Maldon Nub News aims to be supportive to EVERY element of the community from business and shops to people and charities and clubs and sports organisations.

Everyone is finding it tough at the moment and wants life to get back to normal.

We will be profiling some of these local businesses and groups regularly over coming weeks in a feature called UP CLOSE IN MALDON in the hope that we can be a supportive springboard for your full return to business as usual.

Today we talk to James Burrell-Cook, landlord of the Queen Victoria pub in Spital Road, Maldon. During an in-depth Q and A session James reveals why he and his team work so hard for the people of Maldon as well as what he loves about the town's community and his gratitude for its support during the current crisis.

There can't be many people living in Maldon who don't recognise the spectacular lights on the Queen Victoria pub in Spital Road as one of the first real signs that Christmas is coming. That is, so long as the pub's famous naughty elf hasn't removed a bulb somewhere.

By the same token, local people know the reputation of the place – an outstanding pub, run by a team who have become as much a recognisable part of the local community as the building itself. The blackboard A-frames outside, bearing cheerful messages in the bleakest of times, have become well-renowned. A picture of one recently had more than 3,000 views on social media.

So it is perhaps some surprise to learn that landlord James Burrell-Cook came to take up the reins at the Queen Vic as recently as July 2018. In those two-and-a-bit years James has become a stalwart of the local community.

"I used to have a pub near Ingatestone," says James, who spent most of his career working for British Airways and travelling the world, "but I wanted a pub of my own.

"I had a great relationship with Gray & Sons and with their help, we viewed four different pubs in the Maldon district area, but the very first time we came here it just felt right and we knew straightaway that the Queen Victoria was the one."

During the pandemic James and his team have made delivering food supplies to customers and local people a priority, realising as he did in those darkly scary, early days of the first lockdown that while teams of community volunteers were providing a brilliant response to many needy and vulnerable households, there were many others who didn't fall into those categories but still needed help.

There were those who weren't classified as needing to shield or with low incomes often felt they wanted to stay away from supermarkets and shops, but couldn't access home deliveries and had nowhere to turn. James identified this right away and used his meat, fruit and veg and other suppliers to help provide deliveries to local people. Goods such as flour and eggs, at one time in such scarce supply generally, were sourced and delivered. The delivery of hot meals provided a lifeline income for the pub while offering customers a much-appreciated service.

When VE and VJ Days came around, James and the pub team provided special cream tea deliveries to two local retirement housing developments, Coopers Court and Lawrence Place.

"It was our gift to them," James says, "something good we could do."

When lockdown restrictions were lifted the first time, the pub team worked tirelessly to provide a Covid-safe environment that became legendary locally, including the checking of temperatures at the door and ample social distancing. The Queen Victoria was kept very busy and James and the team have found the support of their loyal customers and the Maldon community "absolutely amazing" at a time when hospitality has been one of the worst-affected industries of all.

However, James had made his mark as a popular local landlord long before Covid-19 brought heartache and disruption.

When he married husband Paul in the summer of 2019, the couple's emergence from the Moot Hall brought the traffic to a near standstill as the many people who had come to see them and cheer their happy day caused crowds to form in the High Street.

James smiles with obvious pleasure as he remembers that wonderful day and the impact of the local community's affection on him is suddenly apparent.

So what are his hopes for the future at a time when we are all clinging to every little strand of light.

"Pubs are not designed to be places for social distancing really," he says, "so my hope is to return to normal business as soon as possible where we can have family and friends seeing each other and socialising properly again."

Ahead of that, the Queen Victoria hosted a Christmas Market yesterday (Saturday, 5 December) in the marquee and will hold a Covid-safe beer festival in the coming weeks (Maldon Nub News will be bringing you more details of that in the coming days).

For more information on the Queen Victoria, including events, menus, meal booking and other details, visit the pub's Facebook page here or the pub's website here.