26/01/2012 by admin.

I was asked to talk on the radio last Sunday (22 Jan) - BBC Radio Solent (not quite Radio 4, but still)

The idea was to do about 25 minutes on the breweries of the Isle of Wight. In the end I didn’t manage to say much at all about the Island’s breweries - I spent about 3 days biting my finger nails and brushing up on facts and figures, really to no avail. Still, it was an experience and we spent much of the time chatting about the BHS, so I am awaiting a flood of new members!

The programme was Bruce Parker’s Magical History Tour and was looking at the South’s pubs, breweries and vineyards - the link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00mtshy should you wish to see more, or even listen for a while. As you will hear, having been called by the programme staff, we got off to a terrible start when he couldn’t hear me - presumably a button needed pressing at their end, but it wasn’t good for the nerves.

It also included an interview with Jeremy Pope (of Eldridge Pope), David Jones on Cowes pubs (he has just produced an excellent book on this topic) and Dave Goddard on Southampton’s pubs.

I don’t think I shall be giving up the day job (retirement)

Cheers

Jeff

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27/02/2011 by Jeff Sechiari.

My thanks to Sue Bell for sending the following:

Sunday lunchtime listening was excellent today.
“Sheila Dillon investigates the role malt plays in our drinks and diet. Malt has been around for millennia and is a natural ingredient in many but many people won’t realise how ubiquitous it is. As well as being the foundation of beer and whisky, its flavour and richness makes it a favourite for uses in bakery, breakfast cereals and confectionary as well as being an important export for the country. Sheila talks to a distiller, a baker and a brewer about malt’s remarkable properties and visits a traditional maltster to find out how malt is made.”

Robin Appell at Warminster Maltings and ‘The MeanTime Brewery’ provided star turns.

The programme is to be repeated tomorrow afternoon. Monday 28th February, 16.00hrs. Radio 4. NB - There will also be a podcast available on the BBC Radio 4 web site

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13/02/2011 by Jeff Sechiari.

The following link to a BBC item available on the web has been sent to me

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00f15dg

The associated description is as follows:

Master brewer Alastair Hook aims to put traditionally brewed beers at the heart of our drinking culture.

He’s at the forefront of a liquid revolution.

We go behind the scenes of his micro brewery in Greenwich and look at its history.

Tim Fitzhigham also discovers how an ancient beer recipe is being given a modern twist.

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29/07/2010 by Jeff Sechiari.

Following my recent post about  the radio programmes - Britain on the Bottle, I received the following recommendation for a piece of software and having tried it out I must say it’s excellent. It allows you to schedule the recording of radio programmes in the ‘play again’ list as though they are podcasts. I recommend giving it a go. It has certainly simplified what I have been doing in the past.

Just to suggest a very useful “radio programme downloader” called Radio Downloader

http://www.nerdoftheherd.com/tools/radiodld/

Cheers

Ian

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24/07/2010 by Jeff Sechiari.

I thought I would add this message that I posted to the Yahoo Group a couple of days ago to the Blog. The series has nowed on a few more episodes and is now half way through its run of 10 programmes but I think the first will still be online until Monday. I have found those that I have heard very interesting.

I have just noticed this series on BBC Radio 4 this week
It is available to listen to again on the iPlayer at the moment

This afternoon’s episode is:

15:45–16:00
Britain on the Bottle: Alcohol and the State
Temperance and the 1872 Licensing Act
4/10 . Mark Whitaker looks at how the temperance movement took a grip on British political life.

Cheers
Jeff

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