A 1974 Tour Inside a Traditional English Brewery Where the Beer Is Brewed by Hand
The BBC series The World of Work set off on an “Industrial Grand Tour” in 1974, where Kenneth Hudson and team met up with David Clarke, the owner of Hook Norton, a traditional English brewery in the village of Hook Norton, Oxfordshire. Clarke explained how he brews the beer by hand, noting every step in the process and how much he liked it.
I like to be actually concerned with the beer instead of being a brewery where it’s all push button. You’re actually concerned with it here, in amongst it all the time.
The Hook Norton Brewery is a multi-generational business founded in 1849 and is still active today under the management of David’s son, James Clarke.
Today that compact and economical tower brewery, an integral part of the agricultural and industrial framework of the 19th century, is something of a rarity. In the heart of the Cotswolds at Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, the Clarke family still operates from a splendid red-brick fortress fulfilling the role of traditional English country brewers.
The Modern Hook Norton Brewery
More Recent Tours of The Hook Norton Brewery
