Sporting the old-fashioned name for honeysuckle and located on Honey Lane, The Woodbine Inn in Waltham Abbey certainly hits the sweet spot, combining traditional food and award-winning ales with a friendly, relaxed ambience, making it the quintessential local

There’s one important word that landlord Rob Chapman uses over and over again in our interview, and that’s ‘local’. The Woodbine Inn is steeped in ‘local’, from the award-winning cider and ale brewed just down the road, to the Essex-reared ingredients that make up the menu. They even make their own ice cream!

Great British Life: Only Essex herd beef is deemed good enough for their best-selling beef burgerOnly Essex herd beef is deemed good enough for their best-selling beef burger (Image: The Woodbine)


The pub also stocks local spirits like gin, vodka, wine and brandy and they were named Essex Pub of the Year in 2018, but first I ask him about the name. The Woodbine Inn is unusual, to say the least, conjuring up a very last-century brand of cigarettes. The answer is much more delightful. Woodbine, Rob informs me, is the old-fashioned name for honeysuckle, which still grows in the pub garden. And the address is Honey Lane in Waltham Abbey on the edge of Epping Forest, so it all begins to make sense.

Great British Life: Rob, Julie and the team enjoy a rare bit of down time in the pub gardenRob, Julie and the team enjoy a rare bit of down time in the pub garden (Image: The Woodbine Inn)


‘The original pub on this site burnt down and was rebuilt in the 1800s,’ Rob explains. ‘We took it over about ten years ago when it was a failed Punch Tavern with no real ales, no cider and no food menu.’ All that has changed now - Rob runs the pub with his wife Julie, and they both have an impressive background in catering and pub management.
They always knew what they wanted to do with the pub when they took it over, and have spent the intervening time making it as local as it can get.
‘We attract a lot of local trade, plus destination customers who have been recommended to visit us by local hotels, and because of all the awards we’ve won for our real ales, our cider and the traditional food menu,’ Rob explains.

Great British Life: The food might be tradtional, but Julie likes to shakes things up with specials and a seasonal menuThe food might be tradtional, but Julie likes to shakes things up with specials and a seasonal menu (Image: The Woodbine Inn)


‘In fact we’ve won nearly 30 awards over the ten years we’ve been here. Camra (The Campaign for Real Ale group) love us, and we’ve been listed as one of their top four real ale pubs in Britain. We designed and brewed our own Woodbine Racer beer at the pub originally, but we ran out of space so now it’s contract-brewed down the road at the Red Fox Brewery in Coggeshall. We have some lovely Belgian beers which are brewed in Bishops Stortford by a Belgian brewer and our own London Glider cider is made from locally-grown apples. We’re also delighted to be able to offer wines from New Hall Vineyards at Purleigh. We just try and keep it all as local as possible to help support local businesses and keep our environmental impact down.’

Great British Life: Keeping it local even extends to the Belgium beer which is made by a Belgium brewer living in Bishops StortfordKeeping it local even extends to the Belgium beer which is made by a Belgium brewer living in Bishops Stortford (Image: The Woodbine Inn)


I ask if the food menu follows the same high local footprint? ‘We try and source the best local ingredients we can,’ confirms Rob. ‘We have a small edible food garden filled with flowers and herbs here at the pub, but otherwise we use local suppliers and contacts wherever possible. We offer Essex herd beef, lamb from the Theydon Garnon area and pork from Great Garnetts of Dunmow. Our menu is home made from the best quality ingredients we can find, plus it’s as eco-friendly and as sustainable as we can make it. We conduct due diligence on all our suppliers and we wouldn’t have anything Julie and I wouldn’t eat ourselves on the menu!’

Great British Life: Many of the herbs and garnishes come from the pub's small edible food gardenMany of the herbs and garnishes come from the pub's small edible food garden (Image: The Woodbine Inn)


Their homemade range of ice creams sound particularly delicious, and Julie chips in to list some of the inviting flavours on offer: ‘We use fresh cream, Belgian chocolate and other flavours like Cherry Bakewell and Strawberry Daiquiri. Our most popular are the Rum & Raisin, Chocolate and Terry’s Chocolate Orange. Rather bizarrely we have a group of WWE wrestlers who come and eat all the ice cream flavours when they’re nearby!’
They are both very proud of the food they offer, which may primarily be traditional pub grub like steak and ale pies, Scotch eggs, fish and chips and stew and dumplings, but is augmented by specials and a seasonal menu that reflects the changing availability of local ingredients. Rob is also keen to point out that they will have a new vegan menu for autumn, and plenty of salad and fish options, too.
Like many local outlets The Woodbine did local food deliveries during lockdown and Rob has decided to keep this option open. ‘The takeaway and delivery market was very successful for us during lockdown – we saw a big demand for food, in particular our roast dinners. It made me realise how many single people there are locally who enjoy using the service, so we’re going to carry on offering that choice. It will be almost the same menu as we serve in the pub, but some dishes, like ham, egg and chips or steak, don’t travel well!’

Great British Life: Roasts at The Woodbine are legendary and are even popular as takeawaysRoasts at The Woodbine are legendary and are even popular as takeaways (Image: The Woodbine Inn)


They have events at the pub, too, as Rob explains: ‘We are relaunching our Comedy Club nights on the last Friday of every month, and looking ahead there will be a whole programme of Christmas entertainment, culminating in our very popular Christmas Eve Carol Singalong! I’d urge everyone to book their tickets as soon as possible.’
Sounds like it’s not to be missed. Why not follow the pub’s ethos, stay local in West Essex and go see what The Woodbine Inn has to offer?

Get in touch
The Woodbine Inn
Honey Lane,
Waltham Abbey, EN9 3QT
01992 713050
thewoodbine.co.uk