Day 19. Cider Making

In 1721 there were fifteen orchards in Preston, belonging mainly to the various farmhouses. Today there is a scant handful of ancient fruit trees in the village.
Apples and pears were the most common fruits grown. Both would store for several months, provided a valuable food resource in winter, and were saleable at urban markets. Soft fruits such as plums were hard to store and even harder to transport, so were less readily grown.

 

 One of the few surviving remnants of a once-common rural feature: the apple orchard. These trees are in The Little Croft (see Day 14).

Apples comprised dessert, cooking and cider varieties. Perry pears were used to make an alcoholic drink similar to cider. Cider and perry-making were key aspects of rural life.

Piped water was not installed in Preston until the 1950s. For centuries, water had been drawn from wells and rivers (see Day 18). The latter especially was often contaminated with harmful bacteria, cholera a prime example. Long before the word 'sterilisation' became a household term, it was believed safer to drink cider or beer. The alcohol, as we know today, destroyed the bacteria.

To produce cider or perry, the fruit was crushed or 'scratted', then the juice was pressed out and fermented for several months in 55-gallon barrels. The fruit was originally scratted using stone wheels driven around a circular trough by horse-power. A steam or petrol-driven scratter was later used. A portable cider mill toured the local farms in the 1930s – cider was doled out to farmworkers as a perk of the job, and every farmer had to make a good supply.

Tapping the cider barrel at Lower Farm, c.1965. Farmworker Ray Beauchamp is watched by John and Harry Smith.

 

The orchards declined as the 20^th century progressed. Pure drinking water was now literally on tap; fruit could be bought from the supermarkets; and the tradition of having a good chat over a few ciders fell out of favour. Fruit trees have a life span of around 150 years, and as the old trees fell, they were no longer replaced.

But the wheel has turned full circle. Many traditional orchards are being restored, and home-brew is again gaining in popularity.

                                 A restored orchard at Park Farm.