Hop-picking in Kent for use in brewing beer has a long history back to the 16th century, providing an annual income for growers and paying holidays for migrant worker families.
With Oktoberfest in Kent in full swing, this article explores the need and history of local hop growing and harvesting. You might want a beer ready for this one.
The background of Hops – enshrined in law
Hops are the flower cones of the hop plant. They grow on climbing bines that are taller than grape vines. There are dozens of varieties with varying degrees of bitterness and flavour that brewers can select from to produce a range of beers, from pale ales to stouts.
Hops are one of four main ingredients of beer; the others are malted barley, water and yeast. The bitterness of hops balances the sweetness of the malt, provides aroma and flavour, and acts as a preservative.
They were enshrined as a traditional ingredient for beer in a Bavarian law of 1516, alongside water and barley. The first hop garden in England was created near Canterbury in Kent in 1520.
By 1724, there were 6,000 acres of hop gardens in Kent alone.
History of Hop harvesting – a family affair
The annual culture of hops starts in the spring, when the bines must be trained to encourage them to climb. This was an extra task for local gardeners busy with springtime planting of other crops.
The harvesting, or “hopping”, in September needed a much larger workforce. By the end of the 19th century, this had grown to 250,000 pickers, a third of which came from London. This attracted Romany travellers and itinerants from as far away as Ireland – for the former, it was an important source of income.
Many arrived in the spring, and found other fruit picking jobs during the summer, before September’s hopping.
In 1948, special trains were arranged for families from London’s East End and Docklands to travel to Kent, while others arrived in cars and trucks. It gave poorer families an opportunity to earn money and have a family holiday in the country while schools were closed. Their experiences were recorded here in forgotten stories.
On arrival, their first task was to set up a temporary home for the family in one of the “hoppers huts”. During the harvesting, the top bines were cut down by men on stilts, and fell into specially-made hop bins.
All the family then plucked the hop cones off to fill baskets to be weighed by a tally man. You can read the memories of Anne, as a child, here in the Kent hop fields. It also has a link to a brief video of her reminiscing on her memories.
Closer to home, Charlotte Lebon, from here at Kent and Surrey Bylines, has also recorded her memories of riding home in the rain, wet and dirty, after picking hops at Bodiam.
The effect of agricultural mechanisation
During the 1960s, the days of handpicking fruit and vegetables declined as machines were introduced to do many agricultural, labour-intensive tasks. These machines were too expensive for small farmers unless they formed a cooperative with other small farmers. Hops are not a produce that lends itself to the “Pick Your Own” market.
The effects of Brexit preventing temporary migrant labourers from Europe, and a slow transition to mechanisation on fruit picking, were also reported by Charlotte Lebon, four years ago.
The problem still exists. Some potential solutions could be:
- Incentives for temporary work for school leavers having difficulty finding a job.
- Community service as a penalty for minor offences.
- Holiday offers providing accommodation and “farm-to-table” experiences.
Hopping now and in the future
There are now only a few remaining hop farms in Kent, including Little Scotney farm on the Scotney Castle estate, part of the National Trust. Here they have an Oast House, used for drying the hops before they are supplied to brewers.
Both offer family-friendly visits, including a visit to the hop farm, from 28 April to 17 October. So, if you love your beer and want to support the local industry, consider a family or local public house group visit.
Are you a homemade beer maker? If so, one of only four hop sellers in the UK is in Yalden, and you can buy from the British Hop Association.
Finally, each year, Kent arranges a festival devoted to hops – the Faversham Hop Festival.
Fancy a beer now? Well, please have one on me and Hank. And stay up to date on Kent Oktoberfest dates.
