Saxifraga × urbium, an evergreen perennial, is a plant that loves plenty of water and a sunny spot in an English garden. But in 1941, Londoners started to notice its pale pink rosettes, speckled with darker pink spots, appearing in bomb sites across the capital. That something so beautiful could emerge among the gnarled damage wrought by the Blitz was not lost on locals, and Saxifraga × urbium soon became a symbol of the city’s resilience against the daily bombardments of the Luftwaffe. That splendidly flamboyant wit, Noël Coward, even wrote a sentimental song about the flower in Spring 1941. ‘Every Blitz/Your resistance toughening/From the Ritz/To the Anchor and Crown/Nothing ever could override/The pride/Of London Town.’ The song was titled after the plant’s common name: London Pride.

In 1958, with the memory of the war still resonating in the streets, Fuller’s ran a competition to name a new, premium ale. The winner was to win a year’s worth of beer, but the name proposed by one contestant was so good, he was given a lifetime’s worth. The name? Yes, London Pride. We’re told this story by Jason Murphy, Brewery Tours Manager, as we walk around the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, just metres from the Thames.

 

There has been a brewery on this site since the 16th century (admittedly at a time when most households would brew their own beer) and a production brewery in the area since the 1650s, as the Third English Civil War raged across the country. Fast forward to 1816, and brothers Douglas and Henry Thompson acquired the brewery from their father and lifted the brewery’s emblem above its door. The Griffin Brewery was born, a name retained to this day. Fuller’s as we know it today emerged in the early 1800s. John

Fuller was a wealthy country gent who joined forces with the brothers and soon became the majority shareholder, and when his son, also called John, took over, the company became Fuller’s. Like Harvey’s in Lewes and Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Fuller’s in Chiswick dominates the district. The aromas from the brew day can be sensed streets away.

‘Ever since the brewery was established, many of the houses in the local area were built specifically to serve the Griffin Brewery and the Lamb Brewery next door,’ Jason explains. ‘There’s always been a great sense of community pride in the brewery, and some families have worked here for generations.’ During World War II, as London Pride sprouted around the capital, no less than 78 workers at Fuller’s were on active service. Remarkably, they all returned from the war, and more than 50 continued working here. 

Walking around the brewery today with Jason and tour guide, we touch the history in its walls, peer into the old copper, first installed in 1823 and last used in 1984, and admire the mash tun retained as a visitor spectacle since last being used in 1993.

Today, the brewery blends the traditional with the ultra-modern. Electric drays pick up pallets of beer and robots worth millions work the packing line, although on the tour we never lose touch with what beer is: an agricultural product. We see the barley being milled and the hops being unloaded.

Over a beer, we chat with Guy Stewart, Brewing Manager at Fuller’s, the person responsible for London Pride tasting like London Pride every day. How would he describe working here?

It’s a warm feeling to know that you have created something, and created something that people enjoy. When you go into a pub, and now at home on PerfectDraft, you see people drinking it. The people here who created it have a lot of pride in it.’

It’s a sentiment echoed by Jason. ‘People do feel very proud to work here, to be part of the history, part of the heritage.’

The wisteria is blossoming as we walk outside on a warm April day. Jason explains that this particular plant was probably the first of its kind to arrive in Britain, after the brewery sponsored a botanical expedition to China. It was planted in 1816, a year after the Battle of Waterloo. And nearby, in a planter near an electronic gate, London Pride, Saxifraga × urbium, is flowering.

Rare is an article about beer that references flowers at the beginning and end, but rare is a beer like London Pride and a brewery like Fuller’s. Historic breweries such as this are more than just part of a community. Their histories and beers become interwoven into history itself, like the wisteria on the brewery’s wall. Just like its namesake flower, London Pride is part of the social history and culture of the capital: enduring, resilient and beautiful.

Brewer’s tasting notes

LONDON PRIDE
4.1%
Guy Stewart, Brewing Quality Manager at Fuller’s, says: ‘It’s classically English. It doesn’t have a massive hop aroma, but it’s slightly piney and slightly herbal with the hops. But then tastewise, you get all the malt,
so it’s malty, sweet, slightly biscuity with a real toffee note.
Our yeast gives it the fruity marmalade notes that you get in many Fuller’s beers.’
Temp: 7ºC

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