Kmflett's Blog

Recently a new batch of Thomas Hardy Ale- 11.3% barley wine- was brewed at Hepworths. Good news, it’s a classic beer.

What struck me most about the announcement was the year it was first brewed- 1968. I probably actually knew this, having drunk a bottle or two back in the day, but in my mind its one of those beers that speaks of tradition dating back to the nineteenth century.

There are other beers in the same category. Fullers ESB is a classic surely always with us (first brewed 1971- at least according to Wiki) while Hook Norton’s Old Hooky dates from 1977.

Fullers (Ashai) have announced a new release of Gales Hordean Special Bitter (HSB) using Gales yeast. I well recall drinking it on family holidays on the Isle of Wight in the 1970s and 1980s. It’s a 4.8% special bitter. It was first brewed in 1959.

Some strong beers that are still with us to do have a genuinely long heritage. Adnams Tally Ho was first brewed in 1880 while Robinson’s is marking the 125th anniversary of Old Tom.

A lot of effort is put into making sure our beer heritage survives- rightly so- but as Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger argued ultimately all traditions are invented its just a question of when.

Gregg Wallace who faces investigations into sexist comments, behaviour and other issues, seems determined to ignore the First Law of Holes.

While he earlier claimed to be fully co-operating with investigations on Sunday on social media he stated the complaints were from middle class women of a certain age.

Quite rightly the comments met a furious response and also underlined the issue of why despite the long timescales of issues involved Wallace has remained on air.

It seems clear that Wallace is unaware of the First Law of Holes (stop digging) or perhaps as a Millwall fan he is aware but doesnt care.

Either way he is still digging and looks set to feature on Masterchef Australia in future, a rather more frenetic affair than its UK counterpart

All that aside there are very serious issues here about why complaints from women about sexism and misogyny are not properly investigated and action taken. Joining a union is one way to address matters but a culture of complacency cannot continue

A plaque to mark the site where the Chartist paper the Northern Star was first printed in Leeds, was unveiled on Saturday 30th November. The Northern Star which was published from 1837 to 1852 was one of the great working class papers, outselling the Times at peak circulation.

The plaque was funded by public subscription and backed by numbers of socialists and trade unionists. Vic Clarke one of a new generation of brilliant Chartist historians was amongst the moving spirits.

Its a reminder that when Oliver Dowden (currently to be found on the Tory backbenches) was Culture Secretary he opposed the taking down or re-siting of statues and memorials to those involved in the slave trade. He said his preference was to erect new statues. Of course nothing at all happened by the Northern Star plaque is a welcome reminder that a people’s history does not need to wait for official approval

See @vcjtorianist.bsky.social for lots more detail on this

December 1st. World AIDS Day: Remembering the ‘other’ pandemic

December 1st is World AIDS Day when time is taken to remember the many millions who have died and,(in lesser numbers) continue to die of the illness, even if Donald Trump is not.

The World Health Organisation is focusing on ‘take the rights path: my health, my rights’ looking at global health inequalities

Cases and deaths still occur in Britain from AIDS but they are relatively limited. There remains no cure or completely effective vaccine against AIDS but there are treatments that can very significantly increase life expectancy.

I’ll take time to recall several friends who did die of AIDS, far too young, in the 1980s before it became understood how important it was to keep to ‘safe sex’ practices.

In 2025  AIDS is a chronic illness in the UK rather than a pandemic but there remain significant numbers of cases and deaths around the world which impact, as is more or less always the case, the poor more than the rich and in areas where early treatment is less easily available.

In the context of COVID-19 it is interesting to note the similarities with AIDS and the downsides.

The origins of AIDS remain unclear but the line that it was deliberately started by scientists (American rather than Chinese in this case) is fanciful. Certainly transmission from the animal world appears a possibility but there are numbers of histories and theories

There were a number of false stories about how AIDS could be acquired including from toilet seats and through kissing mostly underwritten by a considerable level of homophobia, although AIDS is by no means entirely confined to gay men.

Likewise and this may also seem familiar there were those who denied that AIDS was a significant or noteworthy issue at all, the most well-known UK exponent of this was Dr Michael Fitzpatrick who argued that AIDS prevention was an industry and the scale of illness was vastly overstated.

