Progress?

Jeff Pickthall28/11/03 10:47 AM

Is is sad in a way that they move from a 400 year old site. No-one is prouder of their history than the brewery itself.

But what articles like this usually fail to point out is that 400 years ago the brewery set up on the rural banks of the Wandle on a tiny tributary of the Thames which then was in a tiny hamlet well on the outskirts of London.

It is now a brewery trying to operate commercially on an expensive island site; in what is now south central London; in the middle of a congested one-way system; which is the main A3 road from London to Guildford and Portsmouth.

I'm amazed they have stayed there so long. It always seemed to be in a ridiculous position. The magnificent shires and dray are a common sight round there if not a tad incongruous in the aggressive traffic. I know the area well and the constant often sickly smell from the brewery in the centre of town (like many breweries) does not endear it to everyone.

The site is now worth 20+ million and it seems more important that the Brewery locates to a site nearby which is a tad more practical for a modern manufacturing business. The town wants to create something new at its centre. They might well screw that up entirely of course...

That the beer survives and or improves to its former glory, is more important, in this context IMO.