Bines to vines, old to new

Kent, the Garden of England, used to have acres of land devoted to Hop Gardens, where the flowers that make our beer bitter have been grown for many generations. Whole communities used to travel down from the East End of London on Hop Pickers Special trains in September to pick the hops and have a summer holiday in the countryside. Our railway, the KESR, used to run these trains as still does to recreate those days long since gone.

Hop pickers huts still remain on many farms, now put to other uses. The Oast Houses where the hops were dried, with their distinctive white cowl, have largely been converted to homes and of the many hop gardens, few remain. We recreated hop pickers huts and hop gardens on the railway too.

All along the North Downs locally literally millions of vines have gone in over the last few years to provide more raw materials for the production of increasingly popular English white wine. And very good it is too, even beating the French with our sparkling white, which of course we're not allowed to call champagne even though the terroir is exactly the same as the Champagne region of France.

So the hop bines are being replaced by the grape vines. There's a massive investment in these vines, covering huge areas of land which will take at least 5 years to bring any return and will change the appearance of this part of the county forever. The proof, of course, will be in the drinking.

And on the eating front, there's a sourdough loaf undergoing its first proving and a pile of broad beans waiting to be shelled for tonight's dinner.