The Orchard Revived: The future of traditional orchards and cidermaking
Traditional orchards make up a unique man-made environment, where people and nature are able to interact in a unique way. Since the 1950s, the UK has lost 90% of its traditional orchards, signalling a significant cultural and environmental loss.
Between the 12th September 2026 & 11th April 2027 the museum will be displaying ‘Orchard Revived: History, Ecology and the Future’, an exhibition created in partnership with the Woolhope Club in celebration of their 175th anniversary. As part of this, we reached out to cider makers in Herefordshire to ask their opinions and projections for the future of orchards. We have collected some of their responses below. If you would like to find out more about how you can help support orchard habitats, we have linked a few of the many organisations actively working to protect these unique spaces at the bottom of the page.
David Nash – Redvers Cider & Perry
“Traditional orchards have been part of the physical and cultural landscape in this country for hundreds of years and are as much a part of our heritage as Shakespeare, a Sunday Roast, and discussing the weather. To lose them completely would be to lose not only a part of our heritage and identity, but also invaluable biodiversity hotspots in our nature depleted countryside.
The primary reason for their decline is of course due to their lower commercial viability when compared to other land uses. To which my question is – who wants to live on a planet where the only consideration is the financial bottom line? Is the invaluable social, cultural, historical, environmental, and real cider/perry profit less important? There are things that can be done to improve their chance of survival, but they require either top down Government policy intervention, or bottom up change through the National Association of Cider Makers (which is dominated by industrial producers that benefit from the status quo) – both of which will be hard fought. We could raise the legal minimum juice content for drinks from the paltry 35% (lower than even the USA!) to a more respectable percentage, thus driving demand for more fruit. This could be combined with a compulsory or voluntary scheme that ensures industrial producers are using some fruit from local traditional orchards (rather than importing fruit and concentrate from abroad). We could change the outlandishly expensive and complex premises license rules so that small producers can make use of their orchards and sell their products from the gate, or develop a French style of quality classifications… the options are endless.
The big question now is, how do we organise ourselves to agree on and deliver these changes to ensure the survival of traditional orchards?”
Tom Oliver – Oliver’s Fine Cider & Perry
“There would seem to be a number of issues facing traditional farmhouse cider makers going forward.
– Climate change is making the life of many existing varietals of cider apple and perry pear tougher. Extremes of rainfall, wind, sun and temperature will mean that new, more suitable varietals, need to be found and they need to be proven good varietals for cider and perry making.
– Traditional farmhouse cider making has relied on spontaneous fermentation by wild yeasts that live in and on the fruit and in and on the buildings and pressing equipment. As temperatures climb these yeasts will face more challenging conditions and possibly require more nutrient assistance (not a standard procedure for many makers) and ferments will go much faster and there is increased possibility of bacterial spoilage. The very nature of the cider being made will be changing. All this points to adopting a much better understanding of the science behind cider and perry making and adapting as required.
– As makers adapt so we must ensure that the cider and perry we make is of the highest quality but also of a standard and character that the consumer enjoys and that it continues to pair with many foods so well.”
James Marsden – Gregg’s Pit Cider & Perry
On the future and climate change:
“Over 25 years making craft cider and perry, we have kept records of harvest dates, original gravity and acidity at pressing which show:
– Harvest dates of early season varieties (e.g. Thorn and Moorcroft) are getting earlier – shifting by as much as two weeks from the third week of September to end of first week;
– Original Gravity (OG), a measure of natural fruit sugar and potential alcohol, is getting higher. In 2018, the OG at pressing of three mid-season perry pears was measured at OG1072, the highest I have ever recorded for raw perry pear juice since pressing my first vat in 1994.
– Acidity level (pH) is reducing and shows a similar trend over time.
What does this all mean? It seems there may be parallels with what wine makers are recording, and climate change is probably the common cause.
Cider apples and perry pears, like grapes, are responsive to their local environment (i.e. terroir) with seasonal variation in yield. The interaction between geography, climate, soil and variety affects the suitability of specific varieties to a particular region parish or orchard, as well as the style and quality of the finished product. Climate change, especially gradual temperature rise, may threaten the balance of this interaction.
Prolonged high temperature is known to have a negative impact on vintage fruit and product quality because it affects development of natural fruit sugar, acidity and phenolic compounds (e.g. tannin) which give colour, aroma, bitterness, astringency and antioxidant capacity. The unpredictable nature of climate change may also bring forward the date of bud burst and increase risks of late frosts and hailstorms, which lower yield and impact fruit quality.
These climate change effects will lead to a likely shift in suitable growing conditions. It has been predicted that the northern boundary of European viticulture will shift north 20 to 60 kilometres (12 to 37 miles) per decade between 2020 and 2050. This could have positive and negative effects, making it possible to grow new varieties in different regions but also loss of suitable terroir for other varieties, and may adversely affect product quality and quantity. So, in 25-50 years’ time, we may be looking to plant cider apples and perry pears inland from the Wirral or Solway estuaries to replicate the growing conditions we now enjoy around the Severn Estuary.”
Thank you to all of the cidermakers who contributed their thoughts on the topic of traditional orchards.
All images copyright of Will Watson