Halls Brewery Company T-shirt
Pubs and Breweries in Oxford
A white medium-size t-shirt with an image of a cartoon hare kicking a cartoon bear wearing a yellow jumper. The T-shirt has the phrase 'Stuff the Bear' written on it in all capitals.
The reverse side of the t-shirt shows the cartoon hare victorious with the phrase 'Follow the Hare!' in all caps with the Halls Brewery logo.
"We found this t-shirt when clearing out my grandmum's house after she sadly passed away in 2019. My grandmum (Shelagh), who lived in Summertown, Oxford for over 70 years, was not an ale drinker - her chosen tipple was a triple gin and soda! We have a suspicion that this t-shirt might have belonged to my grandfather (who died in 1996) but no one remembers him wearing it. I would love to find out more about when this t-shirt was printed and where it was distributed. Although I inherited my grandmum's love of gin I am also a keen ale drinker so it was decided that I should keep the t-shirt."
Katy, Volunteer Engagement Officer for the Museum of Oxford.
Halls Brewery Company
Museum of Oxford
Unknown - 1980s?
Katy Hammond
Clothing
The Oxford Bottle Club
The Oxford Bottle Club organised its first dig in 1981. This took place at Jackdaw Lane on the Iffley Road. They did, of course, get permission from Christ Church College before starting! The club had some 60-80 members at the time. Simon Somerscales was on the committee and remembers this dig being the first of many.
The clubs first show was held in Oxford's Town Hall in 1978. The club meets two times a month now, on the 1st and 3rd Sundays.
Simon stated collecting in 1977 while working for Thames Conservancy (now the Environment Agency). He was hand digging under a bridge on the Abingdon Road when he discovered a stoneware bottle from North and Co. This was for ginger beer. This first bottle was what got him started collecting and in those days he recounts lots of dredging taking place.
Simon has said that the club is nowhere near as well supported as it used to be partially due to lack of digging sites. He and others still do a lot of research and sometimes put on displays. His favourite bottles are Tap Jars from Oxford.
The club has its own Facebook site - look for Oxfordshire Antique Bottle Club.
Simon Somerscales
Museum of Oxford
1977 to present
Simon Somerscales
Simon Somerscales
Morrells Display Card
Pub Life
This item was acquired in around 1975 although it looks earlier. It is 25cm high and is made of plastic-covered card.
You can see three Morrells beers displayed on the card: Malt Stout, Castle Asle and College Ale. They depict the lion rampant for the brewery, called the Lion Brewery, and the College Ale displays some of the dreaming spires associated with Oxford's skyline.
Museum of Oxford
1975
White Horse Brewery Cask Filling
Pubs and Brewing
These are the casks I helped to fill whilst working for a brief stint at the White Horse Brewery in Stanford-in-the-Vale, Oxfordshire. I helped out for two weeks and carried out the 'racking'. This is where you prepare the casks for filling and also fill them.
As a complete novice, I had no idea at all about any of the process of brewing apart from the key ingredients and that I am a big fan of the end product! I cleaned the casks on a special cask washer, put in the keystones (this is the plastic/rubber 'cork' type object at the top of the cask) attached labels, filled the casks with the (amazing smelling) beer and then whacked in the shive. The shive is the plastic/rubber plug that goes on the longer side of the cask. This will usually have a spile, a peg, knocked into it when in use at the pub!
I filled a fair few casks whilst I was there and learnt a lot from the brewer Alex. He spent the time to tell me about the brewing process, how to measure gravity and also looking at the different hops available. It was great to see the range they brewed at White Horse and I even got to have a little taste of the Sputnik 2! A limited run of their Luna type brand - delicious!
David Juler
David Juler
Museum of Oxford
2nd September 2019 to 12th of September
David Juler
David Juler