Cliff, Southend-on-Sea

Large three-storey corner pub built c.1888 with painted-over exterior tiles. It features a colourful tiled wall, and also the biggest collection of Victorian back-painted mirrors in a pub that CAMRA is aware of. (There are other good displays of back-painted mirrors in the snug of the Half Moon, Herne Hill, London SE24 and on the left-hand wall of the Bunch of Grapes, Brompton, London SE3.) On the back wall of the main bar there are eight large and two small back-painted mirrors with plants, birds and a couple of rather delightful frogs, which are signed 'YOUNG & MARTEN, STRATFORD'. Sadly, the modern fittings in the form of two coolers and display shelves in front of them are truly crass.

The tiled wall with a pictorial panel is in a former entrance lobby - note the sealed-up outside door and the obvious opening-up of between the tiled area and the area with the mirrors. The floor-to-ceiling tiling features a multi-tile panel depicting a girl with a pail against a background of farm buildings and a few cows. It is signed 'L. Hall 1888'. The main bar consisted of at least two rooms in the past (note two exterior doors - one has 'Public bar' in etched glass) and retains its original bar counter and the ceiling is held up by two columns with decorative capitals. There is a separate small room at the rear also with an original counter and an internal porch with more etched glass. Southend's premier gay pub.