Abington Brewery Co. Ltd.
The Abington Brewery Co. Ltd was based at Wellingborough Road in Northampton. The brewery was constructed around the turn of the 20th century but not as the Abington Brewery, rather Dorman, Pope & Co. Following the liquidation of the latter, the brewery re-opened just before the First World War and traded as the Abington Brewery Co. Ltd. The brewery survived until 1958 when the company ceased production and elected to supply their pubs with ales from Bass. The company, and its estate of 23 public houses, was acquired by Charles Wells in 1963. The brewery was subsequently demolished.
© Copyright. Beer label images from Digital Photographic Images

Hopcraft-and-Norris Ltd.
A large brewery concern based in Brackley was Hopcraft and Norris Ltd. This brewery traded first as Hopcraft but later as Norris which is a bit confusing. Whatever, the brewery was founded by Alfred Hopcraft in 1842. Registered in July 1895 as Hopcraft and Norris Limited Brewers and Spirit Merchants, the company had a total of 119 tied houses. In July 1946 the Hopcraft and Norris merged with Chesham Brewery Ltd to form Chesham and Brackley Breweries Ltd. Although brewing still took place at both Brackley and Chesham, this business lasted for only 11 years before it was taken over by Taylor, Walker & Co. Ltd. The Brackley Brewery was closed in 1959 and three years later the tied estate was transferred to Benskin's Watford Brewery Ltd. Meanwhile, in what was a crazy period of takeovers and mergers, Taylor, Walker & Co. Ltd. were swallowed up by Ind Coope.
© Copyright. Images supplied by Digital Photographic Images and reproduced with kind permission.

Potbelly-Brewery
The Potbelly Brewery is a relatively new micro-brewery situated in Kettering. Using 10 Barrel plant, brewing commenced in February 2005. The brewery was set up by Toni Hooper and Glenn Morris with wanted to produce a quality range of real ales that would appeal to both established drinkers and those new to the real ale scene. The company enjoyed immediate success with two of their beers, notably with Beijing Black which won a Gold Award for Best Mild at the SIBA Midlands Beer Competition 2005. Sunny Daze picked up a Gold Award in the 'New Brewery' category at the Peterborough Beer Festival 2005. In December 2005 Sawyers of Kettering became the official Brewery Tap of Potbelly Brewery.
© Copyright. Images supplied by Potbelly Brewery and reproduced with kind permission.

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