One hundred years ago - and more recently still - hundreds of families from the East End of London regarded hop-picking in Kent as a paid holiday. Songs of the period, such as "Hopping down in Kent", do not gloss over the hardships which hoppers had to put up with on their "holiday", but generally have an upbeat feel. Not so this modern hop-picking song, written by Peter Delaney while working on a farm at Brierley, near Leominster in Herefordshire.

A Taste Of Ale