Deep in rural Herefordshire, Putley is waiting patiently for the blossom to appear as it prepares for the annual celebration of its orchards, which this year will take place on Sunday 5th and Monday 6th May. Blossomtime in Putley is centred on a cider tasting in the parish hall, based on entries from the Big Apple Cider and Perry Trials with well over 100 ciders and perries expected to be available to taste.
Together with its surrounding parishes, Putley is famous for its orchards. Visitors can walk through the orchards, taste the ciders, enjoy a home-made lunch or tea – and discover for themselves why orchards are such special places and apples matter to us all. Norman Stanier’s great grandfather Harry Taylor could have told you a thing or two about that. He was the overseer on the Putley Court Estate nearly 150 years ago when acres of orchards – or plantations – were established in the parish. On Monday morning, Norman will be telling the ‘overseer’s tale’ and sharing the secret of ‘Thrown Hat’ cider.
Putley will also be welcoming some special guests. On Sunday morning, authors and cidermakers Susanna Forbes, Gabe Cook and Simon Day will be giving their thoughts on whether Herefordshire has more to learn from, or to give to, the New World when it comes to cidermaking. Talks will take place at Dragon Orchard at 11am. There are also visits to The Juice to learn about the secret life of Pixley Berries, and how their pressing machines are being put to use for cidermaking. And just up the road, Helen and Andrew Riga will welcome visitors to Yew Tree Farm to taste their single variety perries under each of the trees which produced the pears. Dancing from Leominster Morris and music from Fiddlers Two add the final touches to a special countryside experience.
Putley Parish Hall will be open for the Grand Cider Tasting and Teas from 2pm–6pm on Sunday 5th May and from 12–5pm on Monday 6th May.
Thatchers Cider will be the “Official Cider” of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, to be held from 30 May to 14 July in England and Wales, with 48 matches played across 11 venues in what will be the year’s largest sporting event in the United Kingdom.
As the Official Cider of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, the Somerset cider maker will have exclusive pouring rights for its Thatchers Gold and Thatchers Haze brands in each of the venues for the duration of the matches.
In addition, Thatchers Gold and Thatchers Haze will be available exclusively in the eight official fan zones that are being organised during the six week-long cricket celebrations.
ICC General Manager – Commercial, Campbell Jamieson said: “We welcome Thatchers as a partner for what is one of the most anticipated sports event in the world with the sport’s billion fans following the fortunes of their favourite players and teams. Thatchers is a renowned cider brand and we are delighted to be teaming up with them for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.”
Martin Thatcher, Managing Director of the family-run Thatchers Cider said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to be a part of a major sports occasion that will have the eyes of the global sports community firmly on it. We know sporting events on this scale don’t come around very often, and we’re delighted to be a part of it.
“Cricket has such a long heritage and tradition, something that as a fourth-generation family company we share and are immensely proud of. So, this partnership with the ICC is a real fit with our brand. We are really excited about bringing our ciders to the World Cup so fans from around the world can add to their enjoyment of some brilliant cricket with a refreshing pint of Thatchers.”
Over 850,000 people are expected to attend the matches which are being played across cricket venues in England and Wales at: Lords Cricket Ground and The Oval in London; Trent Bridge in Nottingham; Cardiff Wales Stadium; The County Ground in Bristol; The Hampshire Bowl in Southampton; The County Ground in Taunton; Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester; Edgbaston in Birmingham; Headingly in Leeds, and The Riverside in Chester-le-Street.
Fan Zones, which are expected to attract upwards of 200,000 fans, will be set up in Nottingham, Southampton, Taunton, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Durham and London.
Martin adds: “We know the Cricket World Cup will deliver, and we look forward to working with the ICC to gain maximum exposure and activation for our ciders during this hugely anticipated summer of cricket. Cricket has exceptionally passionate fans, and we’re keen to share the experience with them.”
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will be a truly multi-cultural event and taps into the UK’s love of sport – in fact according to YouGov, 83% of adults in the UK follow football, rugby or cricket.
As the Official Cider, there will be Thatchers branding at the bars within all the stadia, as well as a presence on the giant venue screens.
200g chilli cheese, grated (I love M&S Cornish Cove with diablo chilli)
120g tinned sweetcorn, drained
2 medium eggs
225ml sour cream
Recipe is to make 12 muffins.
