The Brentwood Centre in Essex hosts the BetVictor English Open for a second consecutive year next month. Mark Selby will defend the title against the world’s best.
By Tomos Wyn Jones
The tournament runs from October 2-8, and all of the top 16 seeds compete on the opening day. Tickets are on sale from just £11, for details click here. If you are heading to the event, here’s the key information about the town.
Getting to Brentwood
Brentwood is on the new Elizabeth tube line which makes it easy to access from central London. The railway station is located 1.5 miles away from the venue. The number 37 bus runs every 20 minutes and stops at the Brentwood Centre. If you’re coming by car, leave the the M25 motorway at junction 28 and you’re just ten minutes away. Brentwood is the eighth largest settlement in Essex, with a population of 55,000 people.
Local attractions
Mark Selby and Luca Brecel clashed in the final in Brentwood last year – just as they did at the Crucible
Warley Place Nature Reserve.
This 25-acre site consists of a house that is famous for its Edwardian gardens and is now maintained as a nature reserve by Essex Wildlife Trust. There are trail guides available in the nature reserve where you can explore wilderness and wildlife.
Brandler Galleries.
Just a mile and a half from the Brentwood Centre, Brandler Galleries specialises in modern British Art, illustrations for children’s publications and English old masters. It is the home of rare work by street artists such as Banksy and Pure Evil.
Secret Nuclear Bunker.
Located just outside Brentwood, in Kelvedon Hatch, this vast and deep bunker was built in 1952, and maintained for several decades as a potential emergency government centre. Since 1992 it has been open to the public, and doubles as a museum on Cold War history.
For more information on these attractions and much more, click here or here.
Local Food and Drink
Essex is renowned for the famous jam from Tiptree (where Ali Carter once lived). Conserve your energy for a visit to the company’s headquarters and enjoy a cuppa in their Tea Room, which was visited by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 to mark 125 years of jam making. Brentwood town centre has plenty of restaurants, and you can enjoy a drink in the Sugar Hut, made famous by The Only Way Is Essex.