May 2024. Witham. Essex.
Staying in Waterbeach at least means a good base for a half-hearted assault on the GBG24 entries in East Angular, and Essex remains perhaps our most consistent county for pubby all-rounders (and good beer), even if I can’t name any absolute classic pubs.
Anyhow, let’s have a tick “And a night out in Witham” as the John Denver song goes.
OK, overshadowed by the coastal glories of Maldon, and the marshes, and even the old school sweary boozers of Chelmsford, but Witham (pop. 25.542) must have something apart from London overspill and Olly Murs ?
Well, our Guide newbie looks the part.
I must have driven past this a dozen times over the years on the way to the sea, and perhaps the White Hart‘s sign stood out,
but frankly there’s hundreds of those black and white pub-restaurants round here, though this one is the main hotel too.
Its debut in the Guide seems due to Greene King IPA a separate gravity cask area aimed at bringing sexy back to real ale.
I’m dubious, and I have to go round the corner to the main bar to ask the barmaid for “one of those beers from the barrel, please“, but this doesn’t seem to mark me out as a weirdo (or invite CAMRA discount).
Sadly, the IPA isn’t from the barrel, but the Brewers Gold is, and it’s cool and crisp (3+), just good enough to assure me the “cask corner” isn’t an affectation.
If you showed me the photo below,
I’d know instantly This Is Essex, the trades folk providing the post-tea custom, all seated at the bar. Elsewhere, seating is a lottery, either restaurant tables or high seats, but that’s OK. It’s ticking over nicely on Thursday night with only Rump Steak for £9.95 as a draw. Oddly, no Luke Littler on the telly.
The White Hart is the archetypal Essex town pub, a place dominated by wooden beams and Guinness
and burger offers,
a place where “Blinding Lights” is ALWAYS the next song to be played.
A worthy GBG entry, and it’s great to see Witham back with a Guide newbie.
Meanwhile in the Gents, someone is reacting to the calling of a General Election…
retiredmartin 
In bygone days didn’t Robinsons, Castle Rock and Slaters try to make real ale sexy ?
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In one case it was “sexist” wasn’t it ?
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Maybe all not one, so best consigned to history.
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Apart from short intermissions of civilisation they’ve always been in charge
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Yes, all those yelling at televisions in crowded pubs this afternoon were proof of that 😉
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Hence me avoiding pubs today.
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“Just let it wash over you”, Paul 🙂
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Calling yourself dubious is never good. It means dodgy.
You can however call yoursen sceptical. It is much better.
Next on my list is “least worst” which halfwits now seem fond of saying. Why “least bad” hasn’t replaced it…dunno! And then the verb “to of” which quarterwits are keen on.
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Entering a pub with all the customers drinking Carling but several cask beers on, asking which is “least worst” or “least bad” would be a good idea, except that the staff wouldn’t know.
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The barmaid here wouldn’t have known, but she was polite and charming as young folk are in 2024 and Essex generally has a cask trade that means you’re unlikely to get a duff pint. Very, very few pubs worth a trip over from Stafford, mind.
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Dodgy had their 15 minutes of Brit pop fame in those glorious summers of the early 90s.
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