HELLOWEEN. THE MAYPOLE, THAXTED

October 2026. Thaxted. Essex.

With apologies to Lana, who shares my views on Halloween (I detest all celebrations of specific days to be honest), I have to bring you the Maypole in Thaxted.

Since I’m here for the night and have saved £63.10 on my accommodation budget, I feel morally obliged to DO Thaxted properly and justify the parish council’s decision to let me park overnight for free.

For what feels like decades the two GBG entries were the Star and the Maypole, the latter a solid looking community pub on the edge of town, just beyond the Guildhall, which you’ll never see wrapped in “Keep out” signs and ghouls.

Your entry to the Maypole is welcomed by the fellow below. PRESS PLAY (unless you don’t want to).

I really started to notice the Halloween overload of UK pubs in Nottingham town centre 20 years ago. With smoking banned, pubs need things to keep folk entertained; quizes, meat raffles, cover bands, pumpkin carving…

It’s not for me, but clearly people like horror or they wouldn’t watch Manchester United. I’m terrified enough by Finding Nemo, thank you.

Anyway, the beer is as (very) good as ever,

though let’s not dwell too long on things like the provenance of Ridley’s, shall we ?

Bishop Nick Ridley, from whom the original brewery founder was descended, was burned at the stake in 1555 for supporting the Protestant cause, and I wager would have had something to say about devil worship.

But I’ll say this, it’s an astonishing effort by the Maypole, extending deep into the garden,

with the biggest horror of all on the left hand side of the smoking shelter.

Ridley’s Rite is one of their “Sacred” ales, so for balance let’s have a sacred text blue tacked to the window across the road.

Life is all about balance.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

17 thoughts on “HELLOWEEN. THE MAYPOLE, THAXTED”

  1. “(I detest all celebrations of specific days to be honest)”

    Wait ’til us #PubMen start celebrating BRAPA Day annually, where Si’s final GBG tick is commemorated by drinking ESB, eating Owl & Cauliflower Pie and playing Pass the Parcel Yard.

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  3. When I see all this crap “Tear down their ashrams” comes to mind from Deut. Tempting to go on a wreckage. Unfortunately Halloween is now twice a year. I found out when I searched why TKMax and others were displaying all the tat in summer. The idea has come about from some US TV show which is no surprise.

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      2. I do find most people (Mrs RM an exception) need to governed by ritual.

        They must “celebrate” 25 December, and Bonfire Night, and Wedding Anniversaries etc etc, rather than enjoying every day given by the creator equally.

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    2. When I were a lad, Halloween was a thing but not like it is now. We made lanterns out of turnips/swedes and bobbed for apples but Trick or Treat was unheard of. Bonfire Night was much more important. (Six-year-old children could legally buy fireworks in those days.)

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      2. One of my enduring memories was of Dad taking me to see Tottenham Hotspur aged 13 and seeing a lad younger than me smoking.

        At the amusement arcade in Wells-next-the-Sea I won actual cigarettes on one of those “pushing” machines you put pennies which pushed prizes off. I gave them to our smoking neighbour.

        And yet people look back on the ’70s as a golden age.

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      3. Ah yes, and remember the sweet cigarettes. My buddy and I would play house with them hanging from our gobs whilst whacking our dolls on the arse.

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      5. We never “celebrated” Halloween but my Dad had the biggest pumpkin field in Cambridgeshire; I remember they were as popular for soup and tart as putting candles in.

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      6. Lana, I think that theoretically they could, although it would have been up to whoever was behind the counter whether to actually sell them or not. Certainly by the time you were ten, you could get away with it by saying “They’re for my dad.”

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      8. Exactly what I was going to say, Bill. My Dad organised the local bonfire night on the empty field that had just grown pumpkins and everyone brought theie own fireworks.

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      9. Yes indeed Etu.
        I blame the IRA for the youth of today not being able to buy Proper Weedkiller and other such chemicals from their local chemist or hardware shop.

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