NINE venues in and around Much Marcle are waiting to welcome visitors this coming weekend as part of the Big Apple celebration of English apples, orchards and cider.
A spokesman said: "Cider and perry making will be
in full swing at seven venues.
"Lyne Down, a firm favourite as a venue in the early days of Big Apple, makes a welcome return as Lyne Down Organics. The Big Apple is not only about cider – at Hellens, a ‘Feast of Apples’ includes displays, tastings and sales of less usual dessert and culinary apples, and Marcher Apple Network will be identifying apples throughout the weekend."
The spokesman added: "The Big Apple is welcoming Herefordshire Beekeepers Association Annual Honey Show for the first time."
Special events include pop-up ‘high altitude’ tastings guided by ciderologist Gabe Cook, at Avenue Cottage, Lyne Down Organics and Woodredding.
The spokesman said: "These are three venues with amazing views over the Herefordshire countryside. Gabe will also join James Marsden for a ‘vertical tasting’ of three different vintages of his single variety ‘Thorn’ perry – under the very tree in the orchard at Gregg’s Pit which goes on providing the fruit each year.
"The Big Apple looks to the future as well as celebrating tradition. On Sunday, Charlotte Selvey will be leading a walk and talk at Gregg’s Pit to share the results of her work exploring natural pest control in orchards, and Marcher Apple Network will be giving a talk at Hellens on DNA fingerprinting to show how this technique is helping to iron out some of the challenges of apple identification – and posing some new questions.
A celebration of "orchards and orchard fruit in poetry, prose and music will take place at The Royal Oak, Much Marcle at 7.45pm on the Saturday evening".
The spokesman added: "Each venue has its own traditions, setting, and style, and there will be plenty of opportunities to taste, buy and, in some cases, to try your hand.
"Many venues are in walking distance of each other, and cycling is also a great way to get about. A tractor and trailer service, kindly provided by Westons Cider, will be running all weekend carrying visitors between six of the venues."
Big Apple takes place on Saturday, October 14 and Sunday, October 15.
A full programme of events can be found at www.bigapple.org.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bigappleherefordshire
Twitter: @TheBigAppleHfd
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