Your ViewsKeep your e-mails pouring in, it's good to know that there are lots of you out there with views and opinions. To help you work out what is what, are now little icons to help you see biscuit related themes. And now you can see at a glance which are the most contested subjects via this graph (requires Flash 6.0 plugin). Please keep your mails coming in to nicey@nicecupofteaandasitdown.com | If you like, you can use this search thingy to find stuff that matches with any of the icons you pick, or use the fantastic free text search, Yay! | Your e-Mails |
David Storey
Wagon Wheel Review |
Oh dear the sad decline of the Club. What a shame somebody had to spoil it. Just reading the emails about solid KitKats reminded me of when I was about 7, and I tucked into Take-a-Break at school. To my utter amazement, it was solid chocolate. At the age of 7, this was an amazing find and all my friends were able to behold this incredible phenomenon. I took it home and showed it to my mum, who sent it off to the manufacturer (Jacobs?). Why she bothered I don't know, but imagine my surprise and delight when a few days later she received not 1 not 2 but 3 multi-packs of Take-a-Breaks in the post, free from the manufacturer.
Ah, those were the days!
As you seem to be a veritable expert on these matters, have Wagon Wheels got smaller or did I just get bigger? I remember them being huge.
Keep it up this site is great.
Cheers,
Dave, Somerset.
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Nicey replies: Splendid,
I can see how that would have been a formative moment in your life. As for Wagon Wheels we had the definitive answer on that a few weeks ago from regular guru 'Biscuit Man'. They did actually get ever-ever so slightly smaller in the 80's when their production site was changed, but thats it. All the rest is down to you getting bigger. |
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Biscuit Man
Wagon Wheel Review |
The 'has it got smaller' debate over the size of a Wagon Wheel is a perennial favourite, and gets picked up by the press every year or so in a slow news week. Interest probably peaked in the mid 90's, when French & Saunders did a sketch with Dawn dressed as a schoolgirl cramming a huge Wagon Wheel into her mouth.Burton's stock answer is 'no they haven't', and the apparent shrinkage is due to an adult's fond childhood memories of eating a Wagon Wheel held in a much smaller hand. However, this is not strictly true. The product was originally made in the Weston's factory at Slough. This closed in the early 80's, and production was transferred to a more modern plant at Llantarnam in South Wales. The old plant produced biscuits with a crinkled edge, but the new more efficient roller (sorry to get a bit geeky) did away with these in favour of a smooth circumference. This meant that the overall diameter of the biscuit was reduced by the thickness of the previous scalloped edge. Not much, probably only 5mm in total, but enough to make them just slightly smaller. So in a sense both arguments are true. The current product is slightly smaller, but not as much as those fond childhood memories will fool you into thinking. There's probably no-one left at Burton's who would remember this, but I have it on good authority from the Manufacturing Manager who supervised the transfer of production. |
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Joe Carter
Wagon Wheel Review |
I was disappointed to read your review of the Wagon Wheel. At first, it promised to be a positive, but fair review. However, I read on in disgust to find it dismissed as and I quote: ?a bit like an ultra thin shortcake biscuit that has gone stale?. Admittedly, it?s not the greatest biscuit to have graced the supermarket shelves, but this review is a little unfair in my humble opinion. It almost seems as though the writer has run out of things to say, quoting the same line over and over again, spouting some nonsense about not knowing what it tastes like. I?ve been eating Wagon Wheels for many a year now, and think they deserve a little more credit.
Regards,
Joe Carter, London |
Nicey replies: Our reviews are always fair, thats the thing about them.
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Mark Darbyshire
Wagon Wheel Review |
Dear Nicey
Firstly may i congratulate you on your truly magnificent website. In these modern times we are bombarded by advertising from unscrupulous manufacturers eager to rob us of our hard earned cash. Its great that you have set up this beacon for biscuit eaters - providing reviews to guide us on the right path to biscuit heaven.
So, onto my chosen subject - Waggon wheels. Phil's review of them does admirably extol their virtues. However, i do think that the quality has worsened over the years. In particular, dont you think that the makers have craftily shrunk the wheel from waggon-like proportions to a size more akin to a transit van? These biscuits were a personal favourite because they were a meal in themselves. Now they are not even a mouthful.
I would appreciate your views,
Mark. |
Nicey replies: Mark,
Most people think that Wagon Wheels have gotten smaller over the years, even quite contemporary biscuit eaters. As we said in the review, this is probably a natural effect of the aging process. If somebody at Burton's does know I bet its a sacking offense to discuss it. |
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