Up-cycling

There’s a television programme presented by a lady called Sarah Moore, and it’s called “Money for Nothing.” It used to be broadcast at roughly the same time I arrived home from work, and given the programme’s light-hearted nature, it was a good way to unwind whilst siting down and tucking into my evening meal.

The basic premise of the programme is Sarah “ambushes” unsuspecting members of the public at their local tip/recycling centre and asks if she could take their unwanted items, rather than allowing them to be dumped. She then takes the items away and transforms them into something more desirable, before returning the profit generated from their sale, back to the people who threw the items away.

Money for Nothing’s running time of 45 minutes allows the three things that Sarah has saved in each episode, to be showcased. She uses several designers and craftsmen and women, in order to cajole them into transforming the junk into something useful or even desirable, and I have to say they produce mixed results.
It does rather depend on what the presenter picks up in the first place, as there’s a world of difference between starting with a pile of old planks, compared to something like a divan or chest of drawers; but you get the general picture.

As a way of up-cycling it’s good to see what can be done, even though some restorations allow very little wiggle room for a profit to be made. You also have to think that, on occasion, there are people out there with far more money than sense!

Sarah comes across as slightly scatty at times, and the army surplus battledress tunic she wears, might warrant a visit from the fashion police. She’s nobody's fool, even though she does annoy Mrs PBT's, and I’d go as far as saying she’s a very clever lady. She’s certainly got a nice workshop housed in a converted barn, attached to her property, which allows her to carry out her up-cycling and restoration projects.

During the current lock-down, I’ve been doing a bit of up-cycling myself, although rather than hanging round tips (they’re closed anyway), I’m restoring pieces of my own junk. I started with a revamp of my trusty old Spear & Jackson garden fork.

The garden fork was a present from some friends of my parents, which was a gift at my first wedding, over 40 years ago. Several years ago, the plastic handle cracked, but rather than throwing it away, I left it in the shed with the intent of one day replacing it. In the meantime, I purchased a succession of replacement forks, all of which ended up with bent or broken prongs.

One of these forks was manufactured by Wilkinson Sword, so it should have been OK, but the way in which the prongs were braised together, rather than being forged in one piece does leave them vulnerable to stress fracturing, especially when used to lever out a stubborn shrub or tree root.

The solution was to remove the plastic handle, that was riveted onto the shaft of one of the broken forks and transfer it to my S & J one. First I had to drill out the rivet, and that’s what took the time, but once removed it was relatively easy to swap it over;  although I did have to turn down the top of the shaft in order for it to fit. The result, a tried, tested and much used garden fork, restored to full working order, all for the price of a bit of my time and a lot of patience.


Next came an old wooden shaving mirror, which son Matthew has his eye on. That involved a quick and easy repair, with the replacement of a couple of screws, to prevent the mirror housing from spinning round on itself. Now all that’s needed is some paint to give it that slightly distressed look. Mrs PBT’s has some chalk paint on order and has kindly offered to apply the finishing touches - I'll say that Sarah would be proud of her!


This easy restoration was followed by my office chair; the one I am sitting on in front of my computer, typing out this blog post. The seat part of the chair was in a bad way, with the black  plastic, “leatherette” covering starting to flake off, leaving small, but annoying, black specks all over the carpet.  Despite me being responsible for the bulk of the vacuuming in the Bailey household, Mrs PBT’s was becoming increasingly annoyed with these flakes of thin black plastic, so when a solution presented itself, I jumped at it.

Eileen had thrown out her own office chair a couple of weeks ago, as the gas-lift at the base, along with the swivel coupling, had both broken. The chair was relegated to the summer house and it
was only whilst tidying the place up yesterday that the solution struck me. The base of by chair was fine, so I would swap over my flaking old seat for her nice intact one. The only proviso was were the fixing holes in the same place?

Fortunately, they were, and the result is a revamped chair that doesn’t shed black flakes all over the carpet. The irony is that this is the second time I’ve swapped over sections of office chair to create a good one, as a few years ago it was the base of my previous one that had failed. Matthew had discarded his previous chair due to a damaged seat section and was buying a replacement. As at present, exchanging parts was the way to go – so it’s good that bases, and seats appear to be modular.

