Jacob Gifford Head
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giffordhead.co.uk
Jacob Gifford Head
@giffordhead.co.uk
1.9K followers 950 following 13K posts
Barrister & mediator.

Things I like: legal history & legal oddities; music & musical instruments; Mesopotamian history; & Portuguese wine and Port.

My professional website is: http://www.giffordhead.co.uk

Please email rather than DM!

Forgive typos.
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giffordhead.co.uk
I quite like Lord Justice Ward's contribution to this subject in Sutton v Hutchinson [2005] EWCA Civ 1773.

www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWC...
LORD JUSTICE WARD: The appellant is a lap dancer. I would not, of course, begin to know exactly what that involves. One can guess at it, but could not faithfully describe it. The Judge tantalisingly tells us, at paragraph 21 of his judgment, that the purpose is "to tease but not to satisfy".
February 1, 2026 at 9:41 AM
giffordhead.co.uk
A rare treat for lunch: Borjomi, a glass of Mtsvane Qveri wine and Khachapuri. I wish I lived closer to a Georgian restaurant!
Pic of the bottle of bornomi water in a bottle and the amber wine in a glass. The Khachapuri- shaped like a pide but full of cheese.
January 31, 2026 at 5:05 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
I know that my attempt to persuade you all that you can drink fortified wines as if they were normal table wines is rather quixotic. But this Cream Sherry was able to cut through a rather too successful test of whether my Sichuan Pepper Oil still had some potency which little else would manage...
Pic of the bottle of sherry, bottle of oil and the glass.
January 30, 2026 at 7:06 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
This one isn't the most salacious example but is fun since you can still get something like this today.
158 The Clerk's Inftructor A Citation again/ an Adminifrattix to exbili an ln. ventory and Account, and to lee Portions allotted. and a Difribution made according to 4a of Parlia- mlent. (bere infert tbe Arcbbilo J. Divine to wbofe Province 0r Diocefe tbe Caufe belongs) To all and fingular Clerks and literate Perfons whomfoever and whereloever in and throughout our whole of - Greeting : We do hereby autho- rize, impower and frictly injoin and command you. iointly and feverally, peremptorily to cite, or caufe to be cited、 E. E. Widow, the. and Adminilra. trix of all and fngular the Goods, Chattels and Cre. dits of B. F. late of the Parilh of. ⁃ in the County of deceafed, [if in tbe Preroeativc Court of Canterbury, tben infert tbis Claufe: Having whilft living, and at the Time of his Death, Goods, Chattels or Credits in divers Diocefes or Jurifdietions, [ufcient to found the lurifdiction of our Prerogative Court of Canterbury] to appear before the Right Wor- thipful H. H. (bere mention the Titlc of tbe fudge) of he faid Court, his Surrogate, or fome other compe tent Judge in this Behalf, in the (bere particularizc thbe Place wbere tbe Caufe is beard) and Place of Judi- cature there, on the. Day after fhe mhall be ferved with this Citation, if it be a Court-Day, otherwif he Court-Day then next following, at the ufua Hours of hearing Caufes, and doing of Jultice there then and there to exhibit a true and perfect Inventory of all and fingular the Goods, Chattels and Credits ot the faid Deceafed、 which fince his Death have come to her Hards. Pofeflion and Knowledge, render a true and juft Account of her Adminiltratior and alfo to in the faid Goods, Chattels and Credits of the faic Deceafed, by Virtue of her corporal Oath, and to fec Portions allotted, and a Dillribution made of the Goods, Chattels and Credits of the faic Deceafed, ac"ording to an Act of Parliament in that Behalf made and unto provided; and further to do and receive what the Law, and Contempt thercof, L… anno OV.UK/aVI the Ecclefiaftical Courts. 159 eshilit enk tions alles 1a of Parks of . D. the of the faid Deceafed ; and what- foever ou hall do, or caufe to be done in the Pre- miffes, you fhall duely certify our aforefaid. his E Surrogate, or fome other competent Judge in this Be- half, together with thefe Prefents. Dated the Day of - in the Year of our Lord -
January 28, 2026 at 8:29 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
Nice to see one of the few cake stouts I like on draught again at Westerham Brewery. Claims to be "triple chocolate" but the chocolate flavour is quite subtle and natural.
