OAST - Issue 3 / Spring 2019

ISSUE 3 / SPRING 2019

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WELCOME Welcome to the Spring 2019 edition of Oast, in which we shrug off the dark fug of winter and skip gaily into the warm(ish) embrace of lighter evenings, birdsong and so on.

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Fancy a stroll?

The story of Spitfire

Introducing our City of London pub map

How a classic was created

In this edition we’re delighted and excited to introduce our new map, which takes you on a gentle stroll through our City of London estate, illustrated by the marvellous Peter Gander.

We introduce Cask Club, a fresh approach to cask ale that sees our brewers producing a new and innovative beer every month.

This is a very good thing.

There’s also a look back at the story of Spitfire, a modern British classic and one of the nation’s favourite tipples, which is going through something of a transformation, of which more in the Summer edition.

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Join the club

Five minutes with...

Exciting news from the world of

Helen Spillett

cask beer Thanks again for all your feedback, we hope you continue to find Oast engaging and diverting. If it helps, it goes better with a pint.

Cheers Benedict O’Connor Editor

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The Monument

Meet the producers

Rise of the plant-based pub

Fruit and veg farmers WL Laslett and Sons

Editorial: Kathryn Tye Benedict O’Connor

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Johnny Homer Win this map Design: Go Vicinity Creative www.govicinity.com 01227 760116 All enquiries: boconnor2@shepherd-neame.co.uk 01795 542263

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Shepherd Neame

FANCY A STROLL? There can be few places so modern yet so rich in history as the City of London. Beneath the towering monoliths of the financial industry there are traces still of the Romans and even of our Celtic forbears. Successive waves of destruction, whether by war, fire or pestilence, and subsequent rebuilding have removed much of the physical evidence of the past, but glimpses remain in medieval street patterns and the names of streets and buildings.

History is also ever-present in those great survivors: pubs.

Shepherd Neame is the proud custodian of some of the City’s greatest and oldest pubs, and each has a story to tell.

Johnny Homer, who has written extensively on the history of brewing and pubs and who regularly broadcasts about London’s history has woven many of these stories together in a new walking tour of the City of London pubs of Shepherd Neame.

Illustrated by Kent artist and map designer Peter Gander, the City of London Walk takes in eight pubs, beginning by the Thames at the Samuel Pepys, weaving its way through the streets of the Square Mile and back in time: taking in London’s first coffee house, the Peasants’ Revolt and the venue of clandestine marriages.

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“I’ve always been fascinated by the City of London”, said Johnny, “Having been born at Bart’s and raised in nearby Clerkenwell, I’ve spent a lot of time wandering its streets and trying to uncover some of its mysteries.

“With this map I hope we can share some of the joy of discovery with people who love to walk, love history and of course love beer.”

The walk, without stopping for drinks, takes roughly two hours and it should be noted that many City pubs are closed on the weekend, so it’s best to check in advance if you plan to visit.

The map is available at each of the pubs on the trail and in downloadable format from www.shepherdneame.co.uk

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MEET THE MAPMAKER How did you become an illustrator and what is your background?

After a year’s foundation course at Barnet College of Art (I lived in north London prior to moving to Kent) I trained at Canterbury College of Art, now UCA, where I obtained a BA in graphic design.

After that I worked as a graphic designer, working on packaging and brand identity, later becoming an art director, where ideas were the main output, for advertising and marketing campaigns for London agencies.

Describe the creative process that goes behind producing something like the City of London Pubs map.

I had already produced work for Shepherd Neame so they knew my style, so it was simply a matter of establishing the content of the map. I was given a list of City pubs that were to be included, so the first thing was to establish where the north, east, south and west parameters were. That then gives me an area to work within. Once that’s established, I’ll sketch - or ‘scamp’ - out the map in black and white pencil. This is then emailed to the client for approval. Usually there are tweaks. I’ll resend the scamp and finally, once approval is given for the final mono version, I go ahead and draw the final artwork in ink and watercolour. The maps are also enhanced and drawn digitally afterwards, For instance, the roads are hand-drawn with a Wacom tablet and pen, digitally.

