Basildon Travel Guide

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Robins is a bit of a chain consisting of 3 or 4 shops in the London area.

Food - Well, it's a pie with ground (minced if your English) beef filing, mashed potatoes and something they call liquor which is basically parsley and potato stock (the water the potatos were boiled in?). Rather basic, but....they do have Jellied Eels and Hot Eels & Mash. So, not sure if the English consider that basic....I don't!
Ambiance - Rather sterile 1950's diner look
Service - Quick, order and pick up at counter. Eat in or take out.

Actually tastes much better than it looks.
Pies are handmade daily, made with Free range Scottish Beef, less than 24 months old...whatever that's good for.
Also available: Vegetarian Pie & Mash

A Cockney dish, originally made with eels, dates back to the 19th century when Dutch ships delivered the live Eels to London, apparently along with the accompanying Parsley Liquor. One must assume that the dish is originally a Dutch recipe then? A word of advice: Eat with spoon, not fork, or you may be laughed at by your wife, brother in law and sister in law.

Favorite Dish: Duhhh.....Pie & Mash

Basildon was orginally built without a railway station, even though the main line to Southend went straight through the middle of town.

It was thoughT that the residents of the new town would live and work in the same place. It Never happened. Basildon station is now awash with commuterS every morning and evening rush hour.

If you wish to visit, then it is a straight run from Fenchurch Street Station (Nearest tube stop : Tower hill) to Basildon.

The station itself is servicable - but a complete hole.

Many people in Essex originally come from the East End of London. They may have been seeking a better life in the green fields of Essex, but the Market trader philosophy came with them.

Places like Pitsea Market are where you can really participate in the 'lifeforce' of local people. The market operates with about 200 stalls, 4 days a week in the centre of Pitsea's shopping area. Full details are available from the listed website.

Even the operators have few pretensions and use a mock-up to Del and Rodney's Robin Reliant three-wheeler (from the classic British Comedy 'Only fools and Horses') with 'Pitsea Maket' on the side to help publicise the place.

You won't find any tourists here, and thus no stalls aimed at tourists, but if you anything from DVD's to Cauliflowers, then this is your place.

As an alternative, visit one of the vast 'boot sales' that operate at the weekend, just look out for signs on the A127, or elsewhere, directing you to some sodden field where you can purchase the contents of someone else's garage.

Cacophobia is a recognised medical phobia - it is the fear of ugliness.

You may well find you have this affliction aften about half an hour in the town centre. The Eastgate shopping centre is reasonable, but the rest of the city centre is a vast expanse of souless concrete in the worst traditions of 1960's English town planning - beware !

Wat Tyler country park, to the south of Basildon could not be called scenic by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a site of special scientific interest (a S.S.I)

This is mainly due to the marshy land that is the ideal environment for some quite rare birds, including a rare breeding site for Bearded ***. Some uncharitable souls might wish to point out that there is already plenty of breeding by bearded *** in Basildon, but that another matter.

Various hides are available for those known as 'twitchers'.

Apparantly the following birds have been sited here :
Avocet
Black Tailed Godwit
Bearded Tit
Cetti's Warbler
Common Whitethroat
Cuckoo
Firecrest
Golden Plover
Greenshank
Grey Heron
Grey plover
Lapwing
Pied Wagtail
Reed Warbler
Short Eared Owl
Snipe
Sparrowhawk
Stonechat
Water Rail
Yellow Legged Gull

Equipment: Binoculars, patience, anorak , thermos, no life, no wife.