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Note from the EditorThe November newsletter should be available at the meetingon Nov 11. Articles and material for inclusion should begiven to any Committee member, or to The Editor atGreenman Farm, Wadhurst TN5 6LE or you can [email protected] by 30 Oct please.
Visit our website - www.wadhurst.info/whs
Some titbits from Robin HeadLloyds Weekly London Newspaper Nov 13th 1839The Encounter with the bull took place in 1859 not 1839as reported in NL20; spotted by Neil Rose, whose suddendeath has deprived us all of a friend and a fanaticaleagle-eyed railway expert. A typo by the editor I fear.
Annual General MeetingThe AGM will be held on Wednesday 9 December and allthe necessary material for it will be included in theNovember newsletter. If anyone has any motion fordebate, or would be interested in joining the Committee(as there are vacancies - not least through the departureof Heather Woodward as our Secretary [though she iswilling to remain as a Trustee so we shall continue tobenefit from her wise advice]), should contact theChairman or any other Committee member before theend of October.
Beer is made from malt, and malt was not made in thesmaller breweries but in the maltings, mostly situated inthe barley growing country of East Anglia or in favouredareas of North Kent. The maltsters may have had theirown transport, collecting return loads of spent grains (avaluable cattle feed), or using the railway - WadhurstStation opened in 1851. Hops, which contributedflavour and a preservative quality, were widely grownaround Wadhurst: Shoesmiths, Ladymeads, Foxhole,Lower Cousley Wood and the Whiligh Estate farms, toname but a few. Little of the by-products of brewing waswasted. Besides brewers' grains, spent hops were used bygardeners as a soil conditioner and even the yeast, after thebest was taken off after fermentation and used for the nextbrew, was pressed and sold to the manufacturers ofvegetable extracts, "Marmite" for example.
Gregory died at the age of 78 in 1907. Mary carried onthe business with Walter and George until she died at 89in 1912, when brewing ceased. Frank, the youngest son,died in 1906 at the early age of 40; his widow Alice lived onfor 50 years, dying in 1956 at 78. George became landlordof the "Balaclava" until 1934. Another Gregory,grandson of the founder, went to brew at Tooth and Sonsat Cambridge, (a coincidence no doubt, but there was anEdward Tooth, farmer and coal merchant in Wadhurst inthe 1890s). Subsequently, Gregory became brewerwith the Aldeburgh Brewery in 1907. He remainedthere until 1924 apart from six years in the army during theFirst World War. When Aldeburgh was bought by Adnamsof Southwold, Gregory became 2nd brewer until hisretirement at 77 in 1966.
Following Mary's death, the brewery was auctioned on April25th 1913 by Wickendens of Tunbridge Wells. Thepurchaser was Obadiah T. Corke, a prominent Wadhurstfigure, who in 1881 had established a largegrocers/drapers in St. James’s Square (nowThreshers), where he employed 8 assistants. In 1901,his son Harry took over, but in 1913 Obadiah came out ofretirement, foreseeing a possible use for the brewery in"war work". What this was has not yet been established.At some later date, all the buildings were dismantled,except "Brewery Cottage". Now, part of the site is coveredby the appropriately named "Holmsdale Close" (the middle"e" omitted). So, over one hundred years have passedsince Wright & Sons of Wadhurst thrived on the villagers'thirst, a thirst quenched in twice the number of pubs and
Brewing in Wadhurst [cont]
inns that survive today. But present day Wadhurstsupports four retail outlets for wine, beer and spirits!
While Gregory was founding Holmesdale Brewery, who elsewho was also on the scene in Wadhurst may have haddealings with him? A saddler and harness maker, SamuelBoorman. Edward Hammond, cooper. Hop farmer, JohnNewington; the Newington family had many branches -Clock and Watchmakers, Tobacconists, and General Stores.
Gregory's and Mary's obituaries in the Kent & Sussex Courierrecorded the sympathy and respect of the principalmourners, family names recurring throughout Wadhurstannals; Collard, Boorman, Shaw and Hemsley, Lawrence,Bartholomew, Baldwin, and of course the Newingtons, whowere related by marriage to the Wrights, as were theCollards, Lawrences and Hemsleys.
It is hoped that further research will add to our knowledgeof a highly esteemed Wadhurst couple and their family,whose memorial inspired this article. Michael Berks
References:
Archives "Kent & Sussex Courier".B. Meredith Brown (1948) "The Brewer's Art", The Naldrett Press (for Whitbreads).Wadhurst History Society (2005) "Victorian Wadhurst", Greenman Enterprise.Also, with thanks for their insight into the brewer's craft,Len Bishop and Ron Lewis.
This card, posted in 1944, shows Brewery Cottage behind the telegraph pole.
