Eighteen members of Area 22, and adjacent Areas, mustered at the Kingsdown Inn, Swindon on 27 November, prior to a tour of the famous Arkell's Brewery. The conversation, as usual, was “loud”, restrained only by the wake taking place adjacent to us in the bar! After a solid but simple lunch, washed down by a pint of Arkell's, we shambled over the road to the Brewery.
Surrounded by bottles of beer in the Grape and Grain Brewery Shop we met our larger-than-life Guide, Philip. He had been the company’s “chief brewer” for most of his life and was able to regale us with endless stories and anecdotes, the 90-minute tour stretching into two hours and that was before we reached the “sampling” stage!
Arkell's Brewery was established on the current site by John Arkell in 1843 and has been owned by members of the Arkell family since then. It is Swindon's oldest company, built initially on the massive expansion of Swindon in the Victorian era with the arrival of the railways and the decision by Brunel to site the Great Western Railway Works in Swindon in 1841.The brewery was initially steam powered and drew on the knowledge of Brunel. Arkell's is a tower brewery which works on the principle that raw materials are fed into the top of the building and beer comes out in casks at the bottom.
The brewery building is a Grade II listed building and looks the part. To the uninitiated it is a marvel that great beer is still produced in the original 1843 equipment. Philip told us that on completion of a tour made up of American tourist, he was asked... “where is the real brewery”.
Arkells own 92 pubs in the Swindon area and surrounds, including locations in Oxford, Newbury, Reading, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Ascot; and sells its products to free houses in the Thames Valley and London.
We all came away having learned a considerable amount about brewing and agreed that it had been an excellent event.. thank you Ray for organising it.