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| Colchester Today. | ||||||
| Colchester is still a town full of buildings of great age and character. There are many restaurants and historic pubs, catering from all tastes from MacDonalds through to French, Thai, Nepalese and of course Indian & Chinese. Colchester also has many quaint old style shopping areas as well as the more modern shopping centre in Culver Square with its water fountain and street entertainers, a popular local meeting place plus a market held every Friday. Away from the town centre are several other shopping areas - at Stanway (electrical, home/furnishing, groceries, office equipment/stationary), at Turner Rise (electrical, home/furnishing, groceries) , and in Cowdrey Avenue (home/furnishing, car accessories, pet supplies, office equipment/stationary). The town is also home to the University of Essex and is well known for its links with the army which has a large garrison based in Colchester. The badges of 19 regiments associated with the town can be seen displayed along the wall by the road as you pass up Balkerne Hill. We are also famous for our Oysters first sampled by the Romans. These are cultivated and harvested off the coast of Mersea Island and enjoyed yearly at the Colchester Oyster Feast in the Town Hall. | ||||||
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Colchester has its own award-winning independant department store Williams & Griffin, (shown left). It is renowned locally for its inventive animated window display during the Christmas period. |
| The picture below shows Red Lion Walk, named because it runs beside and under the Red Lion Pub & Hotel, which itself has a history going back into the 15th century. Visitors to the town should also investigate the cobbled streets of Eld Lane & Trinity Street, an area which is full of small, character-filled shops and tea/coffee rooms. If you prefer the big, modern stores, visit to Culver Square shopping centre where you will find Debenhams, C & A, Virgin and Woolworths. We also have many other famous named stores such as Marks & Spencer, Boots, W.H. Smith, Dillons, Dixons etc.... We even have specialist shops dedicated to Dolls Houses & Teddy Bears! | |
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| The town also has what must be one of the most appealing Post Office buildings in the country (pictured left). This sits proudly at the head of the main street at the top of the hill and is an old oak beamed building. It became the town's main Post Office in 1997. | |
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| In 1998 a
nationwide poll voted Colchester one of the best
places in Britain to live for 'quality of life'
and low rates of crime. There is much, much more I could write about the town of which its residents are so proud. If you love history & culture, it's a place you can't afford to miss. |
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If you want to get out into the countyside, within 20 minutes drive of Colchester you can visit Flatford & Dedham, famous for the paintings of John Constable and again full of culture and history. Our position close to the port of Harwich and London Stansted airport makes Colchester an ideal base from which to explore East Anglia, including places such as Norwich, Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds & Ipswich. We are close to the Norfolk Broads and only 45 minutes drive from the famous horse racing town of Newmarket. But thanks to the fast train service to London, you can be in Liverpool Street station in East London within 50 minutes. If you prefer the beach, Clacton and Walton-on-the-Naze are 20 minutes to the East. Clacton is a typical commercial resort, while Walton has a more sedate, quiet air about it. Both have beautiful, long, sandy beaches. |
I hope you find this guide informative and maybe see you in town sometime. Click here to take a slide tour of the town For
lots more photographs of Colchester |
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