Hi
WordPress limit the amount of space on this website and unfortunately mine is all used up! I hope to tidy the site up at some point and / or make another but in the meantime there will be no new articles. I will hopefully be able to continue updating the present ones. Stay safe.
Chambers Pencils is a bespoke pencil manufacturer based in Stapleford, Nottingham who are struggling because of Brexit and the pandemic. Along with Derwent Pencils they are perhaps the last 2 pencil makers left in the UK.
https://www.chamberspencils.com/shop
#CLAPFOROURCARERS Pack of 3 Rainbow Pencils, made in the UK
Source: How To Make The Perfect Cup Of Tea | The Murdock Man
One of the most everyday of British tasks has its proper methods.
Many an Englishman wouldn’t go a day without consuming at least one cup of tea. Be his preference an awakening mug first thing, a relaxing evening brew, or indeed both. The difference between a good and bad brew however treads a fine line, causing the argument of how to make tea properly a continuous subject of debate. With our modern, worldly tastes and options often overlooking the simple yet majestic pleasure of English Breakfast Tea, when a perfectly brewed cup falls into our hands there are few pleasures comparable. If there is an English bone in his body, it would be a gentlemanly sin for the modern man to not be partial to a cup of tea.
One of the most everyday of British tasks has its proper methods, yet we each have our own ideas on what makes tea so wonderful and how to make it so. The rest of the world may not quite understand the wonders of a good brew quite like we do on these fair isles but that is because they simply do not know the correct methods by which to make one properly. It is because of this that some of our most influential writers – George Orwell, Douglas Adams, and Christopher Hitchens have all felt compelled to write brilliant essays on what makes the perfect cup of tea…
The great Socialist writer wrote many an essay on how he thought the world should be (The Moon Under Water is his particularly good description of a utopian pub) and in this one he lists his eleven rules for making the perfect the cup of tea:
First of all
One should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has virtues which are not to be despised nowadays – it is economical, and one can drink it without milk – but there is not much stimulation in it. One does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone who has used that comforting phrase ‘a nice cup of tea’ invariably means Indian tea.
Secondly
Tea should be made in small quantities – that is, in a teapot. Tea out of an urn is always tasteless, while army tea, made in a cauldron, tastes of grease and whitewash. The teapot should be made of china or earthenware. Silver or Britanniaware teapots produce inferior tea and enamel pots are worse; though curiously enough a pewter teapot (a rarity nowadays) is not so bad.
Thirdly
The pot should be warmed beforehand. This is better done by placing it on the hob than by the usual method of swilling it out with hot water.
Fourthly
The tea should be strong. For a pot holding a quart, if you are going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped teaspoons would be about right. In a time of rationing, this is not an idea that can be realised on every day of the week, but I maintain that one strong cup of tea is better than twenty weak ones. All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes – a fact which is recognised in the extra ration issued to old-age pensioners.
Fifthly
The tea should be put straight into the pot. No strainers, muslin bags or other devices to imprison the tea. In some countries teapots are fitted with little dangling baskets under the spout to catch the stray leaves, which are supposed to be harmful. Actually one can swallow tea-leaves in considerable quantities without ill effect, and if the tea is not loose in the pot it never infuses properly.
Sixthly
One should take the teapot to the kettle and not the other way about. The water should be actually boiling at the moment of impact, which means that one should keep it on the flame while one pours. Some people add that one should only use water that has been freshly brought to the boil, but I have never noticed that it makes any difference.
Seventhly
After making the tea, one should stir it, or better, give the pot a good shake, afterwards allowing the leaves to settle.
Eighthly
One should drink out of a good breakfast cup – that is, the cylindrical type of cup, not the flat, shallow type. The breakfast cup holds more, and with the other kind one’s tea is always half cold – before one has well started on it.
Ninthly
One should pour the cream off the milk before using it for tea. Milk that is too creamy always gives tea a sickly taste.
Tenthly
One should pour tea into the cup first. This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is that, by putting the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk whereas one is liable to put in too much milk if one does it the other way round.
Lastly
Tea – unless one is drinking it in the Russian style – should be drunk WITHOUT SUGAR. I know very well that I am in a minority here. But still, how can you call yourself a true tea-lover if you destroy the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it? It would be equally reasonable to put in pepper or salt. Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you are no longer tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you could make a very similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water.
