Today in 1881, March 27, rioting took place in Basingstoke, England, to protest against the daily vociferous promotion of teetotalism by the Salvation Army. This led to The Battle of Church Square! Well done to the people of Basingstoke, I salute you today with a glass of Pommard as should we all, and I hope you will join me in the celebrations!

I am inspired to write this post and others like it having found the blog Drink Wine Today Because..do visit because it’s quite funny!
Of course there are still parts of the world and religious groups who deny this basic human right to sample the grape, yet there are no protesters waving banners, blocking the streets, rioting or tweeting. Why not? This is important, much more important than Trumps locker room jokes!

“Teetotalers.—The origin of this word may have begun with a man named Turner, a member of the Preston Temperance Society, who, having an impediment of speech, in addressing a meeting remarked, that partial abstinence from intoxicating liquors would not do; they must insist upon tee-tee-(stammering) tee total abstinence. Hence total abstainers have been called Teetotalers”

Categories: Wine

Tags: Basingstoke riots, drink, food culture, foodie, History, teetotal, Today, Wine