Keeping in mind this December 1st that COVID is not the only pandemic around in the world- TB and Cholera remain killers too-is a sobering thought.

https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-aids-day/2025

The Ambridge Socialist

1^st December

Scam Week was preferable to Clarkson Week

Once Upon a Time there was something called Ambridge Extra where story lines that were related to the Archers but not central to it could be explored and developed. It fell victim to cuts and hence this week it was scam time in the Archers.

If you listened you don’t need reminding and if you didn’t it’s all on BBC Sounds

The main things not directly related to the scam were:

Jakob finally discovered that Kate is annoying

Eddie Grundy revealed some details about his very young self while also trying to clear a barn that belongs to Miles Titchener

Two of the errant holidaymakers got to try some Tumble Tussocks which they approved of

Jakob loves his coffee machine

There was a Thanksgiving lunch in the Brookfield barn featuring a pumpkin pie. Yum

Meanwhile it could have been worse because a quick scan of Archers social media found a certain type of person demanding that the Archers should feature at some length Jeremy Clarkson’s views on tax avoidance. Compared to that scam week was benign

In fact they all lived happily ever after, which in Britain 2024 is not to be sniffed at

London Socialist Historians

30th November

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign have said that thousands people attended the central London march in support of Palestine on Saturday 30th November.

It was the 22nd march since the events of 7th October 2022 since when Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza and Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

The protests, as on the 30th November, are broad in nature including trade union and Jewish blocs, and of course entirely peaceful. The demonstration had backing from the PSC, Stop the War, CND and MAB amongst others, and follows trade union days of action backed by the TUC on 28th and 29th November

It is difficult to find an historical comparator for such mobilisations. The Chartists in the 1830s and 1840s held some large demonstrations (the UK population in that period was around 15 million) culminating with 100,000 plus on Kennington Common on 10th April 1848. The Reform League in the 1860s also saw large mobilisations for the vote, notably on May 6th 1867 when a ban on meeting in Hyde Park was defied.

The Suffragettes in the early decades of the twentieth century held very large demonstrations as did CND in several waves in the 1960s and 1980s.

The Stop the War demonstration against war with Iraq on 15th February 2003 which had well over a million marchers remains the largest in UK history to date.

The thing that marks the Palestinian protests in central London is their sustained nature, and the grassroots organisation that is needed to achieve that.

While the killing goes on in Gaza and the West Bank, the demonstrations are having, and will continue to have a significant impact on British politics. The call for a total ban on arms sales to Israel remains a powerful one. As with Iraq in 2003 politicians who fail to act will find that his pursues them for the remainder of their political careers as it has done with Tony Blair

LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, the Palestinian demonstrations have made and continue to make history. That is not reflected in the media now but history is by definition a long term thing. What is done now will have impacts for a long time to come.

Lord Bilimoria, 63, has ended his involvement with Cobra. He had been chair of a joint venture with Molson Coors since 2009 (when the brand was brought out of administration). A former Chair of the CBI he was appointed a Life Peer by Labour 2006.

Bilimoria launched Cobra in 1989 as a lager suitable to accompany curry in Indian restaurants. He argued beer was too bitter. Many might think the world of beer and brewing has moved on since then.

The brand was built in effect by word of mouth and was originally brewed in the Sub Continent. UK production began in 2001 at Charles Wells in Bedford.

By 2007 Cobra was sold in 45 countries but the business had over extended itself. The 2009 JV was the upshot.

The Beerage was historically Tory brewers who sat in the Lords. There are few UK regional brewers who still support the Tories but Bilimoria’s role as a crossbench Peer probably more accurately reflects the political interests of Global Big Beer in a UK context

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karan_Bilimoria,_Baron_Bilimoria

According to Waitrose olive oil is the new must have in the middle class shopping trolley. Sales of extra premium virgin olive oil are up 15%. You can get a 500ml bottle in Waitrose for £6. However the more class conscious will be opting for Colonna at £25 for a 750ml bottle which apparently offers scents of sweet tomatoes and cut grass..

The Times (29th November) suggests that the new bring a bottle at bourgeois Xmas parties is not a bottle of fine wine but a bottle of artisan olive oil.

However Debretts the guide to bourgeois etiquette has cautioned that turning up with a bottle of olive oil might suggest that the host doesnt have an appropriately stocked cupboard.

The commentaries do note that the reason for the high price of olive oil is very warm summers in the areas that produce it leading to poor harvests. The one phrase that is definitely NOT to be mentioned is climate change.

A history of the present (Telegraph, February 2024)

from @bladeofthes.bsky.social