The day i hopped to it
14/08/2020
My name is Charles.
I have a title but I don’t want to lord it over you so Charles will do. Or Charlie if I have given you permission and we have shared a drink or two together. I have to say I was rather honoured when Bob asked me to write a little piece about how I came to meet him and his fine wife, Samantha (she is always asking me to call her Sam but she is a lady so I refuse).
Given how much I have come to adore these two fine people and the story of our meeting is now legend, it is a pleasure to share the story with the world (for those of you who have drunk a staggeringly good beer or two with me over the years will have heard this already but it is good tale so listen again).

Back in 2014 I think it was (might have been the year before or the year after, I get a little confused with the dates), I had just returned from a rather lovely visit to Champagne in France where I had been on the infamous Older Rich Gentlemen of Shropshire Wine Tour, which that year had led us to the region of Champagne.

Could this be the Great Bearded Punch & Judy Man of Shropshire? Sadly no, but the proprietor of the tent told me that Great Bearded Punch & Judy Man of Shropshire was now the landlord of a rather fine establishment in a market town called Bridgnorth. I thanked him for his wisdom, admired an aubergine, sampled the local delicacies and got a young person to drive me to The White Lion. I walked up the two steps into the pub with what can only be described as a keen sense of anticipation.
Something I had not experienced since I fell heir to my country estate (another story for another time). Behind the bar were two smiling faces, one belonging to a lovely lady (who I later discovered was Samantha) and the other belonging to a bearded man.
Could this be?

And let me tell you this. I have not had champagne or cider or perry since that day.
The reason? Well it turns out that Bob and Samantha brew a range of rather good, no staggeringly good beer from their brewery, Hop & Stagger (what a wonderful name, don’t you think?).
Since that day we have shared so much together and I have no doubt that I can persuade Bob and Samantha to let me tell you some of those stories.
Come and join me for a pint any day of the week.
There is a place at my table and nothing would give me greater pleasure than sharing Hop & Stagger with you.
