Welcome

Welcome to the awarding winning Compasses Inn at Littley Green. We are open as normal and serving food and drink every day of the week. Please see below for our opening and food times.

The Compasses is a traditional country pub which means we do not do table service and we serve customers on a first come, first served basis. This means there may be long wait times for bar service or food at peak times. We only take bookings for larger groups (see below), but we do not offer table service for booked tables either. Also, we do not do paper menus, so please take a photo of the food menu when you arrive to help with ordering, especially in groups.

ALLERGIES

Given some high profile and tragic cases in the news recently, we will ask everyone we serve to state if they have any allergies when ordering food and make a note of this on the tickets we send to the kitchen.

CHRISTMAS TIMETABLE OF EVENTS & OPENING TIMES

Christmas timetable of events at The Compasses

Lots going on as usual at The Compasses this Christmas – music, quiz nights and carols!

If you’d like to register for the quiz night, please let us know – max team size of 6, £5 per head entry fee, Christmas Platter – all proceeds go to charity.

Otherwise it’s mulled wine and cider, festive real ales and a great Christmas vibe as always!

CHRISTMAS MENU 2024

We are now taking bookings for our Christmas Menu – please see below.

Bookings must be for at least 4 people and pre-ordered by email.

We are running the menu between the 2nd and 21st December (excluding Sundays)

We look forward to seeing you!

TABLE BOOKINGS
You do not need to book a table to come to The Compasses. We only take bookings for groups of 6 or above and these will be staggered to minimise wait times.

REAL ALE
Being members of the sixth generation of the Ridley brewing family we pride ourselves on the quality of our real ale.
There is always Bishop Nick Ridley’s Rite (a session bitter), a dark ale, two golden ales and one other guest ale. See the blackboard below for our latest offerings.

Last Updated 3rd January 2024

COMPASSES’ NOMINATED CHARITIES 2023
We are supporting 2 charities this year – Alzheimer’s Research UK and CanRehab Trust.

Molly Butcher is cycling London to Brighton on the 18th June 2023 – this is her story:

“In 2020 I lost my great-aunt to Alzheimer’s in her early 70’s, watching her deterioration was one of the most upsetting memories I have and ever since I knew I wanted to raise money for Alzheimer’s UK to aid their target of producing the first course of treatment by 2025. No human being should have to experience the loss of their entire being until they are just a shell of who they once were. Still so little is known about this disease that we must keep fighting and talking about it until we understand, have a cure or have medication that can fight it.
I am racing for my friends who know someone with the disease or have lost someone close, I am racing for my family who witnessed and experienced the loss of my great-aunt and most importantly I am racing for my great-auntie Beverley x”
More information about Molly’s challenge:
Click here for Molly’s Justgiving Page

Emma Haxell is rowing around the British Isles in June 2023 (hoping to break a world record!) – this is her story:

“Our oceans are the front line of climate change.

As the world gets warmer and the use of single use plastics continues to rise, we need to protect our oceans and those who inhabit it.

In June 2023, I, along with five other crew members (who make up Team Ithaca), will embark upon the World’s Toughest Row, part of GB Row Challenge, to circumnavigate Great Britain (2,000 miles).

In addition to contending with fast-turning tides, unpredictable UK weather, a rocky coastline and busy shipping areas, we’ll collect groundbreaking data – micro plastics sampling, EDNA (Environmental DNA), sound, water temperature and salinity – to help scientists at the University of Portsmouth better analyse the state of the water around our coastlines.

The data collected will significantly improve scientists understanding of the changing number of micro plastics in our waters. Never before has there been a continuous flow of data from around the UK. And that’s exactly what we’ll achieve.

Our chosen charity for the row is CanRehab Trust. Founded by Professor Anna Campbell MBE, the charity provides individualised exercise, nutritional and emotional support to people living with and beyond cancer in the UK, helping them become or stay active by matching them with a registered cancer exercise instructor.”

More information can be found via the links below:
https://www.teamithaca.com
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/teamithaca

The Compasses, also known as The Huffer Pub

There are sandwiches - and there are Huffers! What's a Huffer? Well, let me tell you. Traditionally a Huffer used to be half a loaf of bread that the men working on the fields would take each day, stuffed with a selection of fillings.

Out and about
Out and about

See the historic pillboxes, remnants of World War II, amongst the wild garlic in the nearby woodlands and enjoy walking through the fields of linseed and wheat. The local countryside is perfect for walking, cycling and horse riding. If you are interested, the The Compasses' unique cycling shirts are available from the bar. For all those winter walkers there is a welcoming open log fire and a good pint of real ale to help you on your way.

What We do

Cycle

To take advantage of the stunning local country lanes, The Huffers & Puffers Cycle Group leave for a cake run every Saturday at 9.00am

Food

In this age of ‘bistro pubs’ we are proud to operate as an independent public house offering proper pub food, with ingredients sourced from local suppliers

Horse Racing

Only a few furlongs away is Chelmsford City Racecourse – the first one to open in the UK since 1927. Are you feeling lucky?

Beer Festival

We run beer festivals throughout the year, but our main event is the Hopstock Beer & Music Festival, running from 9th-11th August 2019