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Anstruther tragedy inspires new Ox and Anchor beer

Nicola Linton and husband Sian have collaborated with Dundee's 71 Brewing to create The Meridian pale ale.

Nicola Linton, co-owner of the Ox and Anchor, alongside her mum, Fiona Boyter. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson
Nicola Linton, co-owner of the Ox and Anchor, alongside her mum, Fiona Boyter. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

An Anstruther restaurant owner has created a beer in honour of her uncle who was lost at sea 18 years ago.

Nicola Linton, who runs Ox and Anchor with her husband, Sian, has collaborated with Dundee’s 71 Brewing to create The Meridian pale ale.

The beer pays homage to Martin Gardner, Nicola’s uncle, who lost his life at sea in 2006.

“I’m feeling quite emotional about it all,” Nicola says.

“I can remember it. It was horrible.”

Martin Gardner.
Martin Gardner. Image: Nicola Linton.

She was 19 at the time.

“I just remember the panic. We thought he was going to be fine, but…

“We were just waiting by the phone to see what the coastguard was going to say.”

A touching tribute to Martin

Nicola surprised her mum, Fiona Boyter, with the beer at Ox and Anchor.

“She didn’t tell me what she was up to,” Fiona says.

“She just came to me with the nameplate for the beer tap, that said Meridian on it.

“I asked: ‘Is that for the boat? For Martin?’

“I’m just delighted about it, really. It means a lot to me that she’s done this.”

Nicola and Sian Linton, co-owners of the Ox & Anchor with Nicola's mum, Fiona Boyter.
Nicola and Sian Linton, co-owners of the Ox & Anchor with Nicola’s mum, Fiona Boyter. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

The beer’s label includes an image of a fisherman, and the colours of The Meridian boat.

“Now whenever we go to the Ox and Anchor,” says Fiona, “we’ll have a pint of Meridian for Martin and the crew.

“It is very, very sentimental.

“It’s nice to have something for the crew and the boat.

“Anyone that goes in there that knows about the Meridian, will be thinking about Martin and the crew.”

Fiona Boyter (Nicola's mum), alongside Nicola and Sian, pay tribute to Martin at Anstruther harbour.
Fiona Boyter (Nicola’s mum), alongside Nicola and Sian, pay tribute to Martin at Anstruther harbour. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

On the day Nicola told her mum about the beer, they decided to pour some into the Anstruther harbour to honour Martin.

Fiona recalls: “I said let’s pour some into the water, it’ll mix with the sea. It’s like saying ‘have a wee taste, Martin’.

“It’s maybe a silly thing to say, but it makes him feel part of what we’re doing. That way it keeps him involved.”

‘It keeps people remembering him’

The loss back in 2006 was “devastating”, says Fiona.

“We had a cousin’s boat lost at sea before,” she adds, “and you think when something like that happens, it’ll never happen to your family again.

“But it did.

“It was just devastating, especially for a wee community like this.

“It was a really big loss.

“I think about him all the time.

“I’m just delighted that Nicola’s done this.

“Every mention of the Meridian or Martin keeps him alive, it keeps people remembering him.”

Martin was the oldest of five children, from a family which had been involved in fishing for generations.

What is The Meridian beer like?

The Meridian pale ale takes around three weeks to make, says Ross Grattan, 34, of 71 Brewing.

“We work with loads of small businesses and supply beer to them,” he says.

The Meridian beer is now available at Ox and Anchor, Anstruther. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

“But Ox and Anchor we worked particularly close with, when they started up as a food truck in our beer garden.

“The beer combines flavours of fig, cardamom, blood orange and vanilla.

“The base of the beer is very easy drinking, but it has a little bit of spice which is what people look for at this time of year.”

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