The team at Stroud Brewery were thrilled to have another excuse to brew something special, this time to commemorate the great efforts of the chartists. We have produced a small batch of smoked porter aged in oak barrels. Come along and see if this beer gets your vote…
Saturday November 26th 1pm Stroud Brewery: A Chartist Walk with a Porter
This Saturday coming will see the launch of Stroud Brewery’s new porter: Chartist. This has been brewed to remember the 1839 Chartist meeting on Selsley Hill, and the forthcoming 2017 film Day of Hope. There will be a performative walk to mark the occasion.
The Chartist movement has been largely forgotten in British history. Its aims were to ensure votes for all, especially the working classes. “At a time when everyone’s votes count with the EU referendum and the American election, it is important to remember the struggles of the Chartists to secure that everyone has the right to vote”, said writer and director of Day of Hope, John Bassett. “It is estimated that 5,000 people gathered on Selsley Common, but even one petition 6 miles long did not sway Parliament into give voting rights to the working classes. The 26th November event will be a fun lively way to celebrate this.”
Walkers should arrive at 1 pm for a short preview of the film, some performance, and an official toast to the porter.
We will then leave the Brewery at 1.30, wend our way along the canal to Wallbridge; thence along the old railway line to Dudbridge. We will then climb up to the Bell for more porter and thence to the top of Selsley Hill.
The walk will be interspersed with performance, bringing local and national Chartists to life in the landscape, as well as their six points. Walkers will make their own way back to wherever they wish to go: that’s the Chartists’ seventh point. We should be finished on Selsley by 4pm.
This should be a walk to remember.