Jacob Gifford Head
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giffordhead.co.uk
Jacob Gifford Head
@giffordhead.co.uk
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.
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...
February 1, 2026 at 9:41 AM
A rare treat for lunch: Borjomi, a glass of Mtsvane Qveri wine and Khachapuri. I wish I lived closer to a Georgian restaurant!
January 31, 2026 at 5:05 PM
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...
January 30, 2026 at 7:06 PM
This one isn't the most salacious example but is fun since you can still get something like this today.
January 28, 2026 at 8:29 PM
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.
January 28, 2026 at 7:01 PM
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
Helpful summary is available from Wikipedia!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_D...
January 25, 2026 at 9:38 AM
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.
January 21, 2026 at 9:32 PM
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.
January 20, 2026 at 5:29 PM
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.
January 20, 2026 at 5:09 PM
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.
January 20, 2026 at 2:33 PM
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...
January 20, 2026 at 1:05 PM
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/
January 19, 2026 at 8:01 PM
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! 😬
January 18, 2026 at 10:12 AM
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!
January 16, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Strong vibes of this from Le Tour de France.
January 15, 2026 at 9:18 PM
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.
January 15, 2026 at 12:18 PM
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...
January 14, 2026 at 5:40 PM
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.
January 14, 2026 at 5:40 PM
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-...
January 14, 2026 at 12:22 PM
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...)
January 13, 2026 at 9:22 AM
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...
January 12, 2026 at 12:04 PM
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...
January 11, 2026 at 8:25 PM
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...
January 10, 2026 at 8:56 PM
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.
January 10, 2026 at 8:31 PM