Posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on March 30, 2007 at 20:49:20 from 195.93.21.70 user ACB.
In Reply to: Re: Roaring Donkey (was Back to COMMENTS REQUESTED posted by Peter Hyland on March 30, 2007 at 17:53:10:
I once made a point of calling in there. Indeed, I reported my findings here on Tarboard. It is technically in Holland-on-Sea, which is a northerly suburb of Clacton proper. There is an explanation of the name, given on a board inside the pub, but I've forgotten it. AR may have known of it, driven past it or called in, perhaps, and remembered the name, but an alternative explanation may lie in humour - a badly painted sign board of a horse or indeed a lion might give rise to a nickname "The Roaring Donkey".
At any rate, it is not unique - recourse to Google shows that there is a "Roaring Donkey" in Swindon and one in Cobh. Suspect AR just thought it was a good name for a pub!