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MAPS FASCINATE A LOT OF PEOPLE. I

Were you familiar with any of the pubs that featured on the map?

Indeed I was. When my brother and I both worked in London, the City was a good central meeting place.

I’ve been to around six of the eight pubs shown on the map.

You seem to produce a lot of maps. What is it about maps that fascinate you?

Maps fascinate a lot of people. I think it’s the detail that draws you in. It’s a good fit with Shepherd Neame beers too, which are handcrafted like our maps. The maps often contain humorous touches, too, such as the City gent or Chaucer on horseback by the Canterbury Bishop’s Finger sign.

Maps can also embrace all kinds of ideas: I am currently working on a map of Florence Nightingale’s London for a museum.

Your style is distinctive. What are your influences?

Initially, the cartoons of The Beano and Lewis Carroll’s drawings of Alice in Wonderland. I was also impressed by the ink work of Aubrey Beardsley. He had an amazing ability of balancing black and white ink in the most beautiful way. The ‘scratch pen’ he used, and I use, gives a characterful stroke as it spreads wide when it is pressed and reverts to a narrow line when the pressure is eased off. This gives you a very graceful line, unobtainable by a fixed-width modern pen.

Illustrating a walk between pubs must have been thirsty work. Do you have a favourite Shepherd Neame beer? And do you have a favourite Shepherd Neame pub?

Thirsty work indeed. My favoured Sheps beer is Bishops Finger. My favourite Shepherd Neame pub in local to me, the Divers’ Arms in Herne Bay. It has fascinating recessed portholes in the wall depicting little underwater diving scenes, a creative feature that initially attracted me. That and the pool table. It’s also a good venue for live bands.

THINK IT’S THE DETAIL THAT DRAWS YOU IN. IT’S A GOOD FIT WITH SHEPHERD

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NEAME BEERS TOO, WHICH ARE HAND-

CRAFTED LIKE OUR MAPS

Peter Gander is a graphic designer and illustrator who, alongside his wife Fiona, runs the Herne Baybased company Have A Gander. His map for our City of London Pubs is the second he has produced for Shepherd Neame following 2018’s Whitstable Bay illustration.

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Shepherd Neame

SPITFIRE: BIRTH OF A CLASSIC

It’s Spring 1990. Stephen Hendry has just become the youngest ever world snooker champion; Margaret Thatcher’s third, and as it would turn out final term, as Prime Minister has only a few troubled months to run; Liverpool are crowned League champions (at time of writing the last time they would enjoy that particular honour) and Manchester United lift a seventh, and at the time record equalling, FA Cup.

How Spitfire used to look and (below) how it looks today

that in less than a year some £27,811.88 had been raised. Master Brewer, Shepherd Neame’s in-house magazine of the day, needed only one word to sum this up. In feisty bold letters it proclaimed the achievement as: ‘WIZARD!’ Twenty nine years later Spitfire Amber Ale, as it would become, is still with us, and this spring a new look for the beer will be unveiled, no doubt cementing its position as one of the most popular premier ales in the country.

These days Robin Duncan sits on the Shepherd Neame board and is both Company Secretary and Head of HR. Back in 1990, however, he was part of the brewing team.

And in May, Shepherd Neame launched a beer called Spitfire Ale. Produced to mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, and named after RD Mitchell’s iconic Supermarine Spitfire fighter plane, the beer was originally intended to be a limited edition brew, part of the celebrations to launch the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund’s £20million Reach for the Sky appeal.

