Food & drink from the land on which you stand is a joyous thing, and a little corner of Somerset is one of the vintage cider making areas of England.
10,000’s of years ago the Somerset Levels was an inland sea, dotted with islands of dry land. This mysterious landscape has given us many tales, from King Arthur to King Alfred. Today, it’s still a managed landscape, with winter floods and pumping stations to manage the waters.
Cider, or Cyder, is a part of the story of the West Country. For how long our ancestors have been fermenting apples is uncertain. But when Julius Caesar attempted to invade in 55 BC, the Romans found the local Celts fermenting apples.
You can still enjoy traditional ciders, still & clear and fermented in oak vats. It’s fun to walk the orchards and spend the day immersed in the area and its story, finishing at the cider farm to enjoy sampling the cider.
The first taste of Cider? No one sums it up quite like Laurie Lee in Cider with Rosie;
“I held the jar to my mouth and rolled my eyes sideways, like a beast at a waterhole. ‘Go on,’ said Rosie. I took a deep breath…
Never to be forgotten, that first long secret drink of golden fire, juice of those valleys and of that time, wine of wild orchards, of russet summer, of plump red apples, and Rosie’s burning cheeks. Never to be forgotten, or ever tasted again…”
‘Sweet Cyder’ is one of the trails on our ‘Myths & Legends of Somerset’ inn to inn walking holiday. Find out more here.
