It’s been a long and winding road, however this blog marks a major milestone. More on that later. I’ve had to put done serious effort in to locate this beer as this county seems to not like exporting its produce far & wide, like others. I can understand keeping what is good to yourself, but, surely it’s time to share the wealth!
XT – Diamondback
This 4.2%, 440ml can cost just £2.80 from the brewery tap room. However it’s worth bearing in mind that the train cost me £29.20 to get to the nearby station of Haddenham and Thame Parkway, so realistically this been cost me quite a lot more!
A lovely light, mellow, almost creamy session pale. Perfect for a lazy afternoon in front of the TV. There is a wonderful malty back note to this beer which gives it an almost biscuity taste. The can tells me that this beer is packed with Chinook, Columbus & Cascade hops. You can certainly tell there is a cocktail of ingredients from the party which erupts on your tongue with each gulp. Head retention is very impressive for such a low abv beer. The carbonisation is noticeable but not overwhelming, perfect for the style of beer. I am very impressed with how crystal clear the beer is. I guess part of this could be down to how fresh the beer is. I am reviewing it the day after I bought it & for all I know it could have been canned yesterday too. It certainly tastes fresh. What a wonderful way to finish my English tour!
The brewery is based on the outskirts of Long Crendon, around 40 minutes walk from Haddenham town centre. I can say this with some certainty as it is a walk I completed in both directions, just to be able to get hold of a beer from this county. I’m not sure why but I’ve found Buckinghamshire a really hard nut to crack. I’ve just been very lucky that when researching the county I discovered a brewery that was walking distance from a train station. The brewery has a tap room attached to it. Not what you would expect from a brewery that is on a farm in the middle of nowhere. But trust me I’m not complaining. I spent a wonderful hour sampling some beers and chatting the gentleman behind the bar. Really sorry but I can’t remember his name. His knowledge of the beers was wonderful and the stories that he told were really funny. Thankyou good sir for a wonderful afternoon!
As I’ve said above the brewery is based in Long Crendon, however the village has been called Long Crendon only since the English Civil War. The “Long” prefix refers to the length of the village at that time, and was added to differentiate it from nearby Grendon Underwood, which used to be known as “Crendon”. This name is Old English and means ‘Creoda’s Hill’ (in 1086 it was listed in the Domesday Book as Crededone). In 1218 Long Crendon was granted a royal charter to hold a weekly market; the monies from which were to be collected by William Earl Marshall who owned the manor at that time. The town (as it was then) was certainly important in this period as it shared the distinction with Aylesbury as being the only places in the whole of England where needles were made. The royal charter was later rescinded and the market moved and joined with the existing one in nearby Thame. The Church of England parish church of St Mary dates from the 12th century. The building has undergone several major renovations and refurbishments since 2007. The village has also a Baptist church and a Roman Catholic church. Long Crendon Courthouse is a 15th-century timber-frame building. Manorial courts were held here from the reign of King Henry V until the Victorian era. The National Trust bought the courthouse in 1900. The lower floor is residential; the upper floor can be visited. Midsomer Murders, the ITV crime series is often filmed in Long Crendon with locals as extras. Scenes from the series “Jeeves and Wooster”, with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, were also filmed in Long Crendon.
Notley Abbey was an Augustinian abbey founded in the 12th century. A team from Oxford excavated Notley Abbey in 1937, establishing a layout and timeline of the building’s construction. The building has been visited by notable figures such as Henry V, and was owned by the celebrities Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Today, the remnants of the abbey are owned by the company Bijou Wedding Venues and are used to host weddings. Notley Abbey was founded in between 1154 and 1164 by the second Earl of Buckingham, Walter Giffard and his wife, Ermengard. The house was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist and was made to house Augustinian canons. Despite its lack of historical fame, the Notley Abbey was one of the largest and richest Augustinian monasteries in the Oxford region. Notley Abbey was originally meant to fuse the lifestyles of monastic and apostolic people, forming a middle ground between monks and secular clergy; however, the monastic lifestyle dominated. The fact that Notley Abbey was constructed at Earl’s park in Long Crendon suggests that Augustinians were becoming purely monastic by 1160. Notley Abbey possessed several pieces of land including Lower Winchendon (not acquired until around 1302), Chilton, Princes Risborough and Stragglethorpe in Lincolnshire. These lands helped generate revenue, but the abbey’s primary source of income came from tithes from appropriated churches. Traditionally, a secular vicar served an abbey’s appropriated churches, but in 1258, Alexander IV granted Notley Abbey permission to serve their appropriated churches by their own canons in person. In 1461, Notley Abbey absorbed a small priory of Chetwood, thus considerably adding to its revenue sources. The abbey was visited by Henry IV who stayed there after the battle of Radcot Bridge. Henry V also stayed at Notley Abbey. Notley Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538. By about 1730, the abbey reached farmhouse status, but was regenerated in 1890. The abbot’s house and part of the cloister were kept as a private house that remains today. Notley Abbey was originally built based on the medieval architecture (12th and 13th century) popular during the era of its construction. The stone-built main residence is L-shaped and two-storied throughout. The reconstruction of Notley Abbey in 1890 introduced architecture more reminiscent of the late medieval period, specifically in the replacement of Georgian casement windows with those of the Tudor form. When Notley Abbey was excavated in 1937, only the abbot’s house and portions of the western and southern claustral buildings were relatively intact. The church was nearly completely underground and, to the disappointment of the excavation team, its foundations had been