Old Scrump's Cider House

Everything the cider drinker needs - apart from a scrumpy jar!

Introduction

It's always opening time at Old Scrump's Cider House! Whether you're already an experienced cider drinker, or you just want to find out what real cider and perry is, then this is the website for you. Old Scrump's Cider House is one of the most valuable web resources for cider & perry enthusiast. Any input from visitors would be most welcome! If you have any feedback or suggestions, please make contact.

Old Scrump's Cider House contains a wealth of information about cider (made from apple juice) and perry (made from pear juice) including:

• What Is Cider and Perry? - our definitions
• History of Cider and History of Perry - articles by Gillian Grafton on the history of cider making and cider apples, and perry making and perry pears
• Cider Making and Perry Making - articles by Gillian Grafton
• Cider Apples and Perry Pears - about the varieties of apples and pears used to make cider and perry.
• Buying Cider & Perry - a list of cider distributers, cider farms, cider houses, museums and orchards.
• Cider Presses & Mills - plans to make your own cider mills and presses
• Cider & Perry Recipes - to make your own cider or perry!
• Cider & Perry Events - a most complete online UK-wide diary of cider festivals, beer festivals, apple days and wassails.
• Cider Links And References - other resources

Old Scrump's Cider House is sponsored by:

About Old Scrump's Cider House

Old Scrump's Cider House is an amalgamation of two websites - Gillian Grafton's Real Cider & Perry website and Paul Gunningham's Scrumpy User Guide website.

The Real Cider & Perry website (www.ciderandperry.co.uk) was created in the early 1990s by cider and perry enthusiast Gillian Grafton. It was one of the first - and is still one most valuable - web resources for cider and perry enthusiasts. Gillian created and maintained the site herself until 1996 when, due to pressure of work, she was unable to maintain it on an on-going basis, and as a result the website became somewhat out-of-date.

In 1999, Wurzels fan and cider drinker Paul Gunningham created his own cider website, The Scrumpy User Guide (www.zider.co.uk). This was written very much from the cider drinker's point of view - more about buying, storing and drinking cider than Gillian's more historical and scientific point of view.

In 2003, Gillian was approached by Paul who asked what her future plans were for the Real Cider & Perry website. As luck would have it, Gillian had been looking for a volunteer to take over the maintenance of the website, and Paul got the job! Paul planned to make no changes to the content except those necessary to bring the site up-to-date.

Sadly in 2007, Paul Gunningham was involved in a road traffic accident, and died as a result of his injuries, and both websites were passed onto a new editor, Frank Blades, cider addocianado and founder member of Wurzels tribute band The Mangledwurzels. After running both website side-by-side for several months, in March 2008 the decision was made to amalgamate the two into one new website. This wasn't difficult, as there was very little overlap between the websites, and the two slotted into together quite easily. This new website was called Old Scrump's Cider House in memory of Paul Gunningham who used the pseudonym 'Old Scrump' when writing about cider.

In 2011, the website was acquired by cider entrepreneur Chris Lilley, the man behind CiderFestivals.co.uk and Lilley's Cider Online.

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