Awkward for Orkney trees
QUESTION Why is Orkney devoid of trees?
CONTRARY to popular perception, there are native trees on Orkney that defy, and are adapted to, salt- laden winds, extremes of day length and the short growing seasons.
Downy birch, hazel, rowan, aspen, juniper and willow survive i n modest stands t hat are sheltered in valleys or are maintained by local community tree planting projects.
Orkney’s smooth contours are a result of the retreating Scandinavian ice sheets, which finally disappeared 10,500 years ago. This was f ollowed by a warmer period when Neolithic Orkney was covered by thick forests on lower ground, with grassland and heath on hillsides.
Pollen studies i n Berriedale Wood on Hoy suggest there were large birch and hazel woods in 5000 BC.
It is believed that tree felling on t he periphery of Orkney’s woodlands by Neolithic people exposed their vulnerable core to the effects of the cold, salty winds.
At the same time, cooler, wetter weather created waterlogged soils ideal for the formation of peat. This meant trees struggled to maintain a foothold.
By the middle of the Bronze Age, continued climatic deterioration saw the loss of woodland, with peat bog and heath dominating.
With little wood available, stone was used as a building material. This has left the isles with a number of wonderfully preserved prehistoric sites, including the village of Skara Brae and the burial chamber of Maes Howe.
Colin Brough, Inverness.
QUESTION What is the story of Cork Dry Gin and is it sold outside of Ireland?
OFFICIALLY, according to Irish Distillers, Cork Dry Gin is only sold in Ireland, north and south, and through the Travel Retail channel.
However, a number of online spirits retailers in Britain sell it and it’s also available from a well-known online spirits retailer in France, the Paris-based Maison du Whisky.
Cork Dry Gin has a unique flavour that’s very different from London gin; the Cork variety is a complex mix of juniper, angelica, coriander and other rare botanicals, that create its unique taste. The product is sold in a very distinctive square bottle with a red label and a red metal closure and it’s generally considered to be the best-selling gin in Ireland.
It has a long heritage, going back to 1793, when it was first distilled at the Watercourse Distillery in Cork city. Subsequently, it was produced for many years by the Cork Distilleries Company. Later in the 19th century, many of the distilleries in Cork merged or closed down and in 1867 five distillery companies in Cork came t ogether to f orm t he Cork Distilleries operation. By the 1930s, it was the only distillery left i n Cork and i t continued to produce Cork Dry Gin.
The Cork Distilleries Company traded successfully for the best part of a century and during that time, Cork Dry Gin was exported to Irish communities abroad, who’d taken their love of the Corkdistilled gin with them.
Then in 1966, the Cork firm merged with the Jameson and Power whiskey distilleries in Dublin to form Irish Distillers. In 1988, Irish Distillers was acquired by Pernod Ricard, the French alcoholic drinks’ manufacturer.
While Irish Distillers has turned products such as Jameson into iconic global brands that are very popular around the world, Cork Dry Gin has remained rooted in its home market. Its history has been well preserved, and in 2013, a new archival resource was opened in Midleton, Co. Cork, where Cork Dry Gin is distilled by the Cork Distilleries Company; this archive contains much historical information on the three companies that formed Irish Distillers, including the one in Cork.
The gin is widely sold throughout Ireland and is available in all off-licences and supermarket offlicences. It is also widely available through online retailers both here and in the North, where companies like KWM Wine, based in Kilkeel, Co. Down, sell it online and other firms, like Home Delivery Wine, based in Magherafelt, Co. Derry, sell it online and through their shops.
But even though Cork Dry Gin isn’t officially sold outside Ireland, apart from the Travel Retail channel, some online retailers in Britain do sell it. Online sellers like Beers of Europe, based in King’s Lynn, in Norfolk in eastern England; Master of Malt, in Tonbridge, Kent, and The Whisky Exchange in London, all advertise Cork Dry Gin.
Outside these islands, the Maison du Whisky, one of France’s largest online spirits specialists, also advertises Cork Dry Gin.
Cork Dry Gin has such a distinctive taste that many connoisseurs of the drink are surprised that Irish Distillers does not promote it outside of Ireland, although it would be competing with t he several hundred other brands of gin on the world market.
P. Roche, Co. Cork.
QUESTION Why was Cecil Court in London’s West End nicknamed Flicker Alley?
CECIL Court is today known as Book- sellers’ Row because it is lined with specialist shops. But between 1897 and 1915, it was the heart of the early British film industry and acquired its Flicker Alley nickname.
Early movies had a low frame rate (the number of still photos shown per second), hence the names flicker and flicks. In the early days of the industry, many major players–film-makers, importers, distributors, agents and ancillary trades – set up their offices in Cecil Court. Film pioneers Cecil Hepworth and James Williamson worked there.
International companies, such as Gaumont, Nordisk and Vitagraph, were found in this narrow street, which is almost an alleyway, between Charing Cross Road and St Martin’s Lane.
The US home video and distribution company Flicker Alley founded in 2002 was named after this historical site.
A plaque commemorating Cecil Court’s association with the film industry was unveiled by actor Simon Callow in 2012.
As the film companies moved out, booksellers moved in. My uncle, Jules Kosky, worked at Travis & Emery, antiquarian music scores and publications, during the 1960s and 1970s.
Cecil Court was laid out in the late 17th century. It is owned by the family from which it takes its name, the Cecils of Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, who are the descendants of Robert Cecil.
He was created first Earl of Salisbury by James I (James VI of Scotland) as a reward f or engineering the transition of the Crown from the Tudors to the Stuarts.
Jon Finegold, Doncaster, S. Yorks.
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