previously dug up for road repair. Thus, the general plan and dimensions of the church outlined by the team are rough estimates. The foundation was set in the early 1160s in Romanesque style, and soon after the crossing, transepts, and an eastern wing or choir were built. Around the year 1200, construction continued westward and the nave was joined to the crossing. These western additions followed a different style of architecture, either Early English or transitional. The excavation team estimates that by about a century after the foundation was built, the church and claustral buildings were complete. The eastern wing was extended or redone in the early 14th century. In the 15th century, the central crossing was partially rebuilt in the perpendicular style and the main range of the abbot’s house was built. Just about 10 years before the dissolution of the monasteries, the western range of the abbot’s house was completed. The Battle of Radcot Bridge was fought on 19 December 1387 in medieval England between troops loyal to Richard II, led by court favourite Robert de Vere, and an army captained by Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby. The most direct routes to the capital were blocked by Arundel’s men, so de Vere decided to cross the Thames at Radcot, near Faringdon. However, the bridge itself was under the guard of Derby’s troops; they had also partly dismantled its structure. Undeterred, de Vere gave the command to storm the crossing. At this point, a larger force of Derby’s men arrived from the north, effectively surrounding the Cheshiremen. De Vere managed to escape the field, eventually making his way to France; once it was known that he had fled, his army promptly surrendered. Among the handful of casualties was Molyneux himself, who was killed during the abortive attempt to cross the Thames. After the battle, Woodstock and the other Appellants held a council with Richard at the Tower. Richard had no means of resisting their demands, and it was agreed that a further Parliament should be called in February 1388. The resulting Merciless Parliament saw a full-scale purge of Richard’s household.
Well that was a lovely look around a wonderful part of the world. Normally this would be the end of the blog but please keep going today, there’s plenty more below the map!
Looking at the map above you could be forgiven for thinking that this blog completes England. Unfortunately though, there is the small matter of the City of London. Now this is something which I touched on at the bottom of this blog. I published that in Feb 2020 and made it very clear then that there were no breweries within the county limits of the City. Sadly 2 and a half years later this is still the case. Now I have done some research & there are a few glimmers of hope. I have tried to show these on the map below but I’m aware it hasn’t come out very well. As I’m sure many of you are aware, technology isn’t my friend a lot of the time so I’m sure there would have been a more professional way to demonstrate this, but I’m happy to go with the rough & ready approach. So let me talk you through the map below. As it’s the only circle within the county boundary I’m going to start with number 4. This is the location of a brewery which still appears in Google maps however it closed its doors in 2017! AlphaBeta brewery from what I understand was a tiny brewery based within an office block, which had a taproom attached to it. I have found a few photos which seem to show a very professionally run system in a very confined space, however the communication and information run dry halfway through 2017. I have been to the building which housed the brewery but no one could give me any information. So onwards to the other 3 locations on the map. Number 1 is a very close contender for being included. Temple Brew House on Essex Street is outside of the county boundary however the unit’s back fence is within the boundary. I know this is splitting hairs but in my book part of the property is in the correct area so it should count. I would be interested to know your thoughts. Sadly, as far as I can tell the brewery do not bottle or can their beer & just run it straight through their own taps. Number 2 is brewery by the name of Toast Ale. It is located on Fulwood Place 300ft from the county line. It’s difficult to choose somewhere that isn’t within the county boundary. I feel like I’m cheating myself for even suggesting that I could use it. Again the same sentiments bring me to number 3. Hop and Hemp brewery. This brewery is located on Ely place less than 100ft from the county boundary. I am really intrigued by this companies concept as it is a low abv brewery who use hemp as the malt. Also I’m very confused as I was in Ely Place 3 weeks ago and it is just a series of very posh looking houses, with nothing that stands out as what you would expect to be a brewery. I’m am very confused! So as you can see I’ve done my research but I’m very much hitting the proverbial brick wall when it comes to doing this county. I’m going to leave it 12 months and then return to the issue. You never know something might pop up! I’ve got to that point though that I’m happy to embrace even a home brewer who lives within the city. There’s got to be someone surely! Over the course of the next few months I hope to feature some more Scottish breweries. When I do those blogs I will only have the Scottish map included as it seems pointless to include such a large mass of red that it never going to change.
So to finish I have a bit of news as to the plan for this blog in the next few weeks. I am currently in a difficult situation where I have no beer on my shelf to feature for new countries or counties. So I’ve had to take a few decisions. Next week I am going to be having a week off blogging. It’s my stag do next weekend so I plan to focus on that & everything which goes on around it. The week after is going to be a Non beer related blog however what the subject matter will be as of yet I’m not sure as I’m suffering from writers block. This means that the next beer related content will likely be out in 3 weeks time, depending if I’ve managed to find anything to hit the brief. There is another Parkrun blog in development however ive got to produce a couple of videos for it so it’s going to take around a month to get that one finished. After 162 beer blogs though, please be aware that the frequency of a blog may reduce. That’s not through choice, but more through availability reasons. Thank you to everyone for sticking with me over the last couple of years. I hope that you have enjoyed my random waffling. Take care and I will see you soon!
