Our home, The Old Mill, in Netheravon (see the map below) is where all the magic takes place. The 'mill' started life in 1914 as an electricity generator for the new airfield, using waterpower from the River Avon. The power from the river never managed to generate electricity to the extent needed at the local airfield, hence diesel generators were installed to run the turbines. As this proved not to be cost effective, the power station was soon closed down. The years in between power station and brewery the building was put into many different uses. For a while it served as village hall hosting dances and boxing matches. Also a fibre glass factory was in operation. For long periods the towering old mill was boarded up and only the ghost was rummaging the stairs and corridors. In 1984 Tony Bunce started the brewery at The Old Mill. Danish Master Brewer Stig Anker Andersen (seen on the left) who took up the challenge (very successfully) of brewing good English beer, took over the business in 1993. The brew plant is arranged so that materials and worts mostly move downwards, using gravity as in early tower breweries. One pump only is used in the entire brewing process for transferring the hot wort through a plate cooler prior to fermentation. Each beer is brewed to its own recipe by the traditional infusion mash method using only the finest quality malt and whole hops. After fermentation the beer is run off into carefully sterilised stainless steel casks where final conditioning takes place. Beers allowed to condition naturally in the cask calls for a certain care in handling and dispense; a first class pint owes much to skill in the cellar and pride in the pub.