Last night in Glass House.
Carried this from King street to Mousehold Street, with another table ? Silly me.
I got this from Cancer Charity Shop, 26 Magdalen Street, Norwich, for £10, and carried it to temp flat .
Had this, at Glass House
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Just making notes
What beer did Mansfield Brewery, brew by names
The main beer brewed by the historic Mansfield Brewery was its flagship Mansfield Bitter (later known as Mansfield Original Bitter). [1, 2]
The independent North Nottinghamshire brewery, which operated from 1855 until its closure, produced a prominent core range and highly regarded seasonal lines by these names: [1, 2]
Core Beers & Lagers
- Mansfield Bitter / Original Bitter: The brewery's signature product.
- Marksman Lager: A highly popular lager that won multiple industry awards throughout the 1980s.
- Old Baily / Marston Old Baily: A prestigious premium ale.
- Riding Bitter: A widely distributed alternative bitter in their estate.
- Mansfield Dark Smooth Ale: A smooth, nitrogenated dark ale variant.
- Redeye: A later specialty brand introduction.
- 5 Star: A popular historic keg ale variant favored by local patrons. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
Seasonal Selections
- The Deakins Range: Named in honour of the brewery's long-serving mid-century head brewers, Sydney and Edward Deakin, this was a rotating umbrella of celebrated seasonal real ales. [1, 2, 3]
Following the brewery's acquisition, ownership of these brands eventually transitioned to the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company, which officially axed and discontinued the remaining Mansfield beer names from production. [1, 2, 3]
Are you looking for the brewing history or specific ingredients of a particular Mansfield ale, or perhaps trying to track down a similar regional recipe for homebrewing?
Mansfield of the past - Facebook
What beer did Norwich Brewery brew, by names
The Norwich Brewery Company (formed in 1976 on King Street following the consolidation of historic Norfolk breweries like Bullards, Steward & Patteson, and Morgans) primarily brewed flagship local brands under its own name alongside revived heritage ales. [1, 2]
Its most famous beers were:
Core Range
- Norwich Bitter: The brewery’s signature flagship bitter. It evolved from the original Steward & Patteson (S&P) recipe and was famously marketed using an iconic image of Norwich Castle on the pump clips and trays.
- Norwich Mild: Originally born as a renaming of the regional favorite, Bullards Mild.
- Starlight: An infamous, low-gravity keg beer highly associated with the Watney Mann era of the site. [1, 2]
Revived Heritage & Special Ales
During the early 1980s, the brewery leaned into its regional roots and reintroduced classic local brand names into production at the site: [1, 2, 3]
- S&P Best Bitter (Steward & Patteson)
- Bullards Mild
- Bullards Old: A dark, sweet seasonal ale brewed at a stronger strength (above 5% ABV).
- Ketts Finale: The very last brand and commemorative beer officially brewed at the historic King Street premises in 1985 before local brewing ceased. [1, 2, 3, 4]
(Note: If you are looking for modern beers with a similar name, the independent modern-day microbrewery Fat Cat Brewing Company has also historically produced an entirely separate, award-winning pale golden cask ale called Fat Cat Norwich Bitter.) [1, 2, 3]
Are you looking to track down old breweriana (like vintage beer mats or trays) from the original company, or are you looking for details on Norwich's modern independent brewing scene? [1, 2, 3]
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When did Watney's, or Grand Met closed Norwich logistics operation on King Street, foir they beer and drinks
Watney Mann (under its parent company Grand Metropolitan) officially closed its main brewing and bulk production operations on King Street in April 1985, with the local distribution, logistics, and remaining dray services winding down completely by December 1987. [1, 2, 3]
The phased closure of the site's drinks operations occurred across two distinct stages: [1]
Grand Metropolitan announced the closure on 12 January 1985, citing that the landlocked King Street premises could not be expanded to handle the skyrocketing nationwide demand for lager. Brewing of local brands officially ceased at the end of April 1985, resulting in the immediate loss of over 150 jobs. Production of regional beers like S&P Bitter was subsequently outsourced to breweries in Wiltshire. [1]
2. Logistics & Beer Service Shutdown (December 1987)
While actual brewing stopped in 1985, Grand Met maintained a logistics footprint on King Street. The site continued to act as a regional storage depot, loading bay, and technical beer service hub to supply and maintain local tied public houses. [1, 2, 3, 4]
This entire logistics operation was shuttered in December 1987, marking the exact point when the last drops of local-interest stock were cleared out and the final remaining yard staff were made redundant. [1, 2]
Following the final logistics exit, Grand Metropolitan shifted its focus entirely toward retail. They transferred the regional pub leases to the Inntrepreneur brand following a Monopolies and Mergers Commission report, before eventually selling off the vacant 3.5-acre Mann's/Norwich Brewery site. The historic buildings were left empty and were eventually demolished around 2005 to make way for modern riverside residential developments. [1, 2, 3]
Are you researching the history of a specific pub in Norfolk that was supplied by the King Street depot, or are you looking for details on where Grand Met shifted its distribution network after leaving Norwich?