To complement Orwell’s ideas, also read Douglas Adams’ ‘Tea’ in which the author of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ explains to Americans their common brewing mistakes. Also Christopher Hitchens’ ‘How To Make A Decent Cup Of Tea’ in which, similarly to Adams, he informs those across the pond how to do it right, taking his cue from Orwell’s Golden Rules. We’d say it’s about time to put the kettle on?
If retailers only stock foreign made items, then mostly consumers will only buy foreign made items. Most will I guess not be willing to go to the trouble of shopping elsewhere, such as on the internet, to buy British. Let me give you some examples:
Britain makes great things – why don’t retailers sell them?
The existing UK supplier plans to appeal against the decision to use a Franco-Dutch firm after Brexit.
Source: UK firm to contest move to make new passports in France – BBC News
We do not have to leave the EU to have blue passports anyway and now we learn that the passports will be printed by a foreign company. It’s all about free trade, but in France, as a foreign-based firm, current British passport producer the British firm De La Rue would be barred from bidding to produce the French passport for national security reasons. The winning bid firm Gemalto apparently has a factory in Fareham, so will these new passports be made there? De La Rue makes the current red passports at the firm’s Gateshead factory but appears to have lost out on the contract for the new blue passports which the PM has described as “an expression of our independence and sovereignty – symbolising our citizenship of a proud, great nation”. Rather ironic then if the new blue passports will be made in France!
MP demands to know why Parliament aren’t serving on plates made in Stoke-on-Trent When Stoke-on-Trent North MP Ruth Smeeth noticed plates in the Houses of Parliament that didn’t have the renowned Stoke-on-Trent
Source: Should the UK Government be buying British? – Make it British
The British Government and its Civil Service should buy British made and their procurement policy should favour buying British made. For example Parliament, the Foreign Office and the Home Office should have British made cutlery and tableware and buy British made stationery and British made cars. Where British made goods are not available then they should buy goods produced in the Commonwealth or EU. The NHS should set the example by buying British. The British armed forces should buy British made. British law enforcement organisations should buy British. When buying flags and uniforms and equipment for our defence forces and police more emphasis should be put on buying British first. An increase in public sector purchasing from British manufacturers and preference for British manufacturers when placing major and small contracts and, at a lower level, all purchasing, would make a big difference to UK makers, retaining skills, industry and jobs to build a stronger country and community. It’s a complex argument and British companies gain from being able to compete across the EU but for our Government buying British should come naturally.
https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/mp-wants-parliament-buy-british-1197188
There are lots of ideas here on the ukmade site for great Christmas presents. Please have a look around. Lots of ideas elsewhere on the net too. Please remember to get British made christmas cards and gift wrap too…and British made Christmas decorations and British made tinsel British made Christmas Crackers. Make it a Great British Christmas…
And for 2018 why not choose a British made diary…
There are some great suggestions for British made gifts for Christmas at Make it British – thank you Make it British – Check out the @MakeitBritish gift guide for great gifts by clicking the link below #buybritishchristmas
Buy British Christmas Gifts – The Make it British Gift Guide
10 reasons for giving British made gifts this Christmas:
Please be careful to check the provenance of your gifts; there’s a tendency amongst many firms to claim British heritage in a way that misleadingly implies manufacture in the UK. Anything manufactured Britain, for example any of the items listed on this website, will make a good present and UK made gifts don’t have to be expensive either. Try the high street but I think you’ll have more luck finding British made Christmas presents online.
A proper paper diary is silent and unobtrusive in use; it has no batteries to go flat; it doesn’t break if you drop it or tread on it; it helps you remember things because you have actually written them down; you can write in it during meetings and so on (when your smart phone will be outside or turned off!); and things don’t get mysteriously deleted. There is the risk of losing your paper diary of course, and unlike a smart phone will not require a passcode, which is something to bear in mind.
When you are getting your next diary, planner or calander please choose a British made one. Before buying, check the inside or back cover and see where the diary you are looking at is actually made (printed and bound).
Tea Making Tips is a comprehensive guide to the perfect cuppa, including the six golden tips for making the perfect brew, released in 1941. Courtesy of the British Film Institute (BFI) on YouTube. The film is 10 minutes long, so I suggest you put the kettle on, sit down and have and nice cup of char (aka chai) whilst you watch it. Made in pot with loose tea leaves of course! Enjoy…
You may also enjoy this BBC video on how to make a the perfect cup of tea:
ukmade - UK Made Products - BRITISH MADE 