Gin School

I don't know how these things work; I'm talking about fashions. Now a few years ago you couldn't give gin away, it was mother's ruin, the tipple of the well-oiled sot. From the 1920's through prohibition, to the end of the fifties, if Hollywood is to be believed, anyone who was anyone was fuelled by lashings of gin disguised as a dry Martini.  I must admit that on a hot afternoon a large G & T with ice (and a slice of lemon if you really must) can be a delight,  though by the end of the last century it was really not the drink of choice for the young get up and go types (like what I wasn't). A couple of centuries back, though, it was the patriotic duty of every loyal Englishman to drink pints of gin daily (Think Hogarth Gin Lane, "drunk for threepence, dead drunk for sixpence" ) and none of that nasty French brandy, thank you very much. So it should come as no real surprise that gin is now flavour of the month again or should I say flavours of the month since the plain old juniper berry infused distilled liquor is just a bit passé. Now the thing is 'artisan gin'  made and sold at great expense with any flavour you can pop into the still. Can I tempt you to a rhubarb gin? No? How about plum and vanilla? or strawberry and cream? perhaps a herbal rosemary and thyme would appeal? Cheese and onion, anyone?
Here some enterprising soul is clearly trying to catch the wave in full flood and you can make your very own little bottle of gin to take away and cherish ...cheaper by far to buy a bottle or three or four but then you won't be learning anything.

Oh look we are rapidly approaching World Gin Day ... Saturday 8^thof June 2019.

Trick of the light

OK so I waited 'til a blue car went past is that such a sin?

Weekend reflections are here.

Skylight

Hepworth's Arcade also has a small but impressive skylight.

Now for something completely different

This striking sign is outside a little shop in Hepworth's Arcade that sells all things occult,  tchotchkes and similar stuff to clutter the home.

Who's Next?

Joseph Hepworth set up shop as a tailor with his brother-in-law in Leeds in 1864, twenty-five years later they employed 2000 people who sold their stock through over 100 shops. The firm went on to be the largest UK clothing manufacturer and is now known as Next. This old sign in Hepworth's Arcade possibly dates back to  the 1890's. It's a bit of a puzzle, what is that empty shield in the middle? And was obesity a problem back then that there was a demand for XL tailors?

Hepworth's Arcade

Tucked away beside the market is this little gem; a Victorian arcade of small shops selling all sorts from jewellery and hi-fi to harmonicas and itching powder! It was built in 1894 for a Leeds tailor called Hepworth. It looks brand new after a sympathetic renovation a few years ago.