Janus Brian was down to his last couple of bottles of kitchen garden wine, while the stuff he was brewing was by now barely more potent than lemonade.

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Sacred gin was launched last year, with Mr Hart distilling the stuff through a vacuum plant in a wendy-house in his back garden.

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More importantly, they keep acquiring stuff that cannot be consumed and never rots or rusts: plastic toys, metal garden furniture, porcelain knick-knacks.

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