A YouTuber has reviewed Manningtree as part of a series that will explore Britain and its 'mediocre towns'.

In the video titled 'Visiting Britain's most mediocre towns' Robbie Knox explored the Essex town with Ellis Platten (of the YouTube channel AwayDays).

Knox said his aim was to explore places "off the beaten track" around Britain and see what they are like, with Manningtree being the first of the series.

The rules were simple: explore the town for the day with a budget of £50 and see what they could do there (although it was reduced to £45.80 for this one as Robbie had bought a bacon roll on his way to the town).

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Manningtree was the first town explored for Robbie Knox's new YouTube seriesManningtree was the first town explored for Robbie Knox's new YouTube series (Image: Newsquest)

What did Robbie and Ellis think of Manningtree?

Robbie and Ellis arrived at Manningtree Train Station, and when searching for things to do online found that Colchester Zoo was suggested as the number one thing.

Instead of that, they went along to what was ranked as the fourth best thing to do in the town, which was to visit the Manningtree Emporium.

However, due to visiting on a Monday the centre was shut and Robbie joked "If this is the fourth-best thing to do in Manningtree I'm a little bit worried".

Heading into the town centre they admired some of the shops from the outside but were disappointed that most of them were shut.

Ellis was also surprised by the number of funeral directories around the High Street area, commenting: "We've seen more funeral directors than we have people."

After a disappointing start, the duo enjoyed a snack at Cafe Rio, who Robbie said were "lovely people", had a chat with an enthusiastic local and then made their way to Manningtree beach.

Robbie was impressed by this bit, saying it was "definitely a must-see" if you come to the town but agreed with Ellis it would be better in the summer rather than on the cold January day on which they filmed their video.

Both were also a fan of the beach toy library feature and made a sandcastle whilst they were there.

Mistley Towers was the next port of call for the duo who reflected on life and death in the graveyard and were slightly bemused by the opening times being listed as "Any reasonable daylight hours".

Other spots they visited included St Mary and St Michael’s Church, Manifest Theatre, The Skinners Arms and The Crown.

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In the end, Robbie said he "thoroughly enjoyed" his experience with the context that they had explored all its major points within a couple of hours.

Ellis commented that they may have begun to "sour" on the town if they had spent much longer there.

Reflecting on the experience Robbie shared: “I would like to come back to Manningtree in the summer to go to the pubs and play on the beach.”