With that in mind Shepherd Neame agreed to donate ‘£10 a barrel’ to the fund, the equivalent of 3.5p per pint. Privately the company set themselves a target of reaching £5,000 for the fund, but were able to report in February, 1991,

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He said: “I remember getting a call from Bobby Neame (then Shepherd Neame chairman) sometime in late 1989. He had been approached by the RAF Benevolent Fund with the idea of a special beer to mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Initially the RAF were only looking at having the beer in cans, because they wanted to get it into the NAAFI. “From recollection we started with an 80 barrel run (around 23,000 pints), for cans, and it was almost as an aside that we decided to put some into cask and get it out into our pubs, making a donation for every pint sold”.

Getting Spitfire from the drawing board to the glass was a relatively quick process, remembers Robin.

“It would have taken the brewers a couple of

months to perfect,” he recalled. “We took some existing recipes and tweaked them to come up with a really good beer.”

With no social media to spread the news of Spitfire’s quality, it was very much a matter of word of mouth and soon the brewery was being contacted from all over the country about this exciting new ale. It was this demand that saw it evolve from a one-off beer to a core Shepherd Neame brand.

Robin said: “At the time it was a fundraising beer, launched for that express purpose. But it was very popular from the off and went down really well. CAMRA and the beer writers of the day were very taken with it. They raved about it. They couldn’t get enough of it.”

Spitfire has gone from strength to strength ever since. There have been several very discreet changes along the way, but it remains at heart a quintessential Kentish ale combining a trio of local hops to produce a finely balanced beer, complex and yet very drinkable. So why has Spitfire proved so enduringly popular?

“To start with it’s a good beer,” said Robin. “It’s full of flavour. It sounds really obvious, but if people didn’t like it wouldn’t have remained so popular for so long.

“There is also an emotional attachment to the beer. The Battle of Britain was fought in the skies above Kent, after all.”

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An image from our awardwinning ad campaign.

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THE JOURNEY OF SPITFIRE Late 1989: Shepherd Neame are approached by the RAF Benevolent Fund about the possibility of brewing a special beer to coincide with the launch of their £20million Reach for The Sky Appeal. Once the decision is made to proceed Head Brewer Julian Harrington and his team set about creating the beer that will eventually become Spitfire.

May 1990: Spitfire Ale is formally launched, initially in cans and some cask, at RAF Northolt as part of the Reach for the Sky appeal. Tomorrow’s World presenter Raymond Baxter who was mentioned in despatches for flying Spitfires during World War II for both No.65 Squadron and No.93 Squadron – is pictured at the event raising a glass or two.

Shepherd Neame pledged £10 from every barrel sold to the fund, the equivalent of 3.5p per pint.

February 1991: Eight months after Spitfire’s launch, Shepherd Neame announce that £27, 811.88 (the equivalent of £58,500 today) had been raised through sales of the beer for the RAF Benevolent Fund.

1997: Our famous ‘red’ or Bottle of Britain ad campaign is launched (see left), garnering numerous international awards, causing some controversy and making Spitfire a household name. This campaign ran until 2005.

THE RELUCTANT POSTER BOY During its 29 year existence, Spitfire has inspired some memorable – and occasionally controversial – ad campaigns.

In the year 2000, one Shepherd Neame employee, District Manager Paul Hayes, inadvertently became the star of this poster (left), the creation of London ad agency RPM3.

“I was walking past Jonathan Neame’s office one day,” recalled Paul. “The design agency had just pitched the campaign idea to him and he seemed to be in a very jolly mood.

“When he saw me he stopped me and suggested I would be ideal for one of the proposed posters. So I was put forward to audition, up against a number of professional actors, and to my complete surprise I got the gig.

“I then spent, some weeks later, a whole day in a studio in London, having hundreds of pictures taken in a variety of different and very colourful shirts.

“Not long after I became District Manager for the London area, and there was a rather surreal period of my life when wherever I went I was confronted with my own picture, staring back at me from posters on the underground and from the side of double decker buses.”

August 2007: Spitfire, alongside Bishops Finger, Master Brew and the bottle conditioned 1698, is given Protected Geographical Indication status (PGI) under European Union law. To this day these beers are all brewed only using chalk-filtered water from an artisan well deep beneath the brewery and hops that are 100 per cent Kentish in origin.

