APPLES AND PEARS - LINKS AND ADDRESSES

Apple and Pear Links and Addresses

MAN try to include all links and addresses of relevance within the Marcher Counties and the more significant national links. If you think you should have a link here then please contact the Webmaster. If you find a link is no longer valid or the information against the link is out of date please let the webmaster know.

Nurseries which supply traditional varieties are listed separately.

Courses are listed separately.

Links

Can you catch apples? Try this online game.

The CAMRA Cider and Perry pages. Also the Herefordshire Cider Makers from the Herefordshire local CAMRA group.

In 1991 Ali Khan and Julian Vincent investigated the best way to pack apples in boxes and reduce bruising. Find out more at Great Moments in Science - Apple stacking.

The national apple collection is maintained by Brogdale Horticultural Trust at Faversham in Kent. The list of apples in their collection (many with photographs of specimens and sections).

Brome Farm Cider near Peterstowe not only make their own cider but also provide cream teas and have a licensed restaurant.

Bulmers has now been taken over by Scottish and Newcastle. Their websites are undergoing significant changes as a result. In October 2003 there was still the main corporate site and "placeholders" for their individual brands Scrumpy Jack, Strongbow and Woodpecker. Bulmers Organic has disappeared as has their "customer relationship" site - the Cider Surfers Arms. It included descriptions of apples, cider making, old cider glasses (which were something to drool over) etc. on the Noticeboard.

Cider beermats. MAN try to provide a variety of links! However, this site seems to have disappeared. Can anybody give me a new address for it? As compensation here are some modern Strongbow Cidermats.

Cider Making Jargon is explained in an article by Michael Quinion on his "Investigating International English" site.

The Cider Museum, Hereford is at 21 Ryelands Street, Hereford HR4 0LW. This is an obvious place to start on the Herefordshire Cider Tour. Apples and Pears Past is a community archive project run by the cider museum. Its aim is to record memories of people working in the cider and perry industry.

Common Ground organise the annual national "Apple Day" as well as providing information, books etc. They have information on Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire orchards.

The Cumbrian Apple Project with the results of their orchard survey.

Customs and Excise for "Notice 162 - Cider and Wine Production" with details of excise duty on cider and wine, how to register and how to claim for exemption from registration by a maker of cider or perry for sale. (Notice 162 is a pdf file). The UK duty rates on cider and perry are also here.

DEFRA have information on the EU Protected Food Name Scheme which has been operating since 1993. Much as French wines may be labelled "Apellation Controlee" so it is possible, within the EU, to have Regional and Local Food Names which are classified as Protected Designation of Origin - PDO - or Protected Geographical Indication - PGI. Herefordshire cider, Worcestershire cider, Gloucestershire cider and Herefordshire perry, Worcestershire perry and Gloucestershire perry have all been registered under the PGI heading.

Norman and Ann Stannier devised Dragon Orchard Cropsharers to "offer a unique opportunity to share in the life and abundance of an orchard". Contact Norman and Ann through their website or write to them at Dragon Orchard, Putley, Ledbury, Herefordshire HR8 2RG. Tel 01531 670071 Fax 01531 670811.

Dunkertons Cider Mill and Cider House Restaurant. Dunkertons cider is entirely organic cider. Another cidermaker on the Herefordshire Cider Trail.

The English Farm Cider Centre near Lewes, Sussex. Probably the best collection of draught ciders and perries for sale in the UK.

The Food & Drink Information Centre is the one-stop-shop facility for enquiries from businesses involved in the Food and Drink Industry. The centre answers queries by utilising all existing sources and information providers, giving users the opportunity for just one point of contact. Currently the service is absolutely FREE. Funded by Advantage West Midlands and delivered by Business Link Herefordshire & Worcestershire, the Food & Drink Information Centre is here to serve businesses in the Food and Drink Industry. Contact Kelly or Jon by telephone on 0845 450 6111 or at Food & Drink Information Centre, Crossway House, Holmer Road, Hereford HR4 9SS. FAX 0845 450 6151

The Food Standards Agency for all sorts of information and guidance including

the Food Standards Agency - Labelling Guidance - which applies to fruit juices, cider and perry.
criteria for the use of the terms Fresh, Pure, Natural etc. in food labelling. (This is a pdf file).

