Cider makers around Ledbury are celebrating Apple Day by sharing the importance of orcharding and cider making in the UK.
A crucial part of the region’s economy, cider making not only supports employment, farming and sustainability but boosts tourism in the area.
Apples that are only suitable for making cider grow in abundance throughout orchards near Ledbury.
Herefordshire has some of the leading UK cider producers and is home to a cider industry that is steeped in heritage with traditional, artisan expertise passed down through the generations.
READ MORE: Westons Cider sales soar with £4million of apples bought
Cider producers including Westons, Gregg’s Pit and Lyne Down Organics were among the venues hosting Big Apple Harvestime events earlier this month, as hundreds of visitors descended on Much Marcle to celebrate local orchards.
Brockhampton, a traditionally farmed estate and medieval manor house near Bromyard, has Halloween-themed orchard trails for children taking place throughout half term.
Cider apples have also been celebrated this month at Hereford’s Applefest banquet and Leominster Apple Fair.
The British heritage of cider making
Fenella Tyler, chief executive at National Association of Cider Makers (NACM) said: “Apple Day gives cider makers the opportunity to promote their trade and highlight the importance of cider making to the local community.
“The industry provides much needed support to the broader rural economy providing over 11,500 rural jobs across the UK and attracting tourists to the region from around the country and the rest of the world.
“The culture of cider making is interwoven within the fabric of local communities and is essential to sustaining rural areas. The industry supports local amenities and charities, funding wildlife ventures and community orchards. It is essential that the British heritage of cider making is supported.”
Throughout the UK there are 300 farmers growing over 16,000 acres of orchards that are often handed down through generations.
This farmland crucially preserves the UK’s biodiversity by attracting wildlife, and more specifically bees, that are needed for pollination. Once produced, cider flies the flag for British food and drink with over £100million of exports of cider per year.
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