The Heritage of Orchards & Cider Making in Wales

The Welsh Perry & Cider Society and George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling are collaborating on a project titled 'The Heritage of Orchards and Cider Making in Wales', and will focus on three areas of activity: 1. Working with 14 community groups to regenerate old orchards and/or identify areas for new plantings. Groups will be supported with apple and pear trees (to include heritage Welsh varieties), training, event support and installation of interpretation. Biodiversity management plans will also be produced as a key starting point for development and implementation. 2. Exploring and recording Welsh Heritage cider and perry fruit through DNA fingerprinting, qualitative observation of trees, and single variety juice fermentation trial to produce a comprehensive online catalogue. 3. Telling the modern story of orcharding and cider making in Wales through the collection of oral histories and digital stories. Working with University of South Wales to produce a digital collection accessible online. GEECS is leading on stream 3 of the project.. A collection of oral histories will be recorded and archived. These cider maker oral histories, in the form of a combination of video recordings, sound recordings, and transcripts, will be made available through the WPCS website to give audiences a more personal experience and understanding of heritage, and to also ensure that this detail is correctly documented and stored for future generations. Information about archived material will also be listed online, so that it is researchable and easily accessible, i.e. links to St Fagans, Peoples Collection Wales, local record offices etc. A project report will be completed and made publicly available. A mobile exhibition will be housed with the Welsh Perry and cider Society to ensure the project findings are widely disseminated. It is also anticipated that a number of peer reviewed articles will report the findings of the project.