The village of Chappel, in North Essex, is known to million across the globe as it was once featured in an episode of car show Top Gear. James May, aka Captain Slow, was packed up off the A12 and sent to film a piece in the area on James Bond's Aston Martin - the DB5 - because Chappel is, apparently, the epitome of all things English.

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It's not difficult to see why this conclusion was reached. Chappel is one of the most typical English villages you are likely to come across: it's filled with old quaint houses - the village elders would, one would think, be horrified if their residential area was tarnished by the appearance of the labour-saving homes Betjeman so memorably abhorred - and little else. A token pub - the Swan - breaks up the monotony slightly, and here the village inhabitants - farmers and London commuters - congregate to complain of train over-crowding and the common agricultural policies and perhaps, if these topics of conversation have been exhausted, the weather.

However, what saves it from being lost amongst a throng of similar settlements is its viaduct. It dominates the landscape and in the process gives away Chappel's secret - the existence of a railway station. And it was the railway station that Captain Slow had especially come to see, for every October it plays host to the Chappel Beer festival.

Top Gear viewers saw the Captain point his DB5 tentatively through Chappel's one street, and then cross a T junction and trundle slowly along up the hill to the station - all the time travelling in parallel to the impressive viaduct - and park in a field used as the festival car park. He then mixed with the anorak-wearing, ale-obsessed, beer-bellied, beard-loving fanatics and quizzed them on darts scores and Englishness in an attempt to understand why the DB5 embodied all that was good about Queen and country. Of course, he never found out, as all those surveyed were unable to give a straight answer on account of the fact that had been given unrivalled access to the barrel marked skullsplitter.

If there was anything striking to come out of May's investigation it was that it revealed the extraordinary dedication of beer-lovers in their attempts to experience the festival in full. Tens of tents were seen to be erected in the car park (field), with not a shower in sight. I am in the fortunate position of living within an hour's stumble of the event, so I am assured of refreshment every morning. And as a local, I feel it my duty to point out to any potential visitors that more suitable amenities than tents are at hand, and can be reached by the more than handy railway link. Marks Tey and Sudbury, while not quite as picturesque, offer suitable lodging facilities, and are certainly fitting enough for those ale enthusiasts keen to sample the wares of East Anglia's best brewers and committed enough to take the trip - like May was before them - into the deeper confines of the Essex countryside.