Tuesday
As if the blocked canal were not enough, the morning brings sad news. Lord Greaves, scion of the famous brewing family, is no more. History tells how in 1824 Jedidiah Greaves and Obadiah Smithson met, swore at one another, became the firmest of friends and resolved to go into business together brewing the finest beer in England.
The house of Smithson and Greaves has done so ever since, notably in the shape of their famed Northern Bitter, which is always on tap at the Bonkers’ Arms. Yet there is more to the company than that as, unusually for brewers, both families have always been staunch Liberals. So they have regularly produced special brews to mark notable victories by our party.
I have no memory of their Landslide from 1906, which suggests that it lived up to its billing, while the ale brewed to celebrate Mark Bonham-Carter’s victory at Torrington in 1955 is said to have been potent that many of his supporters were unable to find their way to the polls at the following year’s general election.
To mark Lord Greaves' passing I give orders for black ribbon to be tied around the beer pumps at the Bonkers' Arms and for the darkest ink to be poured into the jar of pickled eggs.
I once drunk several pints of Spirit of Sutton '72 - a strong Porter ale brewed by Smithson and Greaves in the West Lothian Question Arms on Carshalton High St. Apparently it's 9% and was created to provide a half-way house between wine and beer because S & G like to sit in the middle, generally. I have no recollection of the occasion either.
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