{"id":7036212,"date":"2026-08-10T05:09:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T05:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/recipes\/category-a-b\/beer\/looking-back-on-a-traditional-fenland-brewery-pt-two\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T05:09:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T05:09:26","slug":"looking-back-on-a-traditional-fenland-brewery-pt-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7036212","title":{"rendered":"Looking back on a traditional Fenland brewery, Pt. Two"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

You left our party departing the GBG-listed Rose<\/b> and heading
\nalong to Elgoods brewery<\/b> for the commencement of the tour. Elgood\u2019s<\/b> brewery
\noverlooks the river Nene<\/b> and has an imposing Georgian <\/b>fa\u00e7ade. The building
\nstarted life as a granary and a mill before being converted into a brewery in
\nthe late 1700s. <\/b>The brewery was acquired by the Elgood<\/b> family in 1878,<\/b> and the
\ncompany is still controlled by the same family today. We assembled in the
\ncourtyard at the rear of the brewery where we met by our host for the visit,
\nBelinda Elgood, <\/b>daughter of then chairman, Nigel Elgood.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

We we’re led to a recently constructed, purpose-built
\nvisitor centre, equipped with its own bar and decorated with numerous exhibits
\nconnected with the company and it’s 120 years<\/b> of existence. After a brief run
\nthrough of the history of the brewery, we were conducted around the plant by
\nthe Head Brewer,<\/b> who we met earlier. Amongst objects of particular interest
\nwere a cast iron mash tun \u2013 most are constructed from wood, and copper, plus a
\nvery rare open cooler, known as a \u201ccool ship\u201d.<\/i><\/b> <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

This in effect is a large, flat, open, copper tray, which
\ncreates a large surface area to allow the hot wort to cool as quickly as
\npossible. In the days before modern, \u201ccounter-flow\u201d<\/i><\/b> chillers, cool ships were a
\ncommon feature of Victorian<\/b> breweries, but despite being a fairly common sight
\nin Belgium<\/b> (Flanders<\/b>, in particular), the one at Elgoods<\/b>, remains as the only example I
\nhave witnessed in the UK.\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0It is situated at the very top level of the brewery where a number of
\nvertical wooden slats can be opened, when necessary, allowing the cold easterly
\nwinds that have blown straight across the Fens,<\/b> all the way from Siberia,<\/b> to
\ncool the wort. Such open coolers were once commonplace, certainly in the days
\nbefore refrigeration and heat exchangers. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Most breweries have long abandoned this method, owing to the
\nrisk of exposing the cooling wort to airborne contamination, but the sight of
\nthe wort gushing out of a row of brightly polished copper pipes, and into the
\ncool ship, – a process that also helps aerate the wort, was certainly one well
\nworth seeing. The clouds of steam rising from the surface of the cooling worked
\ncompleted the picture, and I was left wishing that I\u2019d brought my camera with
\nme. Don\u2019t forget though, this was in the days before mobile phones, and digital
\ncameras!\u00a0We were then shown the recently installed microbrewery which
\nenabled Elgoods<\/b> to produce a series of seasonal and one-off, special brews,
\nincluding low-volume beers, such as Black Dog Mild, Golden Newt,\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>and Pageant. <\/b>At
\nthe end of the tour, we were ushered back to the visitor centre where we were
\nable to try the company\u2019s strong GSB Bitter<\/b>, their Pageant Ale<\/b> as well as\u00a0 more Cambridge Bitter.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

It was a hot day, so I decided to take my pint outside, and
\nat the far end of the yard were some steps leading down to a large and well
\nlaid out garden. It seemed so peaceful and cool there, with plenty of mature
\ntrees and shrubs providing some welcome shade. I soon became totally divorced
\nfrom the fact that I was actually visiting a brewery. The entire garden was an
\noasis of calm that seemed light years away from the 20th<\/sup> century,<\/b>
\nindeed the whole affair was in complete contrast to the bleak and somewhat
\nwindswept scene at the front of the brewery. On that hot and sultry July<\/b> day,
\nthe garden seemed just the right place to enjoy a refreshing glass of beer
\nwhilst wandering around admiring the plants.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Whilst ambling around the garden, I bumped into someone who
\nturned out to be the head gardener.\u00a0 <\/span>I
\nexplained I was visiting the brewery and asked if he minded me looking around.
\nSeeing that I was interested in plants and gardens, this fine fellow offered to
\nshow me around himself, explaining that the garden was originally laid out in Georgian<\/b>
\ntimes, as part of the house that was the home, initially of the mill owner, and
\nlater the Elgood<\/b> family.\u00a0After being neglected
\nfor many years, the garden was slowly being restored.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

\u00a0It had taken several
\nyears of hard work to get the garden into its present pristine condition, and
\nthe ultimate aim was to restore the grounds as closely as possible to their
\noriginal Georgian<\/b> layout. He claimed this would involve several more years of
\nhard work, but on the plus side the glass houses had already been restored, as
\nhad an ornamental pond. In addition, many of the trees planted a century and a
\nhalf ago were only now starting to show their full glory, including a
\nspectacular and rare Tulip tree.<\/b> Also being planted was a series of hedges that
\nwould constitute a maze, when fully grown.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

As we wandered back towards the house at the rear of the
\nbrewery, we were joined by several members of our party who, like me, had
\nwandered out for some fresh air before falling under the garden’s spell.
\nRealising that the gardener had other duties to attend to, I thanked him for
\nhis time, and for making my brief visit to these gardens, so memorable. Three
\ndecades on, the gardens at Elgoods <\/b>have been restored to something resembling
\ntheir former glory, I say that because all gardens are, in effect, works in
\nprogress. They are open to the public, as certain times of the year, so check on
\nthe website for further details, including dates and times. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

It was soon time to
\ndepart, and we boarded our minibus for the ride back to Kent<\/b>. Our, driver made
\na brief stop in Ely<\/b>, primarily to allow many of us to syphon off the excess
\nbeer!\u00a0 <\/span>We ended up visiting the Prince of
\nWales,<\/b> a Ridley’s<\/b> pub, situated just off the M25<\/b>, at Mountnessing.<\/b> There we
\nenjoyed a glass or two of Ridley\u2019s PA<\/b> and ESX<\/b>. We also partook of a meal, although
\nno record of what we ate exists. The pub made a welcome break in our journey,
\neven if it did mean almost missing the last train back from Maidstone<\/b> to
\nTonbridge!<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You left our party departing the GBG-listed Rose and heading along to Elgoods brewery for the commencement of the tour. Elgood\u2019s brewery overlooks the river Nene and has an imposing Georgian fa\u00e7ade. The building started life as a granary and a mill before being converted into a brewery in the late 1700s. The brewery was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7036213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[12561,191604,2556],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7036212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beer","tag-brewery","tag-fenland","tag-traditional"],"yoast_head":"\nLooking back on a traditional Fenland brewery, Pt. 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