June 2013: Comedy duo Armstrong and Miller are recruited to front a new press and television advertising campaign for Spitfire. Tremendously popular, it would later be named Best Broadcast Advertising Campaign at the inaugural Beer Marketing Awards.

August 2014: Spitfire Kentish Ale is awarded a Royal Warrant from HRH The Prince of Wales.

May 2015: Spitfire Gold is launched to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

June 2016: Spitfire Lager is launched to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Spitfire Supermarine’s first flight in 1936.

June 2016: When astronaut Tim Peake, the first British man in space, returned to Earth following six months on the International Space Station, two cases of Spitfire, his favourite beer, were waiting for him courtesy of Shepherd Neame, complete with specially prepared labels bearing the legend ‘This Briton’s got bottle.’.

May 2019: A new look for Spitfire is unveiled...

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WELCOME TO THE CLUB Although consumption of cask beer is in decline, it retains a special place in the heart of Shepherd Neame.

As a mark of our commitment to cask beer and our passion for innovation, we are launching Cask Club, in which a new cask beer will be unveiled at the beginning of each month.

caramel and fruit notes running through it,” said Mike. “There will be citrus, pine and hedgerow on the palate and the Endeavour hops will add a spicy, fruity quality.”

“We are looking to bring out a range of beers that will excite the consumer and introduce some new flavours and beer styles to the Shepherd Neame portfolio,” explained Head Brewer Mike Unsworth. “We want to give the beer drinker something different each month.”

April will see the arrival of Samuel Adams’s Blonde Ambition, brewed to a recipe devised in conjunction with the Boston Beer Company and combining US and Kentish hops, and with an ABV of 4.2%.

The beers will be brewed just weeks before they hit the hand pumps and there is a real sense of anticipation surrounding the project.

Mike said: “These will all be bespoke beers, which is really exciting. We have some great people working in our brew house, and we are using some new ingredients and hops

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That will be followed in May by New Dawn, a refreshing and light session ale with notes of citrus and an ABV of 3.5%.

“Blonde Ambition is a pale, golden ale with citrus and grapefruit aromas,” said Mike. “It’s zesty, easy drinking, while New Dawn will use Citra hops, combined with another hop to perhaps add some tropical fruit notes.”

WE WANT TO GIVE THE BEER DRINKER SOMETHING DIFFERENT EACH MONTH

which we are sure are going to produce some really good beers with some very exciting flavours.”

Kicking things off, and available widely throughout March, is Hop County Hopping Mad Pale Ale. Combining a trio of English hops – Boadicea, Endeavour and UK Cascade – this glorious golden beer sits on a base of ale and crystal malts and has an ABV of 4.8%. The beer’s name reflects Shepherd Neame’s location in the heart of Kent, England’s original hop county.

“It will be deep gold in colour with

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Further beers will then follow approximately every four weeks, among them collaborations with brewers from Finland, Sweden and, in early 2020, the United States.

The first collaboration will be a beer brewed in conjunction with the Italian brewer Mezzo Passo, who are based in Popoli in the Abruzzo region. This will be brewed at the Faversham Brewery in early May and will be in pubs in early June.

Mike Unsworth said: “The whole brewing team at Shepherd Neame is really looking forward to the

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collaborations. It’s always good to work with other brewers from around the world, and we will be looking to combine some of their beer styles with an English twist.

“They have probably never produced beer for cask, certainly not on this scale, so it will be a real coming together of minds. We are giving an opportunity to brewers from Europe and elsewhere to come and brew in a very traditional English brew house.

Producing these beers at the Faversham Brewery means we can get it to market in the freshest and best condition.

“The two brewing teams will liaise beforehand and have a discussion about beer styles. We will then adapt the proposed beer to suit our brew house and the ingredients we’ll be using. The guest brewer will then come to us and we will brew the beer together.”

