Cider - The Forgotten Miracle

Title: Cider - The Forgotten Miracle

Author: James Crowden

Year: 1999

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 120

Price used: £0.08 (Amazon)"

*accurate at the time of posting

Description:

History, anecdotes and poems on cider and a description of working at Burrow Hill Cider.

On the back of the book it says:

"Cider: the forgotten miracle is a witty, energetic unforgettable investigation into the history of farm house cider. A fresh assessment of ancient traditions that have not only influenced the landscape for the better, but produced excellent cider into the bargain. Cider that in the past rivalled French wines and can still  do so today. Not surprisingly these myths, superstitions and anecdotes, revolves around farms and farmers, their families and their orchards. This fascinating story, set against the backdrop of 17th and 18th Century England, is told by the poet James Crowden with humour and clarity. It involves not only vivid description of working at burrow Hill Cider Farm during the autumn, but also charts the early days of the Somerset Cider Brandy Company."

Cider's Story Rough and Smooth by Mark Foot

Title: Cider's Story Rough and Smooth
Author: Mark Foot
Year: 1999
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 144
Price used: £8.75 (Amazon)*
*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)
Ciders history told through the stories of various producers and characters as told by a real enthusiast. A Good read.

On the back of the book it says:
"The wide ranging and affectionate account of Ciders history - through generations of good cheer, and from necessity at times, defiant progress. The book reflects on some of the age-old drink's most influential figures, while introducing the reader to a host of great rural characters. It takes us down country lanes as into the computerised factories. Above all, it is a human story - about village people and the drink they have made for centuries."

The Sheppy's an everyday tale of ciderfolk

Title: The Sheppy's an everyday tale of ciderfolk

Author: David J. Hinton

Year: 2000

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 134

Price new:  £7.99 (Amazon)*

Price used:  £0.01 (Amazon)*

*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)

A history of the Sheppy family and their cidermaking going back over 200 years with plenty of photographs.

On the back of the book it says:

"Sheppy. The name is synonymous with good quality cider throughout Somerset and beyond. This revealing book brings to life the Sheppy family over the past 200 years. It traces the ups and downs of the family fortunes from their beginnings at Iwood, Conglesbury to Three Bridges Farm near Taunton.

Lavishly illustrated with photographs, 'The Sheppys' tells the story of a disastrous fire, how a record-breaking trout came to be 'fried' in as Gun Shop, the world-famous Model Maid and how gold Medal winning cider was imbibed by two Prime Ministers.

A fascinating book which should be enjoyed together with a glass of Sheppy's cider."

CAMRA's Good Cider Guide 2000

Title: CAMRA's Good Cider Guide
Author: David Matthews
Year: 2000
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 396
Price used: £0.01(Amazon)*
*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)
CAMRA's guide to producers and outlets in 2000 with over 100 pages of additional articles, 'a snip at the used price' Dave Matthews (then a teacher) took a year off work to prepare this book, He later went on to become a cidermaker and a founder of The Welsh Perry and Cidermakers Association.

On the back of the book it says:
"One of the great drinking experiences of the world is natural cider, made from traditional apple varieties. It is deliciously mellow, aromatic and intoxicating. Equally exquisite is the fragrance and flavour of perry, a wonderful drink made from pears.
CAMRA's Good Cider Guide, edited by Dave Matthews, brings you the information you need to find and enjoy these fine drinks, and is fully illustrated with photographs and cider labels throughout.
Guide to Producers and Outlets
The guide is organised into counties with each county section containing a map, listings of all cider producers, a selection of cider outlets, and information about other places of cider interest.
Features Articles about Cider and Perry
Meet the cider and perry makers of Devon, Gloucestershire and Somerset, the Pays d'Auge in France and Asturias in Spain and the Pacific North west in America. Travel around Britain's four remaining classic Cider Houses, try some recipes from Susie Dunkerton, Chef at the Cider House Restaurant, and take a look at cider on the internet.
Learn about the history of cider (both in Britain and the US) and how apple and pear varieties influence the taste of cider and perry. Try making your own with our pocket guide to fruit, harvesting juicing and fermentation."

