Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
High St.
&
01206/282941.
www.colchestermuseums.org.uk. Free admission. Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun
11am-5pm.
Entertainment & Nightlife
The Mercury Theatre,
Balkerne Gate (
&
01206/573948;
www.mercurytheatre.
co.uk), is a first-class rep theatre that produces serious drama but also features tour-
ing shows, bands, and comedians. Big name touring shows can be seen at
Charter
Hall,
Cowdray Avenue (
&
01206/282020;
www.charter-hall.co.uk).
Colchester
Arts Centre,
Church Street (
&
01206/500900;
www.colchesterartscentre.com),
is also a good venue for live bands and comedy shows, while
Essex University,
Wivenhoe Park, has Comedy Central Live nights, plus music and films, at its
Lake-
side Theatre
(
&
01206/573948;
www.essex.ac.uk).
There are many traditional pubs in Colchester, and one of the oldest is
The Mar-
quis,
24-25 North Hill (
&
01206/577630
), which has real ale and pub food, plus
bands, karaoke, quiz nights, and televised sport. It's popular with students so expect
it to be lively. More upmarket is
The King's Arms,
63 Crouch St. (
&
01206/572886;
www.gkpubs.co.uk), a stripped-wood contemporary-style pub that has a wine menu
as well as local Greene King beers and serves food from 11am to 9pm. Farther along
13
WEST MERSEA &
maldon
You don't need a ferry to get over to
Mersea Island; the narrow causeway,
which is flooded twice a day by the
incoming tide, is exciting enough. This
sparsely populated chunk of land in the
Blackwater Estuary has fine walks in
unspoiled countryside and one of the
most popular fish restaurants in Essex.
The best place to head for a walk is
Cudmore Grove Country Park,
East Mer-
sea (
&
01206/383868;
www.visitparks.
co.uk), where there's a beach and paths
for walkers and cyclists, while
The Com-
pany Shed,
129 Coast Rd., West Mersea
(
&
01206/382700;
www.west-mersea.
co.uk), is the place to eat. Once just a
fish shack, it is now a fishmonger's
where you can choose what you want
from the catch of the day, and they'll
cook it for you to eat at old retro For-
mica tables (bring your own drink and
bread). In summer the place is packed
and parking hard to find.
At the southern end of the Blackwater
Estuary you'll find Maldon, a picturesque
little seafaring town where distinctive
Thames sailing barges are moored at
Hythe Quay. The town is on a small hill
winding down to the Hythe, the most
popular area of town. Here you'll find riv-
erside pubs
The Jolly Sailor
(
&
01621/
853463;
www.jollysailor.com), which
offers meals and lodging, and
The
Queens Head
(
&
01621/854112;
www.
thequeensheadmalson), which has sea-
sonal menus. Next door is
Promenade
Park,
with a riverside walk, great chil-
dren's play areas, and good parking facil-
ities. Maldon is the second oldest town in
Essex after Colchester, with a rich history
of Saxon, Danish, and Viking conflicts.
Now it's just a lovely place to explore the
mud flats and marshes, for instance at
nearby
Heybridge Basin,
where you can
walk along the sea wall with corn fields
on one side and migrating seabirds on
the other. Farther east around the coast
is
Bradwell-on-Sea,
possibly the most
remote corner of Essex, where you can
walk to the remarkable, barn-like chapel
of
St. Peter-on-the-Wall
(
&
01621/
776203;
www.bradwellchapel.org), built
by St. Cedd in
A
.
D
. 645. The original
building is still in use today.