Head Brewer Mike Unsworth

WHAT IS CASK BEER? If beer is the national drink of the British Isles, then cask beer, or real ale as it is also known, is the traditional way of storing and serving it.

As part of the initiative, drinkers will be able to pick up a Cask Club passport which they can get stamped every time they try a new ale. Those who complete the passport will be eligible for an exclusive Cask Club T-shirt. They will also be entered into a prize draw for a weekend getaway.

For more information on cask club visit: www.shepeherdneame.co.uk

The Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA, define cask beer as ‘real ale that is produced in the traditional way and ferments in the dispense container to produce a reduction in gravity.’

This beer, after fermentation, is transferred into a cask (‘racked’ is the term used by brewers) before entering the distribution chain. Unlike most keg beer it is not filtered or pasteurised.

This means that when a cask of ale arrives at a pub it is a living entity, with live yeast in the cask, and it is up to the publican to get the cask ready for public consumption.

Theoretically, keg beer can be served immediately upon delivery, however preparing a cask of ale takes time and effort. First the cask should be placed horizontally on a metal

rack (‘stillage’) and left to settle. It should then have a soft spile (a wooden peg) inserted in the top and be allowed to breathe for several hours. This allows air into the cask to activate a secondary fermentation. The cask should then be hard spiled (with a hard plastic peg) and left, for at least 24 hours but preferably longer, to build up ‘condition,’ a term used to denote beer quality.

The beer is then served at the bar via a hand pump, which uses suction to draw the liquid up from the cask in the cellar below. Occasionally you might come across the beer being gravity dispensed, ie. directly from casks stored behind or adjacent to the bar itself.

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LOCAL HERO Name: Harry Clarke Age: 27 Lives: Tankerton Occupation: Restaurant Supervisor Regular at: The Royal, Tankerton

What are you drinking: Spitfire Lager. I find it refreshing and light. It’s a good session lager. If I fancy an ale I usually opt for Spitfire Gold.

Why are you here: I live locally and the Royal is within walking distance of home. I also like the people here and I like the beer. They look after their beer.

Why did you choose The Royal: As I said, it’s my local. But I also have friends behind the bar and I know most of the regulars who drink here. There’s always someone to talk to and always a friendly face. You never feel out of place in the Royal, everyone makes you feel very welcome. It gets very busy at the weekend with people down from London and such like, but at heart it is still very much a local’s pub. I’ve eaten here a few times and the food is really good, fresh and always quick from kitchen to table.

I’ve never had any complaints.

What do you look for in a pub: I look for a nice range of beer and a good atmosphere. I also like a nice view or a nice garden, and with the Royal you get lovely seaviews. It’s always good to come across staff who know what they’re talking about. All the staff here really seem to know their beer.

NEW FOR 2019

WWW.BEARISLANDBREWS.CO.UK

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five minutes with…

HELEN SPILLETT Following the retirement last year of Christine George, Helen Spillett has become one of the new faces of Shepherd Neame in the Court Street reception. But as she explains here, she has a twin role with the company.

How did you come to work at Shepherd Neame?

I joined the company three and a half years ago, originally as a tour guide with the Visitor Centre. I joined reception last year to do two days a week and continued to do tours as well. I'm lucky enough to still be able to do tours occasionally, which is great because I love showing people around the brewery. There are always so many different people on the tours. I once had a hideous morning showing around a group of firemen, it’s a tough job. I was the first person to work at the same time for two different departments in the brewery.

What does your job involve?

It’s a very varied role. It involves meeting and signing-in visitors to the brewery, answering all calls into the main switchboard, forwarding on any general company emails and looking after bookings for the meeting rooms. I

am also responsible for the booking out of our pool vehicles, organising staff raffles. All kind of things are dealt with by or via reception. If there needs to be a centralised point, reception is that point. There are the tours too, of course.

What was your background prior to joining the company?

I trained in stage management, technical theatre and design in London. I did some stage management but had always done some dressing too, so it seemed natural to move into the wardrobe department of touring and West End productions as a member of the wardrobe team or as a dresser.