Finally, we come to compost making; an activity forced on me by our local authority suspending the collection of garden waste, due to Covid-19 restrictions. Until last year, the collection of garden waste in Tonbridge & Malling was free but switched to a “paid for” service to allow the authority to implement a range of other recycling services. 

Along with around 40,000 other local residents, I signed up to have our garden waste collected, and all was running smoothly until March, when the service was suspended due to staffing issues associated with Coronavirus. So, just at the time when everything in the garden was putting on a furious growth spurt and needs pruning or cutting back, the means of disposing of the cuttings and other non-compostable woody parts, was taken away.

My garden waste bin was already full to overflowing, so I had to find some other way of dealing with the excess plant matter. The solution came in the form of two plastic compost bins that I’d bought from the council at least ten year ago. Apart from occasionally dumping my grass clipping in them, along with the occasional bucketful of weeds, I’d more or less stopped using these bins, once the free garden waste collection kicked in.

Now, faced with nowhere to store all the woody stuff, I turned to the bins with the aim of creating some extra space. Transferring material, with the aid of my revamped garden fork, from one bin to another, revealed a layer of nice, friable and well broken-down plant matter at the base of each  container – compost in other words.

This has now all been transferred to the one bin – hard work, by hand, leaving the other bin for the soft stuff and the local authority bin full of pruning’s, clipping and other woody material, ready to be taken away next week, when collections restart.

I don’t know whether composting counts as up-cycling, as basically it is a process that encourages the breakdown of plant material but, as with my other proper up-cycling examples, I do feel I am doing my bit for the environment. And if that helps in these troubled times, then so much the better.

Local enterprises deserve our support

I was watching Countryfile the other weekend, and one news story particularly caught my attention. It concerned that stalwart of rural life, but it wasn’t the local pub, or even the church, instead the feature was about the village shop. Apparently, the local store is experiencing something of a renaissance during the state-enforced self-incarceration we’re currently enduring.

So rather than spend ages queuing up outside a supermarket, and then attempting to dodge all the ditherers and those who don’t understand the concept of social distancing, people who live in rural areas are instead flocking to the village shop, in their droves.

The programme devoted quite a lengthy feature to praising the virtues of the local farm shop, and the benefits this brings in terms of local employment and helping farmers and growers to sell their produce.  It rightly claimed that local shops offer a more sustainable way forward, in terms of reduced food miles and carbon footprint, whilst at the same time helping to boost the rural economy.

I have seen evidence of this in the village where my company is based. The local shop, which is also a sub-post-office, has provided a first-class service throughout the past six weeks of lock-down, offering a lifeline to the local community. From my company’s point of view, it also provides milk for our staff tearoom, as well as filled rolls or snacks for those fancying something different for lunch.

I spent my teenage years in a small village, a few miles outside Ashford, having moved there with my parents at the age of 14. There were two shops in the village when we first arrived, but by the time I had left home and completed my stint at university, both had closed. One shop was primarily the village post office and food store, whilst the other was more of a general store, offering hardware and other goods, alongside food. It was also a newsagent, offering newspapers and magazines, either for collection or home delivery.

For several years prior to leaving home, I worked as a paperboy for the latter enterprise, getting up at the crack of dawn and going out in all weathers to deliver papers. We had to make up our own rounds, which was a little daunting to begin with but, as with all things, fine once you got the hang of it. During the winter months it was dark when I started my round, most of which was accomplished by bicycle, given the spread-out nature of the village. My bike was specially adapted, having been fitted with wide “cow-horn" handlebars, which formed an ideal place in which to lay my sack full of newspapers.

The shop didn’t offer Sunday newspapers, which meant a well-deserved lie-in. It was also a welcome relief to us paperboys, (there were three of us covering what was a widely spread out village), given the bulkiness of papers such as the Sunday Times, Observer and Sunday Telegraph and their accompanying supplements.

We didn’t escape scot-free as there were local newspapers to deliver on a Friday. It was often necessary to split the delivery of these cumbersome bundles of newsprint; especially when shoving them through those narrow, vertical letterboxes, that seemed all the rage in the early 1970’s. These poor excuses for a proper letterbox became a real pet hate of mine, during my time as a paperboy.

I digress, but I look back on those days with fondness, despite the often-harsh weather conditions us lads worked under. I am also grateful to my father for not only ensuring I dragged my sorry carcass out of bed in the morning, but for cooking me a breakfast – normally French toast, before I set off on my round.

