Bloody typical — we could have done with this before Brew Britannia went off to print.
We’re still exploring the recent release of British Pathé documentary footage to YouTube. Our most recent discovery, above, includes the only images, still or moving, that we’ve come across of the interior of the Miners Arms at Priddy, Somerset.
Paul Leyton — the tall, grey-haired patrician character who buys the bucket of snails from the old feller in the footage above — was a former pilot who lived with his family aboard a converted double-decker bus for a time after World War II. He went on to be a leading figure in Britain’s space programme, left in a huff, and took on the Miner’s Arms in the early sixties. Snail farming and frozen food were his main obsessions, and he didn’t start brewing until 1973.
The Miners Arms brewery was among the first of the new wave that kicked off what we’ve called the ‘rebirth of British beer’.
At which point, we are obliged to suggest that — ahem — you ought to order a copy of our book to find out more.