Gillian Grafton's cider pages had not been updated for several years (since May 1996 in fact) but contained an absolute wealth of information. Paul Gunningham has now taken over and is bringing the information up to date. (The link is to the new location for the site).

Gloucestershire Council Old Orchards Action Plan has disappeared. (This was a pdf file to download rather than a website to visit). However, Gloucestershire Council do have lists of Gloucestershire apple varieties and Gloucestershire pear varieties.

The Gloucestershire Orchard Group specialise in Gloucestershire apples. Their list of local apples is particular noteworthy and, apart from having character entities in filenames, this is a superb example of how to show apple varieties on the internet.

Greggs Pit Cider and Perry specialise in perry, winning the Big Apple Trials six times since 1996.

Hamstead Brewing Centre have a great range of wine and fruit pressing and crushing equipment from table top to semi commercial sizes.

Perry pears have been grown near Hartpury (in Gloucestershire) for many years.

HDRA is Europe's largest organic organisation.

Henney's Cider Co. Ltd at Much Cowarne near Bromyard.

The Hereford Cider Route. The 2005 route lists eleven cider and perry makers and apple juicers open to the public as well as two specialist retailers of ciders, perries and apple juices. Heaven!

Hindlip College ciders and perries. Core Food and Drink has closed down so this is now, unfortunately, somewhat historic.

The Hop Pocket Wine Company at The Hop Pocket Craft Centre, New House Farm, Bishops Frome, Herefordshire WR6 5BT seems to have a wider range of bottled ciders and apple juices every time one visits them.

Sarah Juniper, the apple factor, from Dursley, Gloucester.

Jus bottle single variety apple juices made from locally grown apples. They will also press and bottle small quantities of your own fruit.

Knight's Cider are on the Herefordshire Cider Route. Find them at Crumpton Oaks Farm, Storridge, Nr Malvern, Worcs WR13 5HP. Tel 01684 574594 FAX 01684 569334.

The Ledbury Cider and Perry Co are situated on the edge of Ledbury in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. They are a small farm producing cider from their own orchards. (This link was not working on 27 February 2004).

Leominster Morris Wassail For about the last 20 years Leominster Morris have been Wassailing orchards in Herefordshire. Always on Twelfth Night and sometimes on other days as well, details can be found on the Events list.

BBC Bristol's account of the demise of the Long Ashton Research Station

Ludlow Marches Food & Drink Festival is an annual three day celebration of food and drink. There is a feast of mouthwatering events including competitions, cookery demonstrations, produce market, sausage trail and marquees bursting with the very best regional food and drink producers. Many producers of cider, perry and apple juice will be present.

In 2008 Megan Lynch visited MAN at the Herefordshire Food Festival and took pictures of the apple display.

Minchews Cider Minchews, the Gloucestershire cider and perry maker.

For information about mistletoe try www.mistletoe.org.uk and www.mistle.co.uk.

The catalogue for mushroom growers - the mushroom dryer can also, apparently, be used for drying apples and pears.

The National Association of Cider Makers. These are the "big boys" of the industry (although the smaller local cider makers do get a voice through the Three Counties Cider and Perry Makers Association). The site uses Flash but there are some links for royalty-free photographs.

MAN member Ann Smith is Newsletter Editor of the National Orchard Forum as well as being Secretary/Editor for the Gloucester Orchard Group.

If you want to plant your own trees then various Nurseries can supply traditional varieties.

A story from the Herefordshire Times about rediscovering Old Perry Pears ... and another story about Old Perry Pears.

Olivers Cider and Perry - Craft producers of fine and distinctive Herefordshire ciders and perries; in bottle and draught.

Orchard growing in the city of Worcester, a report from 1999.

Orchard Hive and Vine for mail order bottled cider and perry.

Traditionally picking up apples has been a back breaking task. This handy gadget from www.pickuptheapples.com looks as though it will save a lot of bending over. And if it does not work in the long grass then you can use it for tennis balls instead!

Pomona Publications are a small publisher specialising in books, greetings cards, calendars etc about fruit.

There are many websites from which you can buy posters showing apples. AllPosters not only includes a wide selection (of about 100) but also includes a poster of one of the plates in the Herefordshire Pomona. (This poster measures 16" x 20"). Feedback on experience with this site would be welcome.

