Brewery and Bikes

Friday 15 June 2012  - Brewery and bikes

Day 64 and 95 to go

With the alarm set for 7am it was an unwelcome wake-up when it went off.  There was no time for dawdling so we were up, dressed and having breakfast in quick succession. By 7.50 we were ready and out the door. Our first stop was the Hitchin Mail Delivery centre to collect the two Lonely Planet books I had ordered.

View Larger Map
View Larger Map

With the first job done we set the GPS for Hook Norton and enjoyed a 2 hour drive through different quaint villages and green fields. Considering it was early we expected to encounter some traffic, but the roads were fairly clear and by 10am we were pulling into the Hook Norton Brewery. 

We wandered into the visitor’s centre and shop and checked out the merchandise before wandering through the museum they had upstairs. This contained artefacts from the brewery that dates back to the mid 1800’s as well as things from the town of Hook Norton itself.

When we returned downstairs we were given a cup of tea while we waited for the tour to begin at 11am.  Over the following hour we were shown through the 6-floor brewery that is still run with a steam engine. Unfortunately this wasn’t in action today as every 20 years it is stripped for maintenance and this year it is due. 

A lot of the machinery and equipment is still original and circa 1850’s which is quite incredible. Though as things wear out they are being replace with more modern pieces due to health and safety laws. They also deliver the beer to the local pubs using 3 shire horses and their cart. 

With the tour complete we returned to the visitor’s centre for sampling. The pours were generous and while I had a tiny sip Paul was given my serve as well. They had 9 beers to try needless to say when we went to leave I was given the car keys! 

View Larger Map We drove past the Pear Tree Inn at the end of Brewery Lane, the first pub owned by Hook Norton Brewery before continuing on to Silverstone 45 min away. I enjoyed getting behind the wheel again. The drive was an easy one and I pulled into the Silverstone parking at 2pm.

We made our way in through the gate and headed straight to the food stand for a quick lunch. As we finished it began to rain but fortunately it didn’t last long. We began our wander of the circuit checking out the MotogGP practise from different spots. The track is like Phillip Island you can walk around the whole thing. 

By 3pm MotoGp was complete and the Moto2 riders came out on the track. We continued to make our way around the track. Stopping to buy a t-shirt along the way.

By 4pm we had completed a full lap and decided to head home. Unfortunately the peak hour traffic was in force and it was slow going in places and we had to be patient. We got off the main motorways and attempted to take back roads through smaller towns and at 5.45pm we pulled into Chell’s driveway.

We unwound on the couch watching the France v Ukraine soccer match and waited for Chell to arrive home from work.  When he arrived home at 6.45pm he and Paul changed two tyres over on the Suzuki. Then it was off to hand out with Chell’s mates. Just like Friday’s at our place.

We drove to Royston about 20min away before pulling into the drive and heading into the house where we were introduced to a few people. We sat in the kitchen chatting, drinking and eating, while other people wandered in and it became quite busy.

A curry was laid out while England played soccer against Sweden. The meal was delicious and fortunately for England so was the soccer with them managing to hang out to a 3 – 2 win despite giving away a home goal. 

We continued to sit in the lounge chatting and the night disappeared quickly. By 11.45pm it was time to get heading. I was given the keys again as the boys had been drinking. We finally made it home just after midnight. We sat up for a little bit watching TV before I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and we headed to bed.