Went to Chelmsford racecourse for the first time for the Queen Charlotte, stakes with friends who own a lot of horses and a livery. We had a table in the Queen Charlotte marquee with a four course menu and a glass of champagne on arrival . the first course was the smallest bit of smoked salmon I have ever seen with a couple of Dabs of horseradish sauce you then have to wait until after each race has finished for your next course which takes at least an hour then roast chicken some small roast potatoes and a bit of broccoli for your main course, then a dessert followed by two cheese biscuits and a small selection of cheeses. Obviously they want you to drink loads in between. you have to queue at the end of the marquee to place a bet twice our friends couldn’t place one as the queue was so long and the race had started He also commented that you couldn’t hear the race commentary as it was totally muffled. All you could do was watch three small television screens also next to the marquee is an area that looks like a total building site and obviously hasn’t been worked on for a long time and could do with screening off all this for £90 a ticket we won’t be returning

I’m afraid that I have only had two experiences of the Racecourse. Both times have been with my staff and both times have been disappointing. I was refunded at Christmas after our party was a washout with racing cancelled due to the poor weather and then no alternatives laid on (even some music) – we were made to feel really uncomfortable by staff who obviously considered they would be getting away early while we were stuck waiting for our return transport and we were treated very rudely when ordering drinks. We were asked to leave the main area and move to the smaller bar where staff made it clear that they were not happy for us to be there. At this time I had already booked the Tipsy Tea for my ladies at work – this was greatly anticipated as it was for our 25th Birthday which could not happen in lockdown and took a lot of preparation and effort to organise. We had high expectations on the day but it was a catalogue of disasters with no glasses available in the marquee when we arrived and a single plate of sandwiches between eight– we did not even get our afternoon tea on the bone china cake stand and we had all the same cakes with no choices and had to request a plate of scones. Drinks were served in the incorrect glasses and to top it all I could not get a single receipt for any drinks throughout the afternoon which is not useful. I have been offered a voucher as compensation to use at the racecourse but quite honestly I am not sure I will be risking booking any more disappointing events here in the future. It is such a shame

Visited for Firework night. Huge event, lots of food stalls, few fairground rides and stalls. Everything was very expensive. £10 a burger, £10 noodles, rides £5 a child. Vip area, clean and spacious. Fireworks were quite good but only about 15 minutes, disappointing for the number of people and cost.

We went to the Christmas fair last Sunday and were not very impressed how it was set out. All the stalls were crammed in to a tent that wasn't big enough to accommodate them all. It was impossible to walk round them all with a pram and as there were so many people in such a small space I couldn't even see half the stalls. Old people were also struggling with their walkers. I imagine a fire marshal would have said it was illegal that many people in a confined space. There was no where to sit inside so we had to sit outside in the freezing cold and on wet chairs that were outside. For such a big place why was it all crammed in to a tiny area? Also bins were overflowing and when I approached a man wearing a CCR jacket to let him know he waved me off as if he was too important for that and drove off on his golf cart! I do hope the £6 each we paid for entry went all to the charity and none to CCR.