Mid-afternoon, after a hot walk from Burnham along the sea wall and over the marshes. Quiet here, the Chelmsford Beer Festival having drawn away both staff and customers. The food looked very nice, but I had just eaten a sandwich before I arrived.

Busy lunchtime visit with a function for the Chappel beer festival volunteers just starting. We were soon joined in the bar by a few other visitors too. The pork scratchings as mentioned by ChrisE were very addictive!

My first visit here but it was easy to find as we just alighted from the train at Southminster and followed everyone else, it turned out that the pub was hosting a private party for people that had worked at the Chappel & Wakes Colne Beer Festival, they were accommodated in a separate room and us paying customers sat in the bar. Beware of the chilli flavoured pork scratchings unless you have a pint ready to cool your tastebuds. This pub was well worth visiting.