Far from Middling (East Midlands)

Several regions of Britain could lay claim to be its most fertile beer producer. One of the least celebrated is the East Midlands. Dominic Roskrow grew up there

For most of us that queasy period when we travel from awkward teenager to young adult is fraught with insecurity and fear. Our first metaphorical fumblings with the bra strap of adult life are ungainly, uncouth and uncultured.

But the memory plays strange tricks on us as we grow older. Light-headed from the hoppy aroma of nostalgia we recall our formative years as some golden idyllic time. Perhaps on balance it was. And certainly if nothing else the journey from the moment we entered the public house nervous and sweaty to ask for ‘a pint of your best bitter, landlord,’ to the days where we would confidently prop up the bar and ask George for ‘a pint of the usual’ evoke warmth, happiness and excitement.

Rural Leicestershire in the late 70s was a million miles away from the gritty city life represented in the BBC television series Life On Mars, and it was – is – something of a rural playground. Unspectacular in the way that the Dales or the Peaks are, the south of the county is unspoilt too – endless fields of the verdant dairy grass enriched from the silt minerals of the Welland River; picturesque periodcottage villages; prim and proper cricket greens; wonderful, hoppy beer.

We’d head out to the east of the county, in an area marked by Market Harborough in the south to Leicester in the north. Our furthest points east were Oakham and Rutland Water as we set out in pursuit of Ruddles County, and whiled away the hours teasing Rutland folk about the fact they were from Leiceste.....

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By Dominic Roskrow

Section : Regional Focus

Page number : 37