Back to local shops, and living on the edge of a town, means we have access to several enterprising farm shops which have also come into their own during this pandemic. Matthew and I visited one close to Hadlow the other weekend. It is owned by the nearby Hadlow College; one of a handful of agricultural colleges, and a significant local employer.

Because of so-called social distancing, we had to queue to get in as, like most retail outlets, the shop operates a one out, one out policy. This did leave me feeling somewhat rushed, and meant I probably missed quite a bit of what the shop had to offer.  I was pleased to pick up a bag of flour for Mrs PBT’s, a couple of bottles of beer from Canterbury Ales (not exactly that local), plus a rather nice loaf of bread from produced by local artisan bakers, Plaxtol Bakery.

 It was only when I got home and realised it was priced at just under £2 that I thought wow; but it was worth every penny, such was its texture and taste. Sometimes it really is worth paying that bit extra in order to receive a first-class product.

So, will this trend of shopping local continue once this crisis is over? I’d like to think that it will, but we shall have to wait and see. However, if you’ve got the time – as those who are not working or self-isolating have at the moment, then it really is worth the extra effort, to support businesses that are at the heart of the local community.

Finally, as beer is one of the main focuses of this blog, it should go without saying we should also be supporting the valiant efforts of local breweries and pubs that are offering take-outs or even home-delivery. Having been forced to close by government edict, the survival of many of these businesses is at stake.

The more enterprising of them have diversified into supplying beer, and sometimes food, so that customers can at least enjoy a decent beer in the comfort of their own homes and gardens. Supporting these enterprises will help secure their future, post Covid-19, and will go a long way towards ensuring our treasured pubs will be there to welcome customers, once some semblance of normality returns.

Ticking serves up an ace

I’ve got a bit of a confession to make, and it’s one that might surprise some of you. You see I’m a bit of a closet “ticker” at heart; not a serious beer-bore type ticker, turning up at beer festivals with a dog-eared notebook full of hastily crossed off lists of obscure, “one-off” poorly crafted and badly brewed cask ales, produced exclusively for the "ticker market."

No, instead I’m someone who just likes to keep tabs on the beers I have drunk over the years, especially those bottles and cans I’ve enjoyed in the comfort of my own home. So, it’s not exactly “ticking” in the established sense of the word, especially as I don’t go out of my way to track down new or unusual beers.

Although I’d always made a habit of writing out a list of the various beers I enjoyed on holiday, the serious list-keeping started at the tail end of 2015, when I decided to make a note of all new beers I’ve consumed at home, along with brief tasting notes for each one. This record keeping is restricted exclusively for beers drank within the house, and whilst there’s no more than a couple of brief paragraphs for each beer, my list now runs into over 40 pages.

If I knew how to create decent Excel spread sheets, I could tell you at a glance how many beers in total have passed my lips, but as my list is a “Word” document, I'm certainly not going to scroll through 40 pages and count them all. The total is obviously quite a few and, as mentioned above, many of these beers are souvenirs brought back from trips abroad – remember them? Others though, are bottles or cans picked up in supermarkets or off-licences, and supplemented now, in these days of state-enforced confinement, by home delivery, from locations up and down this fair land of ours.

Every so often during my sampling, a beer really hits the spot and on rare occasions I come across one that I consider to be an absolute classic. I found one on Saturday evening, and strangely enough it was a beer that had been lying around at the bottom of a stack of crates for the past two and a half years.

The beer in question was Spital - Strong Ale 9.9%, from Spitalbrauerei, who are based in the lovely old city of Regensburg, in central Bavaria. They are the oldest brewery in the city, with a history dating back to 1226, and their aptly named Strong Ale turned out to be a barley-wine style beer, packed full of toffee malt flavours, but balanced by just the right degree of hopping.

Dark in colour, smooth and warming to the taste, the beer was still in perfect condition after nearly three years, gathering dust at home. It was definitely one of the best beers I have drank in a long time. So, what is a seemingly conservative, Bavarian brewery like Spitalbrauerei doing turning out an English-style ale?

Well despite the conservative image that goes with being the oldest brewery in Regensburg, Spitalbrauerei are very much a go-ahead modern company. I discovered this whilst doing a spot of research, as one does, prior to a visit to Regensburg back in 2016. I found out they had started brewing a range of English-style beers, which included a Pale Ale, an IPA and a Chocolate Stout, so during that visit, nearly four years ago, I decided to check some of these beers out and see what they were like.

