And so to the even less luxurious setting of the press room of the Royal Courts of Justice. Though what it lacks in mod cons it makes up for in a long and storied history, which Obiter and other hacks got an unexpected glimpse of this week when a long-locked cupboard was finally prised open (the cause list was quiet).
Inside? A trove of artefacts, including responses from m’lords of the High Court to an invitation extended by the High Court Journalists Association’s Wine Society tasting evening in January 1972. The HCJAWS (as it probably was not known) was still going strong over a decade later, according to another ancient piece of parchment: an invitation for ‘Her Majesty’s Judges, Deputy Judges and Ladies to a Private Tasting of Claret and Wines for Summer Drinking’ in July 1983, sadly declined by Hodgson J.
Our colleagues thought the best was yet to come after tell-tale clinking came from the direction of a box at the bottom of the cupboard. Alas, all it contained was a selection of glasses, both dusty and dirty. Still, history is its own reward.
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