The BBC Radio 4 Food Programme visit to the Big Apple in October 2003 was broadcast on Sunday October 19th and repeated on Monday 20th. Mike Porter and Tony Malpas of MAN both featured amongst the other supporters of this popular event.

Shropshire Apple Trust, based in the Ironbridge Gorge, is fully constituted voluntary community group with the aim of promoting apple culture in as wide a sense as possible. The Trust is open to anyone who cares about promoting apple culture and is particularly concerned to promote community involvement through the end-use of apples, huge quantities of which simply go to waste each year through neglect and exasperation in not knowing what do with the fruit from gardens, old orchards etc. The Trust aims to inform people about juice, pasteurizing, cidermaking, cider vinegar making and a host of other related issues and has restored a beautiful 1-ton 19C Herefordshire twin-screw press which is used as the centrepiece of the annual Apple Day in Coalbrookdale in the Ironbridge Gorge - always the 2nd Saturday in October.

Historical Notes and Juicy Quotes relating to the History of Cider and Somerset.

Another lost site! Sunshine Imports were (are?) an American importer of Blackthorn Cider and Perry. Their histories of cider and perry making were (are?) amusing if somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

The Taynton Squash Perry pear.

The Three Counties Cider and Perry Association covers Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. For more information contact the Secretary, Helen Woodman, Gregg's Pit, Much Marcle, Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8 2NL

Tom Adams is an orchardist living in North Shropshire. As well as having a small apple nursery, renovating and planting up new orchards up and down the Welsh border he writes articles for the MAN Newsletter.

The UK Cider and Perry site. They have several good links pages (even if they do use Flash). You can read all past discussions from the ukcider list by ploughing through the messages on the public archive at groups.yahoo.com/group/ukcider/

All manner of pressing, bottling and filtering equipment is available from Vigo Ltd in Devon. Not just for cider making but for juicing as well. Vigo can be contacted by EMail at or directly at Dunkswell Airfield, Dunkeswell, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4LF, England. Tel: 01404 890 262 Fax: 01404 890 263.

Wade Taunton Loving Cup The traditional mug for drinking cider is two-handled - often called a "loving cup". Taunton Cider have a collection of old cider mugs and several have been reproduced in limited editions by Wade. These are themselves now collectable and can often be found for auction on Ebay.

The Tidnor Wood Orchard Trust was set up in 2003 by Mr Henry May. It holds a collection of cider apple trees, a museum and gene bank and is a superb habitat for indigenous flora and fauna. (Tidnor is an ancient hamlet a couple of miles from Hereford).

The Welsh Cider Society for everything to do with Welsh cider.

Westons the Herefordshire cider and perry makers at Much Marcle are also on the Herefordshire Cider Route - in fact the largest cider maker on the route. Westons includes a Visitors Centre, a shop (where 35 varieties of cider and perry may be tasted), the bottle museum (believed to be the largest in Europe) and the Harry Weston Garden. There are daily tours, with cider tasting and also on site is the Scrumpy House Restaurant and Bar (with a perry and five ciders on draught and a wide selection bottled, not just from Westons).

Wildlife trusts have a interest in old orchards, particularly orchards with standard trees, for their wildlife and conservation value. The local trusts in the Southern Marches are ..

The Wittenham Hill Cider Portal. Andrew Lea's comprehensive site which takes a scientific view of cider making. Andrew keeps this site up to date.

Wye College National Fruit Collections. Maintenance and development of the UK National Fruit Collections is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as part of its research strategy for the conservation of plant genetic resources. Imperial College at Wye is responsible for the scientific development of the Collections and Brogdale Horticultural Trust is responsible for their maintenance. UK National Fruit Collection Catalogues (which includes apples and pears). The catalogues are ZIP'd spreadsheets in Microsoft EXCEL format.

Worcestershire Biodiversity Action Plan - Traditional Orchards. The progress report includes a section relating to orchards.

MARCHER APPLE NETWORK RHWYDWAITH AFALAU'R GORORAU

Apple and Pear Links and Addresses

Links

MARCHER APPLE NETWORK
RHWYDWAITH AFALAU'R GORORAU