Memories of Chesham Brewery

THIS account about Chesham Brewery came from talking to George Lovett, who was their last drayman in the 1950s.

Origins

Thomas Nash, junior and James Nash founded a brewery in High Street Chesham in 1841. The business was first known as T & J Nash, then from 1895 it was run by Henry and William James Nash and the name was changed to Chesham Brewery, which was registered as a company with limited liability. In 1896 it trademarked the Trident symbol for its beer.

Expansion into West Herts

In the 1890s the company expanded into west Hertfordshire. In 1891 the firm acquired Henry Wyman’s Anchor Brewery, based in Bury Road, Boxmoor which had been established in 1854. Anchor Brewery had 24 licensed premises which came with it. In 1896 the company acquired Victoria Brewery, based in St Albans Road, Watford, Herts, then in 1898 Foster Brothers’s Swan Brewery. This had had been established in 1839 in the High Street of Berkhampstead, and came with 14 licensed properties.

These acquisitions gave Chesham Brewery licensed premises in Bovingdon, Chipperfield, Watford, Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead, Tring and some pubs as far as Redbourn, Markyate and Leighton Buzzard. In 1906 all brewing at the Swan Brewery, Berkhampstead transferred to Chesham. Chesham Brewery now described themselves as “brewers, maltsters, wine and spirit merchants”.

Prizes

From 1904 the brewer and manager Mr Byrne entered beer into the Brewer’s Exhibition, which was held at the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington in London. In their first year in 1904 they won medals for being 1st in class 6 and 2nd in class 1. In 1906 they won 3rd Prize and Diploma for Light Dinner Ale supplied in small casks and bottles. In 1907 they also won first prize in class 5. Their best result was in 1930 when they won the Championship Gold Medal and Diploma in the Challenge Cup, sponsored by the Brewers Journal, for the Best Brewed Beer in the Show, out of 800 samples supplied.

Range of Beers

In the 1930s they brewed XXXX described as “a fine old ale of exceptional body”, which was “brewed from best malt and hops”; XXX described as “a light dinner ale of pleasing palate”; XX described as “a good round mild ale”; a Brown Ale “which ensured satisfaction” and an oatmeal stout described as “a nourishing tonic”. In July 1940 the Brewery introduced a new stout called Oyster Stout which they described as “a wonderful tonic and pick-me-up”.

From 1905 they also started to sell cider.

Chesham and Brackley Brewery

In 1946 the company bought Banbury and Brackley Brewery with 50 pubs in Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire as far as Thame, and into the Vale of Aylesbury in north Bucks. This brewery had been established in 1842 as Hopcraft & Norris, and after a series of acquisitions became known as the Banbury and Brackley Brewery.

Following this acquisition Chesham Brewery Ltd changed its name to the Chesham & Brackley Brewery Ltd to reflect its two main bases. In 1954 the Chesham and Brackley Brewery introduced a new stout called Raven Stout.

The last drayman

The beer in Chesham was delivered by a drayman with a horse and wagon. After the war there were 2 shire horses, who were kept in stables up White Hill. Each day a different horse was taken, allowing the other one to rest. One was a brown shire horse and the other a grey shire horse called Duke. The last drayman was George Lovett. He remembers walking each day from Waterside, then delivering beer in casks with his horse throughout Chesham.

Beer was delivered weekly to most pubs, but if they ran out the landlord would phone for more and a special delivery could be made. In the morning beer was delivered in barrels, with most pubs getting a weekly delivery on particular days. Once a week a new delivery of barrels was made. If the pub had a cellar, the barrels were lowered down into the cellar. Many of the cellars were prone to flooding because the River Chess ran under the town. If they had no cellar then the old barrels were collected and new ones placed on a rack. If the returned barrels had any beer left in them, it was gassed and resold as light ale.

In the afternoon bottles were delivered. Empty bottles were collected up, washed and re-used. Each Friday morning George started at the Unicorn in Bois Moor Road, at 8:30 a.m. where the landlady would give him a fried breakfast. When he returned to the Unicorn later in the afternoon he was given a beer.

As well as the Unicorn at Bois Moor Road, Chesham Brewery also delivered to the White Horse at the bottom of Amersham Hill, the Black Horse and the Pheasant at Waterside, the Lamb in the High Street, and the Nashleigh Arms at the end of Berkhampstead Road. One afternoon a week George delivered to the working men’s clubs. At the end of the day at about 5 o’clock George would finish and take home a jug of beer.

By the 1950s pubs outside Chesham town were being supplied by lorry.

The End

Chesham and Brackley Breweries was acquired by Taylor, Walker and & Co Ltd of London in 1956. Rumours that the brewery was being sold had been circulating for some time. Mr. James W. H. Nash, Joint Managing Director, told the Bucks Examiner that this would not mean the end of Chesham’s brewery. “The brewery will go on,” he stressed, but it did not. Brewing ceased in Chesham in 1957 and at Brackley in 1959. Taylor, Walker and Co Ltd was then acquired by Ind Coope Ltd, who also bought Benskins in 1957, and by then had 1,360 public houses & off-licences. In 1961 Ind Coope became part of Allied Breweries after the merger of Ansells Brewery, Ind Coope and Tetley Walker Ltd. In 1962 the licensed properties of Chesham Brewery were transferred to their subsidiary Benskins.