Devizes (Wednesday 29th March 2017)

The Spotlight Kid and I had a day in Devizes on Wednesday. We were booked in on a tour around the Wadworth Brewery in the morning, which was absolutely fascinating and packed with information. I particularly enjoyed the visit to The Sign Shop, where their sign painter David has been creating all the Wadworth's signs for nearly 30 years, all by hand and without the use of computer graphics or even stencils. We also saw the shire horses, of course, back from their morning delivery round and enjoying some hay in their new stables.

Prince Charles had visited the brewery the previous week and pulled himself a pint. He'd added the finishing touches to a picture sign (shown in Extras) showing a pair of shires pulling a dray. The picture was taken from an old photograph so neither of the horses is Max, Monty or Archie. I did learn that when Archie, now 5, is fully grown he will be over 20 hands tall, maxier even than Max.

We ended up at a beer tasting including all the old Wadworth favourites and some of their specials, including Swordfish, a rum infused version of 6X.

After that, a towpath walk was called for, including a non-alcoholic lunch at the Black Horse, a Wadworth canal pub, and we watched a pair of narrowboats sharing a lock on their way up the Caen Hill flight. It was far duller than on the previous day but the rain mostly held off. The adult swan pair were in one of the side ponds below the cafe but the big news is that their cygnet, who was at the canal below the Bath Road bridge, was with a partner, a new arrival, as seen in the blip. With luck these will establish a territory somewhere and start to breed in 3-4 years time.

When we got back to the Old Forge, my next-door neighbours prepared us a delicious basket of authentic freshly prepared East African Indian food, including fresh naans, Kenyan samosas, rice, aloo gobi, kofte and chilli fish. They are trading locally as Foxglove And Ginger, delivering and having special nights at pop-up restaurants, and building a great reputation.

L.
2.4.2017 (1317 hr)

Blip #2064 (#2314 including 250 archived blips)
Consecutive Blip #013
Blips/Extras In 2017 #100
Day #2561 (511 gaps from 26 March 2010)
LOTD #1299 (#1425 including 126 on archived blips)

Taken with Pentax K-50 (Red) and Pentax HD P-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR lens

Devizes series
Canals series
Kennet and Avon Canal series
Landscape series
Swan series

A Visit To The Wadworth Brewery, 29 March 2017 (Flickr album of 13 photos)
A Towpath Walk In Devizes, 29 March 2017 (Flickr album of 15 photos)

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Grateful Dead - Bertha (recorded live, 27 April 1971, Fillmore East, New York NY)
This is the version on the untitled album generally known as the Skull And Roses album.
Greatest Stories Ever Told - Bertha (blog by David Dodd)

One year ago:
State Of The Independent