Pic of two pints of the dark stout.
January 28, 2026 at 7:01 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
I didn’t realise that. The X is really camouflaged, though. It took me some time to find it!
January 28, 2026 at 3:49 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
Helpful summary is available from Wikipedia!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_D...
Table called blockages from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Devon_Railway_sea_wall
January 25, 2026 at 9:38 AM
giffordhead.co.uk
Another journalist commenting about the High Court's courtrooms. I don't think "Victorian furnishings" are the only solution but I do think they need to be designed with more purpose and grandeur, even if that is lightly worn.
Although Prince Harry was in the "witness box", it really meant he was sitting in a kind of raised wooden area, behind a computer screen and an array of microphones. The court wasn't one of those historic rooms with lots of mahogany and Victorian furnishings. It was more like a university lecture room kitted out by Ikea, with rows of lawyers surrounded by boxes of folders and papers. In fact the style of the courtroom seemed more modern than many of the newspaper stories being discussed. Because so much of this case seemed to revolve around stories written many years ago, in an entirely different era for the tabloid press.
January 21, 2026 at 9:32 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
My impression of reading this is that it really is thought to be a pure aesthetic improvement rather than anything else which I wasn’t expecting.
Screenshot of the planning permission document describing the existing wall as ugly and setting out how good the mural will be.
January 20, 2026 at 5:29 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
I’ve now read the planning documents (25/01235/LBA & 25/01236/FUL). There is no mention of the image being a preliminary sketch or any artist being involved. Indeed, the Listing Building Consent requires the plans to be “implemented in accordance with” this drawing.
Pic of the elevation showing the AI mural.
January 20, 2026 at 5:09 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
This is about as bad as it gets for a Tribunal. I'm not suggesting that the Judge in this case is incapable of getting it wrong but I think it is significant that she doesn't just criticise the conclusions but how they were made & explained.
More importantly, the reasoning of the decision does not give an adequately comprehensible account to Mr Hurst, the legal profession or the public of why his articulated professional perspective and version of events was rejected and why the Tribunal reached the adverse conclusions it did. As such it does not properly serve the interests of justice, or provide enough of a guarantee against an inference that the problematic starting point assumption of Mr Neidle’s ‘right to publish’ proved in practice to be unfairly prejudicial to Mr Hurst, leaving him faced with a task of disproving an extraneous narrative of unprincipled suppression of journalism which he might understandably have neither recognised, understood nor reasonably expected to have to deal with on the basis of the misconduct allegations he actually faced.
January 20, 2026 at 2:33 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
Thanks to @columnist.bsky.social for drawing me attention to this place in Somerset House. Never had boiled peanuts before which are rather good if messy. And anywhere which has good sparkling water gets my vote...
Pic of the menu of Poon's restaurant's menu with the peanuts and a bottle of vichy catalan water
January 20, 2026 at 1:05 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
I'm a bit embarrassed that I didn't know this existed until tonight. A new venture from Taylor's this "Sentinels" vintage port seems to be a new 2nd label, though it's still rather expensive at £35 a bottle. Absolutely delightfully drinkable, you could sink a bottle without a 2nd thought. 1/
Pic of the bottle 2022 vintage with a glass.
January 19, 2026 at 8:01 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
I was really pleased to find a copy of this book yesterday, since I own a decent number of historic musical instruments and am worried about their preservation and use.

