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People

Name
Rose, Cuthbert (b.1907) (part 5)
Introduction
The cider prepared by Cuthbert Rose on his farm in Cocklake near Wedmore was pure apple juice with no additions. Cider makers have personal recipes and techniques; sugar, raisins, ginger, lemons and even beetroot are added to give the cider flavour and colour, as well as helping it to ferment.
Cider drinkers in a pub at Compton Dundon, c.1930s. Cider was often warmed up in pubs using a special container called a cider shoe. Spirits such as gin and brandy were added to the mixture. A tradition two handled cider mug was often used and can be seen on the table in this photograph. Cider drinkers in a pub at Compton Dundon, c.1930s. Cider was often warmed up in pubs using a special container called a cider shoe. Spirits such as gin and brandy were added to the mixture. A traditional two handled cider mug was often used and can be seen on the table in this photograph.
Sound File
Listen to Cuthbert Rose (part 5) - 1.77MB Duration 3:21 min.
Transcript

CR: As I say, in the past, we used to have good friendly arrangements with, with our neighbours. For instance, you may get a farm down the road, that's got no cider-making tackling of their own. The boss there likes a glass of cider. They've got a, a bit of an orchard at the back of their place. Now, what they used to do was to bring in, he used to bring his apples up to us, and we used to make it up on our press.

 

Now, he’d had a barrel of his own, which he'd fill. But sometimes he'd have more apples than he could fill that barrel and he’d borrow a barrel off of me. And then again sometimes after -  when we'd made it up, his cider on our presses - we'd come to an arrangement: "well, leave the cider in our cellar, on the horsing, we'll know which is your barrels, and then you can come up and have it as you, as you want it". In other cases, sometimes a, a neighbour might have a couple of barrels which they weren't using and, you might have your cellar full, you might make an arrangement whereby you could take two barrels down and keep in his cellar. It was all a question of, of give and take.

 

One last point about the variations in straightforward cider: of course it has been customary, throughout the ages for some of the folk in cider making, to add a little variation in so far as they've very often made a, a barrel for their own drinking, of a cider wine of various sorts. I used to do it. Used to always reckon to make one barrel of, of ginger wine. And the old recipe used to be three, three and three. For three gallons of cider, three ounces of ground root ginger, three pounds of sugar, and three lemons I think.

 

That was one way but on the other hand I remember old Arthur Tinknell, out at Latcham - he used to tinker about and make, put elderberries in with some of his wine and beetroot - beetroot incidentally is sometimes used as a, used to be used as an alternative to colouring. Not so good as, as burnt sugar but - but now, it was quite often traditional for some of the farming fraternity to make the odd barrel of cider wine, which was for their own drinking and for a special occasions.

 

For instance, if, if the farmer himself happened to be on the, for local church council and they had one meeting at his house on some particular aspect: "Right" he'd say, after the meeting, "well now let's have a glass of special" so and he'd go out to the cellar and draw a, you know a glass from some special elderberry come cider version, that he'd made. And we used to, the, the cider wine, we used to make - ginger wine as it were - we used to use that Christmas times and that sort of thing.

Copyright Information
Copyright. This recording was made by Philippa Legg in July 1983. Photograph ©SRLM. For access to full interview please contact the Somerset Heritage Centre.