William, wine, & why in 1066 he really should have gone from Calais THE INDEPENDENT

When I visited the Bayeux Tapestry in 2022, one of the sections that caught my attention was the one in which William and crew load up the ship with wine before sailing from Normandy to England. It struck me as amusing that 1000 years later, many of us still partake in the same thing: booze cruising. Equipped with this feature idea, all I had to do was wait around for a timely hook, so was delighted when it was announced that the embroidery was heading to the UK.

So, here’s my feature on cross-Channel wine trips in which I make the (ludicrous) suggestion that William missed a trick: if he’d have thought to sail from Calais instead, he could have loaded his trolley with some well-priced quality wines first. Eye roll.

You can read the rest of the feature here.