The Mill Beach, Essex
Happy Easter Bank Holiday lads and lasses!
Our jobs brought us to Essex last week and therefore we were blessed with some opportunity for further mischief!
This time, I had to go on my own as Mr. Bu had to work. I however got the bike out and bumped into this little abandoned treasure!
Bit of history upfront:
Before becoming the Mill Beach pub & restaurant, it was part of a piece of land called Barrow Farm. As time went on a man made lake was built and a windmill also came to be part of the scene. The Mill Beach was set inside a 12th century building and was loved and known for hosting community events and live music. However it was all of a sudden closed down in November 2018 and has since descended into shabbiness, and it is unclear what may become of the property. Only a year later, you could acclaim the property for just £1, but obviously it did not prevent the place from getting trashed further. There are rumours that the pub could be part of a new housing development, however currently no planning applications have been made to for housing on the site. The current owner is unknown and as it comes, of course loads of break ins and vandalism took place since closure. As you can see in the video, the place hosts some squatters and is clearly still used for drinking - loads of booze bottles covered the place...
It was quite sad to see this pub/restaurant in such a shabby state, especially since you could still sense the nice vibe it used to have once. With the small stage in the centre of the main room, I could imagine the music filling the room once. The floor there was not only covered in trash, empty/half empty bottles and glass but also vinyls and CD's! Entering the property could not have been any more easy due to all the vandalised windows and doors, but as I was wondering alone through the rooms, it became clear after a while that I might not be alone there... I came back after a little break to finish up the rooms I did not dare to enter before as I could hear voices. Made a little video for y'all - enjoy!
