A CUMBRIA brewery is helping mark an important milestone for an historic railway with an exclusive beer that will also commemorate one of man’s most faithful friends.
This year the Settle-Carlisle Railway is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the reprieve of the line in 1989 following a long-running threat of closure.
To mark the event the Eden Brewery, which is based at Brougham Hall, near Penrith, has produced a special anniversary beer.
Bottles of Wyvern Anniversary Ale will be sold to passengers taking the train, which links towns and villages in Cumbria and North Yorkshire with Carlisle and Leeds.
A cask version, named Ruswarp Ale after the only dog to “sign” the petition to save the line, will also be available. Collie Ruswarp – pronounced “Russup” – later became famous and was immortalised by a statue at Garsdale Station after he stood faithfully by the body of his owner Graham Nuttall, 41, for 11 weeks after he died while walking in Wales.
In the 1980s Ruswarp joined with 32,000 people who signed a petition to save the line by adding his paw print to the document.
Brewer Jason Hill said Eden had a long-running relationship with the railway and had been producing beer for its use for a number of years.
He said: “The Settle-Carlisle Railway is a great institution that we are proud to be associated with. Not only has the railway survived in the face of adversity, but it has prospered.
“We were delighted to have the chance to help the railway celebrate this milestone by brewing the Wyvern Anniversary Ale. I hope that lots of people will be able to enjoy drinking it during the year of celebrations in 2014.”
Anne Ridley, commercial manager for the Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company, said the beer would be served alongside Wyvern Ale and Wyvern Lager, which are already available on the trains.
She said: “We are going to sell it in bottles on the train and there will be some casks that will be offered to free houses along the line. We were set up to promote the line and to help support local businesses and working with Jason is helping us do just that.”
A number of events will be taking place throughout the year to help celebrate the anniversary.
The beers will also be available on some of the Skipton-Ribblehead Music & Ale trains the railway will be running in May, June and July.
For more information go to www.settle-carlisle.co.uk
For more information about Eden Brewery go to www.edenbrewery.com
ENDS
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