Its taken me a long time to make peace with Hanningfield resovoir, having been dragged there nearly every weekend for a good few years, but in the sun its a lovely place and its only up the road from me.

My Nan isnt mad about crowds so me and my Mum took her for lunch Saturday for Mothers Day rather than Sunday. With stunning views over the water (hence the name) its a nice place to go to pretend your not in England.

The food is a bit basic aside from specials and a couple of mains. Being the idiot I am, I assumed the halloumi and salad would come with a dressing I didnt like even if I asked for it not to and opted for the fish and chips.

THIS WAS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE. The fish had so many bones in it I spent the entire meal time holding it down with my fork in case it swam away, and the chips were harder than one of those metal relay sticks you used to use in PE (you will have to be as old as me to remember them as I assume kids use lightsabers now). The halloumi looked lovely (my Mum got it) and I spent the rest of the meal (and weekend) feeling gutted I didnt order it.

A lot of the guys that work on Saturdays are school kids, but this still doesnt excuse the fact they left us with dirty plates and chatted in the sun on the deck.

To put it bluntly, I love this place, but you are safer going across the road to the Windmill for actual food, and then just a cup of tea at ‘Cafe on the Water’. I ended up spending ££40 on 3 lunches and basically sharing 2 between 3 people.