Hartlepool brewery sees the funny side as they get name checked in Andy Capp cartoon

A Hartlepool craft brewery has achieved national fame after being name-checked in an Andy Capp cartoon.
Pat Garrett (left) and Gary Olvanhill of The Crafty Monkey Brewing Company delighted that their company was mentioned in the Andy Capp cartoon in the Daily Mirror recently.Pat Garrett (left) and Gary Olvanhill of The Crafty Monkey Brewing Company delighted that their company was mentioned in the Andy Capp cartoon in the Daily Mirror recently.
Pat Garrett (left) and Gary Olvanhill of The Crafty Monkey Brewing Company delighted that their company was mentioned in the Andy Capp cartoon in the Daily Mirror recently.

Makers at the Crafty Monkey Brewing Company, near Elwick, were surprised when they received word that they had made it into a recent strip in the Daily Mirror newspaper.

In the cartoon, Andy, who was created by Hartlepool artist Reg Smythe, is in his favourite pub chatting with landlord Jack who tells him about the brewery making a mistake with a delivery as well as a separate incident involving a fight between customers.

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When Andy invites him to tell him all about it, the landlord begins to tell him about the brewery order from Crafty Monkey rather than the brawl.

The Andy Capp strip that mentioned the Crafty Monkey Brewing Company.The Andy Capp strip that mentioned the Crafty Monkey Brewing Company.
The Andy Capp strip that mentioned the Crafty Monkey Brewing Company.

Crafty Monkey was started in 2018 by long-time friends Pat Garrett and Gary Olvanhill after working together for 30 years at an oil refinery.

When faced with redundancy or moving to a different plant, they turned their love for beer into a successful business.

Gary said of their cartoon fame: “The first I heard about it was when someone sent a message to my business partner Pat early on the morning saying ‘do you realise you are in the cartoon?’

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"I thought it was excellent. We’re extremely pleased. The initial thought was ‘wow it’s us in the paper’.”

The Andy Capp statue outside the Pot House pub, on the Headland, Hartlepool.The Andy Capp statue outside the Pot House pub, on the Headland, Hartlepool.
The Andy Capp statue outside the Pot House pub, on the Headland, Hartlepool.

Gary confessed to having some misgivings at the brewery being the butt of the joke.

So he put a light-hearted post on the brewery’s Facebook page to pint out they had never messed up an order.

He and Pat do not know how the comic writers knew about the micro brewery which does indeed make some IPA beers.

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Gary added: “They must have some connection with Hartlepool. It seems too much of a coincidence and too random to pull that name out of the hat with us being a small independent Hartlepool brewery.

"We’ve had quite a few comments from people on Facebook saying they had seen it and thought it was good that we were mentioned.”

Originally drawn by Hartlepool-born artist Reg Smythe for 40 years, Andy Capp is produced today by writers Sean Garnett and Lawrence Goldsmith and artist Roger Mahoney.

The work-shy character still has legions of fans and Hartlepool has a statue and a mural of him, both on the Headland.

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