A bit later than usual with the newsletter this week, did you think I had forgotten? Yesterday was a most interesting and surreal day and I didn’t get my usual slot to sit down and draft this email. So, for one week only, you are receiving this email ‘live’!
Yesterday I met a couple of Guild members to finalise the beer and food pairing for the upcoming Guild Awards Dinner in November. That in itself was an interesting and fun thing to do, however add into the mix we were at One Great George Street, just down the road from Westminster and Buckingham Palace and a host venue for state events, it made it all the more interesting given the national news. Think staff hastily moving around and coded comments about the health of our Monarch.
The tasting concluded at 5pm, and with my train not due until just after 8pm, I decided to take a wander down to Buckingham Palace to see what was going on. Within a few moments, I found myself stood next to a regional BBC news crew, the presenter having emergency changed on the spot from his patterned shirt to a freshly bought white shirt and black tie. He was wearing my jacket, as it was smarter than the one he had. Passing tourists unaware of the news being inquisitive as to why so many people and the media were gathered. “Is the Queen making an announcement” one asked. In the air were chinooks and a huge double rainbow as the flag at Buckingham Palace lowered to half mast and the gathered nearby media broke the news to the entire world of her passing. I left Buckingham Palace around 7pm and headed through Green Park to the nearest tube station, with hundreds of people streaming in the other direction, some with flowers. I was surrounded by emotion, poignancy and surrealness; an experience I won’t ever forget.
Last week, I explained I was quite busy and that I would be able to talk more about why this week. Unfortunately, I’m still not at liberty to talk about it just yet, so fingers crossed for next week.
Due to the timing of the email, Beer Name of the Month voting for August will open next week too.