Blame It On The Cider by Roger Evans

Title: Blame It On The Cider

Author: Roger Evans

Year: 2002

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 126

Price new: £7.95 (Amazon)*

Price used: £0.01 (Amazon)*

*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)

A book of funny cider related stories from Somerset.

On the back of the book it says:

"Somerset was once a county filled with cider orchards. They could be found everywhere, even in the years just after the war.

Local writer Roger Evans was born, brought up and still lives in Somerset. He remembers the happy-go-lucky times when children were free to roam and the orchards played host to jenny wrens, robins, blue tits and grazing pigs, cattle and sheep. With his friends, he would go scrumping and once in a while, cider tasting - mostly from the stores kept in forbidden territory - neighbours' garages and barns.

In  this funny, nostalgic book, brimming with anecdotes and amusing incidents, all attributed to the effects of drinking cider, Roger takes the reader on a journey round the county and finds a hilarious or chaotic story to tell wherever he goes.

One evening in Bridgewater a local man, much the worse for wear after several pints of strong cider, was forcibly ejected from the Blue Boar in the Penel Orlieu area. Unhappily for him, this coincided with the passing of a police officer on a bicycle. They collided noisily and fell together in a heap onto the road. The law was not amused and action was demanded. The man was dragged some 50 yards to the Duke of Monmouth pub in the High Street. There the officer proceeded with an arrest, advising the drunk that the reason was for knocking him off his bike outside the Duke of Monmouth. 'That's not true !" Shouted the drunk. 'It's a bloody lie, it was outside the Blue Boar.' 'Can you spell Orlieu ?' Asked the officer. 'Course I bloody can't' retorted the drunk. 'Well I can spell High Street.' Replied the officer and continued with his arrest."

Ciderlore: Cider in the Three Counties by Fiona Mac

Title: Ciderlore: Cider in the Three Counties

Author: Fiona Mac

Year: 2003

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 224

Price used: £5.99 (Amazon)*

*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)

History, science and folklore of cider in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.

On the back of the book it says:

"This is anything but a dry book ! It tackles the subject of cider and perry in the three counties of Hereford, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire in a slightly unusual way, in that the art of cider making from selecting varieties of fruit, planting and growing trees to the packaging and marketing of the completed product, is woven into the history and stories of cider makers from 1900 to the present day. There is both art and science in cider making, an activity which is done injustice through the persistence of scrumpy, however jovial an image that may conjure up. Yet scrumpy is covered too, as are the aspects of folklore and tales of the effect of cider drinking , along with descriptions of the cider houses that have and still do exist in the Three Counties.

Various tensions are apparent- between cider makers, cider drinkers and cider campaigners, and within the ranks of cider makers themselves. Whilst producers want to co-operate at one level to promote cider and perry as generic drinks, they are also in competition with one another and reluctant to share information that they perceive as family or trade secrets.

The information is presented in a number of themed chapters, which also detail the history of the national cider making names within the three counties, as well as those whose produce will only normally be found at source, or at best within a few miles of the cider press.

At the end is a section which lists the current established cider producers and cider houses mentioned in the text, whether they are open to visits and where products can be found. Accompanying this is a brief description of various organisations, grants, planting schemes and local festivals mentioned, with a contact point.

Fiona Mac is an accomplished story teller and collector of local tales, customs and folklore, living in Herefordshire, who has collected the stories and information in this book through conversations with the cider drinkers and cider makers of the Three Counties. She is a national campaigner for CAMRA (The Campaign For Real Ale) who defends the preservation of small  scale cider and perry making through her in-depth knowledge of cider and perry as a vibrant living tradition.

CAMRA's Good Cider Guide 2005

Title: CAMRA's Good Cider Guide
Author: Emma Lloyd  (Editor)
Year: 2005
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 256
Price used: £0.01 (Amazon)*
*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)
A less than complete listing of cider producers and outlets in 2005 with over 30 pages of additional articles from Dave Matthews, Tom Oliver and others. Well worth the low used price for the articles alone.

