A talk by Andy Mellor on 13 May 2025.
Report by Stan Morrissey.
Cider, said Andy Mellor, flows through the veins of Gloucestershire. Cider apples have been grown for many centuries in the West Country, Herefordshire and surrounds and was a staple drink of the poorer people in the countryside. “Making cider is easy, making good cider is hard,” said Andy. A surprising fact is that there are over 1000 cider apple varieties in the UK, 100+ unique to Gloucestershire where most villages had their own form of cider.
The earliest references to cidermaking come from the Vikings using a process based on Roman olive pressing which was brought here by the Normans. Like beer and wine, production thrived in ecclesiastic establishments (what is it with the medieval Church and alcohol?) because the monasteries were extensive landowners so could grow orchards with a long-term view, and the educated monks recorded what they did and learned from mistakes. When monasteries were dissolved in the 1530s monks moved out and used their skills to make cider on farms; many small orchards were planted then. At this time, a labourer’s wage was paid mostly in kind (bread, cheese, cider), and a third of it was often in cider (6 pints a day!). Cider was cheap, more durable than beer and considered to have medicinal properties.
Then cider went upmarket. In 1600, cold winters decimated the grape harvests in Europe and forced up the price of wine. Then in 1651 the Puritans banned the imports of wine and champagne and promoted homegrown cider (shades of Brexit here). Cider, fermented twice and fortified with sugar and brandy, made a sparkling pomagne which became popular with the upper classes. In the Museum of Cider in Hereford are examples of contemporary cider flutes, like champagne flutes and showing its similar status. Cider houses, selling just varieties of cider, popped up in many areas.
Progress was disrupted in the 1760s when a cider tax was imposed to help pay for the Seven Years War. Taxmen forced entry into houses to look for evidence of cidermaking and measure production, resulting in widespread riots as “an Englishman’s home is his castle” and eventually the Prime Minister resigned.
In 1764 Gloucester had 6289 registered cider makers and 12,000 acres of orchard; now there are just 300 acres left, many used for education on rural crafts rather than serious cidermaking.
Cider remained a largely country drink right through to the 1970s, available in many forms direct from farms or in village pubs, or from mass producers such as Westons and Thatchers. In the early 2000s there was a renaissance from local artisans and there are now 19 independent producers in Gloucestershire.
So how did you traditionally “turn an apple into a pint”? Harvesting occurred in October. Apples were shaken from the trees using a hooked “panking pole”, piled up for a few weeks to become soft, then milled or crushed. A large cider mill typically had two large millstones, one rotated on the other by horsepower so that the crushed fruit fell into containers below. A portable version had a spiked drum turned by hand – more laborious but faster.
The juice was extracted from the milled “mush” using a screw press. Layers of mush were spread between horsehair cloths then pressed, leaving a dry residue that was fed to animals (who could become very drunk!). The extracted juice was stored in oak barrels and left to ferment “until you heard the first cuckoo of spring”. Fermentation could be kickstarted by adding grain or pieces of meat (that dead rats contributed to this was commonly believed but never admitted).
And finally a mention of the Waes Hael (Wassail), a very old custom where, around Twelfth Night in January, all the villagers would exhort the trees to wake up and be fruitful in the coming year, by dancing around them, pouring cider onto them and of course drinking a lot. A good excuse for a mid-winter shindig of course, but it dates to Saxon times and was common in Oldbury, Littleton and Minchinhampton amongst many places with established orchards.
This was a fascinating talk, covering many more aspects of cidermaking than there is room for. Sadly, no samples were available, but a great end to the season.