BITTERSWEET VICTORIES
Thanks to master butcher Andrew Rook from Ramsgate, it’s possible to tuck into a full English breakfast while simultaneously helping to raise funds for the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, custodians of the National Memorial to the Few.
Andrew, who created his Battle of Britain Memorial sausage using Shepherd Neame’s Spitfire Ale and Kentish hops, decided to pay tribute to the heroes of 1940 by donating 50p for every pack of sausages sold, and earlier this year was able to present £1,000 to Trust secretary Patrick Tootal and site manager Jules Gomez. As the Trust receives no public funding and relies for its existence on the generosity of visitors and supporters, they were thrilled. Where did Andrew’s idea come from? “I plucked my inspiration, quite literally, from the air while walking on the White Cliffs near Dover. A Spitfire flew past and reminded me of the last family day out I had with my parents and sister when we watched my dad, Peter, fly in a twoseater Spitfire from Duxford for his sixty-fifth birthday. Sadly, a year later my sister, Helen, succumbed to cancer. As part of our family recovery we planted an oak tree as a memorial to her. After seeing the Spitfire on my walk, my thoughts turned to the Battle of Britain memorial just along the coast at Capelle-ferne and how important it is to so many people.”
Since Andrew won the UK Supreme Champion Sausage category at UK Sausage Week last year, too, you’d be hard pressed to find a more fitting tribute to the Battle of Britain – a victory tragically tempered by loss.