Four hundred years ago the boys at Aldenham School in Elstree were encouraged to drink beer by their teachers because water was too dangerous to drink.

So it was handy that the man who founded the school in 1597, Richard Platt, was also master brewer at the Worshipful Company of Brewers, an association of London brewers.

In his will, Mr Platt asked that his company support the pupils by giving them beer money' each year.

Although it may seem a little odd today that a school was set up by a brewery, in the 1500s it was almost expected of such firms because state schools were not common until the Twentieth century.

And now, after 400 years of the tradition, girls received the beer money for the first time this year.

Each year, the 13 and 14-year-olds in Year 9 are taken to a ceremony at Brewers' Hall in the City of London to receive commemorative £5 coins. This year they have been minted to celebrate the queen's 80th birthday.

The public school, which is one of the oldest in the country, has been admitting older girls since 1980, but this year is the first time girls have entered as early as Year 9.

At this year's ceremony, pupils India Loddy and Yasmine Ruzgar were among the first girls ever to receive the money.

India said: "It was an important occasion and I feel honoured to be one of the first girls to receive this commemorative coin, I shall treasure it always."

The current master brewer, Christopher Lees-Jones, explained the 400-year connection between the Brewers' Company and the School and pupils then had an opportunity to view some of the archives of the company, including the school's original Sixteenth Century Royal Charter.