Every year we invite Tendring sausage producers to enter the Harwich Sausage Festival Public Taste-off so if you've been to one of our festivals and want to know where the delicious sausages come from this page is a sort of Sausage Seeker's Guide.

On the map below we have located our favourite butchers - the ones we invite to the festival each year - all of them produce excellent sausages and many of them have won regional and national awards.

Some people have asked why campaigners for real ale are also very interested in sausages and you can get a flavour for that by reading about the history of our sausage competition here but in a broad sense we see quality local butchers and their fantastic produce as a vital part of their communities and very deserving of all our support. We've also noticed that if you like real ale and real cider you also like real food and real sausages are the perfect companion to the perfect pint.

Click on a marker to identify the butcher or scroll down the page for a list.

A. Wenn & Son

24 Station Road, Clacton-on-Sea CO15 1SX

Wenn's is a buzzing shop in Clacton's Station Road and their sausage offering is legendary. Not only great value but of the highest quality we love their sundried tomato and basil or, for the more adventurous, their chorizo style sausages.

Chas Bower

96 Kings Avenue, Holland-on-Sea CO15 5EP

A great selection of sausages and chipolatas including an ever-changing spicy recipe. Watch out for their charity BBQ in British Sausage Week.

Frinton Road Butchers

121 Frinton Road, Holland-on-Sea CO15 5UP

Darren and Keith have more awards than wall space and their produce speaks for itself. Their pork and herb is a great classic and the pork, apple and cider sausage is a gourmet treat.

Shaws Farm Meats (at Dovercourt Street Market)

(FRIDAY ONLY) Dovercourt Street Market CO12 3AX

Now based just north of Colchester having previously had a shop in Brightlingsea this producer is well-known for their appearance at local markets and their high quality sausages.

St. Osyth Butchers

2 Spring Road, St. Osyth CO16 8RN

Another traditional butcher with a flair for sausage innovation. Try the traditional pork but watch out for venison, ploughmans or black pudding sausages.

Primrose Pork

Primrose Farm, Hall Road, Great Bromley CO7 7TR

Definitely worth seeking out Primrose know their pork and have a host of awards to prove it. Try their Old English sausage in a classic bangers and mash.

Ragmarsh Farm Shop

Riverside Avenue East, Lawford CO11 1US

Their "Bradfield" pork sausage is a great classic, produced from the farm's Berkshire-Tamworth cross pigs. Try their beef sausages in a toad-in-the-hole.

Smiths of Essex

14 High Street, Brightlingsea CO7 0AE

The newest of our regulars having taken over the Stobbs shop in Brightlingsea. Aiden has already won an award for his Welsh Dragon sausages.

Warnes Butchers

51 Garland Road, Harwich CO12 4PB

Superb community butcher whose cracked black pepper sausage is very popular. Don't forget to browse the delights in the freezer as you enter the shop.

Wrights of Frinton

47 Connaught Avenue, Frinton-on-Sea CO13 9PN

This innovative butcher in Frinton's Connaught Avenue always has an impressive display of delicious sausages. Try their fabulous pork and leek in a sausage sandwich.