I’ve worked on a number of West End shows including Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Thoroughly Modern Millie. I also did four and a half years on Les Miserables. I still keep my hand in by doing a bit of dressing at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury.

Are there any special qualities need for your job?

One has to be a bit of a detective at times to work out exactly what department people want to talk to and just who parcels should go to.

Sometimes you have to just keep on smiling and deal with whatever comes your way.

the first time when they come for their job interview, and then getting to know them if and when they later work for the company.

Are there any special qualities need for your job?

One has to be a bit of a detective at times to work out exactly what department people want to talk to and just who parcels should go to.

Sometimes you have to just keep on smiling and deal with whatever comes your way.

What do you like about working at Shepherd Neame?

The people. There are so many great people who work here, and seeing their passion and dedication is infectious. I get to know lots of different people from different departments. I spent the last year working with Christine George before she retired at the end of last year. Christine was with the company for fifty years. Shepherd Neame are a company who really look after their employees. And of course, who wouldn't love working in a brewery!

What are the most rewarding parts of your job?

Not knowing exactly what each day is going to bring. You never know what the next phone call will be or who the next person to walk through the door is going to be.

It’s also nice to meet people for

What is your favourite Shepherd Neame beer?

That’s easy, Late Red. I love it. It’s like Autumn in a glass.

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THE MONUMENT, CANTERBURY:

RISE OF THE PLANTBASED PUB When Tom Boughton and Jo Brookman took over the reins at the Monument nearly two years ago, attitudes toward veganism were very, very different.

The first Veganuary – encouraging people to try veganism for January had just happened and while it had created something of a conversation about veganism, some were quick to write it off as a passing trend.

Vegan options were beginning to appear on menus sporadically, but the idea of a 100% vegan pub was a stretch for most people.

However, there has since been a massive cultural shift in favour of socially conscious and healthy eating.

“Normally in January, trade pretty much dries up, but this year it was busy, which is a really good sign,” says Tom.

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Jo had been working as a primary school teacher and Tom worked as tour manager in the music industry, but they’d been planning to open up a vegan business for a while, most likely a café. When the pub became available they decided it was too good a chance to miss.

“We’re a little way out of the city centre, but whenever we travel somewhere we always look up the nearest vegan place and we’re prepared to walk to find the right thing, so we figured other people would too,” says Tom. It turns out they were right, and the pub has become something of a pillar of Canterbury’s vegan community with weekend tables usually fully booked out in advance.

And while vegans form the core of the clientele, there is no typical customer.

“Usually in a group of three or four people you might have only one vegan, but they come here as it means everyone in the group can

eat everything on the menu.

“We get lots of families too, again it just makes it easier to accommodate everyone.”

Such is the nature of the menu and Jo and Tom’s attitude that there are many people who eat and drink at the pub without realising it’s vegan at all.

“We’re not preachy at all and we don’t make a huge thing about being vegan. Some of our menu is what you might call vegan junk food, we do lots of burgers and hot dogs, which people don’t even realise is a thing.

“People are often surprised to find they’ve eaten a vegan meal, but always in a good way and they come back for more.”

Seitan, which is made from wheat, forms the basis of much of the menu. It’s high in protein and low in carbohydrates and fat, and is easily mistaken for meat when cooked.

So health by stealth if you like.

Well, unless you opt for the Monumental burger, which is as tall as a pint and something of a challenge.

Not so, says Tom: “The more choice there is, the better for all of us. It brings more people to veganism, and there are more places for us to go for a meal out too.

Oddly, the rise in the popularity of veganism could inadvertently have had an adverse impact on trade, by bringing more competition to the market.

“Besides, although we’re a vegan pub, ultimately we’re a pub, and a good pub is a good pub and good food is good food.”

For instance, when Greggs launched its vegan pasty recently it was an instant sell-out.

