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Tetley fell into the clutches of Marstons and is now brewed in Burton on Trent rather than Leeds
The closure of Tetley’s Hunslet brewery was a sad event; their cask bitter was a lovely pint and the ersatz version brewed by Marstons isn’t the same, though nice enough
I believe that Marstons don’t actually own Tetleys but brew the beer under licence from the Carlsberg Group who still own the Tetley brand
The dark mild was good too, and although I don’t frequent public houses with the regularity I once did, I think you’re correct in saying it’s no more
Jim,
From a 1913 racing annual, I can report that Sandown then staged a Temple Handicap over 5F, although that was part of a meeting in late October.
I wonder if the name comes from the Augustine Priory that occupied the land in the 12th and 13th centuries. That priory was founded by King Henry II and as the race named after him was for many years run on the same day as the Temple Stakes, perhaps that is a clue.
One other Sandown race that still survives from 1913 – their late June meeting included a 1M race for 3yo fillies called the Atalanta Stakes.
“I believe that Marstons don’t actually own Tetleys but brew the beer under licence from the Carlsberg Group who still own the Tetley brand.”
Yes, that is right. Marstons and Carlsberg are now in some form of partnership, which upset a few people in CAMRA.
The ersatz Tetley is a regular beer in one of my favourites: the Roscoe Head in Liverpool, one of only 5 pubs in the country to have appeared in every edition of CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide. No sign of the dark mild but it does regularly sell the equivalent from Timothy Taylor, alongside the same brewery’s more familiar Landlord. Both superb.
Another famous beer in the Marstons portfolio is Bass, once ubiquitous but now quite rare. The beer’s famous red triangle symbol is the world’s first registered trademark. One devotee of the beer has even set up a website to list the pubs that sell it.
I never knew that about Brighton. Its unique layout and geography makes you think it would not be possible to race over any further.
I’m loving that Brighton used to race over 2m.
I’ve walked the entire course in the past and find this quite remarkable.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Seasider, I recall reading of one horse that bolted off from the 1m4f start down to Roedean, which is near where the 2m course started.
Ian, they used to have a few hurdle races in the 19th century.
Apracing, the Temple Stakes we know began at Sandown in 1965 but there was one in the 1880s. Bearing in mind there was a Claremont Handicap from its inception, with reference to the nearby stately home, it’s possible that early Temple Stakes was named after the ornamental temple in the grounds of Claremont. Or it could be the Inns of Court Temple. Or the Henry II connection.
The Atalanta Stakes began in 1907. I surmise that many of the Sandown management had a classical education. Atalanta, a Greek word meaning equal in weight, is the name of a female character in Greek mythology. She was not only equal, but better than men when it came to running and hunting; so much so that she promised to marry anyone who could beat her in a race. As was often the way in those days, for no very good reason the penalty for failing a challenge was death.
Her smartest suitor, Hippomenes, sought help from the goddess Aphrodite, who had a downer on Atalanta. She provided him with three irrestible golden apples and at intervals during the race with Atalanta Hippomenes tossed one into her path. She was compelled to stop and pick up each of them and lost the race as a result. There were no stewards’ inquiries then, so Atalanta had to marry him.
“Reminds me of the golden days of Epsom’s Great Metropolitan handicap…”
Any excuse: https://youtu.be/l3scTrfRejs
“Ian, they used to have a few hurdle races in the 19th century.”
Tremendous!
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"the goddess Aphrodite, who had a downer on Atalanta
There’s an Aphrodite Stakes run at Newmarket
It’s reassuring to think that racecourse managements had a proper education but, rather more prosaically, is it possible that the races simply honour ‘black type’ fillies named Atalanta and Aphrodite
Just a thought; I’ve no idea, not being in possession of 19th century formbooks or studbooks
Yes, there were indeed steeplechases at Epsom from 1850-54. The finish could be watched from the grandstand although the course itself ranged over Epsom Common, not the Derby course. There was a Great Metropolitan Steeplechase.
“Brighton’s 2m course ran south from the 1m4f start towards the coast.”
Ravel,
I now learn that Brighton’s first recorded meeting on 26/27 August 1783 featured a race decided by 4m heats. From this I deduce that the racecourse was a circuit at that time.
Source:
http://www.greyhoundderby.com/Brighton%20Racecourse%20History.html
Within this link are a couple of racecards. The card for 10 October 1851 shows a mixed meeting of two flat & two hurdle races. These contests were followed by an option sadly no longer available in the modern era, namely the Consolation Scramble Handicap, open to all horses that had run but not won at the two day meeting. This allowed a horse that finished tailed-off in an earlier hurdle race to try its luck again over 4F on the flat.
(I confess to being equally engaged by the poster of advertisements just below the racecard. This promotes the undoubted virtues of Dr. Locock’s Pulmonic Wafers, Mr. Smith’s Daguerreotypes and, most intriguingly, Lipscombe’s Pure Bear’s Grease Depot which offered haircuts for sixpence.)
The 2m start had a loop as well, so 4m races would start at the stand and go 2m there and 2m back.
Here is a better illustration of the 2m course.
https://www.oldmapsonline.org/map/nls/102347737
The loop is visible on an 1813 Ordnance Survey map, but I can’t find that image online right now. It might be deep in my (paper) archives.
Scrambles – also called Scurries – were fairly common consolation races for beaten horses, especially at minor meetings.Thanks for all that – I’m getting a much clearer picture of the track layout.
I do sustain a morbid interest in how far from the rails was the nearest cliff, but I guess we can’t know everything.
“The red rose of Lancaster originated with John Of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, a son of Edward III, who used it as his heraldic emblem. Appropriately, there’s a John Of Gaunt Stakes, also run at Haydock.”
I was in my local Waterstones yesterday and saw a new biography of John of Gaunt, written by Helen Carr. I have always been interested in that era, so I bought a copy.
It is very good and recommended.
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