Hogs Back Brewery carried on the centuries-old tradition of ‘blessing the hops’ and ‘beating of the bounds’ last week.

The brewery hosted its own “beating of the bounds” a tradition which used to see residents in the parish walk the length of the parish so they knew where the edge of the parish was.

Unfortunately for the children in the parish the event would see their heads beaten on the stone boundaries to drive home that it was the edge of their domain.

Fortunately for the children attending the event on Thursday, May 9 2024, this part of the tradition is no longer observed.

Managing Director of the brewery Rupert Thompson said: "Clearly most people today don't need to know where their parish boundaries lie, but centuries on from that, there is still a desire to connect with the local community and a large part of what we're doing at Hogs Back is about building those connections, which is shown by the many local residents who volunteer to ‘twiddle' our hop plants up the strings now, or to bring in the harvest later in the year.

Hogs Back Brewery hope Rev. Claire Holt’s blessing brings them another successful year of harvest with them recently being the first brewer to win the Le May Cup for their hops.

Rev. Holt said: "Blessing the Hogs Back hop garden continues a tradition that would certainly have been part of the cycle of hop growing in Farnham for centuries. It gave me great joy to lead the prayers for the Hogs Back hop garden, the brewery, and all who work in them, for this year and long into the future."

Hogs Back Brewery event was available to enter with a £5 donation to the British Heart Foundation. The brewery will continue to raise money for the charity this year.