Swindon-based Arkell’s is looking ahead after reaching its 175th birthday.

The business was established in 1843 as an offshoot to the family farm near Swindon. At the same time, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was building his Great Western Railway, with Arkell’s beers quenching the thirst of workers in the hot locomotive works.

Four members of the Arkell’s family are currently at the helm with chairman James Arkell; his cousin Nick Arkell, head of sales, and James’ sons George and Alex Arkell are managing Director and Head Brewer respectively.

Arkell’s chairman James Arkell, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be celebrating our 175th anniversary. It’s an incredible achievement for everyone involved in the brewery and in our pubs.

“Arkell’s pubs sit at the heart of our local communities and we thrive on maintaining that close link with our customers.

“They are at the heart of everything we do, and everything we brew. It’s that personal, individual connection that makes a family brewery such as Arkell’s as essential in the social-media driven world of the 21st century as it was in the 19th century when my great-great-grandfather John Arkell began brewing.”

Arkell’s beers include Wiltshire Gold, 3Bs, Kingsdown and Hoperation. The brewery also produced an award-winning lager in the form of 1843.