BILLERICAY'S MILL MEADOWS OPEN DAY

Billericay's famous Mill Meadows Nature Reserve was the place to be on Sunday morning. This special green area is a 90-acre site fairly close to the centre of our small town in Essex. Open to the public all year round, visitors can explore the beautiful meadows and woodlands and spot a range of wildlife.

But Sunday's special open day was rather special with so many friends turning up. It was well organised by the Mill Meadows' team and obviously a huge amount of work was involved with clearing the site in readiness for the collection of interesting stalls.  Loved the honey table with Frances Adam, a local beekeeper and I enjoyed a chat about my last batch of mead. Among the collection of stalls and tables, were the Cater Museum hosted by Katie Wilkie, Trevor Jeffery with samples from his Billericay Brewing Company, particularly his special Zeppelin Beer. There were many other stalls selling the weird and wonderful, colourful and delicious!

Thomas Wood (Ross Holland) and Lord Petre who opened this special occasion

We arrived in time to snap Lord Petre and "Thomas Wood", that historical 'ghastly' miller who welcomed visitors to this countryside event. Here are a few more pictures from a fascinating visit.  




Billericay Archive Member David D'eath and a young visitor

By the way, stories of Mill Meadows are reproduced in one of my early books  BILLERICAY VOICES which outlines some of the town's famous people past and present and their links with this lively place in Essex. We have a few copies left - so do make contact via skent32@tiscali.co.uk