Charnwood Cider

10/04/2026

This was a super nice event last year so hope to see you again at the beautiful Ratby Community Orchard this year!

08/04/2026

And the prize for the first blossom of the year goes to this young pear tree!

This is a local wild variety that I've grafted quite a few of and I'm hopeful that the fruit might just make a nice perry! I won't tell you what I've named it until I know for sure though 😏

The orchard is also alive with an abundance of ladybirds and blue t**s doing their hungry work of eating all the pesty bugs.... last year saw a plague of apple ermime moth caterpillars which stripped a couple of trees completely bare! Luckily this didn't stop the orchard from producing a bounty of fruit and my little predators this year are doing what they do best.

I think it's fair to say that my bird box project has been a success (see earlier posts) as blue t**s have taken up residence in at least five of them!

Happy Days!
**s

05/04/2026

All set up on Loughborough Market 🍎🍻🍏

04/04/2026

Need to stock up on cider?? Well, it's the first Gardeners Fair of the year on Loughborough Market tomorrow so I hope to see you there!

You can be the first to get your hands on my newest release 2024 season Pure Charnwood, a delicious appley and morish medium cider made with apples collected from orchards in Cropston, Sileby and Barrow-Upon-Soar 🍎🍏🍻

Love Loughborough

01/04/2026

I've been asked several times over the years if I make "fruit ciders" and so finally I've done it! The first release will be this beauty below... Raspberry Cider! Watered down to just 3. 4%, this cider will leave you quenching for more!

Next up will be Mango, Pineapple, Lychee and then dragonfruit!

And the great news about watering these ciders down so much is that there'll be even more for you to drink!

Cheers!

EDIT: some people are still just seeing this post... it was posted on April 1st. All my ciders are made with 100% fresh pressed apple juice, I wouldn't dream of watering them down or adding other fruit syrups/flavourings. That would be sacrilege! Cheers!

21/03/2026

Ahhh, spring is lush! The trees in the orchard are showing signs that they're awakening from their winter slumber.

Also, last season after pressing pears I dug over a piece of ground and spread the pear pomace over it, mixing it in with the soil. Now I've got loads of seedlings sprouting! I've caned and guarded some in situ and potted some others.... one of these might just turn out to be the next great perry pear.... make sure you check back in in a couple of decades to find out! 😂

02/03/2026

This is exciting...!

The blue t**s have been investigating my new bird boxes in the orchard!

🤞🤞🤞

05/02/2026

Be careful out there guys... it's slippy! 😅😂

I'm hoping I get some success with this project and actually have some birds decide to use the bird boxes.... I obviously don't expect them all to be used but at least 1 will be great!!

If so I will try and get some footage and do a Part 3... It's a case of wait and see!

Cheers

28/01/2026

A project I've been working on... Not just any old bird boxes.... these are Charnwood bird boxes!!

After discovering a plague of apple ermime moth caterpillars last spring I made the decision to put a load of bird boxes up in the orchard with the hope that I could attract more nesting birds who will hopefully eat said caterpillars - you know, fight nature with nature!

But why put up plain old boring bird boxes when I can make them more interesting! I made a series of ceramic front plates to attach to them so they'll double up as a bit of an art trail too!

I really hope some little birdies use them to build their nests and rear their young... can you imagine a little blue tit flying in and out of a grotesque nostril or a cyclops eye hole? What fun!

Let me know what you think!

I'll post another update when I'm installing them and then hopefully some positive results later on in the year!

Cheers!

25/01/2026

If you're not near Charnwood but you want some Charnwood Cider you can buy it online through The Cat In The Glass !!

While stocks last!

Lots of ciders just landed from 🍎

Available on the webshop now 🥳

07/01/2026

This time next Wednesday I will be up in Manchester getting ready to crack open a few bottles of cider to share with my fellow cider appreciators!

It's an honour to be invited by Manchester Cider Club for the second time and this will be a rare opportunity to try some small batch full juice wild fermented ciders made by yours truly including some ciders never commercially released as well as a couple of sneak previews of "not yet released" ciders!

Get your tickets from The Cat In The Glass
👇
https://thecatintheglass.co.uk/product/mcr-cider-club/

Cheers!

05/01/2026

A slightly late Happy New Year!

It's been a busy week of pruning up in the orchard with my mate Matt.... we were lucky to have some lovely blue skies and fairly still, although cold weather, and managed to get the main orchard done in a week!

Some trees needed more attention than others with some larger limbs being removed from some trees and just a light tickle on others.

A lot of the prunings have been stacked at the edge to add to a kind of dead hedge I started last year which will slowly break down and provide habitat and cover for insects and birds, some was burnt and as always I managed to save all the bigger wood for logs for future barbecues.

It's so lovely spending time up in the orchard giving the trees some tlc, cooking lunch on the fire (4 bbqs already this year!) and a cider or two at the end of the day whilst the sun goes down and the moon comes up! Lush!