The sweet taste of success
Country Life UK|January 06, 2021
We’ve all done it: eased the lid from the golden tin, only for a cloud of powdered sugar to erupt over the car. Amazingly, A. L. Simpkin’s sweets have now been our faithful travel companions for 100 years, reports Julie Harding
Julie Harding
The sweet taste of success

SOOTHING, nausea-quelling travel sweets. The perfect companions on short hops, protracted traffic jam filled trips and adventure odysseys. In fact, why leave home without the mini drops that pack a flavourful, often fruity punch the moment they touch the tongue? Some even come with provenance and pedigree.

A. L. Simpkin & Co began making glucose filled confections exactly a century ago and its products have since been taken on record-breaking and history-making journeys around the globe—as well as more mundane sorties, of course. The company supplied RAF personnel throughout the Second World War with its Vita-Glucose tablets (the precursor to today’s vast range of travel sweets). Then, in 1953, its wares, packaged in a small square box, as opposed to today’s trademark circular gold tin, found themselves heading up the world’s most famous mountain.

Simpkins dispatched a couple of tons to help energise the 15 mountaineers, 20 sherpas and 362 porters on that unforgettable British Mount Everest expedition and Edmund Hillary visited the Sheffield factory before setting off for Nepal. Whether or not those sugar tablets were tucked into the bottom of the New Zealander’s canvas kit bag as he edged his way up the South Summit and Hillary Step or whether he savoured the fruit flavour when he stood on top of the world for 18 minutes, admiring the view and taking pictures of Tenzing Norgay, is open to debate.

Joint managing director Adrian Simpkin, grandson of founder Albert Leslie Simpkin, elaborates: ‘I was told that they had taken [our products] with them all the way in their packs, but anything more than that is lost in the annals of time. I do know that, with my grandfather being from Yorkshire, he wasn’t too happy about all that stock going out!’

この記事は Country Life UK の January 06, 2021 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Country Life UK の January 06, 2021 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

COUNTRY LIFE UKのその他の記事すべて表示
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
Country Life UK

Kitchen garden cook - Apples

'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'

time-read
2 分  |
October 23, 2024
The original Mr Rochester
Country Life UK

The original Mr Rochester

Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre

time-read
5 分  |
October 23, 2024
Get it write
Country Life UK

Get it write

Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution

time-read
6 分  |
October 23, 2024
'Sloes hath ben my food'
Country Life UK

'Sloes hath ben my food'

A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright

time-read
3 分  |
October 23, 2024
Souvenirs of greatness
Country Life UK

Souvenirs of greatness

FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.

time-read
3 分  |
October 23, 2024
Plants for plants' sake
Country Life UK

Plants for plants' sake

The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson

time-read
7 分  |
October 23, 2024
Capturing the castle
Country Life UK

Capturing the castle

Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker

time-read
6 分  |
October 23, 2024
Nature's own cathedral
Country Life UK

Nature's own cathedral

Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods

time-read
5 分  |
October 23, 2024
All that money could buy
Country Life UK

All that money could buy

A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages

time-read
8 分  |
October 23, 2024
In with the old
Country Life UK

In with the old

Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery

time-read
5 分  |
October 23, 2024