For more information and bookings visit www.monumentcanterbury.co.uk

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DOWN ON THE FARM IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR “I was 16 when I started and I’ve never done anything else,” said middle son Steve Laslett, who joined the business in 1986. “It’s very hard work, but also very rewarding.”

As the company name suggests, it’s very much a family affair for WL Laslett and Sons. Based at Little Weddington Farm in Ash, near Canterbury, the company was founded

by William Laslett alongside wife Lynda and eldest son Gary back in 1984.

from April to June, runner beans from July to September and sweetcorn from August to October. Strawberries are an important crop from June to November.

Between October and March they harvest Brussels sprouts, and this crop highlights how the company have adapted to meet changes in public taste.

Younger brother Vernon joined the company in 1991 and today all three brothers are involved in the day to day running of the farm, which covers around 300 acres. They grow a wide variety of fruit and vegetables all year round, supplying a number of customers, including the Kent wholesaler RJ Kingsland and Son, who in turn supply many Shepherd Neame pubs.

Produce is also sold direct to the public at two outlets, White Mill Farm Shop in Sandwich and Broad Oak Farm Shop near Sturry.

But first the produce has to be grown, and much dedication and many long hours are required to get the perfect potato and the classiest cabbage out of the ground.

“A winter’s day will start around 7am and go through to around 3.30pm,” said Steve. “In summer it can be seven in the morning through to five or six in the evening.”

Available produce varies according to the time of year. Cauliflower and cabbage, for instance, are available all year round, asparagus appears

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It takes around 40 sacks of potatoes to make a tonne, and those that are discarded during grading go to be used as cattle feed.

Winter squash is harvested from October to February, and in recent years pumpkin has become very popular in the run-up to Halloween.

Potatoes are another staple crop. They are harvested from the end of May with the final main crop of the season dug in throughout October and November. Laslett’s grow a huge variety of potatoes including chipping varieties such as Cabaret and Gravity, alongside Desiree, Maris Piper, Mozart and Picasso.

Four years ago the company invested in a state of the art store where potatoes can be stored at a monitored ambient temperature after harvesting.

Steve said: “It means we can keep up to 900 tonnes of potatoes in cold store at any one time.”

The store is used in tandem with a rather grand potato grading machine.

“The machine weighs the potatoes, grades them and discards small and inferior specimens,” explained Steve. “It then loads them into sacks which are automatically stitched up. “On a good day this machine can process eight to 10 tonnes of potatoes in an hour.”

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WE PRIDE OURSELVES ON PRODUCING THE BEST FRUIT AND VEGETABLES THAT WE CAN

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Steve said: “Where once people expected sprouts to come loose, there has been a growing demand over recent years for sprouts sold on the stalk. This is partly to do with appearance, but also has a practical side as sprouts still on the stalk will remain fresh for a number of weeks.”

Whatever produce is being grown, for WL Laslett and Sons the bottom line is working hard to provide top quality produce for local customers.

Steve added: “We pride ourselves on producing the best fruit and vegetables that we can.”

For more information visit www.laslettfarms.co.uk

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LITERARY MYSTERY SOLVED Thanks to all those who entered our literary mystery competition in the Winter edition.

We asked whether you could spot the Bond reference in the Coastguard pub sign and while there were a number of different theories, the correct answer is that Ian Fleming’s face is depicted in profile in the cliff face, smoking a cigarette.

Thanks to all who entered and congratulations to Judith Hillier who is the lucky recipient of three cases of Spitfire Amber Ale.

WIN A SPECIAL EDITION MAP We have a framed A3 print of our City of London Map to give away. If you would like to own this lovely thing (modelled here by Herne Bay-based artist Peter Gander) simply answer the following question: Which famous Londoner buried his Parmesan cheese?

Please send your answers to competitions@shepherd-neame.co.uk including your name and contact details. All correct entries will be entered into a draw and the winner will be announced in the next edition of Oast. Only one entry per person and the closing date for entries is 01/07/19. Good luck.

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