Good Cider by David Mabey

Title: Good Cider
Author: David Mabey
Year: 1984
Format: Hardback
Page Count: 143
Price used: £0.01 (Amazon)*
*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)
Chapters covering all aspects of British cider including a selection of 1980's stockists and makers.

On the back of the book it says:
"Since the Normans invaded England, cider has been a popular British drink -one that rose to equal win a the best tables in the seventeenth century, when there were around 350 varieties of cider apple tree. In the eighteenth century, farmers made their own to use in part payment in kind to farm labourers, who, at hay-making, drank up to two gallons a day.
A few years ago  cider seemed condemned to a similar fate as keg beers before the Real Ale Movement, but luckily a revival of interest in traditional ciders has saved many local products and the range of draught cider available from small producers and from large companies is now excellent. GOOD CIDER explains the difference between traditional ciders and fizzy bottled and keg ciders and provides a guide to the character of each variety, giving stars for exceptional flavour.
Distinguished food writer David Mabey has assembled a wealth of information; he traces the history of the drink and the special apples from which it is made - lamenting the loss of such intriguingly named trees as Foxwhelp (some not so lost these days tb) Joeby Crab and the famous Redstreak. He describes the methods of making cider. He describes the methods of making cider, now far removed from the days of pounding apples in troughs made from hollowed out tree trunks, and gives  instructions on how to make your own potent brew (you DON'T brew cider !!!. ffs who wrote this ??. tb) from windfalls. Also included are recipes using cider and listing pubs and wine bars recommended for their cider.

Cidermaking in Somerset by Philippa Legg

Title: Cidermaking in Somerset
Author: Philippa Legg
Year: 1984
Format: Booklet
Page Count: 32
Price used: £4.49 (Amazon)*
*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)
A brief history of cidermaking and cidermakers in Somerset.

On the back of the book it says:
Cidermaking is the most evocative of country crafts, from the sight of orchards in bloom, through the rich smells and characteristic sounds of the fruit being milled and pressed, to the deep satisfaction that comes from the enjoyment of a well made pint.
As with most such crafts, cidermaking has undergone vast changes this century. No longer do Somerset farm workers harvest, mill and press tons of fruit in order to produce hundreds or thousands of gallons of cider that will be their staple drink throughout the thirsty times of haymaking and harvest. These days, cider is enjoyed by a wider public than those farm labourers could have imagined, produced by large makers using techniques derived from nearly a century of research.
This book describes the techniques of the farm cidermaker, how cider fitted into the rural scene and how that tradition has changed in recent times.

Cider Making in Wales by John Williams-Davies

Title: Cider Making in Wales

Author: John Williams-Davies

Year: 1984

Format: Booklet

Page Count: 53

Price used: £3.26 (Amazon)*

*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)

The history of cider making in Wales, published by The Welsh Folk Museum.

On the back of the book it says:

Nothing

So Merry Let Us Be by Philippa Legg

Title: So merry let us be...  ,the living tradition of Somerset cider

Author: Philippa Legg

Year: 1986

Format: Booklet

Page Count: 59

Price used: £10.00 (Amazon)*

*accurate at the time of posting

Description:

An expanded version of Cidermaking in Somerset Link to my Somerset Cider The Complete Story blog entry here

On the back of the book it says:

Nothing said but there's a nice colour picture of a cidermaker and a press with a straw cheese in it.

H. P. Bulmer Centenary

Title: H. P. Bulmer Centenary 1887 - 1987

Author:

Year: 1987

Format: Booklet

Page Count: 26

Price new: From Hereford Cider Museum

Description: (TLDR)

An A3 'brochure' more pictures than print.

On the back of the book it says:

Nothing....

Bulmers Of Hereford, A Century Of Cider-making

Title: Bulmers Of Hereford

Author: L.P. Wilkinson

Year: 1987

Format: Hardback

Page Count: 215

Price used: £0.51 (Amazon)*

*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)

A detailed history of Bulmers released for their centenary.

On the flysheet of the book it says:

"This is the story of an enterprise that, beginning with the sale of a few bottles of cider from apples grown on a Herefordshire parson's glebe, has become the biggest cider-making business in the world.

Cider used to be a national drink, but in the nineteenth century production fell sharply. The revival began when Henry Percival Bulmer, son of the Reverend C H Bulmer of Credenhill, began making cider in 1887 from the fruit of his father's glebe in an old fashioned stone mill of a neighbouring farm. In the same year he moved to Hereford, where works have since been on different sites as the business expanded. His brother Fred Bulmer then at kings College, Cambridge, declined an invitation to tutor the sons of the King of Siam in order to help, and their partnership in labours that today sound incredible laid the foundation of future success. 

The business became a private company in 1910 and in 1970 the public were given the opportunity to share it's fortunes. But it has remained essentially a family firm. One consequence is that labour relations have at all times been excellent. With growth it is now operating I many countries and there has been some diversification, such as agencies for wine, spirits and mineral waters, but cider remains its mainstay, with nearly half of the British sales.

The author, Patrick Wilkinson, a famous classical  scholar, was a fellow of King's College, Cambridge, where so many of the Bulmers and their colleagues have been educated. Adam's Hill, the house built by Fred Bulmer, became to him a second home, and he undertook the writing of this centenary volume in gratitude. He had completed it just before he died."

Merrydown Forty Vintage Years by Graeme Wright

Title: Merrydown Forty Vintage Years

Author: Graeme Wright

Year: 1988

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 127

Price used: £6.21(Amazon)*

*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)

Easy to read and sometimes amusing story of the first 40 years of Merrydown cider

On the back of the book it says:

There's just a pretty picture on the back of the book

Whiteways Cyder by E,V,M. Whiteway

Title: Whiteways Cyder A Company History

Author: E,V,M. Whiteway

Year: 1990

Format: Hardback

Page Count: 176

Price new: £10.00   *(Amazon)

Price used:  £7.17 *(Amazon)

*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)

The history of Whiteways of Whimple as told be an ex-chairman of the company from the beginning until 1986

On the back of the book it says:

"Life on a Devon cyder farm

A family business spanning three generations

An evocative look at the cyder-making process

The successes and the failures

A wealth of illustrations

Written by a former chairman of Whiteway's"

The Good Cider Guide by David Kitton

Title: The Good Cider Guide
Author: David Kitton
Year: 1990
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 244
Price used: £0.01 (Amazon)*
*accurate at the time of posting

Description: (TLDR)
David Kitton's pretty comprehensive 1990 Guide to real cider producers and outles with 31 pages of additional articles spread throughout the guide including one on Spanish cider.

On the back of the book it says:
"Good cider is a time-honoured traditional drink. At it's best it is made by crushing apples, fermenting the juice and maturing it. As with good beer, traditional cider has a fascinating profusion of rich tastes. 
But much of the drink called cider sold in pubs is far from traditional - a cold fizzy and pastuerised apology for the real thing. So follow in David Kitton's footsteps and savour the superb real ciders provided by craftsmen and women who are dedicated to nurturing and fostering one of the great drinks of Britain."

Traditional Cider Drinks by Francis Beswick

Title: Traditional Cider Drinks

Author: Francis Beswick

Year: 1994

Format: Booklet

Page Count: 29

Price used: Unrealistically expensive- hard to find (Amazon)*
*accurate at the time of posting

Description:

The first two thirds of the booklet contains a brief history of cider and details of how to make it. The last third contains details of how to make various cider based drinks such as Bishops, Cider Royal and Cyser amongst others.