DRINKERS in Cricklade travelled back in time on Saturday night as a medieval ale tasting tradition was re-enacted in pubs throughout the town.

The High Bailiff and Court Leet officers gathered first in The Club in the High Street before taking their popular act to The Old Bear, The White Hart, The Red Lion and The Ancient Raj, where they ended the night with a curry.

The performance involves assessing the quality of the ale in the traditional way – that is, choosing a willing participant whose job it is to sit on the ale to test its purity.

Beginning in The Club, High Bailiff Clive Smith announced the two teams who were to help with the tasting of the beer – Cricklade Rigby Football Club and Calne Rugby Football Club.

Cricklade nominated their team captain Wayne Anderson to step up and undergo the traditional, 100 per cent fool proof taste test.

Ale Taster John Harman poured the beer onto a seat and an unfortunate Wayne had to sit there and let it soak into his jeans, which were unlikely to have been worn in medieval times.

After a minute or two, Wayne stood up to reveal a rather unfortunate wet patch on his behind.

As John explained: “In the olden days, in order to prove the ale was fit for consumption they had to sit on it. If the seat comes up with them when they stand up it meant that there was too much sugar in the ale.”

The first sip thereafter is known as ‘the solemn glug’ and all who take a drink have, in unison, to shout “Tis a goodly ale” if they think it fit to drink.

Clive said: “This goes back to medieval times. It is a requirement of the court that the ale taster is to test the quality of the beer that is being sold. It was so that they could tell if the beer had been tampered with and watered down. We are trying to maintain the tradition.”

The Cricklade Court Leet is one of the few remaining Court Leets in the country and has existed in the village since the 14th Century.

They hold bi-annual tasting sessions and they always manage to pull in the crowds.

“It is meant to be a fun and pleasant community event,” said Clive. “We want to keep the tradition going as long as we possibly can.”

Drinker Martin Ashford, 43, said: "It's the first time I've ever seen it done, and it's a bit bizarre. It's good fun though, and it's great that they are sticking with such an old tradition."