Cruisedot on Tour in Kent!

Being a homeworker here at Cruise.co.uk means that you dont have the chance to get together with colleagues very often as we are all dotted around the country. Last weekend a few of us decided it would be nice to get together for a catch up so Marie, one of my colleagues, was kind enough to put us up. 3 of  us travelled to Kent by train with Charlene coming from Edinburgh, Erica from Darlington, myself from Northamptonshire and Danielle flying over fro Ireland. Friday evening when we arrived was spent chatting and catching up over a chinese takeaway and a few drinks ( well a bit more than a few)

On Saturday Marie has arranged for us all to go the Copper Rivit Distillery for a Tour to see how Gin, Vodka and Whiskey is made. This is situated in Chatham in Pumphouse No 5 on the River Medway which was part of the Chatham Dockyard which closed in 1984. The easternmost basin was handed over to the Medway Ports authority and is now a commercial port. A further 80 acres, comprising the 18th century Georgian core of the site was transferred to the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust and is now a living museum.  The final area, St Mary’s Island has been transformed into a residential community.  In 2005 the Russell family planned to build a distillery after Bob Russell had opened the first wine bar in Kent in 1979 which grew in popularity so much so that he started supplying and selling wines, beers and spirits from the continent to consumers and other local restaurants. This dream didnt become a reality until 2015 when the Russells spotted Pumphouse No5 when visiting Upnor Castle and discovered it was for sale and this it where it all began. The doors opened for the first time in 2016.

During the the tour, which included having a shot of straight Vodka and Gin, we were treated to a Gin and Tonic with Pink Grapefruit which was delicious! This was well worth the money  and took approxiamately 1 hour and cost us £14.00 each.

After this we all went for lunch, including another of my colleagues Alison who lived local to the area and came and meet us for the day. Saturday evening when we arrived back at Maries it was straight into our PJ’s and we settled down with a few more drinks and nibbles and played games all evening. It was lovely to catch up and have a few giggles and I cant wait until we all catch up again at the Christmas Conference which is a 3 night cruise to Dublin on Marco Polo. Im sure there will be lots of stories to tell after that!