Launch date: Saturday 5 July 2014, 12.00pm noon
Location: The White Swan, Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire, UK
London Pride, the flagship brand of Fuller, Smith and Turner P.L.C the London brewer and premium pub company, is going where no other real ale has been before. On Saturday 5 July 2014, London Pride will be on its very own space mission.
Launching from The White Swan in Whitchurch at approximately midday (depending on weather and air clearance), a pint of London Pride will be placed into a weather balloon and carried 40km into the atmosphere, reaching the earth’s stratosphere. The balloon, filled with hydrogen to maximise altitude, will then be tracked as it makes its journey into space and back down to earth. Its position, altitude and rate of ascent/descent will be available in real time on a map, which will be displayed in the pub on a monitor. Upon landing back on earth, the final position of the balloon will be transmitted when it drops below 1000m with an accuracy of within three metres.
Chris Smith, the rocket scientist behind the mission, said: “The idea of this unique mission just came from a chat with Pete and Ros [tenants of the White Swan] who jokingly ask if it would be possible. Of course, I said yes. I have worked on many rocket launches as part of scientific and commercial programmes; however, it is exciting to send the first London Pride into space. Test launches of our balloons and payloads have gone well. We are predicting that the beer will boil and possibly explode on its ascent, which will make for thrilling watching back down on earth at the pub when we retrieve the on-board cameras.”
Ros Bangs, tenant of The White Swan, said: “We were tired of seeing every village pub go ‘gastro’ so we decided to go ‘astro’! On a serious note, we just wanted to put a fun day together for the village and give something back for the tremendous support we have received from our locals. Seeing as London Pride is our top seller what could be better than celebrating our locals’ favourite tipple by sending it stratospheric.”
Entertainment will be provided through the day at The White Swan, including a barbeque, tug-of- war, cornhole competition, charity raffle and live music from 6pm-9pm.
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For further information and to attend the launch, please contact the press office:
Georgina Wald 020 8996 2198/07831 299801 georgina.wald@fullers.co.uk
Joanne Steward 020 8996 2135/07929 314904 joanne.steward@fullers.co.uk
Notes to Editor
Fuller, Smith and Turner P.L.C. is an independent traditional family brewer founded in 1845 and is based at the historic Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, London, where brewing has taken place continuously since 1654. The Company runs 180 Managed Pubs and Hotels and 206 Tenanted pubs, with a focus on outstanding cask ale, great wine, exemplary service and delicious fresh, home-cooked food. The Company also has 622 boutique bedrooms in its Managed estate. Fuller’s pub estate stretches from Brighton to Birmingham and from Portishead to the Greenwich Peninsula, including 168 locations within the M25.
The Fuller’s Beer Company brews a portfolio of premium beers including London Pride, ESB, Organic Honey Dew and Frontier Craft Lager. In June 2013, the Company acquired Cornish Orchards, a craft cider maker producing a range of award-winning ciders and premium soft drinks. Fuller’s is also the UK distributor for Sierra Nevada, the premier US craft beer.
Chris Smith is Managing Director or European Astrotech. Chris has a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry and has 29 years’ experience in the space industry. He has launched/tested over 40 spacecraft including Rosetta, which will land on a comet this August, Mars Express, Venus Express, Herschel and Planck. He is currently responsible for launching all 22 Galileo spacecraft (the new European GPS system). Chris has also designed the propellant production facilities at Westcott and in Hanau Germany that supply the majority of the oxidiser for European satellites. He was a firing officer during the qualification of spacecraft thrusters and was senior research chemist on the European Space Agency’s study of long term compatibility of NTO oxidisers for spacecraft use. Asides from the space industry, Chris has also spent 7 years in the Territorial Army.
Joanne Steward
PR Administrator