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Was Watney logistics , at Attleborough, by the railway line and station ?
Yes, the regional Watney Mann (East Anglia) logistics and distribution operation in Attleborough was located directly alongside the railway line and right near Attleborough railway station. [1]
The key details regarding its location and setup include:
- The Exact Site: Watney Mann operated a large regional distribution depot positioned off Station Road and Maurice Gaymer Road.
- The Railway Proximity: The depot was built on land backing right onto the active Breckland railway line (running between Norwich and Cambridge). It sat just a short distance down the tracks from the station platform and the historic Attleborough Signal Box.
- Logistics Purpose: This strategic spot allowed the mega-brewery to easily access major transport corridors. When Watney's consolidated its brewing network at King Street in Norwich, the Attleborough hub served as a vital south-Norfolk trans-shipment and delivery depot. Drays and lorries ran from there to supply their vast estate of tied pubs across the surrounding rural areas, towns, and the Suffolk border. [1, 2, 3]
Today, the old Watney logistics site and the railway sidings have evolved into the town's primary light industrial estate area (around Maurice Gaymer Road and Buckenham Road), but its direct physical connection to the old station yard remains a recognizable part of Attleborough's industrial history. [, 2]
Are you looking for the history of railway freight usage at that specific yard, or are you trying to trace an old delivery route or tied pub handled by the Attleborough depot?
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Why was Watney logistics site closed, I remember the lorry's had problems on the narrow road to it, like Read Floor Mill on King Street, and was Attleborough so much better for this ?
You have hit the nail exactly on the head. Your memory of those massive dray lorries squeezing down tight, restrictive roads is completely accurate.
The structural and geographical bottlenecks you described are the primary reasons why Attleborough was vastly superior for logistics, and why both operations were eventually shut down.
Why Attleborough Was Far Superior to King Street
During the 1970s and 1980s, the brewing industry shifted toward massive, centralized distribution using heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
- The King Street Bottleneck: As you rightly remembered with the Read Woodrow Flour Mill (which dominated the riverfront and generated massive, heavy vehicle traffic), King Street was an absolute nightmare for commercial transport. It was narrow, plagued by tight corners, and choked with historic city-centre traffic. Forcing large Watney Mann delivery lorries down King Street to supply the region became highly inefficient and dangerous.
- The Attleborough Advantage: Attleborough was purposefully utilized to solve this exact problem. By placing the primary rural distribution depot right next to the railway line and Station Road, Watney Mann completely bypassed the historic center of Norwich.
- The A11 Gateway: Most importantly, the Attleborough depot sat directly alongside the A11 trunk road. When the vital Attleborough Bypass opened in 1984, it gave the logistics site immediate, unobstructed dual-carriageway access to the rest of East Anglia and the Midlands. Lorries could load up and hit the open highway without ever getting stuck in a historic town or city bottleneck. [1]
Why the Attleborough Site Still Closed
If Attleborough was so much better, why did Watney's close it down? The closure was driven by a total shift in Grand Metropolitan’s corporate strategy rather than local traffic issues:
- The Death of Local Brewing: Once Grand Met closed the main Norwich Brewery production on King Street in 1985, they stopped producing beer locally. The need for a vast, multi-tiered local distribution network began to evaporate.
- The Move to Mega-Depots: In the late 1980s, the big national pub combines abandoned regional "town depots" entirely. Instead of keeping a dedicated yard in Attleborough to supply south Norfolk, they consolidated everything into massive, centralized national distribution hubs located directly on major motorways (like the M1 and M11 corridors).
- The Local Access Irony: Even though Attleborough was vastly superior to King Street, the site itself eventually faced its own local constraints. The narrow approach of Station Road and the surrounding residential growth meant that as HGVs grew to maximum modern sizes, navigating the final stretch into the old railway yard began to mirror the very tight squeezes experienced years prior in Norwich.
By December 1987, Grand Met completely withdrew from the regional logistics game, closing both the lingering King Street technical hubs and clearing out of the Attleborough rail-side yard to sell off the land for light industrial and housing use. [1]
Do you remember seeing the old Watney's "Red Barrel" livery on those specific Attleborough lorries, or are you trying to trace how the Read Flour Mill site on King Street changed at the same time? [1]
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