THE MONKHAMS
THE MONKHAMS - A LITERARY ESSEX PUB
Jo?and I took the Central line to Debden to walk near the River Roding for about an hour and a half and then on to the pub.
The Monkhams was built at the turn to the 20th century. It is now a Greene King pub with a big garden. On walking in, I waited to be served by the bar, before asking for, ‘Two ￡2 Pints, please.’ The offer of ￡2 pints – advertised as: ‘Available all day, every day, from the?4th of September to the 18th of September’ - was refused. I said: ‘I accepted your deal promoted on your website’ but to no avail. The manager explained the terms and conditions meant it was ‘at the manager’s discretion.’
My hardship was nothing. Rather than refreshments at The Monkhams we made our way to the quietest London Underground station: Roding Valley (both the pub and station are just on the Essex side of the London/Essex border). We travelled on the Central line to Notting Hill for a pint of Frontier and Thai lunch at The Churchill Arms, named after the UK leader in the Second World War.
Visits to Monkhams Inn are made on multiple occasions (pages 98, 121, 154, 159, 179 and 183) in 'Black' Robertson’s book A Spitfire Named Connie: Letters from a North Africa Ace – A Tale of Triumph (2022): The Monkhams Inn was their local Woodford pub, within walking distance of Connie’s home (page 98).
Battle of Britain Day (15th September) recognises the momentous point in the fighting, when the Luftwaffe launched its heaviest bombing raids on London.
In the BBC’s archive of World War Two memories, Hilda G. Clarke remembered: ?I well recall the night that London suffered what to us was the worst bombing raid of all. My father came home from “The Monkham’s Inn” and made us all get dressed in warm outdoor clothes. We then walked up the hill to the railway bridge leading to Roding Valley Halt. “Take a good look at the Second Great Fire of London” he told us, “It’ll be something to tell your grandchildren, - if we live that long” he added.
The Monkhams also refers to an area in Woodford on the London side of the London/Essex border. There is a blue plaque?at Clement Attlee?(Bibliography), the UK leader after the Second World War and the 1945 general election, former home at 17 Monkhams Avenue, Woodford Green.
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Author and Historian. 2021 recipient of the Victorian Military Society's Howard Browne Medal. No cryptocurrency or sugar daddy connection requests.
6 个月I stopped by the Churchill Arms on a visit to London earlier this year, Henry Bewley. It's too bad the landlord's 'digression' was not more accommodating at The Monkhams.