Leominster Civic Trust members sampled Herefordshire ciders and perrys when Geoff Morris of Orchard, Hive and Vine, Leominster, gave a talk about the beverages.

He said orchards were mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086, where mention was made of people in Norfolk and Sussex making payments of rent in cider.

In the days of Charles II, Herefordshire's cider was much sought after, and was second only in value to the most expensive wine in the world. Round about the same time, a vicar reported that a group of Morris Dancers, aged 90 to114 years, never drank anything except cider and mother's milk.

Cider & Ginger was known as a cure for colds, but the method of administration was rather strange. The mixture was poured into a special copper shoe, into which the foot was inserted, and it was then placed in a fire until the potion boiled! A ship from the Spanish Armada, called Calvador, was shipwrecked off the coast of Normandy, and thereafter the local brew, distilled cider, was named Calvados. This never caught on in England, as gin was cheaper. After the seventeenth century, cider fell out of favour, thriving only in Herefordshire, SW England and Normandy.

Mr Morris said Bulmers could take credit for turning it once again into a national drink. The duty on cider is 40p per litre, but on Apple Wine it is £1.40p, the dividing line being 8.4% alcohol. For this reason, and for reasons of economics and drink driving laws, ciders and beers have become steadily weaker during the last sixty years.

*The next meeting is on November 10 at the Talbot Hotel, Leominster. The speaker will be Stella Woodman of the Campaign to Protect Rural England.