Preheat the oven to 170ºc, 340ºf, gas mark 4
In a bowl sieve the flour, then add the polenta, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. Stir gently. Add in the chives, chilli cheese and sweetcorn. Set aside.
In a separate bowl break the eggs and whisk. Add the sour cream and whisk again. Add this to the dry ingredients bowl. Pour the Healey’s Rattler cloudy Cornish cyder into the bowl as well.
Stir until all the ingredients are just incorporated. Do not over stir else the muffins will be dry!
Fill each muffin case with an equal amount of mixture and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden. Cool for a minute in the muffin tray, then cool on a rack.
These are delicious warm, but also great cold for picnics. They reheat well with a quick 10-20 seconds in the microwave. They also can be frozen!
Click here to watch on youtube. Alternatively, click here to have a look at other recipes by The Fuss Free Foodie involving ciders from our members!
Entitled Race Car and featuring the Thatchers “spokesperson” first introduced in the Somerset cidermaker’s 2017 Hot Air Balloon ad, the commercial follows an unexpectedly slow race car driving through some iconic West Country landmarks.
Expected to be seen over 30 million times in live rugby during the first two months of the campaign alone, and in total seen by ¾ of the adult population, the TV commercial’s message to viewers is that Thatchers is totally uncompromising about the quality of its cider – if something’s not perfect, it’s useless. You wouldn’t settle for a race car that could almost race – so why buy a cider that’s almost perfect, reinforcing the link between quality and perfection of Thatchers.
The 30 second Race Car commercial will be first seen on ITV during the Six Nations Rugby England Vs Ireland match on 2nd February at half time. It will then be shown from February through to September on ITV, Channel 4 and Multichannel, during this year’s top sporting events and TV moments. Hero spots will include Six Nations Rugby, The Grand National, Monaco Grand Prix, Cricket World Cup, Game of Thrones, Great British Bake Off, and the Women’s Football World Cup.
The ad will be included in a VOD (video on demand) campaign running April to July, and also runs in cinema during July and August, including the silver spot in the hotly anticipated new Quentin Tarantino Film – Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, starring amongst others Brad Pitt, Leonardo di Caprio and Margot Robbie.
Yvonne Flannery, Head of Brands at Thatchers Cider comments, “This new phase of our award-winning campaign features our popular Spokesperson, as well as cameos from Martin Thatcher and our chief cidermaker Richard Johnson. Filmed in iconic West Country locations, it retains a gentle, warm-hearted yet funny tone, and leaves the viewer with no doubt as to the taste and quality of Thatchers ciders – what cider’s supposed to taste like.
“Following from our Hot Air Balloon commercial, which we know resonated strongly with viewers on enjoyment and memorability*, Race Car creates a long-term campaign for Thatchers, filmed in the same, sunny photographic style, and featuring familiar faces, music and scenery to support brand recognition.
“Of course, the notion that the race car is going so slow is clearly ridiculous, as was the low flying hot air balloon in the first of the ad series. This is a humorous ad that will appeal to a wide audience and introduce new customers to our brand.”
Joint London are the creative agency behind the campaign for Thatchers, with Bray Leino advising on media buying. The film was directed by Declan Lowney, who has shot numerous commercials for some of the world’s biggest brands. He is also a top television comedy director, with Father Ted, Little Britain and Moone Boy amongst his credits.
The TV campaign is accompanied by a new series of short films for digital channels, also featuring the Thatchers’ Spokesperson, who finds himself in humorous situations at Thatchers Myrtle Farm, always highlighting the Thatchers family of ciders and their great taste characteristics – Thatchers Gold, Haze, Vintage and Katy.
2019 will be another important year for the growth of the Thatchers brand, with planned marketing activity including experiential, sponsorships, events and festivals. The family-run Somerset cidermaker is continually supporting and growing its brands to help drive people into the cider category, and is one of the biggest investors in marketing amongst UK cidermakers.
With its focus on apple cider, Thatchers is driving the apple cider category across both on and off trades with its Gold and Haze ciders. Thatchers Gold is the no 2 canned apple cider (by value)* in the off trade and Thatchers Haze is the No 1 cloudy cider. In the on trade Thatchers Haze is the fastest growing cider in the top ten draught ciders**, and Gold has the best rate of sale of all draught apple ciders.
The commercial was shot in locations including Wells, Shiplate, and Castle Combe.
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