Tha Mayor of Aldeburgh Julian Worster inspects the seat as the town's Ale Taster Tanya Stedman-Keeble stands up after sitting in a puddle of beer wearing leather breeches to see if the beer is brewed

AN age-old tradition dating back to the mediaeval period has been resurrected in a historic seaside town to mark the start of an ale festival.

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As a prelude to the Aldeburgh Beer Festival, which starts tonight and runs until Monday, the town council decided to bring back the ancient role of the Ale Conner.

The new 21st Century “Conner” – or taster - had to endure a half hour sat in a puddle of ale before testing the quality of the brew - all in the name of charity.

Town councillor Tanya Steadman-Keeble volunteered for the role earlier in the year when it was proposed that the ritual be resurrected.

She said she thoroughly enjoyed bringing back a time-honoured practice back to life, sitting patiently in the ale for 30 minutes and wearing authentic leather breeches.

If she became stuck to the seat, the signs would be that the beer had not been brewed correctly. But if she came away cleanly, the ale could be declared “good”.

She said: “I did the whole half hour and it was timed by several people. Then we had the countdown and everyone was watching and then I stood up and the ale was good.

“When we were talking about it I looked into it and just thought it was a fantastic way of raising money. I only joined the council in April so I put my name forward for it.

“I absolutely loved it. It was a real community event and there was lots of support.”

The idea to resurrect the role of the Ale Conner – supposedly the origin of the expression “you’ve been conned” – came from town mayor Julian Worster.

He said that after doing some research on the history of brewing in Aldeburgh, which dates back to the medieval period, he started reading about the role of the Ale Conner – who would normally be a woman as most of the men would be out fishing on the boats.

Mr Worster said: “They could just turn up unexpectedly to taste the ale, but it (the practice) must have disappeared hundreds of years ago. We thought it was a good thing to revive.”

The ceremony was preceded by a procession, led by the Royal British Legion Band, from the Moot Hall to the White Hart and was part of a charity evening, with all proceeds going to the Aldeburgh Community Hospital.