Our pubs officer writes:
Since Wharf brewery took on The Yard micro-pub in Maldon as their brewery tap I’ve been meaning to visit. The other day Facebook showed me a post suggesting it will probably be closing at the end of June which has made visiting it before then a bit more urgent. Maldon has other pubs to visit as well, as we have done branch trips there before (in August 2019 by mini-bus, which included a Mighty Oak Brewery tour, and before that in September 2016). To get to Maldon from here by public transport requires going by train to Witham and taking the number 90 bus from outside Witham station into the centre of Maldon. From Clacton I’m looking at the 10:05 train which should give 23 minutes at Witham for the ~1 minute walk from train to bus stop, with the number 90 bus leaving at 11:08 and reaching the White Horse bus stop in Maldon at 11:43. Return buses are at roughly 20 minutes past each hour from the All Saints Church stop, with 10 minutes to make the change at Witham. Note that The Yard opens at 2pm on Saturdays (according to the CAMRA link above, and a post in their Facebook group in April) so arriving early gives us time to try other pubs and find some lunch. Allow at least 10 minutes for the walk from The Yard to the bus stop for the return trip (the route planner I tried suggests 9 minutes).