After our lunch on 2 June, we were entertained with an excellent talk by Chris Levett, a
farmer from near Cranbrook, on ‘What happened to the English Hop Industry?’
Professionally delivered with excellent visuals and some humour, Chris told us of the origins
and history of hops, and the tales and unique traditions of the industry, now sadly in decline
in England. He brought along samples of hops and some of the specialised tools used. For
Peter Thompson, who chaired the lunch, and your scribe it brought back memories from the
1960s of working when students in what was then a flourishing industry.
‘Scrivener’