Silchester Horse is a little different from the other beers we have brewed so far, in that it takes its name not from a story, but from a historic artefact.

In 1866, the Reverend James Joyce (not to be confused with the Irish poet and novelist) was responsible for the excavation of Calleva Atrebatum, near the village of Silchester in Hampshire. This settlement had been a centre of power for the Celtic Atrebates tribe before later becoming a significant Roman town.

The horse itself was discovered in 1870 and it is a small bronze figure, about 11 x 6 cm in size. Joyce suggested that it was child’s toy, but this is far from certain. So we are free to invent our own story to go with this horse. Was it lost by a careless Celtic child? Was it part of some ceremonial or decorative object owned by a Romano-British official?

Whatever else it is, the Silchester Horse has a place in the story of Brid’s Cross, as it was the logo of the Run Silchester event that I competed in the day after a collaboration brew day at Mysterious Brewing. So it seemed appropriate as a name for the beer that we brewed on the return leg, when they came to Rochdale as part of our first birthday celebrations.