Though I was rather alarmed to see these notes, presumably from an editor, within it! 😬
Front cover of "The Preservation and Use of Historical Musical Instruments" by Robert Barclay. Screenshot. Text in black: It feels rather churlish to suggest suppressing another joke, but please forgive me for pointing out that only one generation above mine there were countless women for whom procreation was a duty all too far removed from pleasure. As a handful of redoubtable nonagenarian forebears have (often hilariously) informed me, sexual pleasure, where it existed, was either clandestine and/or associated with concomitant guilt. So I hope you will agree to recasting this sentence; my attempt could certainly do with some spicing up In red: Yes. Isn't it interesting that I would write: To give historical circumstances moderr values is to commit a sin of pre-judgement', (Chapter 9) yet fall into the very same trap myself? What do you think of my new text?
January 18, 2026 at 10:12 AM
giffordhead.co.uk
Very glad to have made it to the end of this week!

A peaceful Shabbat to all those who observe it. And an enjoyable weekend to everyone else who is able to take it off!
Pic of two candles.
January 16, 2026 at 5:58 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
Strong vibes of this from Le Tour de France.
The map of GB if Napoleon had conquered it. With various names translated into French like Cornwall being Finistere du Nord and Fort William Fort Boniparte.
January 15, 2026 at 9:18 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
I think the situation is that he uses plates on most of his cars except for the very top rank ones used for ceremonial purposes (ie the ones which also have the Royal Standard / arms on the roof and the St George and Dragon Mascot). There are plenty of pictures out there like this from Wikipedia.
Pic of the front of a claret bently with the mascot, Royal Standard and no number plates. From this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_and_royal_cars_of_the_United_Kingdom
January 15, 2026 at 12:18 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
Switched back to some bakhoor for some variety. I found this tablet a bit overpowering when I first tried it but apparently leaving it to mellow in a semi-discarded state over a few months is the way to go...
Pic of the burner with a tablet in it.
January 14, 2026 at 5:40 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
I posted a while ago that I finally found a way of fragrancing my office without filling it with smoke: a heater that uses a old-fashioned incandescent bulb for gentle but constant heat.

Quite interesting watch the Frankincense literally cook over months from white to deep amber.
Pic of two piles of Frankincense: half white; half deep amber.
January 14, 2026 at 5:40 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
Impressive level of government conspiracy if so, since I am pretty sure various people have mentioned being responsible for giving the briefing to new PMs and what it was like. Quite a big lie if it doesn’t happen.

For example:

www.politico.eu/article/the-...
It has become a moment when British leaders must wrestle with the awesome new responsibilities embodied in their nuclear control. One of Houghton’s predecessors, Lord Charles Guthrie, has said that when he briefed incoming Prime Minister Tony Blair, the young Labour leader blanched. “I think quite honestly, like most prime ministers, he hadn’t given a huge amount of thought to what this really meant. And it is actually an awesome responsibility. It really comes home to you that he could, if the circumstances demanded it, create devastation on a huge scale,” Guthrie told a BBC documentary in 2008. “[Blair] went quite quiet.”
January 14, 2026 at 12:22 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
I absolutely love Harden’s devotion to testing our geographic knowledge of the UK by listing new restaurants by their postal district and a single place name.

(The House of George is, obviously, located in the Cotswolds village of Broadway rather than the Somerset one...)
Screenshot reading Moda, House of George - WR12 British, Modern Broadway
January 13, 2026 at 9:22 AM
giffordhead.co.uk
There's a discussion about this in the Talmud where a Rabbi argues the first blacksmithing tongs were created by God since you need some tongs to make some tongs.

The anonymous questioner was presumably a blacksmith rather than a Rabbi...

www.sefaria.org/Pesachim.54a...
Rabbi Yehuda says: Even the tongs were created at this time. He would say: Tongs can be fashioned only with other tongs, but who fashioned the first tongs? Indeed, the first pair of tongs was fashioned at the hand of Heaven. An anonymous questioner said to him: It is possible to fashion tongs with a mold and align it without the need for other tongs. Indeed, the first tongs were a creation of man. In any event, fire was originally created before Shabbat, not at the conclusion of Shabbat.
January 12, 2026 at 12:04 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
Don't ask why we were having Christmas Pudding tonight, but as the burning alcohol drifted over the side of the plate and onto the table cloth, I started to think about the irony having asked this yesterday, yet not implemented it...
Pic of a burning Christmas pudding
January 11, 2026 at 8:25 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
This is a fascinating post but alas I have drunk too much to do it justice. However, since you have compared Tawny Port to Madeira, I though I would pour myself some of the latter for a comparative tasting of umani...
Pic of a 1994 Verdelho from D'Oliveiras with a glass.
January 10, 2026 at 8:56 PM
giffordhead.co.uk
Making slow progress through my Advent Calendar. This is a 1992 Colheita—a tawny from a single year. I often think that the optimum age for tawnies is around 30 years rather than the very old ones that are now popular. This is a good example of that. It's just beautiful.
Pic of the miniature bottle with its contents in a glass.
January 10, 2026 at 8:31 PM