The ale and the grail (Da Vinci Code tour)
Pete Genders and The Beer Cellar achieved nationwide publicity earlier this year when it launched a Da Vinci Code tour around the city of Lincoln. The tours continue, but there’s far more to this specialist beer retailer than
conspiracy theories. Richard Jones reports
Here’s something you didn’t know about movie megastar Tom Hanks. During his stay in Lincoln for the filming of the Da Vinci Code, he ate at local pub / restaurant the Wig and Mitre. Upon learning the price of its caviar dish (£42.50!), he henceforth referred to the place as the ‘Wig and Mortgage.’ Or how about this on his co-star Audrey Tautou, who suffered the indignity of being refused entry to Browns Pie Shop because they were fully booked that evening. All this minutiae and more can be found on the Lincoln Da Vinci Code tour organised by Pete Genders at The Beer Cellar, the city’s specialist beer retailer.
“We run tours all year round on the history of pubs and drinking traditions,” begins Pete Genders, owner of The Beer Cellar. “When they came to the city to film parts of The Da Vinci Code all the stars came to Lincoln, and they ate and drank in local pubs. So we thought it would be a good idea to run a Da Vinci Code tour, telling people all the funny stories that happened to them while they were here.
“We do a tour of the city and then give them a beer tasting at the shop afterwards. It’s been absolutely fantastic, really popular. We’ve had groups come up from London and down from York.” The Beer Cellar opened in Lincoln’s historic Cathedral Quarter nearly three years ago. Before that, Pete Genders had run a small chain (no pun intended) of bike shops. “I was extremely fit at that time,” he explains. “I used to train and race bikes regularly. Unfortunately since I cha.....
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By Richard Jones
Section : Spotlight
Page number : 43