On a gloriously hot September afternoon, after enjoying a spot of lunch, along with a few beers, in Spital’s idyllic beer-garden overlooking the River Danube, I asked one of the waitresses where I could buy some of these new beers. She directed me to a shop, at the back of the brewery so, after leaving Mrs PBT’s and son Matthew, to go off and get an ice-cream, I wandered round to the rear of the brewery in an attempt to buy some of these more unusual beers. 

With no obvious signs of a shop, I strolled into the brewery yard, where a group of workers were busy loading a dray, to enquire further. It turned out the “shop” was sited in a warehouse at the back of the yard and was little more than a desk plus a couple of computer screens.  Having located the shop my German language skills were soon put to the test, as the two members of staff there spoke no English. 

Most local customers, of course, would turn up by car and buy their beers by the 20-bottle caseload, but the staff were quite happy to sell me a selection of individual bottles, placing them in a handy cardboard carrier. The beers were packaged in attractive-looking, long-necked 330ml bottles with a definite “craft” look to them, and are sold under the Regensburger Spital Manufaktur brand. 

There are six of these beers in total; but the Pils and the seasonal Märzen are also packaged in this style of bottle. I returned with a Pils, a Pale Ale, an India Pale Ale, a Summer Ale, plus the Strong Ale, mentioned above.  Being seasonal beers, the Maibock, Märzen, and the Chocolate Stout were not available.

I carefully packed the beers inside my suitcase, and am pleased to say they all survived the journey back to England. I drank them over a period of several months, making notes as to what each one tasted like. The following year, Mrs PBT’s again chose Regensburg for our holiday destination, as she was really smitten by the city’s old-world charms. 

This allowed me to bring a few more bottles back, the last of which was the Strong Ale I enjoyed the other night. Now this is where my tasting notes come in handy, as I can now reveal what some of the other beers were like, so without further ado, here are my thoughts on some of the other Regensburger Spital Manufaktur beers. (All the beers are packaged in stylish, long-neck bottles which glug nicely as the beer is poured.)

Spitalbrauerei – Pils 5.5%. A very pale beer, slightly sweet and possibly more like a Helles than a Pils. There is a slight hop-bite lurking in the background, refreshing in character, this beer is one to be enjoyed under the shade of the chestnut trees in Spital’s lovely beer garden, next to the River Danube, in Regensburg.

Spitalbrauerei –India Pale Ale 8.0%. A beer which is very much in the English style of an IPA, rather than the more modern American interpretation. It’s an attractive amber colour and pours with a nice frothy head which remains in the glass. It’s also a very malt driven beer, with a nice hoppy aroma and enough bitterness to counter some of the sweetness derived from the malt.

Spitalbrauerei –Pale Ale 6.5%. Similar to the IPA described above, but much more quaffable. Again, an attractive amber coloured beer with a nice frothy head which remains in the glass. Plenty of malt, and some nice hoppy bitterness to balance.

I left this beer a little too long before opening, as with a BBE date of January 2018, and me not opening it until June of that year, it had become a little hazy. Bittered with finest Hallertau and Mandarin Bavaria hops, it was still a very enjoyable beer. Goes well with cheese, according to the label.

Spitalbrauerei – Summer Ale 2.8% - I picked the bottle up on our 2017 trip to Regensburg and have to say that it is one of the best low-gravity beers I have drank. A refreshing beer, packed full of flavour. Pale golden in colour, thirst quenching and very enjoyable. It’s a real shame this beer isn’t available here in the UK.

Finally, special mention should be made of Spitalbrauerei – Helles 5.5%. Now this is one of the company’s regular beers, rather than one of the more modern ones and it’s a typical south German-style Helles. Slightly sweet in taste from the residual malt sugars, I’ve enjoyed umpteen glasses of this excellent beer, on draught; in Spital’s lovely beer garden, next to the River Danube. 


Just thinking of it is enough to bring back happy memories of some good times in the lovely old city of Regensburg. If you get the chance, once this crazy lock-down situation is over, then do visit the city and make your way to Spital’s gloriously sited beer garden. You will not be disappointed!