The Victory at Mersea, Colchester

We spent a few days staying at The Victory and I was interested to see how it was since we were last there. There were under offer signs outside and I was told that it had been sold and the new proprietors would be taking over in a month. There are three real ale pumps serving Crouch Vale Brewers Gold, Caledonian Deuchars IPA and their own Victory Ale which I was told is brewed by Heineken who own the place. They only seem to be able to keep two of them available, but they are in good order. The down side is that the IPA is £3.90 and the Victory Ale is £3.95. It is still an expensive place to sink a few. There is a long breakfast bar type table set at right angles in front of the bar, which is strange and makes navigating the bar awkward. The separate bar to the left could be a nicer place to drink but there is a large round table as you enter from the main bar which once again makes navigating difficult. The separate bar seems a wasted area. Tables in both are are sticky and in need of a good clean. It will be interesting to see what changes the new proprietors make, especially as each evening I was in there were almost no customers.