Of course, I had to try as many as possible, and with a nod to discerning customers such as myself, the landlord happily provided me with a shot glass and a taste of whichever I wanted. Shot glasses are of course not a legal measure of beer. Customers receive beer in third-pint, half-pints or multiples of half-pints (ten-ounce glasses rather than the US eight-ounce). I have never seen a third-pint of beer being sold in a pub, but the law's the law. This measure law puts paid to a rather quaint story regarding the origin of the phrase "Minding your P's and Q's". In olden days, ale could be ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. Except today it is really "T's and H's" for thirds and halves.

And while I am on the subject of measures, I find it amazing that some breweries instruct their tenants to either fill the pint glasses full or 'over 95% full' and to only top up if requested to do so by the customer. Despite Ted's fervent objections, he may not have been in the legal right every time. This is horrendous. Or was. Now we have the introduction of the lined glass, a glass bigger than a pint with a line at the 20-ounce level. Great idea. Now enforce it.

Anyway, Great Brington. The village has had its moments of fame over the years, mostly through the Washingtons and the Spencers, but rarely was there as much mayhem as was seen in 1997, when Princess Diana was killed in car accident in Paris. The USA Today newspaper had this to say at the time:
"There is no indication that misnamed Great Brington, where twenty generations of Spencers have lived and died for five hundred years, can cope with this destiny. One street, called Main Street, weaves through all eighty-four thatched-roof houses. One pub, the Fox and Hounds, pours the ales and lagers. And one shop serves as a combination post office, bank and dry cleaners. Imagine if Elvis' tomb was situated not in hotel-stocked Memphis but in some Tennessee town no bigger than a WalMart. So the prospect of pilgrimages to come has residents of Great Brington nervous. "If this becomes a continuous thing, it could be quite a headache," says Marcel Van Cleemput, a retired toy-car designer who has lived in the area for forty years. "I hope we don't get the type of people who followed Elvis. We’re hoping for a well-behaved crowd"."

The church is close to the pub and should be visited, as should most of these small village churches. In this case, the church has been fortunate to have wealthy and generous benefactors in the Spencer family and their name features predominantly in the memorials to villagers past.

The Washington Post had more to say about the influx of tourists:
"The Fox and Hounds Pub, the only watering hole in town, ran out of food. The postmistress, weary of reporters and curiosity seekers, locked her door. Even the town historian, a retired doctor who's become an expert on village lore, began to confuse his dates, bushed from talking to everyone who wants to know more about what is becoming one of the most famous burial sites in the world."

Fortunately, Diana was buried on the grounds of nearby Althorp House and not in the lovely village church, so much of the bedlam was avoided. Not that the pub was pleased at missing out, and recently changed their name to the 'Althorp Coaching House' even though it probably never house a single one of the Althorp horses. How sad is that?