Braintree area.

He said: "I shall be very sorry to leave as running a village shop, you get to know a lot of people and strike up friendships."

And he admitted it had not always been easy competing with larger stores in nearby towns.

"There are a lot of pressures and competition. But here we pride ourselves on quality - in a village you get a lot of people coming back again and again and we have to give a good service."

Mr Dale has been running the shop for 20 years, but the business has been in existence for at least 60 years.

He and his wife Joyce bought it from the Warren family.

Mr Dale, who has been responsible for building up the Labour Party in Tiptree, currently lives above the shop but intends to remain in the village after the sale.

The future of Tiptree's Workers' Educational Association could be decided at its AGM on February 2.

The meeting starts at 7.30pm at the Community Resource Centre in Church Road and honorary secretary Fred Boot is keen to encourage people to attend and support the group.

Handel's Messiah is being performed by Tiptree and District Choral Society on Saturday.

The concert is part of the village's millennium celebrations and starts at 7.30pm at St Luke's Church.

Tickets cost £6 for adults and £4 for concessions and are available from 01621 892150 or on the door.

Tiptree Art Club is celebrating its first anniversary with a special dinner at the Railway Tavern in Kelved on on Friday.

It will also be holding its AGM on Friday.

Parish councillors approved the following plans at their meeting on Monday which will now go before Colchester Council for approval:

- double storey and single storey extension to rear of 85 Chapel Raod and carport with bathrooms above to the side of the house.

- construction of second storey onto existing single storey extension at 83 Chapel Road.

- five bedroom house and garage at 12 Oak Road.

- application for certificate of lawfulness for use of site for purpose of a general contractors yard at Omishan, Newbridge Road.

Sheila Gennings opened St Luke's Ladies Group's first meeting of the new year with a millennium prayer.

The group then listened to the sound of the bells which rang out at St Luke's Church on New Year's Day.

The group is buying electronic bells for the church.

The speaker was Chris Tyas, senior warden at Old Hall Marsh Reserve who talked about the irrigation and habitat work needed to supporting the birds and wildlife which visit the site.

The group's raffle prize winners were Nora Curtis and Nancy Collins and the 50 Club winners were Gloria Chittenden and Jane Gooday.

Fred Boot will give a talk entitled All about Tiptree at the next meeting on Thursday February 17 at St Luke's extension, Church Road at 8pm.

Admission costs £1 and includes a raffle and refreshments and new members are always welcome.

It's time for would-be carnival queens and court princesses to think about their applications to represent Tiptree at its annual carnival.

Applicants for the carnival queen should be 15 or older before the selection night of March 4.

Would-be court princesses should be 12 or over and applicants for mascots should be six or older by the same date.

Application forms are available from Julie Ridgewell on 01621 819264 or Jacqui Sutton on 0799 0874402.

The selection night will be held at Thurstable School.

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