Soda the surprise solution

Soda the surprise solution

Soda strips the years off the brewing vessel

A humble everyday kitchen ingredient has been enrolled in one Essex town's battle to carry off the a coveted title.

Local brewer Eric Cook did not want to see a rare old copper vessel go to the scrapheap.

Instead, he donated the piece to Halstead.

"We thought it was a shame to see a piece of the past go for scrap as so many have done in this county," said Mr Cook.

"We decied to see if it could have a good home with Halstead in Bloom."

Statue of Liberty

Giving the piece a brush-up in the run-up to judging in the Anglia in Bloom competition was the next challenge.

"It had to be cleaned. Sandblasting, which was the first idea was causing damage," said Ron Cole, who runs an industrial cleaning business.

"The other methods were really not practical. After a lot of research somewhere on the way someone found out about soda-blasting."

Using baking soda is a technique that is relatively unknown over here but has been used on the Statue of Liberty for some time.

The finished article will grace the town as part of its Anglia in Bloom entry, the theme this year being Heritage Halstead.