Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Billericay

  • Billericay – Billericay War Memorial

    Billericay – Billericay War Memorial

    Billericay’s war memorial was unveiled on 16 October 1921 (so, by chance, 99 years to the day when I visited), listing the names of the 62 men from the town who lost their lives during the First World War. Sadly this of course wasn’t the end of war, a panel was added behind the memorial following the Second World War, with the names of 54 men who had died in that conflict.

    A photo from the original dedication of the memorial is available at https://www.billericayhistory.org.uk/content/topics/place-2/war-memorials/billericay_war_memorial/first_world_war_memorial, and I’ve thought before what a challenging occasion these sort of unveilings must have been. The fathers and mothers of many of the war dead would turn up in their finery, proud of what their son had sacrificed, but still facing the searing pain of the loss of life.

  • Billericay – Blue Boar

    Billericay – Blue Boar

    It was a bit too early to visit the Billericay Brewing Company, so I popped into JD Wetherspoon’s pub in Billericay, the Blue Boar. There was a queue to get in when I arrived, but the staff member waved me past the queue when he saw me scanning the NHS app. I’m glad I’ve got that now.

    It’s a bit of a non-descript pub in terms of the architecture, as it’s not a particularly historic building, but it was clean and organised.

    I’m on a run of having English breakfasts at the moment, primarily as I’m not in Poland to eat lots of hot dogs in the morning. The bacon was under-cooked and the staff member forget to get the sauces that he asked if I wanted, but otherwise the breakfast was fine. For the price point, it’s hard to complain, so I won’t.

    The reviews of the pub are a bit mixed, but I’m wondering about this one:

    “I had the naked burrito with five bean chilli, without any chilli (it was only when i went to another Weatherspoons in Kent I realized this”

    I’m puzzled how you could order chilli, not get chilli and also not realise you should get chilli.

    “It is not breaking news to ANYONE that girls share a cubical. Upon leaving the cubical, two male bouncers were in the toilets telling us that this was “suspicious behaviour”. This is my girlfriend of three years, accusing us of something ‘dodgy’. We have been banned for the pub without so much as a negotiation or searching us for the ‘suspicious behaviour’ they claimed. I feel as that this was not only a personal attack but also extremely homophobic towards my girlfriend and I. I wouldn’t recommend this establishment to anyone else. I am extremely hurt by this.”

    This drama sounds exciting, although two men in the same cubicle in the male toilets, two people of each sex in any toilet or two women in the same cubicle in the female toilets would likely all be treated the same.

    “We do not give out complimentary alcohol for a complaint with food but we were more than happy to refund your meal.”

    This is the manager’s response to a customer who wanted a free drink because there was a backlog of food orders, and this is a sensible course to follow….. Anyway, this isn’t overly exciting, just another little drama that was probably intriguing to watch.

    “Four of us went in to The Blue Boar (Wetherspoons) in Billericay and wanted to sit in the area by the window but we were told we couldn’t as this made the place look full??? We were told we had to sit at the rear of the pub as this was where cyclist’s had to sit??”

    By coincidence, there was cyclists in today and they were sent to the back of the pub, but they were allowed to take their bikes with them through the pub which I thought was quite helpful of the staff. I’d be humoured if staff had told them not to sit at the front as it makes the place looks full though, that’s not good….

    The pub name is one taken from a pub that was previously thought to have stood on this site, although it has transpired that it was a few doors down. It’s nice that the name has continued, a little bit of heritage that has survived, even if the original pub is no longer there. Anyway, this seemed a safe enough pub, although some loud customers were causing other customers some grief and the staff didn’t seem to know what to do with their boisterous clientele…..

  • Billericay – Billericay Brewing Co. Micropub

    Billericay – Billericay Brewing Co. Micropub

    This is the tap room, or micropub as they refer to it as, of the Billericay Brewing Co. The frontage of their building is a little, well, plain, so these marquees at the front to give extra space make it look more appealing than it might have done in the past.

    The interior is a little rustic in appearance and it’s quite small, although the aforementioned marquees have given them some extra space. It got busier when I was there and the staff member spent much of the time answering the phone to take bookings, so it’s clearly a popular location in the evenings.

    The beer selection which is chalked up on the board.

    I started with the chilli porter as I like that sort of combination of flavours, and there was a stronger kick than I had expected from the chilli. But, it was still very drinkable and I’d certainly order this again because of the richness of flavour. The chilli element also only really became evident as an aftertaste, it was a sufficiently intriguing drink that I’d mention it to others.

    My second drink (in photo above) was the Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, which seemed to be the favourite of the pub judging by what everyone else was ordering. The name adds some extra spice to the whole arrangement and was what I’d consider to be a perfectly acceptable hoppy session beer, albeit at 5% ABV.

    I liked this pub, which is listed in the Good Beer Guide, and would return here, although would be conscious that I’d need to book if visiting in the evening. Welcoming, slightly quirky and laid-back, all rather lovely. They do some experiences such as Brewer for the Day, which sounds a pleasant way to spent a few hours and they deliver the 18 pint polypin a couple of weeks after.