On the back of the book it says:
"The all new CAMRA's GOOD CIDER GUIDE, now in it's 5th edition, features more than 700 traditional cider producers and outlets in the UK and is an indispensable volume for all cider enthusiasts, whether new to the scene or long-standing fans.
Good cider is a long-established traditional drink, but much of the cold fizzy products we are used to seeing are far from the real thing. The popularity of real cider is permanently rising, as more and more people discover how deliciously mellow, aromatic and intoxicating the flavours of naturally produced cider can be. CAMRA's GOOD CIDER GUIDE offers a county-by-county directory of UK cider producers and outlets and provides unique, in-depth knowledge for the cider consumer.
In addition, various writers, cider enthusiasts, drinkers and experts alike come together to provide feature articles on production techniques, orchards, the history of cider, cooking with cider recipes and regional specialisations, from Normandy in France to the celebrated orchards of the Asturias in Northern Spain."

Somerset Cider Folklore & Customs by Jon Dathen

Title: Somerset Cider Folklore & Customs
Author: Jon Dathen
Year: 2006
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 122
Price new: £8.95 (Amazon)*

*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)
Lots of amusing and sometimes hard to believe stories relating to orchards, apples and cider in Somerset 

On the back of the book it says:
"In the western counties of England, and in Somerset in particular, cider was, and for many still is, an integral part of the rural way of life. Over the centuries, folklore and customs have become entwined with the growing of apple, trees, the harvesting of fruit, and the production and consumption of cider. Some of these beliefs and practises are practical, a method of fermentation or a saying recording the best time to plant a tree. Others belong to the realm of magic and pagan belief, these include the propitiation of orchard spirits, ceremonies to ensure a robust harvest, and the many little 'somethings', done 'just for luck'. A richly absorbing apple anthology, superbly researched and altogether different form what the reader might expect. Here is preserved the history and all the fun and seriousness of the folklore and customs connected to  cider - from wassailing to apple games and Toad Swimming, its makers and drinkers, throughout the county of Somerset, in the past and the eternal present"

Ciderland by James Crowden

Title: Ciderland
Author: James Crowden
Year: 2008
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 256
Price new: £18.29 (Amazon)*
Price used: £5.56   (Amazon)*
*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)
Lots of nice pictures with plenty of information on cider and it's history. The biggest part of the book is taken up with in depth profiles of 20 cidermakers from the Three Counties and the South West.

On the back of the book it says:
The South-west of England is justly famous for it's wide variety of delicious ciders. Although the drink has been produced there for centuries, over the last thirty years there has been a quiet revolution in the industry characterised by a steady growth in the number of new cider producers. These cidermakers vary from small, local companies to well established outfits pumping out millions of gallons a year.
In Ciderland, James Crowden explores the history and culture of cidermaking (and cider drinking) from the seventeenth century to the present day, and takes us on a tour around the West Country and beyond, visiting a large number of cidermakers who communicate a rare infectious passion for their age-old art. He also takes a look at the rise of perry-making and profiles the people dedicated to getting the best out of their local pears. One very important section covers the history of sparkling cider and the evolution of methode champenois in England from 1632 onwards. In addition Ciderland also includes comprehensive summaries and descriptions of most cider and perry producers from the Channel Islands to Herefordshire. The result is magnificent companion to a drink that is enjoying a widespread and well deserved renaissance.
JAMES CROWDEN was born in Plymouth and brought up on the edge of Dartmoor. After Bristol Oxford and the Army, he lived for various periods in Afghanistan, the Outer Hebrides and the West Country, and has worked as a shepherd, sheep-shearer, cidermaker and forester. He has written numerous books including several volumes of poetry and local history, and also appears regularly on TV and Radio 4.

Somerset Cider Handbook by Alan Stone

Title: Somerset Cider Handbook
Author: Alan Stone
Year: 2009
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 152
Price new: £7.74 (Amazon)*
Price used: £8.50 (Amazon)*
*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)
Mostly the back story of over 30 Somerset cider producers.

On the back of the book it says:
The first ever comprehensive book on Somerset Cider-makers
Who makes cider
Why they make it
What they make
Where can you get it
What is there to see
Nearly 40 Somerset cider producers interviewed plus articles on cider heritage. A complete picture of the Somerset cider industry today
Over 150 pages with numerous photographs