New cidery opens using only donated apples

A new cider house is open for business once a week in Gloucestershire, using only apples donated to them from local orchards.

Tim Haigh Gannon and his business partner Steve Bindon have been making cider for two decades on a small scale, and decided three years ago to try minimal-intervention traditional cider, out of which came Alkington Cidery.

Tim said there was "no shortage" of people giving them apples. They reciprocate with maintenance or free cider.

Lydia Crimp, chairwoman of the Three Counties Cider and Perry Association said it was positive to see traditional cider making continue, adding people were "crying out" for the drink.

"What we're seeing at the moment is a proliferation of lots of new makers coming into the market, so I think this is actually going to be a real success story for cider," she said.

"It's been it's been around since the Roman times, when the ability to crush apples was was introduced.

"People have been fermenting juice and making cider for a very long time, but it had a dip with industrialisation in the 1970s.

"I think now we're really seeing what consumers are really looking for which is local produce and high-quality, sustainable produce."

Tim moved to the area in 2016, and discovered the history of cider making in the Berkeley vale.

This is partly what spurred him on to make his own in the area, which he said has been a labour of love, laying around 10,000 bricks themselves in the heat last summer.

"People say 'how do you actually make the cider?' You get the apples, you scrap them, you turn them into juice, you put them in the barrel, you say a little prayer, and you wait for the cuckoo in the spring."

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